Adia Sisson
Adia Sisson
In my first semester at NSCAD, I took the required class, Drawing I with Sage Sidley. In this class, we studied translating proportions from life to the page, using a variety of media, and representing the world around us in perspective.
I absolutely love creating in perspective. However, this drawing has much room for improvement. More intricate shading would add dimension and create a smoother texture on the surfaces within the drawing. Also, the use of better materials, such as higher-quality paper and softer pencils would allow for a nicer surface and greater range of values, especially on the dark end of the spectrum.
Perspective Drawing: The Hallway
This self portrait was drawn fully from life, with the basic shapes and areas of shadow traced in pencil and then painted with ink. Unfortunately, the ink-wash sealed the pencil and made it unable to be erased, leaving a few visible lines in the light areas of the drawing. Despite this, this is one of my favorite works from this class, as it represents the subject, me, quite accurately at the time it was created. For example, I did not smile in the pose, which created creases and shadows in the lower half of my face. While I find this unattractive, I also find it truer to life than if I idealized this area of the portrait. For context, at this point in time, my hair had dark roots and bright red ends, leading to the high-contrast gradient represented in the drawing.
Ink Drawing: Self-Portrait
This is by far one of my least favorite pieces I have ever made. I worked on cheap paper that hadn't been stretched beforehand and worked on a large cardboard box as my flat surface rather than a sheet of wood. This lead to rippling in the paper as well as the ribbing of the cardboard coming through in the darkest parts of the image. I believe that improving the quality of my materials and workspace would have significantly altered the outcome of this piece, but alas, high quality materials are expensive. Overall, despite the troubles with quality, this work still appears childish, simplistic, and out of proportion, in my opinion. Were I to redo this, I would increase the amount of detail in the scenery, as well as increase the contrast in the figure. However, this is not a project I would like to revisit; rather, I would like to burn it and photograph the flames engulfing it and ridding us of its existence forever.
Final Project: Self-Portrait in Front of Fort Point