Topic One: The Tough Questions- THIRD ASSIGNMENT: Open Project

 The process begins with a wash of black water color, which adds some texture to the paper as well as a darker background. Then lightly sketching in some portraits and eyes focusing on the forms.

More faces are rendered using pens and a sharpie marker to intensify marks and contrast against the darker background.

The idea of the piece is heavily inspired by different ways of rendering faces using pens and pencils. The way that we can recognize different subjects from geometric or organic shapes, not necessarily very realistic representations of portraits. There's a simplification of shapes in facial features and specifically eyes that show the way we still interpret those shapes as things we know so well.

I had the idea of just keeping the ripped side of the sketchbook page to signify that this is a piece created by a learning artist that's focusing on rendering the face. The sketchbook page also feels intimate as a smaller work where it should be looked at closely while also having some elements that can be seen from far away. I play around with different marks that we could see as faces when looked at closely.