But on the topic of my work: I've had a lot of fun in the studio, and as the first half of the semester's about to end, I feel like I'm starting to finally understand what it would take to be a fine artist; whereas before I did assignments for professors, now I'm challenged to do work that's meaningful to me. Jana especially has challenged me to bring other interests--'cerebral' as they may be--into my art. Like immigration issues, or how perceptions of people change as you get to know them.
This last issue has been the major thing that interests me this week, and it's the subject of my drawing project. After I talked to Regan, the plan was to use Leonardo's Last Supper sketches--drawings of really well-known people from history--as a base for a drawing representing what I see when I first meet someone. First, I notice if they remind me of someone I already know or I've seen before. So I may be drawing someone and think, 'Oh, she looks just like Kelsey!' But only after this first impression does my mind change: no, actually her nose is longer. Her eyes are on a different slant. So my drawing will be made up of different layers, the first of which is Leonardo's apostles that represent the things that are already in my mind. Next, I'm working and re-working the faces, to represent the second impression of the new people that I meet. So they may have the base of one of the apostles with some gessoed over, and then a new rest of the face. And then Jana mentioned doing a stop-motion animation if I have time, which I think might better represent the idea, because it emphasizes the process of the change. I've never done one of those before, so we'll see how it turns out!
