For our final project, I chose to research a Filipino artist who is inspired by her culture and nature in her artwork; Patricia Eustaquio. While researching, it became clear to me that Eustaquio focuses on the perfection of imperfections. Her work uses a lot of line and mark-making to create texture and tell a story in her abstract style. I first mapped out all of the pieces that make up her work (in my opinion). I then devised a plan of how to incorporate all of these details into my own recreation of her art. After making a digital sketch, I brought my piece to life with the use of charcoal, ink, sharpie, and graphite. 
Author: Emily
Big Assignment #2
My inspiration for this assignment was my view of the world during the current pandemic. The majority of my day is spent sitting at a desk, studying for hours upon hours. Once in a while, I have the chance to go outside for a breath of fresh air, which is where the drawing on the left comes into play. To connect this piece, a door was drawn in the middle, depicting the gateway between my room and the outdoors. When collaged together, this scene shows what I am hoping for in the near future; an open door leading into the outside world. Being in quarantine and constantly having to avoid what used to be normal is the most difficult thing happening in our lives right now. This drawing shows what we all had taken for granted and now want more than ever; freedom. (I used black drawing ink and a ball point pen to complete these drawings.)
Week 12 : Big Assignment Post #2
This week, I completed my third perspective drawing to incorporate in my series. It pictures a section of my desk in the back corner, featuring a few of my plants and lamp. In the next few days, I will be taking all three and morphing them into a panoramic view. I plan to do this by using the drawing of the door as a connecting piece to the interior and exterior drawings.
Week 11 : Big Assignment Post #1
To begin my perspective panorama, I have chosen two different scenes of which I captured the line and depth. One scene looks down a brick path in between two buildings. I have omitted the trees and shrubbery along the line of the path, to allow for its addition after adding value to the surrounding objects. The second scene acts as a transition between the outside pathway and the next drawing that will be posted later. The open door portrays the space between the outdoors and indoors.
Week 10 : Perspective
Week 9 : Collage Part 2
The image below is a recreation (in pencil), of the previous collage post. It features a figure entering a sunflower amidst a fragmented and abstract world.
Week 8 : Collage Post 1
This week is collage week. Collaging is something that I have not done many times before, and so this was a learning experience. This piece captures a past dream of mine, where I am suddenly shrunken down to insect size. You can see in this collage, a sunflower of which a small figure is entering. I used newspaper and magazine scraps to construct this image.
Week 7 : Reflection
This week we reflected on our Big Assignment. With this assignment, I was able to challenge myself to not only complete a piece that is a lot larger than normal, but also experiment with a new medium, drawing ink. At first, I was weary because my mind goes straight to “Emily + ink = disaster”, but I actually found the ink to be a quite interesting way of creating value and mark making to really make my still life pop. This piece below is a smaller recreation of my original work from last week. After receiving some great constructive criticism, I was able to improve on my piece in ways that I would have never thought of by myself. Adding a more distinguished background was one of the most mentioned critiques, which lead me to create this blotchy background that really highlights the placement of the objects, making them stand out far more than before. I also was given the idea of having more texture in my objects. To do this, I really focused on how perfect imperfections can be. I added more cross hatching and loosened my contouring/line work on this recreation. It has a messy – but controlled – look to it. This was way out of my comfort zone, and initially I was skeptical, but I ended up really having fun with the creation of this new piece. Because this was a recreation, the measurement/line/value that I had experimented with before provided great insight on the ways I could change and improve the piece. I would like to thank my classmates for participating in the critique of my work and really helping me improve my skills! The main thing that this project has taught me is; If you only look at something for what you want it to be, rather than what it actually is, you will never be able to see the true beauty of your creation.
Week 6 : Composition, Measurement, Mark Making, Value
This was our first “big assignment” of the semester. After learning about measurement, composition, texture, placement, and many techniques of drawing, this is what we created to show it all off. By using the new skills, I was able to create a still life that has dimension and texture to show the depth and composition of each object within it. I used q-tips, straws, sponges, chopsticks, and a toothbrush to make this piece and I am happy with how it turned out. I have seen a lot of improvement from the beginning of the semester up to now, and I am excited to learn even more!
Week 5 : Mark Making
This week, our assignment was to be creative with the use of recycled items! I chose these items from my collective trash of the week, and not only repurposed items for the patterns, but also for the functionality of the tools. I used a note card to make a spiral shape, with a bottle cap as a way to hold the tool. An empty lint roller handle was used for the handle of the bottle tool. I attached a paper clip to a faulty pencil’s eraser for a way to control the tool. Some old aluminum was used as a “stamp” which I also formed a handle on! Last, but not least, I used the packaging from my charcoal set to create an interesting tool, topped with an old battery for support. These patterns I created were very distinguished compared to each other. My favorite was definitely the paperclip which was the center section of the page I filled with marks. At first, I stamped the paper with the tool, but then found that by sliding it, the beads of ink that gathered on the metal, formed stripe-like marks.
