Thursday, October 11, 2012

Fragments of Faith

Charcoal Still Life (Before)

______My art teacher is a merciless trickster.

______It all began when he gave us our first drawing assignment, which was to simply draw a still life that was set up before us.  Alright, okay, no problem I've done this before a ton in Drawing I--throw some charcoal down, move it around a little, and in about two class periods, I've finished it.  Not bad, not bad.  For the third class period, he wanted us to add some color to it, to "embellish it," as he so eloquently put, so I traced out three circles and filled them with muted purple and yellow.  I hastily snapped a picture of it with my iPhone before leaving class that day.

______But wait.  Later in the day, el art teacher e-mailed everyone and instructed us to bring in an exacto knife, a ruler, and some rubber cement to our next meeting.  Interesting, I think.  I wonder if he'd be crazy enough to make us cut it up?  To cut it into squares or strips or triangles?  

______I would soon know the answer to my foreboding questions.  We come in the next class period, and he reveals to us that we're not yet done with the assignment.

______Now cut, he says. Cut your work into two-by-two inch squares.

______Our work, which we had spent some 9 hours on, was now to be reduced to cracker-sized squares that resembled abstract nothingness.  I might as well have been cutting into my own soul when I ever so precisely snipped and trimmed my art down to a lowly pile of mocking squares.

______My art teacher is a cruel one.

Still Life Reconstruction
Rabbit Holes, 18x24, charcoal and colored pencil, Drawing II Fall 2012

______Unfortunately, he also must know some things, because I kinda liked the end result.  I worked the colored portions together to create a sense of objectification within the circles, even though there really isn't anything super recognizable there.  I suppose it's more interesting than the initial "boring still life" (no, seriously, that's what he named it on the syllabus) that we had to start off with, but I wish that there was some way I could have saved the initial drawing, too.  Art teacher said that my final drawing had a kind of depth to it, and some girl in my class compared it to Salvador Dali, who is pretty much my king, so both of those comments made me one super happy squid.  That being said, art teacher's assignments have been fun so far, and I'm kind of glad he's such a rad and surreal kind of dude.

______I suppose the fact that I wasn't too attached to the initial still-life drawing helped me reach such a conclusion about him, but hey--I can't just give him all the credit.

Still Life Reconstruction Detail
Still Life Reconstruction Detail2

16 comments:

The Dragonfruit said...

I've said it before, and I'll say it again - you have a gift. Although I'm sure it must've been wrenching to snip up that art! The end result is so worth it though. That's the thing with art - experimenting can lead to a result you'll never expect. So glad you're being stretched in that class and learning to expand your talent Ali! :)

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Heather Belle said...

This is really fantastic! If I had spent so much time on a drawing though, I'd probably freak out when he asked me to cut it up!!
xo Heather
http://ahopelessnotebook.blogspot.com/

Rory said...

Stooooppp...why are u so PERFECT! THIS IS AMAZING! god i wish i had artistic talent. I draw stick figures and thats about it. You have most definitely got it going on, Ali....!!!! LOVE THIS SO MUCH! :D u should post your art more often :)
Rory

mochaccinoland said...

i can't do still art to save my life! your initial drawing is really nice but the final one is way more interesting. it's interesting how a bit of snipping & rearranging can result in such a great transformation. u have a gift :)

xoxo
mochaccinoland.blogspot.com

LyddieGal said...

That teacher sounds like a pretty awesome guy, and your finished project is quite unique and I love how you arranged your pieces to still keep all the colored areas together; I bet you didn't know how great those circles were going to work out in the end to create something that feels so deliberate.

Chic on the Cheap

Anonymous said...

I love the end result! It looks amazing. And I also love the detail on the rope. You are incredibly talented.

Wren

Jen Hsieh said...

Stop being such a phenomenal artist! But no really, don't stop. Your sketch is beautiful both before and after in their own ways. It's heart breaking to cut up art but you create something completely different afterwards! Your teacher is quite the smart one. ;)

Marie McGrath (The Joy of Fashion) said...

I'm continuously amazed at how artistic you are. This is AMAZING! I can only imagine how hard it must have been to cut it up, I can already imagine myself crying or something... hahah. But the end result is quite superb, you are sooooo good at this! Congratulations!

www.thejoyoffashion.blogspot.com

Imke said...

This is so incredibly impressive, wow! I'm stunned! You're so artistic and talented!

Xo, Imke

devorelebeaumonstre. said...

love this so much! really good!

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NaNa said...

great work hun, you are sure talented, lovin the strokes!

love from the NANA girls xoxo

Nami said...

It's kind of like making a quilt. You take a beautiful piece of fabric, cut it up.in little pieces and sew it back together. Another beautiful masterpiece.

Ali Hval said...

It's just like a quilt, you are right! Thank you, Nami ;)

Anonymous said...

Whoa! I haven't been following you long enough to see a ton of your art, but I'm so incredibly impressed. If I saw that at an art fair, I would buy it and hang it in my salon (to quote Andre Leom Talley).

I also wanted to thank you again for your personal post about criticism- it helped inspire a post of my own, and also helped me weather my first hate tweet ;)

Keep up the amazing work, both in styling and in drawing.

:) Sarah
http://sanfranista.wordpress.com

Tanja S. said...

love this drawings! :)

Nanthini said...

Beautiful girl, wonderful talent & an impeccable sense of style. Awesome Ali! :D