Line Drawings

Floating

Recently I have been working on ink drawings, using line as a focal point. One of my first college courses (at Delaware College of Art and Design) was a 2D Design class; and an exercise from it has evolved into backgrounds for several of my current drawings. This class broke down the elements and principles of design to the most basic level, which was incredibly helpful as an artist. 

these walls have eyes

Part of the reason this class and its curriculum have been so influential to me was because of the professor. She was dedicated to her students and her craft, making sure to answer every question seriously, held frequent open office hours, and offered thoughtful, honest critiques to all her students. The course and her assignments could seem simple at first glance- for the first semester we worked exclusively in black and white, starting with paper and glue before moving onto ink pens and eventually gouache. As someone who hadn’t taken many art classes before coming to college, this class and Connie Simon’s teachings were invaluable. 

I came back to this specific exercise during a period of art block after graduating from DCAD while I was working retail. I hadn’t drawn or painted in a while, mostly due to a lack of time, energy, and ideas. The exercise I’m utilizing is an exploration of how to create form and volume using only thin, repetitive, unbroken lines. Doing this allowed me to draw without needing the same amount of time and energy I was used to spending on projects. It helped me feel creative without adding to my exhaustion. Now I let these lines influence my drawings by using them to create backgrounds of varying form and volume that complement the simple, bold shapes of the foreground.

the background for a (still) unfinished painting

a current work in progress