"I am a deeply superficial person."

A lot of my artwork is influenced by Andy Warhol. I love the graphic look he uses, with simple yet bold lines and the personality he portrays in his subjects. 

One of my favorite subjects! Who doesn't love Marilyn?

Edie Sedgwick: I love this piece. It is so simple yet beautiful.

These flowers are so pretty, they just have to make you happy! And that is something that art should do, right? Okay, not all art is happy, but everyone should own a piece of artwork that brings them joy.

It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year

I made this when I was 9 years old for my brothers christmas decorations :) Hahahahah!

Words of Wisdom

Here are some words of wisdom I found about beauty... I found some of them quite inspiring :)

• Let your smile change the world, but don't let the world change your smile.
• She is clothed in strength and dignity, and she laughs without fear of the future. (Proverbs 31:25)
• Beauty is eternity gazing at itself in a mirror. (Khalil Gibran)
• She turned her can'ts into cans and her dreams into plans.
• I wonder how often in the past I may have missed the good in people because I pre-judged, based on differences?
• "Gimme that girl with her hair in a mess, sleepy little smile with her head on my chest. That't the you that I like best, gimme that girl." (Gimme that Girl by Joe Nichols)
• Give a girl the right shoes, and she can conquer the world. (Marilyn Monroe)
• To be yourself in a world that is constantly trying to make you something else is the greatest accomplishment. (Ralph Waldo Emerson)
• Imperfection is beauty, madness is genius, and it's better to be absolutely ridiculous than absolutely boring. (Marilyn Monroe)
• Beneath the makeup and behind the smile, I'm just a girl who wishes for the world. (Marilyn Monroe)
• I believe in pink. I believe that laughing is the best calorie burner. I believe in kissing, kissing a lot. I believe in being strong when everything seems to be going wrong. I believe that happy girls are the prettiest girls. I believe that tomorrow is another day and I believe in miracles. (Audrey Hepburn)
• For beautiful eyes, look for the good in others; for beautiful lips, speak only words of kindness; and for poise, walk with the knowledge that you are never alone. (Audrey Hepburn)

She is clothed in strength and dignity, and she laughs without fear of the future. (Proverbs 31:25)

For my first experiment with the theme of beauty, I am playing with watercolor, portraits, and glasses. Glasses fascinate me... especially to paint! I remember when I was little hearing about how kids were called "four-eyes," but I personally wish I wore glasses because I think they are so fun. That's only partly why I did this project, though. I like the way glasses distort the way we see people, and also the way they distort the world for them. Are glasses something people hide behind, or do they show confidence in their look? Beauty is about the way you see things, and glasses have a large effect on that. From an artistic standpoint, they change the shape of the face through the reflection in the glasses. Check out the way the cheek is extended past the side of the face because of the way the glass distorts the view! Also, I made the glasses the only thing in color to draw more attention to them, much in the same way glasses make someone unique.

Glasses Study, Part 1

11/2011

Watercolor

I love this one because you can see the innocence in this little girl. It shows what childhood should be all about. I also love her hair and all the shadows/highlights.

Glasses Study, Part 2

11/2011

Watercolor

This woman represents the idea of growing up. Her expression leaves some mystery, like the life ahead of her. I also like the intense shadows cast across the face here.

These girls portray their strength, their independence, and their confidence, which is what beauty should be all about. :)

"Things that matter most must never be at the mercy of things that matter least." -Goethe

In IB Art, the thing that matters most is developing a theme. I finally decided that I am going to explore the theme of beauty. It may seem superficial at first, but I don't simply want to draw pretty people, just to be clear. What is beauty in other cultures? What was beauty in other times? What is beauty? Is beauty important? I want to be able to find these answers, and maybe some meaning through my research and artwork. 

I starting searching, and here are some of the interesting things I found:

• According to generallythinking.com, adherence to social consensus + genetic fitness = physical beauty. Quite an interesting formula, I thought.
• According to the dictionary, beauty means:

1. the quality present in a thing or person that gives intense pleasure or deep satisfaction to the mind, whether arising from sensory manifestations (as shape, color, sound, etc.), a meaningful design or pattern, or something else (as a personality in which high spiritual qualities are manifest).
2. a beautiful person, especially a woman.
3. a beautiful thing, as a work of art or a building.
4. Often, beauties are something that is beautiful in nature or in some natural or artificial environment.
5. an individually pleasing or beautiful quality; grace; charm: a vivid blue area that is the one real beauty of the painting.

• According to the thesaurus, beauty is physical attractiveness. This is also known as...
• adorableness,allure, allurement,artistry,attraction,bloom,charm,class, comeliness,delicacy,elegance, exquisiteness,fairness,fascination, glamor, good looks,grace, handsomeness, loveliness,polish,pulchritude,refinement, shapeliness,style,symmetry, winsomeness
• According to a Dove Campaign that asked, "What exactly is beauty?" it was found that:
• Seventy-seven percent strongly agree that beauty can be achieved through attitude, spirit, and other attributes that have nothing to do with physical appearance.
• Eighty-nine percent strongly agree that a woman can be beautiful at any age.
• Eighty-five percent state that every woman has something about her that is beautiful.

As you can see, there are a lot of ways of defining it. So can you help me out? One of my projects I am planning to do is with words... and I want your words. What is beauty? Does beauty matter most or least?

-Sarah 

 

 

"Memory is a way of holding onto the things you love, the things you never want to lose."

Lost in Lost Lake

10/2011

Watercolor, ink, and pencil

This paining is from a picture taken at Camp Neyati. We hike out to "Lost Lake," lots of times at night, and sit on the hill. I love being at camp, and especially sitting by Lost Lake. It's so peaceful and nature stretches as far as you can see. Camp is definately the best week of my summer, so I had a lot of love for the place to put into my painting. The quote, "Memory is a way of holding onto the things you love, the things you never want to lose," perfectly describes all the time I have spent at Neyati. I have some of the best memories and amazing friends from my weeks at camp.

The technique/look of this painting was inspired by the artist Des Murphy. (You can see his work at reddogcards.com!) He puts a lot of his artwork on greeting cards, but I just loved the way he simplified everyday landscapes and used vibrant watercolors accented with ink. I tried to mimic this style in my painting. Also, the trees in the background of my painting are painted with a sponge to achieve the leafy look and the reflections in the water have a little bit of pencil to make them blurry.

When I look at this painting, I am taken to the hill looking over Lost Lake with people I love. I hope this painting takes you to somewhere you never want to leave, too.



"Give a girl the right shoes, and she can conquer the world."

Marilyn Monroe

10/2011

Watercolor and marker

Marilyn Monroe is a fascinating subject to draw. I love portraits in general, but photos of her have such fierce shadows and sharp lines. In addition, she is a face that culture commonly recognizes.

I used black watercolor to do the entire portrait of her. It was fun to do something very different than traditional, vivid watercolors. It was important to use a small brush, lots of water, many layers, and most importantly - control! The hardest part was to decide which shadows/lines made it into my painting and which I left as white space. The balance was important. With this in mind, I decided to put the most detail around the eyes because that is one of my strengths to draw and I wanted them to be a focal point in the piece. The film strip is black marker, and used as a symbol of her role in society.

Then And Now

Then

Self-portrait

2007

Charcoal

I happened to be going through old art work, and found this blast from the past. In seventh grade, the "self portrait project" was a big deal. We spent about a month drawing our grid, rough draft, tracing with the light table, shading, and writing these projects. The background is a journal of my life at the time... my interests, my best friends; I think I even wrote about how I love ice cream sundaes. I recall being beyond proud of my talents as a charcoal portraitist, and even won $50 in an art competition for it. As much as I loved it (and still do, somewhat...), I love even more how it shows my development as an artist.

What I learned in seventh grade about charcoal, and shading in general, seemed so complicated and hard to do. Now, I owe many thanks to my amazing art teacher who always pushed me to do my best and do my own work. I look at the streaky highlights in my hair, the hard edged lines of my nose, mouth, and hands, and can only think of ways to improve it. For a seventh grade standard, it's not too shabby. My hope is that you can see the improvement... :)

Now

Self-portrait

2011

Pen and acrylic

Here is my self-portrait I did at the beginning of the school year. It was an experiment based on some of Andy Warhol's early work with printing. It was kind of fun to try something new, and I enjoyed the ink drawing. I chose to draw a picture of me from prom because I felt so pretty with my dress, hair, and everything. I hadn't even chosen my theme of beauty, but I guess it relates! :)

I think I have done stronger pieces, and my work can be better than this. It was an experiment, though, and led to a lot of ideas. I like the flower ideas, too, with the words. It says "imperfection is beauty, maddness is genius, and it's better to be absolutely ridiculous than absolutely boring." Marilyn Monroe said it, and I love her, and that thought! The flowers represent my family, which are a big part of me, too.





The Beginning

Hey, I'm Sarah... I'm a senior in high school and in IB Art class. I am so excited and already loving it :) I do research, journal, and sketches in my sketchbook, but I'm making this blog to show others my art and most important thoughts! I hope you enjoy checking out what I have done, take some of my references, and maybe even get inspired yourself!
-Sarah