Unit 5 - Daily Acts | artist-portfolio

Unit 5 - Daily Acts

Day 1

Day 2

Day 3

Day 4

Day 5

Day 6

Day 7

Day 8

Day 9

Day 10

Day 11

Day 12

Day 13

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Day 15

Day 16

Day 17

Day 18

Day 19

Day 20

Day 21

Day 22

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Day 25

My Hair. My Identity.

Coloured Pencil

16.2cm x 20.9cm each

February 2016

My Hair. My Identity. includes a series of twenty five pieces of different womens hairstyles done in coloured pencil, inspired by the artist Brittany Schall. The piece symbolizes a woman’s identity and cultural history. The hairstyles drawn come from women who come from different countries and cultural backgrounds which can be seen through their hair. Often times when seeing someone’s hair, a face can be triggered from imagination which is why these women's faces are left blank.

For this piece, I had researched the technique I would need for drawing hair realistically with coloured pencils, then I applied it to all my pieces. I felt my own technique develop as I continued on doing a piece every day. Originally, each piece would have taken me about two and a half hours to three hours to complete, as I would have to search for inspiration on a hairstyle, then I would need to outline it, figure out the colour tones and hues I wanted, and create. However, I was able to complete them faster and limit myself to about an hour and a half or two hours as I continued the challenge. Originally, I also had to print out the image, then mark out sections of hair using a black marker so I could figure out how to outline my drawing, however, about half way through the challenge, I was able to do the outlines without needing the marker. The general technique that I used throughout all my pieces is to select a mix of lighter and darker tones for each hair colour, then begin with laying down the lightest hue for the section (I worked section by section), then I would begin, starting at the ends, with the next darker shade or hue and using a flicking motion, draw thin lines towards the center of the strands or the sections which hit the light in order to create the highlights and shadows. I knew that applying more pressure with the colour pencil wouldn’t make it darker as that would change saturation, so I would continue to build with darker shades until I created the overall colour that I wanted or that matched the hair colour of the pictures.