Abstraction Study #1

November 1, 2013

For my Art Project, I took the advice of my niece, and decided to study my “napkin doodles”. I will do so through a series of sketches to discover if there is a form of art behind them. I have been doodling those abstract shapes as long as I can remember and never thought that there was anything special about them until some people started to tell me that some of them were very elaborate and had a sculptural quality.

During my last year of high school, many of my schoolmates asked me for some of my little sketches as souvenirs. Maybe they saw in them something that I failed to see throughout the years. Also recently, while doing some research on new upcoming artists, I came across the work of Shantell Martin, a young English artist living in New York. When asked how she usually starts one of her pieces, she answered: “I follow the pen”. That made me smile because I go through a similar process.

The image above is taken from a black and white pen and ink sketch that was later on digitized to add colors and special effects. This study will consist of approximately 8 to 10 sessions where I will further deconstruct this sketch until I come to the essence of the drawing. This series of sketches will culminate into a final drawing/painting. The medium will be chosen as we go but the style will be abstract. This is definitely a far cry from my typical landscapes.