AJ by A.J.

No. 1

AJYates — 2014-10-23 18:13:48 UTC

Upside-down; oops! First piece. Graphite contour drawing onto a key-chain superimposed onto a watercolor background in three colors. Uses warm colors. Utilizes stylistic contrast between the precision of the contour and the vagueness of the background. Also has contrast between the colored background and the shades of grey in the key. Generally rectangular shapes, moderate value, and moderate texture in the background. The emphasis of the piece is on the keys. Artist's scores: 8, 10, 10, 9

A Scene from Revelation

AJYates — 2014-12-08 19:14:59 UTC

Second Piece. Acrylic. Like most of my pieces, this focuses on stylistic contrast, but instead of vagueness versus precision, this focuses order versus randomness. The piece is originally based on Revelation 17:3-5. The elements of art explored mainly in this piece are shape and color; the shapes are rectangular, and the colors are mostly warm, excepting the purple in the top-right and the center. The emphasis is on the center, which varies from the order of the rest of the piece. The colors on the inside match the colors on the outside and were layered, in order, purple, orange, red, orange, and purple. Artist's scores: 9, 9, 8, 10

In the Swamp

AJYates — 2014-12-19 19:08:26 UTC

The third piece. Based on a picture I took in a swamp (hence the title). Like the first piece, this focuses on precision versus vague impressions. Ink wash with pen and ink. Color is relatively unimportant, just shades of gray. Lines are scattered throughout to represent trees. Also radial lines to represent Dwarf Palmettos. Four curved lines representing branches crossing the picture. Emphasis on the tree and the branches. Artist's scores: 10, 9, 10, 10

Stress

AJYates — 2014-12-21 18:17:58 UTC

Fourth piece. Acrylic and watercolor. Designed to reflect my emotions approaching the end of the semester. Motion is from right to left, contrary to natural movement of an English-speaker's eye. This is achieved by making the the circles smaller on the left than the right and by making the far right appear as an arrow(ish). Shape is the most important element of art in this piece, but color is also important; the circles are outlined in the colors of the rainbow in order of highest frequency to lowest frequency from right to left. The purple in the far right is contrasted with a border of green. The majority of the background is red, which, despite a low frequency, is considered a high-energy color and contributes to the theme of the piece. A faded dotted line of green follows from the far-right through the center of the piece. Artist's scores: 9, 8, 7, 8

The Breakdown

AJYates — 2015-01-22 19:32:29 UTC

Chalk pastel in three colors: red, green, and blue. No two adjacent sections share a color (that was a bit difficult to get, but I got it). Consists of radial lines and circles. Quasi-fractal with each iteration dividing the length in half.

tw:missing

AJYates — 2015-03-04 19:14:14 UTC

Artist's interpretation of a panic attack in public; kind of a political piece with in support of the use of trigger warnings. Graphite. Four human figures, one near the center is focus. All four are made anonymous by the absence of a face. The three figures to the side are given direction guidelines for emphasis, but the figure in the middle has none as the direction they are looking is arbitrary. The figure in the center is held by metaphysical black serpentine objects, one of which is entering the scene through the person's phone. For contrast, two white lines run perpendicular to each other in the center of the piece. The three figures on the periphery of the image are left completely without detail as the only necessary aspect of them is their focus away from the person in the center. The strokes of the shading are haphazard in order to skew the movement of the piece with the exception of the benches. The location is a generalization of a subway. Contrast is created with the detail of the figure in the center and the lack thereof of the figures toward the edges. There is also contrast between the relatively dark shading of the windows and floor and the light/absence of shading of the benches and the figures. The serpentine objects are the darkest objects in the piece, and they all move to and/or around the figure in the center.

Hunting and Gathering

AJYates — 2015-03-04 19:44:54 UTC

A representation of gender roles in modern and ancient society. Acrylic on canvas. Acrylic in the center diluted with water. Four colors were used in the making of this piece: blue, green, red, and white. The white was used to make a red-pink color. Pink and blue

willcotton74 — 2015-03-19 22:25:08 UTC

FTM

AJYates — 2015-03-19 23:55:30 UTC

Watercolor and graphite. Representation of female-to-male transgenderism. The blue semicircle on the right side of the piece has clear strokes in spiral patterns towards the edges of the piece; this draws the motion of the piece away from the center. The focus of the piece is on the circle in the center, which takes up a large portion of the piece. The cool, dark colors of the background on the left side contrast in both direction and pattern with the with the warm, light colors of the right side of the piece. The straight lines of the background also contrast with the the curved line of the focus and the radial curved lines of the blue piece on the right. The watercolor was applied with wet-on-wet technique. The first layer of graphite created a guideline for the watercolor, which I left in for contrast, and the second layer of graphite was applied on top of the watercolor afterwards.

Hunting and gathering

AJYates — 2015-03-20 15:19:41 UTC