WEEK TWO - A

Today I began playing in the sand but rather than at the beach I was in my dorm room sitting at my desk. 

I began by pouring some sand on a black piece of construction paper. I wanted to see how the contrast looked like with the paper before I decided on trying to make a lightbox. I think the paper works great and creates a good contrast for the sand. The sand also has some black specs in it so it blends nicely with the paper. I used a paintbrush and began pushing the sand around trying to see how I can create values and shapes. 

To create a smooth surface I would use the edge of the brush and the tip to create the designs. I also found that using my fingers is the best way to get a cleared surface. 

I poured an even patch of sand and began trying to shape the patch into a face. I referenced my sketches from last week as I worked.

As I began to add the features to the face I started to have some problems. I don't want eyes. mouth, etc to just be black lines from the sand being pushed away but to rather have some shading and value to them. This is just a very rough look but I already wasn't a fan.

So I poured the sand back into my bucket and started fresh. I looked back into my research and the artists that use sand. I watched another one of Kseniya Simonova's America's Got Talent performances and saw how she illustrates people.

Her technique is the inverse of what I am trying to do. She has the light table be the main skin tone and the sand is added for the facial features. This technique will also help me fill in the paper so it is not just the black paper as the background. 

So I smoothed out a very thin patch of sand and tried to push the sand away to clear out the face. I was able to create the shape of the end and worked on the hair and ear.

I feel much more confident about this direction and I am going to continue adding and editing as I go along.