Aberystwyth University Art Portfolio

Sarida Scott

Observational Drawings
These are some observational drawings I drew from real objects that I arranged to form still life, most of which I used as coursework for my final IGCSE Visual Arts exam in May 2010.

Pencil drawing of different vegetables - 2B, 4B and 6B graphite pencils, 2010

Observational study of a yellow pepper with color pencils on brown sugar paper, 14 x 11 cm, 2010

Color pencil study chilies, onions and sliced tomatoes arranged on a table, 2010

Pen and ink study of a cabbage leaf with string, 2010

Color pencil study of a single chili pepper, 14 x 6 cm, 2010

Pencil drawing of a bundle of ginger roots tied with string, 4B and 6B pencils, 2010

Pencil study of my friend s feet I sat under a table to draw while she was working. 2B, 4B and 6B pencils, 20 x 21 cm, 2010

Pencil study of a wood Hanuman mask arranged on cloth, 2B, 3B and 6B pencils, 2010

Oil painting of a fishtail on a plate, 20 x 20 cm, 2010

Pencil drawing of three fishtails in a row, 2B and 4B pencils, 2010

Color pencil study of two mackerel tails on a plate, 2010

Pen and ink study of a Barbie doll arranged on some rocks at the beach, 2010

Oil painting of my Little Mermaid Barbie doll, 2010

Etching of my Barbie doll with black oil paint, 2010

Color pencil study of my eyes while looking in the mirror, 14 x 6 cm, 2011

Selfportrait with color pencils on brown sugar paper, 2011

Selfportrait with color pencils on brown sugar paper, 2011

Oil bar study of a single tomato on brown sugar paper, 2010

Pen and ink study of vegetables on a cutting board and protruding from plastic bags, 2010

Sketchbook Pages
The following (except for the first 9 slides) are pages from by sketchbooks which I use for my IB Visual Arts course, and which show my research of artists and their style as well as other cultures and themes, and the final pieces I have created as a result of that research.

Initial idea sketch for my IGCSE final art piece, 2010. My topic was Mythical Creatures

Development and improvements to the idea that I chose

Further developments to the composition of the final piece

Line drawing of the final piece

Color pencil mock up of what the final piece would look like

My IGCSE final piece, done with oil paint on canvas, 2010

Some changes that I made to the completed final piece

Japanese Theme
At the beginning of the school year I did a lot of research on the Japanese culture because I find it highly interesting and diverse, and I created several final artwork pieces based on my research on Japanese artists, their style and the Japanese culture and tradition.

Research page on an 18th century Japanese artist, Kitagawa Utamaro, 2011

Further research on Utamaro s work and it s relation to the geishas and courtesans of 18th century Japan

Some research on Van Gogh s artwork inspired by Utamaro s woodblock prints, and a media test in pastel pencil

More media tests in oil paint and pastel pencil from a section of Utamaro s work

Title: Bijin na Onesan (Beautiful Big Sister) Size: 38.5 x 25 cm Year: 2011 Woodcut in black oilblock ink based on my research of Utamaro s work

Title: The Escape Size: 33 x 37 cm Year: 2011 Pastel pencil triptych based on my research of Utamaro s work

Research page on a contemporary Japanese artist, Morita Rieko, who creates paintings of geishas and maiko (apprentice geisha)

Continuation of the previous page, with more research into the cultural aspects of Japan, and a media test of one of Morita Rieko s work in color pencil

Some initial ideas for a final piece based on Morita Rieko s artwork and my interpretations of geishas in Japan

My chosen idea and some revisions to the composition and layout

More development on the layout of the piece and adjustments to the position of the three figures in the piece

Pencil mock-up of the edited final piece and a media test in color pencil to practice drawing the temple which I decided to use in the background

Title: Sunny Day at Todai-ji Size: 38.5 x 57 cm Detailed color pencil piece inspired by Morita Rieko s work and relating to Japan s cultural icon of geishas and rich history of Buddhist temples. Todai-ji is the name of a very old and famous temple in Japan deeply connected to the country s history

Research page on American artist Norman Rockwell, with some analysis of his style, and a copy of his piece Ann-Margaret in color pencil on white sugar paper

A page of some ideas for a new final piece based on Rockwell s work. I took photographs of my friend Emma wearing a kimono which I used as the composition for my piece, and did some editing with Photoshop below

More editing of my chosen composition in Photoshop

Some practice with getting the composition right using my chosen media of color pencils, and practice with getting the right facial expression

Title: Portrait of Emma Russell Size: 38 x 46 cm Detailed color pencil portrait of my friend Emma, inspired by Norman Rockwell s style and my ideas of juxtaposition by portraying a European person in traditional Japanese (Asian) clothing

Faces and Emotions Theme

After I finished with my Japanese theme, I moved on to do human faces and expressions because it s one of the themes I m most interested in, and I love capturing different facial expressions as well as portraying people s faces and what makes them unique.

Introduction to my Faces theme and testing a technique that I called the fading out technique where I focus on a certain part of the face and fade the rest of the image out

Continuation of the previous page, with some editing of my eye color in Photoshop to test the effect

Research on contemporary American artist Drew Struzan, who is famous for creating movie posters for Harry Potter, Indiana Jones, Star Wars and many others, with an analysis of his style and a media test in color pencil of a section of his poster for Harry Potter and the Philosopher s Stone

Initial ideas for a new final piece, using photos I took of my own eyes making different expressions, and a paper test to see the effects of the same color pencils on different types of paper

Title: Mixed Emotions Size: 41 x 24 cm Year: July 2011

Color pencil drawing of my eyes inspired by the fact that just one expression of the eyes can convey so many different emotions, such as this one which can be interpreted as shock, joy or even fear

Evaluation of the previous piece with ideas for improvements, and some further ideas for two new final pieces on capturing the diversity of emotions conveyed through our eyes, again from photos I took of my own eyes

Photoshopping to change the color of my pupils as part of my idea to see if eye color affects people s perception of the emotion being conveyed. Some research into emotions associated with different colors and finalization of my next two pieces

Title: Anger Size: 41 x 20 cm Year: July 2011

Color pencil study of my eyes with pupils edited to be red because this color is most associated with emotions such as anger and violence. The idea behind it was to see whether changing the eye color to a color with certain associated emotions will affect people s perception of it

Title: Happiness Size: 38 x 22 cm Year: July 2011

Color pencil piece of my eyes with pupils edited to be blue because this color is usually associated with peacefulness, calmness and happiness

A page about an old woman who lives near me, who I took pictures of and decided to use as compositions for some new final pieces that capture her emotions

Decision on the composition for the final piece, with some editing in Photoshop to focus the piece on the old woman s face and fade the rest of it to black

Testing the fading out effect on brown and black sugar paper, and another test using oil paint on white canvas. I chose to use the brown sugar paper because it picked up the different hues of skin color, brown and black better

Composition ideas for a second piece of the old woman. The story behind it is that she lives alone and is very lonely, so I wanted to capture the emotions of sadness and isolation she feels. Some editing of the color in Photoshop below

Further editing of the color saturation of the photograph I took along with a media test of oil paint on black canvas to see if it made the colors stand out more than on white canvas

Title: Isolation Year: November 2011 Detailed color pencil study of the old woman and her feelings of sadness and loneliness, with the edges fading to black to reflect the concept of isolation

Title: Alone Size: 106 x 66 cm Year: November 2011

Oil painting of the old woman s eyes capturing her emotions of loneliness and feeling alone

Research page on a contemporary Chinese artist Hung Liu, who creates artwork about the loss of historic memory in China and uses a unique technique of dripping linseed oil and turpentine on the canvas to represent emotions

Research on a contemporary Vietnamese artist named Bui Huu Hung, whose artwork portrays Vietnamese women in difficult situations, and has a very recognizable style of a colorful plain background with an object behind, usually a personal item of importance to the figure

A page explaining about how the old woman I met has a collection of old clay teapots that were very important to her, and I wanted to use them for some new final pieces, inspired by how Bui Huu Hung portrays his women with personal objects

Developments to the composition of the final piece, with ideas to use some floral patterns from a Thai silk sarong that the old woman wears as part of the piece, as it is very commonly worn by older people in Thailand

Finalizations to the final piece with some ideas for new final pieces below

Title: Teapots of a Lonely Woman Year: 2011

End of Portfolio