…making contact with paper

Back before i started i.d. a was dabbling in illustration/animation, but never pursued it cuz i wasn’t up to par and lacked the self confidence to think i could make it into the program (SJSU has one of the best illustration/animation programs, as their graduates go on to work for ILM/Pixar/Disney/EA Sports/etc)

I took their intro to illustration class with one of the greatest instructors ever, John Clapp. He taught us 3 things that we would take to our graves: 1) Contrast is the meaning of life 2) Shadows are your friend 3) When in doubt, squint…

The following was one of my main projects, a photorealstic sketch using only dense charcoal and rubber kneaded eraser…we used a subtractive process where you start with a black base and then erase out the rendering, playing with contrast tone…I struggled so hard with this project and my final (a self portrait), as well as life drawing in general…

Some background on the photo i referenced, i forgot who the photographer was but i think was taken during the Great Depression of a farmer or field worker, he was blocking his face with his worn down hand, probably embarassed and distraught…i never finished this rendering, it was one of those work in progress projects, i gave it to my sister…