Contemporary Drawing Practices

Saturday, August 16, 2025

Emily Lacour, Student Work

Babygirl

Charcoal and gesso on paper, yarn, fabric installed on the wall.

12' x 5' x 3"

Lilly Reidy, Student Work

First drawing completed in class.

Transform blank white paper into a drawing.

Counts as Transformation #1

Charcoal and gesso on paper

36" x 24"

Overwhelmed

Charcoal and gesso on paper

36" x 24"

Transformation Number 2

I wanted to keep the figure present in a new atmosphere. I leaned into mark-making to create a texture that portrays a sense of being overwhelmed and consumed. I avoided adding color because I felt that the black and white captured the raw emotion I intended to showcase. In this piece, I covered the entire previous background to give the piece room to transform in the future. I think the added texture really helped the piece long-term and maintaining a focus on the ambiguous figure worked in terms of establishing a focal point for the piece. The light coming from the figures back did not turn out how I intended and seems to conflict with the pattern of the marks made throughout the entirety of the piece. I learned how to build texture with gesso in this transformation.

Angry

Charcoal, gesso, paint on paper

36" x 24"

Transformation Number 3

I decided to change the entire orientation of the piece by flipping it from horizontal to vertical. The previous pieces' overwhelming nature is something I wanted to use color to emphasize. I decided to only add red in addition to black and white because I felt that anger is something that ties well to being overwhelmed. I did not give the figure a face and instead continued my pattern of mark-making to give the figure a relatable sense of being to any viewer. I think that leaving the figure floating in a space of textured marks worked for the nature of the composition and that the use of red balanced the piece well. I learned how to blend charcoal with gesso in a way that provides deep shadows in this piece.

Splitting

Charcoal, gesso, paint on paper

36" x 24"

Transformation Number 4

I embraced the color red. I wanted to steer away from a neutral background that emphasized the figure and focused more on building on top of the texture already created within the piece to create something that takes time to view and contextualize. I decided to keep the pattern of cross-hatching but wanted to add elements that made the piece feel like it was jumping out from the wall in a sense. I tried, once again, to use white to portray light coming from within which I ultimately do not think worked for the piece. I do think that splitting the figure gave the piece a new meaning which I enjoyed. I learned how to alter the color of red in order to create a similarly colored figure on top of the same color background in this piece.

Trapped

Charcoal, gesso, paint on paper

36" x 24"

Transformation Number 5

I wanted to cover up the anger portrayed within the previous pieces. I really struggled with the aesthetic of the purple on top of red because it is just not visually appealing. To resolve this I used different types of purple to more heavily and fully cover the red. The decision to leave bits of red was not an initial thought, but as the piece transformed I discovered that hints of red tied into the idea of covering something up. I add hands pushing on the walls of the piece to further the idea of being consumed and more so trapped. I left the figure split because it pushed the narrative of trying to be something that you do not really feel that you are. I think the added text both helped and hindered the piece. While, personally I enjoy adding text to compositions to give the piece a personal anecdote I think it may feel like an unnecessary justification of the theme for the piece. In this piece, I learned that from creating layers of texture it is possible to scratch through the layers to find previous colors to create shapes which is how I created the hands. This lends to the idea of being trapped behind something which I think is a good medium to use for the piece specifically.

Ruth Coffman, Student Work

Transformation 1

First marks made on white paper. Completed in class.

Gesso and paper

36" x 24"

Transformation 2

Interiors

36" x 24"

For this transformation, I tried a new process of drawing on tracing paper and then pasting it with gesso, drawing-side down, to the large piece of paper. I was very pleased with the results of this process and I am excited to carry it with me into the future. Additionally, I enjoyed making many similar drawings of the same subject matter. It creates a rhythm to the work that I find interesting.

Transformation 3

Interiors (single chair)

36" x 24"

For this transformation, I continued layering gesso and tracing paper, but this time I did not draw on the tracing paper. I wanted to explore negative space, so I kept one little chair in the top corner and covered everything else. I like the haziness that this process produced and I enjoyed the wrinkles in the gesso and tracing paper created. I would have liked to add a few more layers, but for the sake of time I kept it to two layers. By this point, the surface became very thick and stiff, holding its shape off the wall which was exciting.

Transformation 4

Chair

38" x 24"

This transformation is my favorite visually, but it was my least favorite process. First, I painted the entire surface black, and then cut out the shape of the chair. To carry all the pieces on to the next transformation, I had to figure out what to do with a ton of extra material. I cut it into strips and glued them to the back of the chair, which lifted it off the wall a bit and created an interesting shadow. With the rest of the remnants, I created an environment for the chair with two white squares. I wish that I had been more precise cutting the strips because it was very difficult to make them line up with the chair outline. Overall, I enjoyed the process of translating a three-dimensional object to a two-dimensional silhouette.

Transformation 5

Chair (Enshrined)

42" x 26"

For my final transformation, I encased the chair in a layer of tracing paper and combined it with the brown paper I used to paint the chair on for the previous transformation. I think the addition of brown worked nicely in this piece, but I am not entirely happy with how the tracing paper looks in this final version. I wanted to adhere the tracing paper somehow, but I did not want to use gesso because I didn't want to obscure the black and brown of the chair and the paper. I took a lot of risks with this transformation, which I am proud of myself for doing.

Ruth Coffman, Student Work

Frank Porter

Tea stained cotton, sheer nylon, thread, fabric marker

79"x69"x22"

Memory and family are frequent subjects of my work, and in frank porter, I explore how I mourn and remember my grandfather. My grandfather died when I was quite young, and I have spent far more of my life without him than I did knowing him. With such few clear memories of him, each one is a treasure that I wanted to capture in this work. The sheer curtain hanging above is a shroud between reality and memory, pulled back for a moment to reveal what time does to everything. My fabric drawings are a collection of the few objects and moments that I retain about my grandfather: the house he always showed me how to draw, his can of diet coke, his old bb gun that my brother and I lost in the woods one day, a bluegill caught on a cane pole, a photo him when he was young. The sheer drawings are hazy versions of these things touched by time. Others memories float above, caught for a moment in the net of a dream. In this piece, I invite others to visit their own loved ones in the memory-spaces of their minds.

In process #1, using tea to stain the cotton fabric.

In process #2, drawing with fabric marker.

In process #3 - drawing with fabric marker.

Reflection/Notes:

I used tea to stain the cotton fabric. I wanted to use fabric because I felt the tactile quality and the association we have with this material visually communicates moments of nostalgia. I also wanted a sense of time and the layering of fabric allowed me to achieve this concept.

Sunday, August 10, 2025

Brandon Santiago, Student Work

Finding My Way

Paper, Fabric, Charcoal, Paint, Rope, Wood

Installed on the wall

3' x 5.5' x 2"

In Process:

Kariel Rivera, Student Work

Resilience

Digital drawings, printed, stitched with thread

30" x 26"

Statement:

My work explores the interplay between memory, healing, and identity through the lens of fragmentation and repair. I aim to communicate the beauty and complexity of healing, showing how fragmented experiences can unite into something uniquely profound and cohesive. This work invites viewers to reflect on their own journeys of breaking and rebuilding, where chaos and resilience coexist.

The drawing, Resilience, is a compilation of drawings that reflect a loneliness and isolation. The scribble marks are suggestive of anxiety and the turmoil of an unsettled mind. Many copies are torn apart and put back together again through the act of sewing, a sense of mending. The chaotic arrangement of sewn pieces, placed randomly and sometimes overlapping, mirrors the disorder of an anxious mind while embodying the act of repair and reassembly. The result is a piece that feels torn from a larger, unseen whole, reinforcing themes of disruption and transformation.

In Process:

Screen Shot of the digital drawings.

One of the many arrangements. 20" x 18"

Reflection/Notes:

I was inspired by kintsugi, the Japanese art of mending broken pottery with lacquer mixed with powdered gold. I am drawn to its symbolic resonance with the way painful memories can become integral to our growth and self-understanding. Kintsugi embodies the idea that the process of repair can create something more beautiful and meaningful than the original.

In the beginning, I planned to experiment with ceramic resin, painting, and physically breaking pieces to reassemble them. However, this approach felt detached from my personal experience. Shifting mediums allowed me to preserve the essence of fragmentation and reconstruction while expressing something more personal and emotional.

The project evolved further through an act of literal fragmentation. I printed multiple copies of these illustrations in varying sizes, tearing them apart and sewing them back together. Some reconstructed pieces combine fragments from different color schemes, creating new compositions.