Lily Pond
30″ x 22″
marker
2004

There is a saying that graphic designers can’t draw. Well, we definitely aren’t illustrators, but for those of us who went to art school we had to have at least a somewhat promising portfolio of artwork in order to gain admittance. Here is one of those pieces for my portfolio I created to apply to transfer into RISD. My fascination with this interpreted still life was that you can see under, on, and above the water at the same time when you look at the pond. I was also experimenting with illustrating things in and out of focus using this particular medium.

Speaking of the medium, would you believe I actually did the majority of this piece with discarded and discontinued markers rescued from their fate by a family friend who was servicing an ad agency? A very thoughtful (and green!) move on his part, especially since I was a poor student at the time. However, this ultimately proved one of many obstacles later on when those markers ran out of color before I was done with them. But that’s a different story for another time =).

My sketches in preparation for this piece:

Okay, so maybe initial sketches are still sometimes…well, sketchy. I guess at times you just have to have a little faith that the scribble on the paper will become something a LOT better! hahaha