Episcopal School of Jacksonville issued the following announcement on Mar. 11.
The AP Drawing Portfolio is an intensive course, requiring students to produce art at the college level. Students compile a portfolio of 15-20 original artworks demonstrating mastery in composition, technique, and concept. They pursue the WHY behind their own artistic process and participate in weekly critiques of classmates’ work, as well as submit completed pieces approximately every two weeks. Be sure to mark your calendar for the Senior AP Art Portfolio Show in the Berg Gallery on the evening of April 24.
"Ally has been a vital part of the art studios of Episcopal every year since enrollment. She consistently has had work on display around campus, including the Head of School Gallery, the Library Gallery, Front Office, and Munnerlyn Semester Shows," said instructor Rebecca Hoadley. "Ally’s paintings reveal her technical skills in color theory, paint application, and composition. Her paintings draw the viewer into a world of memories that she invites you to enjoy through her eyes. Truly a delight, Ally is quite an accomplished artist because of her dedication to hard work, study, and process!"
What is the central idea of your concentration?
The central idea of my concentration is to convey the importance of nature through my eyes and my experiences. I chose to paint my favorite photos from nature because I find that I am the happiest when I am immersed in the outdoors and I want other people to derive the same joy from looking at my paintings and find peace and level of calm just from looking at the landscapes.
How does your work demonstrate the exploration of your idea?
My work demonstrates my idea of finding peace and happiness in nature because of the scenes that I choose to paint and how I paint them. The majority of the landscapes that I paint are very bright and happy colors or they have a more muted tone to convey the calm and serenity that can be found when exploring outside.
Can you explain your artistic process? Where do you gain inspiration?
When painting I begin with an underpainting with yellow ochre to block in the basic shapes and then use burnt sienna to begin blocking in the darker values and textures. After this, I begin to put in color using thinner layers of paint at first, and then building up to create a more layered look to the painting. My favorite colors to use in a painting are french ultramarine mixed with cadmium yellow medium to create rich foresty greens, naples yellow, burnt sienna, and burnt umber. I love to use rounded brushes of varying sizes. My inspiration to paint mostly strikes late at night, and I often paint the most efficiently when watching a TV show I have seen before, such as Gilmore Girls or How I Met your Mother.
What do you hope the viewer will see in your artwork?
I hope that when people look at my artwork it gives them a sense of calm and inspires them to go out into nature themselves and discover what the world has to offer.
How long have you been making art? And when did you start to feel independent and like you were truly making your own work?
I have been making art ever since I was a child but I don't feel like I truly started creating my own work until middle school or freshman year. I started to feel independent in my work towards the end of sophomore year when we were given more free reign in what we wanted to work on and ever since then I have been painting whatever truly speaks to me and inspires me.
Original source can be found here.
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