ARTIST STATEMENT

When I’m having a fogged mind and I can’t get my thoughts clear, that’s when I begin to work on my portraits.  Whatever I’m working on really makes me think about different issues I’m struggling with, and it helps me sort things out and relieve stress. I usually prefer to draw cartoon objects, such as a disney character or an animated character and then turn those unnatural looking objects into something that looks like it has come to life. I typically draw my most favorite portraits with colored pencil, but I use many different colors to adapt to the shadows and features to make it look more real. I start off my sketching the object I want to draw to make sure I don’t mess up and start all over again, and then I start filling it in by using the lightest pencil color that is at the opposite end of the color wheel of the color I want to show through at the end, and then I gradually transition the color that I want the object’s color to be. The reason why I use this technique is because it shows the true color of what I want, and it grabs the viewer’s eye. It usually takes me 2 days to a month to make a piece that I really like. I’m more of a slower artist, which is okay because I’m a perfectionist when it comes to my drawings. My most recent obsession is the art of posing. My 12 piece concentration is based on the art of posing along with the facial expressions of what they are feeling. I have always had a passion for fashion and I try to capture my love for it through photography and double color exposure.

Annie Allen