Traditional Art 2020
Welcome to my traditional art portfolio! On this page I have displayed the works of art that I have created during the end of 2019 and into 2020.
Enjoy :)
- Kirsten McAuley, artist
Into The Wild: Bengal Tiger
Into The Wild: Tiger
November 2019
Pencil crayon, white acrylic & ink on paper
5th year artist portfolio piece
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Throughout my career as an artist, I have always found the most enjoyment while doing realistic drawings using pencil crayons as my medium of choice. This piece is a study of a bengal tiger and I used a reference to ensure that I did not forget any essential details. The most challenging part of this drawing to do was making sure the contrast was high enough between the face of the tiger and the body of the tiger, while keeping the oranges bold. To achieve this I used white ink to go back into the final drawing to brighten up the face so that the face was the focal point of the picture. I believe that this drawing is very successful as I have been told by other people that the tiger looks photorealistic, which was what I intended to achieve with this drawing.
Even though this drawing does not have a strong emotional meaning behind it, I believe that it shows my personal growth as an artist effectively. When I first began doing realistic drawings I was not able to achieve the same amount of detail that I did in this drawing. I believe that as I’ve matured as an artist I have developed a much better eye for very small details and this is what has allowed the quality of my drawings to improve significantly between each of these drawings that I do.
Since I am a 5th year art student and am currently putting together several different portfolios for my post secondary applications, I have been working on several different types of pieces. This drawing will be submitted as one of my choice pieces. I believe that this drawing will help me get accepted into my program as it demonstrates that I can draw realistically.
The process....
Digital Art: European Monuments
European Monuments: Big Ben & Arc de Triomphe
Digital art drawn on an IPad Pro
October 2019
5th year artist portfolio piece
Throughout the past 18 years of my life I have been fortunate enough to have the opportunity to travel to Europe several times. So far I have been to Italy, France, and England. Each time that I have travelled to Europe I am more amazed by the architecture. The detail in both the older buildings and monuments that are located throughout Europe amaze me as you can tell that the artists and architects put a lot of effort into these buildings.
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The drawing of “Big Ben” was the first digital drawing that I have ever done and I found it difficult to do a straight line so that is why the drawing has very messy linework. I was also not able to achieve a large amount of detail on both of these pieces as I was not extremely comfortable with the medium. Despite the lack of detail, I believe that the messy linework in these pieces add a unique stylized look.
These pieces will be included in my post secondary applications as they show my ability to draw building facades using perspective drawing methods. As I am applying for architecture and interior design programs, my ability to be able to draw using different perspectives makes me a more desirable candidate for the program.
Into The Wild: Bluejay
Into the Wild: Bluejay
Pencil crayon, white acrylic, and ink on paper
December 2019
5th year artist portfolio piece
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Throughout my career as an artist, I have always found the most enjoyment while doing realistic drawings using pencil crayons as my medium of choice. This piece is a study of a bluejay done using traditional pencil crayon blending techniques. I used a reference to ensure that I did not forget any essential details. The most challenging part of this drawing to do was making sure to capture the movement of the bluejay’s wings and to use the right shades of blues to colour it. It was challenging to keep the same movement as the reference, however after awhile of trying different techniques, smudging some white with grey made the top wings appear to be in motion. As far as the colours went, I spent approximately two hours on a Monday night testing 100 different blue pencil crayons to leave me with 6 that were the perfect shades. I believe that overall this piece is very successful and is so beautiful to look at.
I created this drawing for my Grandmother who is currently in the hospice as she loves blue jays (both the baseball team and the bird). Blue Jays are said to be symbols of intelligence, fearlessness, communication, and are said to provide one with a feeling of protection and love. My grandma is one of the strongest women I have in my life and continues to amaze me everyday. This drawing means a lot to me as my Grandma loves this drawing. I believe that this might be one of my favourite pieces that I have done because I think that it is beautiful to look at and holds so much meaning to me.
Since I am a 5th year art student and am currently putting together several different portfolios for my post secondary applications, I have been working on several different types of pieces. This drawing will be submitted as one of my choice pieces. I believe that this drawing will help me get accepted into my program as it demonstrates that I can draw realistically while using bright colours.
Into the Wild: Cheetah
Into the Wild: Cheetah
Pencil crayon & white acrylic on paper
September 2019
5th year artist portfolio piece
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Throughout my career as an artist, I have always found the most enjoyment while doing realistic drawings using pencil crayons as my medium of choice. This piece is a study of a cheetah done using various cross hatching techniques. I used a reference to ensure that I did not forget any essential details. The most challenging part of this drawing to do was making sure that the cross hatching was not extremely noticeable so that the fur did not appear too scruffy. I believe that I was able to do this to an extent, however I believe that I could have made the fur less scruffy in appearance on the cheetah’s back. I think that if I would have done this the fur would have looked more realistic. Despite this small area for improvement, I believe that overall this piece is successful, especially considering that this was my first attempt at drawing a wildcat realistically.
Even though this drawing does not have a strong emotional meaning behind it, it shows that I am able to use techniques such as cross hatching to create realistic pieces. I think that this is an important piece as it shows that I am able to step out of my comfort zone and experiment with different drawing techniques.
Since I am a 5th year art student and am currently putting together several different portfolios for my post secondary applications, I have been working on several different types of pieces. This drawing will be submitted as one of my choice pieces. I believe that this drawing will help me get accepted into my program as it demonstrates that I can draw realistically while using unconventional realism techniques.
Floral Arrangement No. 2
Floral Arrangement No. 2
Copic marker and black ink on paper
November 2019
5th year artist portfolio piece
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A Place Called Home
A Place Called Home
Graphite & white ink on paper
January 2019
Required portfolio piece for Ryerson University (RSID)
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In the future my goal is to be an interior designer or architect so I have applied to various programs in these areas. I applied to Georgian college, Conestoga college, Ryerson University, and the University of Toronto. For Ryerson University (Ryerson School of Interior Design) one of the required portfolio pieces was to draw a still life of a chair that was placed in an interior space. This piece was to be done using graphite as the medium.
This piece was fairly simple but there were some parts that I had some difficulty completing. The first challenge that I faced was working with graphite. Over the past couple years I have stopped using graphite as my preferred medium because I find doing black and grey pieces boring and not my personal style. However, after playing around with some shading I managed to quickly grasp how to achieve a realistic look. Another aspect of this drawing that was challenging was recreating the patterns accuratley on the carpet, the curtains, and the furniture. This was difficult because the patterns on these items are intricate. Overall, I believe that this piece turned out well and I will be submitting this as one of my portfolio pieces.
3 Point Perspective: Cityscape (daytime)
3 Point Perspective: Cityscape (daytime)
Alcohol based marker on paper
September 2019
5th year artist portfolio piece
Still Life
Still Life
Pencil crayon & white ink on paper
January 2020
Required portfolio piece for Georgian College (BID)
In the future my goal is to be an interior designer or architect so I have applied to various programs in these areas. I applied to Georgian college, Conestoga college, Ryerson University, and the University of Toronto. For Georgian college one of the required portfolio pieces was to draw a still life that consisted of a teacup, a saucer, a book, a glass vessel and a silver candle stick. However the teacup could not be placed on the saucer and everything was meant to be drawn from life with colour.
This piece definitely challenged my abilities as an artist because the concept seems simple but in reality this piece puts multiple skill areas to the test. In this piece the college was looking to see if one was able to draw accurate shadows, reflections, and glares. The most challenging part of this piece to do was the white backdrop. This was challenging as there was so many creases and shading creases accurately is not as simple as it appears. However, I believe that this piece is successful as the colours are vibrant and the silver candle stick shows accurate reflections.
Studio Space
Chairs
Chairs
Alcohol based marker & white acrylic on paper
November 2019
5th year portfolio piece
Studio Space
Alcohol based marker on paper
January 2019
Required portfolio piece for Georgian and Conestoga College
(BID)
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In the future my goal is to be an interior designer or architect so I have applied to various programs in these areas. I applied to Georgian college, Conestoga college, Ryerson University, and the University of Toronto. For both of the colleges one of the required portfolio pieces was to draw an interior space that included an architectural element. In the interior space above, the vaulted ceilings with sky lights and various windows are the architectural elements.
This space is designed based on what my dream art studio/ work space would be. When I am creating art or doing my work I like to be surrounded by natural light and nature. I enjoy creating works of art that have elements of nature in them so naturally I enjoy being able to take inspiration from nature while I'm working.