My style exploration project honed in on my love for warm colors and line work. These are both things I don't necessary add to my work and so I made a conscious effort to incorporate this thinking into my final project. The exercises and personal paintings I've done since taking both Dylan and Peggy's classes have started to fill my instagram feed (@veridastudio) and I feel a sense of "aaahhhh" when I see them together. Consistency and cohesiveness has never been an instagram strength of mine and I think this workshop has allowed me to focus a little on what I like and build upon it.

Exercise 1: 25 lines

WORKSHOP PROJECT: 5 Exercises plus Style Explore - image 1 - student project

I started with swatches of warm colors which gave me a framework. It was fun to find 25 unique ways to fill the spaces while balancing line weight, curvy/straight, and white space vs. filled across the page. I think this would make for a good warm up activity for future projects as I could tell I got more creative and bold with the lines as I moved through the piece.

Exercise 2: Draw a Flower with both hands.

WORKSHOP PROJECT: 5 Exercises plus Style Explore - image 2 - student project

So, I learned that I have zero control of my right (non-dominant) hand. No hand-eye coordination, no strength, no control. That said, I actually liked the style and shape of my right flower better (until I started to add the line details). I like the imperfection of the petal shapes and some of the movement that it offered. I'll be sure to try to emulate the design with my left hand in the future.

Exercise 3: Draw a familiar object, break it down and reassemble.

WORKSHOP PROJECT: 5 Exercises plus Style Explore - image 3 - student project

This one was fun! I started with a basic lamp and then drew all the pieces and imagined a cute pup sleeping. I was originally missing ears, eyes and paws so I went back to my lamp and added scallops to the lamp shade. I liked this exercise because it sparked creative thinking and it also made me simplify an object to it's basic lines when drawing. I'll likely keep this as a warm up as well when I'm feeling a little stuck.

Exercise 4: a bold bouquet

WORKSHOP PROJECT: 5 Exercises plus Style Explore - image 4 - student project

I don't usually do bouquets so this was a stretch for me. I used Dylan's illustrating flowers class to help map out the primary flowers and then foliage. I like a lot of white space so i kept it pretty sparse allowing each element to shine a bit. I made sure to stay with a warm palette and added the line work. I love this piece, really really love it. It's the kind of thing I would instantly heart on instagram...and I made it!

Exercise 5: a subtle bouquet

WORKSHOP PROJECT: 5 Exercises plus Style Explore - image 5 - student project

My first attempt was on the left. I had painted the bold bouquet for exercise 4 and thought same flower, single color would bring me to subtle. Once I finished it did not look that much subtler than the bold one above. So I gave it a second shot this time with a muted value of the same colors and pencil line work. This brought the loudness of the piece down a good way. I think the line work could have been reduced to make it even more subtle but I wanted to include to see what would happen. I focused a bit more on shading vs. lines since I had a pencil. My preference is the bouquet on the left but it was really good to see both to help me further see my style.

Overall this was a great workshop. I feel much more confident in my ability to create things I love and can see more of myself in the pieces I've made. I've been able to loosen up a bit in this style and have also picked up new warm-ups and exercises to spark creativity.

Thanks Dylan and Peggy - great job on this series of classes and projects!

Dena Wimette

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