Conneaut Girl
The story behind this drawing is that I made it very recently after moving from Scotland to a place near Conneaut, Ohio, and it was Autumn when I arrived. I always tend to make Winter artwork in Winter, Summer artwork in Summer, etc. In fact, where ever I am currently living, I enjoy including objects and people from the vicinity, such as the stone walls and grassy landscape of Scotland and the forests and plants of Ohio and Pennsylvania. I find it very difficult to draw Scottish things now that I am away from Scotland.
Although I grew up in Ohio, I had never heard the word "Conneaut" until I moved here and although at the time I knew it came from a Native American language I had no idea what it meant (except that it is a city in Ohio). I think it is a beautiful word that names a very beautiful place.
Because this drawing is small it's very easy to see the individual graphite lines which compose the image and perhaps you may experience the illusion that there is a sense of motion in the drawing. I am fascinated by perceptual effects and I like to include them in my work because they have the capacity to make the images much more powerful. By themselves I think these effects are merely interesting for psychological examination, but to use them for an artistic enhancement is something I find to be very difficult but rewarding. Although very strong perceptual effects are rare in art they are, I believe, present in all good representational style by the nature of visual art. For a brief introduction to my ideas about this topic, you are welcome to read my Master's dissertation which is available to be downloaded here.
The shapes in the background were put in as compositional elements to bring unity and variety to the image. I was hoping that they could pass off as tree branches, but looking at them now I don't think that they do. In retrospect, I think a few more details to make them into branches or trees would really help this drawing.
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