Developing Ideas/Themes

To integrate my thought-process at the time of gloom, I decided to

experiment with color and texture through different mediums. I went
with the approach of using items I've never necessarily worked
with and just went at it. I created a "stencil" with the simple shapes
of a rectangle and square to create an overlay with the medium.
This caught my attention quickly because the negative space that
was left behind conveyed the idea of emptiness. The palette I
decided to use was an interesting combination of a sand-brown
color, an unsaturated sky blue and of course black and white. It
was surprising that this colors worked together because of the
textures that were mixed into the palette.
The movement throughout this piece was inspired by the dark
expressionism movement where black was especially used as a
way to express a lonesome feeling. Using a dark and depressing
palette, I create a sense of empty and never-ending space. The
movement was inspired by the dark expressionism with a carefree
yet constricted sense of placement.

Artist Studies
The movement throughout this piece was inspired by the dark
expressionism movement where black was especially used as a way to
express a lonesome feeling. Using a dark and depressing palette, I create
a sense of empty and never-ending space. The movement was inspired by
the dark expressionism with a carefree yet constricted sense of
placement. Influence from Leonardo da Vincis sketches was as crucial.

Process and Development

Stages of two of my works were I show

my progression throughout time

In the process of creating this piece, I started

with a base coat using spray paint. This
would in turn mark the movement I wanted to
convey through each panel in the "t" shape.
This shape was an instant idea I had which
come from my interest in architecture. The
idea that I could create a structure through
this 2D panels was a concept I really wanted
to explore to create a sense of dimension. I
then applied layers onto the canvas using
different colors of spray paint and as well as
acrylic paint to add diversity in the mediums I
used. This stage is where I created the sense
of movement as I marks and strokes were
immediate and little thinking was made on my
part when I was applying them. As I
continued to show this movement, I then
proceed on using a texture medium along
with sand to form an interesting rough
textured that was applied onto a square to
create negative space.

Planning Stages and Progression

Isabelle Vialle

Focusing on architecture was a goal I had in mind through the planning of

this piece. Yet, I didn't just want to create a building rendering and call it a
day. I want to fuse my ongoing interest in surrealism to create an illusion
using 2-point perspective as a format. A surrealist will using create a
dream-like setting to convey illusion and that is exactly what I want to do
with this piece. I wanted to use a black-to-white scheme to create an
empty environment with a focus on the architectural aspects to the
"building". It was interesting to work with white charcoal because it was
using a technique much like chiaroscuro and adding only highlights to the
black paper. Working backwards in this process to time as the charcoal
would tend to no smudge as fluently as I wanted to to create a sense of
depth through the edge of the structure.
In my mind, as I was creating the structure, I saw that I

Replicating a tree house

through the lense of
surrealism was quite
interesting because I took
something from the real
world and transformed it to
create a surrealist illusion.

was heavily influenced by a tree house. I wanted to

expand on that idea of creating a "tree house" but at the
same-time using a surrealist approach to it. I made a quick
and light movement when placing the tree to have a
contrast against the smooth and hard surface I create
along the tree house. The stairs were placed along side
the buildings as a never end path that leads into no where.
These stairs were tricking at first to make because of the
perspective I created would look a little bit off but was
more stair were added, it made sense.

Observational Life Drawing

The practice of drawing through observation was a technique that I wanted to
explore. Using what I had around me, such as small objects to my own hands, I did
quick sketches and in essence try to capture that moment. Struggles that I
encountered through observational drawing was little scale issues and proportions
with the object and the background. With various sketches of the same object, it help
to really study the still life and create a good understanding of how to draw it.

Figure Drawing
This drawings
were done in the
Milwaukee Institute
of Art and Design
were I was given
the chance to work
with a nude model
for the first time.

Drawing the figure for the first time was quite the experience and helped mold my thoughts when coming up with a composition,
Using charcoal to quickly sketch out the figure got frustrating at time because you are given a limited time to incorporate as much
of the figure but at the same time the background as well. I struggled at first with being too stiff with my line placement but once I
became comfortable with the model and environment, I became much more free and loose with drawing. Not only my figure
drawings, but my artwork became more gestural and care-free and help create art that was not over-thought too much.

In-Stage Process and Edits

Planning the position of the subject was my
task to composing a photo with this project.
Since I was my own subject throughout this
photo series, I decided to create planning
sketches so I would know at least what form
and position I should make when taking the
picture. I took various shots to have a variety
of photos to choose from.

Personal Studies
I want to really go in depth with
a subject matter that I've never
explored before. Having an
elephant as a subject was quite
interesting and the research I
did on its anatomy had me
really engaged. Learning how
the animal functions to having a
visual aid to have a better
understanding of an elephant
help me tremendously to create
the form of it. My plan was to
create an elephant out of
chicken wire to have a contrast
between an industrial material
and a natural subject. So
studying the anatomy of this
elephant was a crucial part to
really creating the form and
shape of this animal.

Progression and
New Ideas
These planning sketches were
made for my first oil paint. For
that reason, I wanted to make this
sketches because it was my first
time working with oil and having
as much preparation as possible
would help my in the long run.
Having had done figure drawing
before this, I was able to having a
broader understanding of the
human form and its various
positions. The whole body in the
painting would be shift at different
positions to create a sense of
time and space.

Culture and Studies

Learning about the technique and life of reiki was something
that really caught my eye for its spirituality. Reiki is used in
many parts of the world as a force to treat and cure things
from self issues to illness and diseases. For my project
specifically, I wanted to work with the third eye which
represents mindfulness and imagination. For myself, I tend to
get lost within my own mind so this virtue had a strong
connection with me.
I learned that reiki was something that many see as
alternative to medicine and other alternatives which I found
interesting because I've never experienced that both. With
this projects, I wanted to connect the reiki culture to my own
life where I get lost in my own mind and I really don't get in
touch with myself that often.

Experimentation with Mediums

Experimenting with different mediums was an important
process for me because I wanted to see the possibilities
of different mediums would be. From using paints to
unconventional material such as tape. I wanted to play
around with shape and composition to see what could be
created with each of the mediums. Below I experimented
with charcoal and pastels and created self portraits where
I used tape to mess around with composition.

Idea Development

The heart and antamony was a theme that I explored constantly

because I was always interested in the complexity of it. This idea was
the starting process of a drypoint piece which would be influenced by
Frida Kahlos Two Frida. I also had the idea and concept of including
symbols that would represent me throughout this piece. I decided to go
with a Topaz stone a Chrysanthemum flower which are both symbols
for my birth month which is November.

Still Lifes/ Outside Experiences

I had the opportunity of attending a pre-college
program at local art institute and took a gouache
painting class. The focus of this class was in
introduction the learning basic skills with this medium.
The class also paid attention to aspects in nature and
how we are able to capture a moment through
gouache. I decided to do varies studies on fruits as
well as decaying skulls and shells. Gouache is a
thicker watercolor to me and I really enjoyed that
aspect and allowing the water to create movement in
the still-life. Oranges were a huge step-stone for me as
they contain a wide range of technique aspects I could
learn from. My biggest lesson I got was the effect of a
was of blue tone along the darkest part of the orange.
This create a tone that made it much more realistic and
create a sense of a rough sphere. This study helped
me to develope a charcoal based study on an orange
on a mirror.

Planning and Progress

Starting a series where explore my
placement within the city of
Milwaukee is an idea I had to turn
into some sort of project. As I
continue my art journey in selfidentity, I want to see how I belong
and interact with the rest of the
world. One idea was to have the
city of Milwaukee separate from
Lake Michigan as if it were apart of
it to represent of distance from my
own city. Another idea was to have
my was covered by an oxygen
mask to show how the city pollutes
my thoughts because of the closeminded situations I have
encountered throughout my life in
Milwaukee.

Editing/ Unfinished Work

This photo was one of many were aperature

was the main focus to create a highly
contrasted photo and emphasize one object
in the photo, in this case the front swing.

During my summer, I decided to start and

experiment with a photography series. I took
pictures of what was around me to show my life and
my surroundings. Composition with my Digital
DSLR camera was exciting for me and I tended to
play around with the Aperture to create different
sets of contrast in the photo. I learned that aperture
and shutter speed go hand and hand to create a
crisp photo that capture different settings, still ones
and moving ones.

This photo shows I was able to get the

perfect shutter speed because the
swings were moving pretty fast. I want
to capture them in a moment where
motion could be present within.

In-Stage Process/ Exploration

Used a Canon Rebel T3 with a 15-50mm lens and

experimented with a 75-150mm lens to see how one differed
from the other in the lighting situation
When taking this picture, I tried with my hands to take the
picture but later found out that a stand would be the better
choice
As I explored my camera I found:

A higher shutter speed and higher IOS would create a

high contrast photo but with little exposure

A lower shutter speed and lower IOS would reduced the

noise and make for a clean picture but caused a
somewhat blurry effect.
I worked with depth within the photo and saw that having a low
aperture would cause a high focus wherever the focus points
were located and would also reduce the noise of the photo

Practice/ Exploration

When working on defining the features on male qualities and drag queen, I really saw how their is a transformation that is done.
The eyes that makeup that is done to transform into a drag queen was my favorite part to explore and see how I would end up
drawing it.