Date of Submission

Spring 2024

Academic Program

Studio Arts

Project Advisor 1

Lisa Sanditz

Abstract/Artist's Statement

I originally decided to make a book because I thought it would be a way to incorporate my love for animal drawings with my love for landscapes. My first idea was not very plot driven, the story was simply there to provide a vessel for presenting the art I wanted to make. I eventually shifted my thinking to a more narrative one, deciding I wanted to tell an actual story, one that was meaningful to me.

The format of a wordless picture book allows for both focus on and appreciation of the art, and a story. The art for the book, specifically the landscapes, have two different roles to me. They act as backgrounds, very prominent ones, in the story. The landscape is almost a character itself. I also wanted the individual pieces to be able to stand alone, and be appreciated separately from the book. With this in mind, I have decided to display the book itself and much of the art that went into making the pages.

All of the landscapes in the book come from photos I have taken in the past few years. Moments when I was captivated by the nature around me. That sense of awe you get, when you see something for the first time that is so beautiful and wanting to capture that. A photo itself doesn’t do it justice, so that’s where all the color comes in.

With most of my pieces, I begin with 3-4 colors - ones I think look good together and are interesting. I always have a color dedicated to the shadows, one for the midtones, and one for the highlights. In my landscapes, I will keep adding colors as I go when I feel like they are needed or would look interesting. When I look at reference images, I’m mainly looking at form and value as opposed to color.

Overall, I hope people are able to get the story, but if they don’t, that’s okay. I think the art itself invokes a certain feeling even when removed from the sequential format that is the book. I chose to major in studio arts in addition to psychology not for the degree but for the senior project. I thought working on it would be so much fun, having a studio and a final show and working on a project for a whole year. And I’m very happy I did it, because I made work I’m proud of and did very much enjoy myself.

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