My goal with this project was to create a contrast to the form theme to which it belonged. A tree is something of nature that is unpredictable whereas metal is something rigid and moldable. Combining this medium and this inspiration brings about a piece made from two sides of a spectrum

To work through uniformity, I cut the brass wire into many strings all of the same length while curling them as similar as possible. From there, I held them together and wrapped the trunk with smaller twisted wire as is done to a bushel of hay to hold it together as one cohesive piece.

The setup itself allows for the mind to easily imagine a scene that played; a child sitting and playing by the tree; his basket of apples falling from the slant of a hill; and the tree standing stagnant throughout it all. This piece was my first experience with wire and inspired me to create a more natural form from the medium.

Without art classes at my high school (West Michigan Aviation Academy), I decided to mimic a common project done in a high school art class simply to get an idea of what it was like to be a participant. My older sister was very invested in model making in high school and I wanted to create a tribute to her work.

I had never sketched with charcoal and decided to try my hand at that for this project. I always saw my dad sketch very rapidly when using it and I did the same while creating as abstract of a skull as possible. After this, I adapted the sketches to work through a single line in order to make them physical with wire.

The skulls were a simple yet important lesson for me; they developed my ability to sketch with charcoal and forced me to create form through a single line. Wonderful to me is the ability of the human mind to see the same object through a variety of shapes, of which here, that is evident.

As the precursor to the next project in this portfolio (Multiple Tree Forms), I decided that I needed to practice creating texture through shadow. These pages were my introduction to the sporadic-line style.

Similar to a problem set progression seen in school I drew multiple shapes with varying levels of complexity; each one requiring a different amount of shading. I flit my pen around the shape to create these random lines in a style of drawing that is far more entertaining than productive.

I began to get an idea of how to create texture while combining shadows. This was really my first experience teaching myself natural form; it was my base. I found it to be a very productive use of my time.

Nature and its way of making geometrical yet non-uniform shapes appear smooth and cohesive has always fascinated me. The forms of nature are each so unique yet seem perfectly thought out. I wanted to be able to recreate the feeling of tranquility found in these forms.

Natural shapes were not my strong suit and I, therefore, did multiple iterations based on trees in my environment. I employed a technique of drawing shadows through texture by creating sporadic lines. I used this project and sketching technique as a relaxing activity in nature requiring only copying what my eye saw.

The progression in ability from the first sketches to the last is very obvious to me and I improved very much from the practice. The art itself appears natural and simple to look at. This form of art is something that I continue to draw often for relaxation.