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Open Access Thesis

Keywords

Benz, Blair L--Exhibitions; Slides (Photography); Exhibition catalogs; Photographs; Academic theses; Thèses et écrits académiques;

Abstract

"Breakdowns" is an exhibition of 12 charcoal drawings which were displayed in the Gallery of Art, located in the Kamerick Art Building on the University of Northern Iowa campus. The exhibition opened on July 22, 1991, and closed with a public reception on August 31, 1991. These 12 drawings represent the culmination of my studies in the graduate program at the University of Northern Iowa, while also constituting my M. A. Studio-Thesis for that program. Of the 12 works in the exhibition, nine are large-scale drawings, ranging in size from 50" x 42" to 52" x 42". The remaining three pieces were smaller in size and served as preparatory studies for this body of work. These untitled studies are rougher, more immediate, and less resolved than the larger, finished works. During the initial stages of creating these works, they served as a vehicle by which I was able to determine, and begin to refine, my working method. As such, I chose to include these works in the exhibition in order to give viewers a greater insight into the processes involved in producing these drawings. The large-scale works were completed on Arches Cover White paper, while the studies made use of Stonehenge paper. Both types of paper were chosen for their durability and high conservation quality. It was essential that the paper being used would be able to withstand a great deal of abuse during the drawing process, as I wished to avoid tearing, or badly abrading the surface of the work as it developed. Each image made use of the same working process. Based on a photograph of a model which had been taken earlier, the size of the finished image was determined. After defining this area on the paper, the entire image area was filled in with a thick layer of solid, black compressed charcoal. Once this was smoothed out by hand in order to create a uniformly dense surface, the figures and other compositional elements were "sketched" onto the surface using a sharpened eraser. This was done in much the same way that one uses a pencil in a more traditional approach to drawing. After this stage was finished, I began to "carve" the image out of the charcoal, once again using the sharpened eraser. This subtractive method of drawing allowed for a reasonably full range of values in the finished work, as I was able to remove enough charcoal from the surface of the work to achieve a value approaching the white of the virgin paper. The method also enhanced the speed with which I was able to complete the images. In addition, areas of the drawing could easily be reworked, or compositional changes could be implemented during the drawing process, by simply recovering the area in question with solid charcoal, returning it to its initial state. In the final stage of the drawing, the eraser technique was combined with the use of charcoal pencils to render the finished image

Year of Submission

1991

Degree Name

Master of Arts

Department

Department of Art

First Advisor

Steven E. Bigler

Second Advisor

Richard W. Colburn

Third Advisor

Deborah Zlotsky

Comments

If you are the rightful copyright holder of this thesis and wish to have it removed from the Open Access Collection, please submit a request to scholarworks@uni.edu and include clear identification of the work, preferably with URL.

Date Original

1991

Object Description

1 PDF file (10 leaves)

Language

en

File Format

application/pdf

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