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The principal sketch for the piece XV from the body of work the last five years
Produced within Spring 2022 | Colored pencil and graphite on smooth Bristol paper | Roughly 6 1/2 inches x 5 inches
Within my mind’s eye upon the conception of XV was a very strong compositional identity for the piece that this sketch reveals. It bears many similarities visually with the final piece, and what this sketch offered, therefore, was a testing ground for the layering of hues and balance among them. Several pieces of text were either unused or became more refined into the final artwork, but only slightly so. ‘the cusp of eternity’ was worked into ‘a far off forever we belong’, and the placement of ‘July’ would become more subtle as well as where the piece’s title, ‘XV’, would appear. The figures in the car are recognizably the most divergent element, with the left-most figure only faintly outlined. An earlier reference image was utilized for the right-most figure that bears a less confident and more concerned countenance, and whose gaze is fixed elsewhere when compared with the analogous figure in the final piece. Imagery of the car found its footing as XV was fully realized, which was partly a result of needing to more specifically determine and emphasize the weight its passengers needed and how this would impact the car’s demeanor.
The backside displays a fairly robust scrutiny of hues—a process that proved to be the most laborious in the development of XV. Having been aware of the composition at the outset was both a gift and a burden since it forced me into a searching methodology rather than a more organic hunting approach. The sketch’s certainty makes plain how settled I had become, however, once I found the harmony between the jade green, blue violet lake, and slate grey tones that would operate in tandem to breath life into the atmosphere of XV. A note was also included here to remind myself how to approach the car in relation to the environment surrounding it.