rebecca coleman visual studies notebook

The word for this week is "tend," in the sense of looking after or caring for someone. I wanted to do a drawing in shades of pink to capture the maternal feeling I had while backpacking with my mom for a couple of days over winter break. Being responsible for someone (and having their trust) -- making sure that they are eating and drinking enough, that they are warm and dry, and ready for bed, etc. was an experience entirely different from anything I have had before. Because I wanted to do the drawing in shades of pink it made more sense to use California desert mountains as reference material, which are further south than where me and my mom were when we went backpacking in the Santa Monica Mountains. Separately I also did some hiking in Anza-Borrego over break with my partner Johnathan-- so I had plenty of photos to draw from for reference material! I used a mix of acrylic paint, markers, and colored pencils for this drawing.

The word for this week is "touch." It is interesting to take the course again this semester -- a number of things that I had assumed were improvisational were actually intentional. For example, we are starting this semester with the same word that we began last semester with. This drawing (colored pencil with ink pens) is of the Santa Monica Mountains. I was able to complete a two day/two night backpacking trip with mom, brother, and partner in January over winter break. While we weren't able to hike as long or as far as I had originally wanted because it started raining in the late afternoon on our second day and I was worried that my mom would slip and fall, it was still a very good trip. I hope that we can do more of the Backbone Trail in late May, when the days will be longer (and rain free!) but still cool enough to enjoy. The drawing relates to the word touch because it is pretty rough and handmade looking. It also relates to the feeling of being able to get ...