Ghost of My Past

By Joshua, Year 9

This artwork was inspired by identity because it outlines a clear identity of a woman and her past self.

I chose to use charcoal to get a certain effect. I also chose to use it as this is where my skills and passions lie and charcoal was easily available to me. To create this artwork I also needed to layer and smudge, which was an easy task to do with charcoal.

My main issue was figuring out which tools I was going to use to smudge and layer the charcoal. I experimented using a spatula with paper towel, a sponge and a cloth. At the end of my experimenting, I decided I was going to use paper towel wrapped around my finger. This allowed me to use these techniques without making mistakes and needing to fix them, and using my finger gave me better control.

Line is largely used throughout the drawing, with curly lines for hair and big sharp lines for her jawline. As for the use of tone in my artwork, there is hardly any negative space in the artwork. In the centre of the piece the colour is bolder and stands out more.