Charcoal on Drawing Paper | 18 x 24 in.

I made this drawing during the summer before my senior year of high school when I was at Skidmore College for their Pre-College Program. While there, I took a drawing class as a workshop so that it could be a part of my upcoming senior year "Grad Challenge." My independent project for Grad Challenge was an exploration of art making and the effects of art therapy. In addition to taking this drawing class as a workshop for my Grad Challenge, I also researched the effectiveness of art therapy, and worked with a professional local artist, Jessica Scriver.

In this drawing class at Skidmore, we were introduced to techniques such as drawing negative space shapes, as well as to new materials such as black India ink and charcoal. For a couple of weeks during the class, we focused on drawing live nude models, specifically with charcoal. This is one of the pieces that I crafted in this portion of the class.