Exhibition

In the nearby village theres a library in an old mill, and I’m having an exhibition there.

I’m showing my graphite drawings and digital collages.

My brain didn’t come up with a name.

So the exhibition is called:

Maria Maanvalo art

GRAPHITE DRAWINGS & DIGITAL COLLAGES

Goody.

I like making exhibition posters. I think I’m happiest when I’m making whatever printables from my art. Zines, postcards, posters.

(and when making art I’m happiest when making art. I think two different things can be true at the same time. Why not.)

With this particular poster I’m very happy how the digital collage ‘Traveller’ looks like. The one that I at first had mixed feelings about, because it was so colorful and abundant with all the different things going on.

Now I love it.

Graphite/Digital

In the exhibition you can see both the original graphite drawings and the digital collages I made based on them.

Six graphite drawings and eight digital collages.

The feeling is very different between the two mediums.

About

Few years ago I wanted to try drawing with graphite because I saw some inspirational fine drawing going on in Instagram. Switching mediums is also refreshing.

Graphite seems a bit dull and too familiar because it relates both to sketching and time in school.

So the approach had to be different. At first I drew very carefully. I was going for fine imprint that didn’t show any mishaps. Since then I have relaxed a bit and now I just draw. Whatevs

At first I didn’t use any references and that turned out to be more challenging that I liked in the finishing lines of the drawing process. So now I use references and i dont’t have to struggle and invent the wheel (face) everytime.

I like the easyness of graphite. It’s just a pencil. And you can create worlds with just that.

Drawing is meditative and calm. I usually draw few hours at a time. Easy on the body too. I don’t know how much time I use for one drawing but it’s a lot.

Drawing cow ears with graphite is my favourite. The ears originate from egyptian goddess Hathor. Who is my favourite among egyptian gods.

Digital was just something I tried. I certainly wasn’t planning on doing digital art. I just wanted to add some color to my drawing for fun, after I had made my first mooncalendar with the same technique (graphite+digital) and found it to be a lot of fun.

Digital is addictive. It really immerses you with the program. It takes over.

I guess it’s the possibilities. The easyness.