399 Portfolio

Author/Artist Name

Addison MillerFollow

Files

Academic Level at Time of Creation

Junior

Date of Creation

Fall 12-10-2024

Artist Statement

The overall goal of my works is to tell the stories of the characters I have created and give my audience a glimpse into who the characters are and why they are the way that they are. I make pieces and characters based on the environment around me, specifically the plants and animals in my own backyard. My process starts in my current sketchbook. Sometimes characters get reused from a previous time in my life that I feel I could improve upon, characters designs will more likely than not change over the course of time. When I am satisfied with the design of the character, they are ready to be incorporated into the story, whilst designing the character I probably already have a good idea of what their personality is based on appearance or if they are based on a specific person.

I work mainly with COPIC or Huhu markers on Bristol paper, this is my chosen medium because the smooth and easy blending of the materials make it possible for me to achieve the look I'm going for, although recently I have been incorporating colored pencils into my work after it was recommended to me. They are mainly used to color the background; this helps the characters stand out as opposed to the marker on marker look.

When it comes to my style of drawing, I am heavily inspired by the works of E.H. Shepard (the illustrator of the Winnie the Pooh books) and Beatrix Potter (the writer and illustrator of Peter Rabbit) with both of these artists' works focusing on giving anthropomorphic traits to animals or other various objects.

Advisor/Mentor

Mike Martin

Description

The theme of my work mainly focuses on original, story-driven characters that I have developed over the past two years. My characters are based on real life plants and weeds. I have carefully created their looks to correlate with their specific character traits. I was inspired to design these characters by observing the plant life in my own back yard. I take pleasure in elevating something so insignificant to a place of value. Their personalities are loosely based on myself, friends and family. I highlight personality and mood using color and shape. I enjoy writing stories, which place the characters in new and exciting adventures. I also create conflict and resolution narratives. I have crafted an environment for these characters, which continues to expand. I have developed these characters through drawings, paintings, printmaking and ceramics. My preferred media is drawing. My preferred medium is alcohol markers on Bristol paper, however, I also enjoy painting on canvas, with acrylics. For portraits, or more realistic projects, my preference is charcoal or graphite. The smallest work I have made is 9x12 and the largest, so far, is 19x24.

Photo Credit

Addison Miller

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 License.

Recommended Citation

Miller, Addison, "399 Portfolio" (2024). Professional Practices (ART 399). 167.
https://digitalcommons.murraystate.edu/art399/167