In this series, I have deviated from my more emotive and colorful paintings. These drawings are still, contemplative, and peaceful. I used plant medicines and herbal teas to stain the paper and a single black pencil to capture shadow and light in these simple scenes.
These women are set in ephemeral moments, picking apples, gathering herbs, tucking a blouse into worn-in denim, or relaxing in the dapples of tea that lend these works the illusion of a sunlit autumn evening. My figures have an air of vintage simplicity to them. Dressed in puff sleeves, billowing skirts, and scarves that adorn crowns of long natural hair. I've combined my life-long love of vintage collecting here, referencing pieces in my wardrobe for drape, pattern, and texture.
The process for creating the nude figures involves more movement than the other drawings. The paper fibers have been stained with herbals, but this time, I've used ponderosa pine needles and the smooth edge of an obsidian chunk to swirl ink and wildfire charcoal to mark the page intuitively. In the space between obsidian scraped and pine-scratched ink, I sketch nude landscapes depicting the undulating and imperfect perfection of the body. The smudges and streaks frame the drawings to give a moody, natural, and tangled look to these levitating figures.
These drawings bring me a meditative pause from my other artworks. They are a golden hour-gossamer-nostalgia-daydream-love letter from me to you.
See more from this series on my website:
tianatraffasart.bigcartel.com
“Draw Breath”
