Leslie Duke and Professor Richard Hull, Department of Visual Arts

This project was an exciting exploration into the realms of both art and society. Originally, as was stated in my grant proposal, the goal of this project was to create a series of narrative illustrations depicting the dynamics of the modern day family, particularly focusing on the urban families of New York City. These illustrations were to be completed using visual research, such as sketches, on-site paintings and photographs, taken in New York City. The artworks were then to be shown in a gallery and used in my professional portfolio. The first stage of this project was spending time in New York City. I stayed in the city for five weeks doing research for this project while also interning part-time for a professional illustrator. In the city I was exposed to a wide variety of people, cultures, art, music and food, all of which had an impact on my work. As I absorbed my surroundings, which included taking photographs, sketching, painting, visiting museums and simply traveling through the city, the image I had preconceived of New York slowly changed. I had expected the city to be a bustling, melting pot metropolis, but what I hadn’t considered was how isolated the city’s inhabitants are. I found, ironically, that although New York is bursting at the seams with people, there is a feeling of isolation pervading the crowded city. There are so many people in the city, yet as a resident myself, I felt a pervading sense of isolation simply because I didn’t know any of the people surrounding me; not only that, but it didn’t seem like many people talked to each other, it was as if everyone was in such close quarters that in order to preserve some form of privacy speaking to your neighbor was almost an invasion of their privacy. This discovery shocked me a bit, and by doing so made me think a little bit differently about what exactly I wanted to convey about the city’s residents and sociology in general. After five weeks of living in Manhattan’s Upper West Side, I returned to Provo with a different view of New York. I began working with my professor while developing ideas for the actual illustrations. The original ideas dealt directly with the original proposal’s theme, the family. However, as I refined my ideas, looked through my research and contemplated on my experience in the city, I felt as if this theme wasn’t describing what I had felt while staying in New York. After brainstorming and further delving into my research, I decided to modify my theme. Instead of one focusing entirely on the family, it focused on something New York is noted for as well as something that each human being experiences daily: food. As I brainstormed ideas and developed sketches for my pieces I followed a theme of “food in New York,” focusing more so on the individuals than the food itself. I drew upon my experience in New York of feeling a conflicting sense of isolation and community in a city of over 22 million, which led me to conclude that in both this city and others around the world, food is something that bridges seclusion and togetherness, yet is often enjoyed alone. With this modified theme, I then explored the paradoxical concept of isolation and community in my series. Although my theme was directed away from the family, I still tried to focus on the importance of relationships, one of which is the family unit. Once I had altered my theme and solidified a concept sketch for each piece, I began the second half of the project, which included taking more photographic reference, multiple drawings, researching artworks of other artists, painting and weekly reviews with my mentor, Richard Hull. The time I had to work on this series allowed me to explore new ways to compose my pieces, as well as to experiment with texture, line and color throughout the creation process. There were many instances of trial and error, some which brought me back to my idea sketch-pad, but as I delved into my pieces, explored new techniques and developed my own abilities, the pieces slowly evolved into artworks that were worthy of being hung in a show and shown in my professional portfolio. This project was not only successful in terms of developing my artistic skills, but it has also provided my work with exposure in both the community and the professional world. My pieces were shown in the B.F. Larsen Gallery in the Harris Fine Arts Center for over a month in an art exhibit, which I used as my BFA or capstone project towards graduation. One of the pieces was published in Inscape, the BYU journal for the arts and humanities. These pieces are now a part of my professional portfolio, which I have shown to several Salt Lake City-based art directors and have received excellent responses. Several of these pieces have been submitted into both national and international illustration competitions, including Creative Quarterly Magazine competition and the Society of Illustrators’ Annual Student Competition. They will continue to be entered into similar professional competitions and will also be used for marketing my freelance business, both which will assist in my success as a professional freelance illustrator.