Eli Derrington

I am a 4th year undergraduate student, hailing from Knoxville, Tennessee. After a year and a half as an Aerospace Engineering major, I changed over to Civil Engineering and found my passion in transportation planning and design. My primary interest is with transit systems, and I have added a minor from the School of City Planning to better understand how transit should fit into and enhance urban areas. Before this course, I had no real experience with drawing and doubted how much that might change. Now, I am taken aback by how quickly I became comfortable drawing and how this course has changed how I see objects and the world around me.

"FLORAL SELF PORTRAIT" CHARCOAL ON PAPER, 16"x20” It is one thing to know you have an asymmetric face, but it is a whole different animal to reckon with that as you draw a self portrait. I also have always had an aversion to looking at myself in pictures, much as many people—myself included—dislike hearing audio of themselves speaking. Because of this, I found it more difficult to render myself in a satisfactory way than I did with any other drawing. To distract myself, I replaced my neck and body with a stem and leaves and gave myself flowers as companions.

"HARVEST" CHARCOAL ON PAPER, 18"x24" In this still life, I was drawn primarily to the two skulls on display. I was struck by how different their shapes were from how our heads appear on the outside, as well as how they seemed to express two different emotions— melancholy and anger. Their presence, together with the gourds, created a dark, autumnal feel in the composition that fit the time of year.