I have been in the process of creating Cyanotype photos since January 2019. Cyanotypes are composed of ferric ammonium citrate and potassium ferricyanide solutions combined in a 1:1 ratio. Upon mixing the chemicals, I applied them onto paper with a paintbrush and left them in the dark to dry. Once dry, I place the photo-sensitive papers into the sun with a plant on top. The exposure time varies based on the degree of sunlight, but on a full sun day the paper takes no more than 5 minutes to expose to a bronze color. After properly exposing the print, I run each under cool water until the background turns a deep blue, and the outline a pure white. Then I hang each print to dry in a dark room, as the color will deepen to a rich blue within a day.

This mars series was an idea that came to me in a dream one night. I wanted to create something surreal, unlike anywhere on Earth. Each of these images consists of at least 20 found images online, blended together and painted over in Photoshop. I spent about 40 hours in total making this series!

Below is a sped up combination of all the layers constructed into the second mars image.

This mixed media series started when I was bored in a lecture one day. I went onto google and found an image of "David" by Michelangelo and proceeded to sketch a portrait on midtone paper. The next two lectures of this class seemed to follow this pattern; find a renaissance statue and draw the bust. When I finished the three portraits I was happy with my work, but did not want to leave it there. I wanted to transform these traditional drawings into something more contemporary in Photoshop. So I opened each into the program and played around by creating a checkered print much like that in Photoshop -when there is no image over the background. My goal was to create something conceptual by combining traditional classical renaissance aesthetics with those in the current digital age.