Artistic Me

So most of the time I consider myself an artistic person, though occasionally I doubt myself.  It happens.  I've been going in and out of crafty phases for my entire life.  Unfortunately, a number of my non-artistic phases resulted in me getting rid of a number of my pieces, but I was able to find a few images on my computer that I thought would be cool to share.

So, here goes!

This first one is the oldest that I have on hand.  In ninth grade a did a project on the Elizabethan Era, and focused mainly on apparel, which led to a quick sketch that I used as part of my presentation:

After that I don't have anything until senior year, when I bought a cheap box of chalk pastels and a sketchbook.  On nights when I wasn't working or doing schoolwork I often had trouble getting to sleep, so I'd do a piece or two just to pass the time.  Most of them didn't work out too well and ended up being thrown away, but there are a couple that I actually liked enough to keep.
This first one is actually the very first one that I did.  It is the only one that is entirely original; the two following it were drawn as interpretations of images that I found on the internet.
(Just as a note, each piece is pretty small -- the sketchbook was the standard 8.5 x 11 size.)

And this last one is my absolute favorite.  I knocked it out in about two hours one night, probably around 3 or 4 am.  The main reason that I like it so much is that my mom walked in my room the next morning and very honestly asked why I had a big picture of an apple on my bed.  The fact that it looked good enough to be a picture made me quite happy.

So those are the only pastels that I kept.  The last two pictures that I have are from this past summer when I took an art class at my local community college.  The main focuses of the glass were graphite and charcoal, and it was then that I discovered that I have a certain fondness for charcoal work -- it is quite similar to chalk pastels but gives a bit more freedom (at least in my opinion) due to the fact that it focuses on defining images through the use of only black and white rather than the stress that comes with the correct use of color and hue. 
And so, I have this first image, which I submitted as my final for the course (and got an A).  I'm not really a fan of the piece -- I got bored with it quickly and just rushed through it -- but I've been told that it's good enough to save, so it's wrapped up in my room for now.  Let me just say that the image is deceiving -- this piece is approximately 3 x 5 feet (if not larger)

And then, last but certainly not least, here is my favorite piece that I've ever done.  It is also charcoal, and also for my art class, but it was just done for one of the smaller assignments.  The instructions were to focus on a single item and make sure to use the entire range of color -- from the blackest black to the brightest white.  I didn't do so well on the white, but I think I did pretty well on the black part :P

So let me know what you think!