This project, dubbed 'What's The Point', was an opportunity to take a few risks and branch out - I do love to work with graphite pencil. However, the idea of seamlessly blending something organic, such as the human hand, into cold hard machinery, was a challenge.  I chose graphite pencil because the level of detail I was working with was too great for charcoal (my initial choice) and the blending needed to morph from organic to mechanic would have been nearly impossible with pen.

I noticed that the graphite that I was working with was marked 'water soluble'. To get the dark, smooth background, I used a paintbrush and water to blend the graphite across the empty space.

My first ideas with this project were along the lines of tattoo work - because tattoo needles are sharp, and because a tattoo is often used to make a point, or to convey symbolism to the rest of the world. After thinking about it, I settled on this idea - a hand whose pointer finger morphs into a gun. I felt that it would make a stronger point (pun intended). The meaning behind this piece, to me, is that we (as humans) often judge others based on religion, creed, orientation, or even something as archaic as skin color. What we often fail to realize is that when we point our finger in judgement, it can be just as threatening, or even as deadly, as a loaded gun... And what is the point of harassing or judging someone for their own lifestyle/choices?