Dawn Hunter's Sketchbook: Drawings & Paintings
About the Visual Artist
Dawn Hunter has earned international acclaim as a fine artist and serves as an Associate Professor at the University of South Carolina. Her work has been recognized through major awards, including a Fulbright Fellowship for her artistic interpretations of Santiago Ramón y Cajal’s scientific work. Her notable painting Art Department is celebrated for its allegorical depiction of the experiences and inner workings of university faculty and administrators.
Hunter’s work encompasses many subjects, themes and audiences. Much of her work stems from her daily practice of drawing and painting, and she really loves her sketchbook as she uses it to study and try to understand the world around her.
She has a boutique web network of unique websites devoted to her thematic portfolios about Santiago Ramón y Cajal, popular culture, her studio practice, South Carolina, and SciArt, featured on her official landing page, www.dawnhunterartist.com; on this website however, visitors are given a glimpse into her sketchbook portfolio of daily drawings which include landscapes, portraits and still-lifes. Within this versatile portfolio, personal pieces inspired by people, places, and things, are featured as a testament to her unwavering commitment to artistic expression.
The Importance of Drawing Everyday
"My sketchbook portfolio focuses on observational, or rather, perceptual drawing. There are many benefits to perceptual drawing. It is an affective and cognitive processing of elements evoked by the subject, such as a landscape, still life, or portrait. Observational drawing is a dynamic interaction with the elements of art: line, shape, value, texture, space, color, and form. When we draw, we are manifesting our appraisal of the subject as a form of art.
The practice of drawing hones attention to detail, enhances concentration, refines fine motor skills, and bolsters problem-solving abilities, spatial reasoning, and comprehension of proportion and perspective. Moreover, drawing offers significant social-emotional benefits, serving as a therapeutic tool to alleviate anxiety and stress."
- Dawn Hunter, June 2024
Select Portfolio Images
More about Dawn's portfolio:
Dawn Hunter regularly visits beautiful locations in South Carolina to draw. Additionally, she consistently sketches during her travels to New York City, Madrid, Spain, and Oregon, among other favored destinations. These diverse settings profoundly influence her studio practice. Renowned for her long-term, comprehensive projects, Dawn’s artistic reputation has steadily grown over the past two decades.
Her Pop Art portfolio has been exhibited at prestigious venues such as the Drawing Center in New York, the University of Wisconsin-Madison, the Delaware Contemporary Art Center, and Brown University. It has also been featured in New American Paintings and Artnet. Dawn’s Cajal portfolio has been showcased at the National Institutes of Health and the Instituto Cajal, and highlighted in numerous publications including Scientific American, The Scientist, and the Consilience Journal.
Her sketchbook drawings have garnered increasing recognition, being featured in many exhibitions, including Artfields, the Yellowstone Art Museum, and Notre Dame of Maryland University.
Select publications featuring drawings and paintings by artist Dawn Hunter . . .
