Work of Art that I am the most proud of

I am most proud of my still life painting for many reasons. First, I spent the most time on this project trying to get the right colors, texture, and shape to the objects in the painting. From the start I felt very motivated for this project to see how well I could depict the still life I chose to paint. It really taught me to take my time and focus on the quality of my work in order to get the best product possible. Also, I am very pleased with how it turned out, I had remembered what I needed to change and do differently from my practice paintings. For example, like making my highlights a shade of the color of the object, rather than white. All in all This work of art is by far my favorite piece that I have done this class because of the time, and effort that i put into it, and the outcome of the painting.

Final Watercolor Landscape

Purpose:

To use and demonstrate what you learned from the watercolor exercises you did in class to create your own landscape painting.

In this painting I used the technique involving tissues for the leafs of the palm trees, the salt technique for some rocks, tip only for the ocean, and gradation for the sky. The slat technique did not work as well as I would have liked because the color I did it on did not stand out much. The rest of the techniques worked as I wanted them to. The most important concepts I learned from the watercolor unit would have to be planning out the painting ahead of time, and layering the paint. These were very important in order to make no mistakes in the painting, because once a color is put down it cannot be painted over or fully removed.

Watercolor Excercises and Techniques

Purpose:

To experiment with a variety of watercolor techniques;

To make connections between experimenting with watercolor techniques learned to creating your own landscape watercolor.

In the watercolor I have learned more than I have in any other unit. Watercolor is very different from any other medium for many reasons. First, I learned that it is best to work from light to dark layering paint to create a darker color. Also I learned about the endless ways to tamper with the ways to use watercolor paint on paper, including using salt, tissue paper, and the different ways to layer paint. Finally, I learned to be careful when i am painting because with watercolors, you cant just cover up an are you put the wrong color.

Lino Prints

Purpose: 

To become familiar with basic printmaking history, processes, and artists

To make connections between the Expressionist Art Movement and artists who worked in that style, including artists from our past and present;

To respond visually to artists who work(ed) in the style of the Expressionist Art Movement, by creating a work of art in this style.

To print 2 editions of 2 different drawings/designs, demonstrating understanding of the printmaking process.

One problem that arose for me was an issue of having areas that were supposed to be positive space have a little bit of negative space because some ink had gotten into the area and printed onto the paper. The biggest Issue I had was an issue of getting enough ink on the block, and making a good enough transfer to paper. The last problem I struggled with was keeping the paper clean, but tht just took extra care to ensure it wouldn’t happen.

I am most proud of my ideas for the subject of the print, and the time I spent trying to get quality prints. I like my designs, especially the second one, because I used positive and negative space efficiently rather than lines to depict the objects. Also, I am pleased with the quality of my final prints which turned out very clean and defined.

Final Still-Life Painting

Purpose:

To communicate all of your knowledge about color and painting techniques to create a final, more complex, still-life painting (than your smaller still-life studies);

To use your knowledge about composition and placement to arrange your fruit and/or vegetable to create a strong composition.

Artists studied: Paul Gauguin, Vincent Van Gogh, and Paul Cézanne

I remembered to do all the things that I learned would make my painting better which I learned from my practice paintings. First, I spent my time choosing colors and making sure I had the right shades to depict the still life object I was drawing. Also, I remembered to dull down my highlights so that they are not just a white spot, but have a slight tint of the color of the object. Lastly, I made certain to add in multiple layers to my painting so that there are no see through holes/spots, and obvious bad looking brush marks.

First, I learned to be patient when I a painting. This helped because if I rushed the painting I could have messed up a color, and the the painting would look bad. Next, I learned to use the right size brush for the object I was painting. This may seem simple, however, I found that by using the biggest brush on the background really helped for the texture I wanted. Also, it helped just get some of my layers down before adding detail. Lastly, I learned to take frequent looks at the painting from a farther distance away. Doing this allowed me to see what looked good, and what needed to be changed which I couldn’t notice up close while painting.

Still-life Studies

Purpose: 

To use strong compositional skills to depict a fruit or vegetable 

To use knowledge of color and a variety of brush strokes to paint a still-life

The first thing that comes to mind when I think of what I remember from the last paintings is to make sure that I spend my time trying to get the right colors. Also, another helpful tip for myself is to do the background first so that way I don't have to worry about overlapping an important part of a fruit. Lastly, I want to remember to make sure that my highlights are not too bright and stand out less.

One thing that worked well for me was putting at least two layers on the canvas. This is because without the second layer there are many spots where white peeks out, and the brush marks are prominent in a bad way (in my opinion). Also, using a complementary color scheme worked out very well for me, I found that using the opposite color for blending usually created the color I needed.

Purpose:

To review the meaning of color;

To practice mixing color and exploring a variety of brushstrokes

What is a still-life?

Still-life is the drawing or painting of a non-living object, most often arranged on a shelf or a table. Still-life paintings and drawings have been created for thousands of years, as early as the ancient Greeks, and Romans. Artists will create this kind of art in order to express their status. In the 17th century still-life was limited mostly to religious works of art, containing some sort of symbolism. All in all, still-life has allowed artists to explore the inanimate objects of their world at the time, and express their status through the artwork.

Color exploration-blue

Four interesting facts

• Blue is the #1 favorite on earth

• 53% of all flags contain blue

• In Belgium blue is for baby girls and pink is for baby boys

• Dark blue is the color of mourning in Korea

Realistic self-portrait

First, my mouth was too close to my nose, and so I brought it down closer to my chin. Also, with my mouth one adjustment I was told to make was to make it narrower at the ends of it. Next, I had to bring down my hair line, and add more shape to the front of my hair too. Other than these three details, I only made very minor changes such as the shade of some areas and making sure everything looked right.

The first thing I learned is to take frequent looks farther away from the drawing so that I can see if I notice anything that I otherwise wouldn't see up close. Also I learned to focus more on the symmetry of my portrait, because I noticed in my other portrait my eyes were not very symmetrical. Next I noticed that I could improve on how I drew the mouth. I did this by adding shade to one side, and added more white to it overall, also I made the ends of my mouth thinner unlike in the first drawing.

Nose, mouth, eyes exercise

Purpose:

To demonstrate understanding of the structure for each feature: eyes, nose, & mouth:

To practice using black & white charcoal to render a drawing, using brown paper as the middle value

Hopes and Aspirations

I am motivated to be successful for many reasons. First, I am motivated by the feeling you get for completing a challenge. Next it feels great receiving appreciation for completing something that I put a lot of effort into and did successfully. Also I feel that there is no reason to not be successful. All in all I strive to be successful because of the great feeling, and appreciation along with the question: why not be successful?

First of all, in order to be successful, I think that the teacher can help provide ideas to make my work better. Next, I think that motivation, such as compliments (when applicable) are helpful to me. Also constructed criticism is very useful in changing my work to make it better. All in all, I believe that my teacher should provide ideas for me, be motivational, and give constructed criticism that will improve my work.