Final Thoughts

I had so many memorable experiences in this class but a few really stood out to me. This first thing that I really liked about this class was we got to try so many different art tools (paint, water color, charcoal, etc.) and try different techniques with those tools. I thought that trying techniques that we had never even heard of really help us understand the units more, as well. Another thing that I really liked about this class and the semester was the people in my class. They were all so supportive and we were very open with each other. Our class was so fun to be in and the student made it such an enjoyable time. Overall, I thought this semester was amazing and productive. I would definitely do it again if I could.

Work of Art that I am most proud of

The work of art in this class that I am most proud of is my final still-life drawing. This impacted my learning because it opened up my mind to view things differently. It also taught me more steps to create a great end product; Like adding many different layers. It also taught me to look at things carefully and observe its details so I can add them in. I also learned that even though this seems like such a simple picture, it takes time. I wasn't expecting to spend 4-6 classes and after school time on this project. I thought it would be a quick, simple project that would take me maybe, 3 classes. I was wrong. I am so happy I got the opportunity to do this project and I would do it again any day. 

Final Watercolor Landscape

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

The techniques I used for my final watercolor landscape was tissue paper for the water, salt on the water, latex for the sign, and watercolor pencils for the bushes. I thought everything worked very well except for the salt. It did not show up very well at all. I also thought that the tissue paper was too bright of a color compared to the rest of my painting. I tried fixing the brightness by adding water and a dark blue which toned down the brightness a little bit. I learned a lot through out this whole unit but something that really stood out to me was having to take my time and be very careful in my choice for my work. It really enforced me to slow things down so it would come out as good as possible. Although, I was rush at the end on the ground area and I feel I could have done a lot better with more time. Water color really taught me to be careful on where or what I paint with water color because water color is not very forgiving if I were to mess up. Overall, I learned a lot about myself as an artist and water color while doing this project. 

Water Color Exercise and Technique

Purpose:

• To experiment with a variety of watercolor techniques;

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

I learned so much while doing this exercise. When I was in 7th grade, I did a water color and tried salt but, unfortunately, it didn't work. While I was doing this exercise, I was able to finally try the salt again and thankfully, this time it works. I also learned about the liquid latex. I would have never thought to try that and when we got the opportunity to, I was pretty interested. It was definitely a different way to do water color, yet, it had a nice end product. Lastly, I learned about the tissue paper. I wasn't aware that the coloring in tissue paper would come out the way that it did and it was so interesting to figure that out. I tried a few different colors and experimented with it. It was, without and doubt, an interesting thing to try.

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.

 

A one problem that popped up was not having enough ink on the stamp. I had about three different times where this happened and it was a simple fix. I just needed to put more ink on my stamp and rub it onto the paper a little harder. Another problem that occurred while I was doing this project was carving out the right spots so it would not leave ink lines where I didn’t want them. I had to carve and print several times before I finally got rid of all the extra lines. 
I am most proud of the designs and the neatness of my prints. I love that my lines came out so neat and perfect. The outcome of the prints were very successful because of this. My design was actually pretty complicated to organize and put together. It took me a pretty long time to decide where I wanted to put color and what would make it look great. In the end, though, I think I made the right decision of where the color goes.

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.

Artist Studied: Georges Seurat

After reading my still-life studies blog post, I noticed that I did use the techniques that I mentioned. I had gotten a little frustrated with the pallet knife I remember so I did make the decision to not use that as my painting tool. I instead used a paint brush. It was easier to control, like I said in my blog post, and I think I made the right decision in using it. I also mentioned in my blog post that I wanted to paint a pear and I wanted the background to be a peach color but I did not follow through on this idea. I think I didn’t follow through because I had to look at painting a lot more subjects than just a pear. I also wanted the background to match somewhat and thinking about a peach color at the background seemed like it wouldn’t be a good match.

I had learned many important things in the unit but three really stuck out to me. The first major thing I learned was everyone has their own style of art. I was focusing too much on what other peoples art work looked like because I thought their style of art was better than mine. But, after going through the process of painting, I began to like mine a lot more that I originally thought. I wasn’t judging mine as much or comparing it to other people art work. I think that was a major improvement throughout this project on my part because I began to like my art work even more. Another big thing that I learn about was how to build up the layers. At the beginning of this project, I wasn’t sure why we had to build up so many layers, but, I became clearer to me as I went through the whole process. I had begun with a light blue background then changed it to pink and then changed it to purple. Purple ended up being my final background. I also started with a lot lighter or darker colors on my fruits and adding layers to slowly lighten or darken it until it was the correct color started to make sense. This was so important because if I hadn’t added layers, I would have never gotten the finished products that I did. It also really payed off in the end. Lastly, I learned about different ways to create values for colors. Instead of adding just black or white, I began adding unusual colors together like yellow and brown or green and blue. Mixing those colors gave me a huge variety of colors in my art work and it makes it look unique. This was very important, also, because I wasn’t just changing the shade of the color, I was changing the color itself to look more lively in the end. Overall, I learned a lot about myself and painting in this project.

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

As I begin my final draft still-life, I would like to remember that while painting, I should be looking at the object to get the same features. I also want to remember to look at the details a little closer and take my time with the painting. I know with the palette knife painting, I began to get a little frustrated and started to rush myself a little. I was able to slow myself down, though, after I looked at what things I needed to fix. I think the paint brush worked better for me. It was easier to control and get the look I was going for. Whereas the palette knife was harder to keep control of. I think for my final draft, I want to use a peach color as the background and a pair. I thought that those two put together complemented each other very well.

Experimenting With Color & Painting Techniques

Purpose:

• To review the meaning of color;

• To practice mixing color and exploring a variety of brushstrokes

What is Still-Life?

A still life is a painting of household items arranged on a table or shelf. There are many reasons artist create a still life: be it haughty or humble; a symbolic meaning of a story or idea; to capture the natural beauty of objects; to express abstract elements of the visual element. Still-life had been around for a long time. This style of art has been a way for artists to show off their technical skills in painting.

Interesting Facts About Red

#1. Red is one of the top two favorite colors around the world.

#2. Red is used in about 77% of flags around the world. 

#3. Most Japanese children draw the sun as a red circle. 

#4. Red is an auspicious color for marriage. 

Realistic Self-Portrait

                                           

One piece of feedback I was given was to cover the iris with the eye lip a little more. I did this by lowering the top eye lid a little more and added more shadowing so the iris would be covers more. Another piece of feedback I was also given was to have more of a shape on the jaw line. I noticed that my self portrait jaw line was pretty much straight but when I looked at my actual jaw line, it was not straight; there were more curves. To fix this, I added more curves to my jaw line and also to my chin line. One thing I learned in this project was that drawing eyes can be very difficult. In past experiences, I was able to draw a quick eye and be done with it in a couple second, but, I realized that drawing my actual eye was a lot more difficult. I had to get the right shape and everything. I also learned that in these types of projects, you have to take your time. At first, I was sort of rushing through it but I started noticing that if I rush through it, it wouldn’t come out great. I decided to slow myself down and start taking time with each facial feature I was working on. Lastly, I learned that the proportions of things can also be hard to get correct. In the beginning of this project, I had my eyes too small, my head too small, my nose to big and a lot more. After looking at myself closer and closer, I was able to correct the proportion and make it look more exact.

Eyes, Nose and Mouth 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, Aspirations

For me to be motivated, I need something to feel important to me. If something is very important to me, I will try harder to become successful with it. I think for the teacher to help with this, he or she should give us a couple challenges that will push us to over come and become better. I also think he or she should support us and give truthful feedback so we can improve. I hope to get better at creating more realistic drawings and blending colors better. I think I have trouble drawing faces realistically so I would like to learn more about what I can do to improve in those areas.