Mixed Media

For this project, we were to choose a topic and use different mediums to create a mixed media project. The topic I chose was hope. I used a bunch of article headers and created flowers out of different patterned paper to make the project stand out. The use of different colors helped make the project brighten and more lively. 

While working on the project, I used gel medium to keep everything together. This was the first time I've used it so working with it was difficult at first because nothing would stay down. After a while, the medium became easier to use and a lot of fun to use. It was a good thing to use on this project because it kept everything together and dried clear so it didn't make much of a mess or make the project look bad.  

I chose the topic of hope for this project. I chose this idea because I believe everyone deserves to hope for the best and believe that everything will get better. Hope is something that keeps people going and helps then keep on. I chose specific headlines to go on this project because they all inspire people and help them to believe that things will get better. 

Sticky Situation

The topic of this project was sticky situation and the medium was paint. I decided to paint a snake and use the acrylic paint medium. I chose to paint a snake (rattlesnake) is because encountering a rattlesnake, especially when it's camofluaged against the dead leaves, isn't something that you would want to happen so it's a sticky situation.

When doing this project, I gained more experience with paint. I haven't used paint in a long time so this project really helped me to gain more skill and learn more techniques. It was a fun experience and learning new skills and techniques really helped in finishing this project.

When doing this project, I ran into a couple challenges. One of them, though not very serious, was trying to get the right shade when mixing colors. Since I used a variety of browns for this painting, it was hard matching the shade each time. I also had problems getting the shape of the snake right. Because it's coiled around the entire canvas, it was really hard to get it exactly right.

Up Close & Personal

For this project, I used my dog, Ilsa, as inspiration for this project. I used her for inspiration because she is a dapple dachshund and she has a lot of colors. I also used her because I already had good quality pictures of her and zooming in on them helped with this project because then I was able to see more detail and successful finish this project. I used my unique ideas because I used my pet as a muse for the up close and personal project. 

For this project I used colored pencils as my chosen medium. I liked the colored pencils because they worked better for me than oil or chalk pastels. I also used colored pencils because they moved smoothly and were much easier to handle and were a lot neater. 

When I first started this project, I wasn't sure about the angle I was going to draw my dog in. I usually don't draw anything from this angle so it was new to me. I also was hesitant about the head and muzzle because I usually don't draw dog's heads at and angle and so it was a bit difficult. Looking at the final project, I think that the project turned out well overall. 

Oil pastel, colored pencil, and chalk pastel drawings

For this activity, I used oil pastels to create a can. I like how the colors look together and how easily the oil pastels blend together. 

For the lollipop, I used colored pencils. I liked this projects because I like working with colored pencils. Drawing the lollipop was fun because of the colors. 

I used chalk pastels to draw this candy. Chalk pastel was challenging to use because it was powdery and smeared easily. It was easy to make the color by blending different colors together. 

Scientific Project

      For my project I decided to draw a rib cage with the organs that are located in that area, including the lungs. I decided on this idea after a lot of thought because I thought it would be cool to draw a skeleton and I also thought it would be cool to draw organs so I finally decided on combining my two ideas into one. 

      The lessons that we were taught before starting this project were very beneficial because I learned how to gradually change values. I also thought the lessons were beneficial because it taught me how to shade better. 

      In my work I used contrast with the darks and the the lights. I think that the bottom of the rib cage looks the best because of how dark the bottom of the lungs are compared to the lighter darkness of the ribs. For this project I used pen and ink. I chose this medium because I found pen and ink easier to work with. I chose to do stippling on my project because I liked doing it and also it is easier to make larger portions darker. A risk I took while doing this project was using the pen and ink. I find this to be a risk because with pen and ink, it isn't easy to fix a mistake. 

      I liked doing this project because I enjoyed working with pen and ink. I also like the whole scientific idea. Brainstorming for the project was fun, as was actually doing the project.

Clay Tile & Landscape Painting :D

MY SUPER AWESOME CLAY TILE. IT IS THE BACK OF A WHALE IF IT WASN'T CLEAR

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MY LANDSCAPE PAINTING...yay
(not as pretty as I hoped it would be... >.> )

Game Drawing

I thought that the final piece was okay, but could be a lot better.  I could add more of the watercolor washes and blended with the colored pencils more.  The overlapping of the colored pencil colors made the piece have more color.

I think I was in between successful and not successful.  I thought that I could have had better value and more shadows.  

The thing that worked about this project was the colors used and the perspective of the drawing.  I also thought that where the vanishing point was made the project good.  What didn't work was the gradation of the colors.  

If I were to do this project again, I would add more highlights and I would define the horizon more.

The most difficult part of the project was finding the vanishing point because there were so many to use.

I learned how to use perspective better and how to make things look like they are getting farther away or closer.

Stencil

1. Explain how you changed your photo in the lab to create a stencil.

• I created my stencil by using Photoshop. The black and the white created contrast.

2. When creating the collage background explain your choices of colors, materials (magazine paper, books pages, etc), and placement. How does it relate to your topic? If no relation discuss general idea.

• I based the theme of my collage off of England and the UK.  I also used the colors red, blue, and white.  

3. Discuss the way positive and negative space was used to create your stencil.

• The positive space was what I didn't cut out.  The negative space was what i did cut out.  The balance of the positive/negative space created my stencil. I used a border as my threshold.

4. When using the xacto knife, explain the safety procedures, how to use the knife and any challenges you had to overcome while cutting.

• When using the xacto knife, you had to cut away from yourself.  The challenges I faced were things like tying to keep everything together and not accidently cutting through something that didn't need to be cut.

5. How was your experience with the spray paint? Discuss how color choice is important, placement of stencil, and any other concepts you noticed while creating this. 

• When I spray painted my collage, I used a variety of colors.  I used colors like pink, blue, white, and yellow.  The color that I sprayed the stencil with was black.  The composition turned out good.

Anamorphosis Drawing

                

1. Describe the process you went through to change your object into the correct perspective to create the drawing. This is when you were in the lab.

• First I found the image on Google Images.  Then I opened it on Photoshop and transformed and scaled it.  Then I drew it in perspective after drawing a grid.  I colored the picture using colored pencils then drew the shadow.  This project was called anamorphasis.

2. How did distorting and stretching the object allow for you to create a drawing that would look different to the viewer?

• Distorting the value of the sketch helped draw it so it looked 3D when you looked at it at a different angle.

3. What were the most important concepts in the project to make it successful?

• I think that I was successful in using all the important concepts like transforming, scaling, shading, and distorting the image to make it look good.

Print Evaluation

1.     Describe the overall composition of your artwork (balance, unity, rhythm and movement).

•     I think that the overall composition of my artwork turned out good.  I think this because the balance between the pink and the white worked.  I also think this because you can see the image well.

2.     How did you add texture and contrast to your print? Is this important? Why?

• I added texture in the male lion's mane.  I also added texture in the leaves of the trees.  Texture was also added in the whiskers of the two lions.  I think this is important because then the drawing wont look flat and boring.

3.     Explain how you used positive and negative space to show your image.

• I used positive space in the lions.  I also used positive space in the trees.  I used negative space in the sky and background and the lines defying the shape/animals.

4.     Describe the craftsmanship of your print. (How good the project is technically crafted)

• The craftsmanship of my print was good in my opinion.  I thought it was good because there was a good balance between positive and negative space.  I also thought it was good because the animals and shapes and identifiable and because the texture was good.

5.     Were you able to achieve depth by showing a foreground, middle ground and back- ground? Explain.

• I was able to achieve depth in the foreground with the lions.  I achieved depth in the middle ground with the trees.  The background's depth was achieved with the sky.

6.     Explain your experience with Printmaking. What were the obstacles and advantages?

• In my experience with printmaking, I came across obstacles.  One of the obstacles I came across was the lines because I didn't know how big to make them.  I also had trouble in decided whether to cut out the black part of the white part.  One of the advantages I had was the shapes because cutting out the lions and the tress was easy.

Print Making Sketch

1. Why is texture so important to have in your sketches?

-Texture is important to have in your sketches because then it wont look so flat and boring.

2. Why is it necessary for you to have several references of each animal and each background? Explain.

-It was necessary to have multiple background references for this project.  This was necessary because then the background would be unique and different and not boring with only one thing in the background or a few things.

3. When you look at your sketches are you able to see which sketch is the strongest and will make the best print? How do you know this? 

-I will be able to tell by how textural and detailed the sketch is.  I would know this because it wouldn't look flat but have a lot of texture so it would look good on the print.

Chalk Mural

1. Explain your experience working on a team and executing your ideas for the mural.

-I liked working with my team because we came up with a lot of great of ideas for the chalk mural.  We came up with a lot of ideas for this project but narrowed it down to our favorite, which was the large drink.  Each of us put in a lot of work in this project.

2. Explain the importance of collaboration when working on a team.

-Each of us had a pretty big role in creating the mural.  We each had a different object to draw and shade but we also helped each other.  It was important for us to work together so we could get it done.

3.  How successful was this project? Explain how and why.

-I think the mural was successful.  I think it was successful because it looked good when someone tried to interact with them and the colors and proportions were good.  I also thought it was successful because it looked almost exactly like our original design.

4. Explain how you feel about creating artwork that others can interact with. Ex. Involving the whole school? 

-I think that it is really awesome that you can create interactive art.  I also thought it was fun to be able to do this project.  I think that it would be fun to do this again or on my own.

Value Portraits

 

1. Explain the process you went through to develop your drawing.

First I traced the sections of value from the picture on the tracing paper.  Then I shaded the backside of the tracing paper and then traced it in my sketchbook.  After that, I shaded in the values that I saw in the picture.

 

2. Explain how you found the different values in the portrait?

I found many different values in the picture.  I found the values by using my value scale.  I also found the values by shading in the section with the coresponding value I saw. 

 

3.  Did you achieve a full range of the different values within your portrait?  How?

I think I achieved the full range of values.  I think this because I used the value scale colors, except for white, and was able to shade it.  I also think I was successful because the darks and the lights coresponded with the picture.

 

4. Describe your craftsmanship.  Is the artwork executed and crafted neatly?

I think that my craftsmanship was neat.  I think this because the picture turned out good and shaded correctly.  The only thing I could have improved on is how well I shaded and how I could have blended better.

 

5. List any obstacles you had to overcome and how you dealt with them.
Two obstacles occured when trying do do this piece.  One obstacle was the tracing of the shading sections because it was hard to find some of the locations of the values.  The other obstacle was the shading because I had a little trouble trying to figure out which value would go where but then I eventually matched the sections with the correct value shading.

Value Study Drawing

1. Describe your overall thoughts on the final piece.
I thought that I could've done better, like darkening the shapes.

2. If this was a group project, what was your contribution?

3. How successful do you feel this piece is and why?
I think this piece was semi-successful because the shapes looked weird and the shading was kind of choppy.

4. What worked about this project? What didn’t work?
The thing that worked was the blending of the colors.  The thing that didn't really work was shading with the shape.

5. If you were to do this project over again, what changes would you consider making?
I would totally draw my shapes better, shade better, and darken the shading.

6. What was the most difficult part about completing this piece and why?
The most difficult part was shading with the shape because I found it hard to follow.

7. What did you learn from this piece?
I learned how to shade and use value and the blend oil pastels.