This project is a mixed media. Mrs. Rossi told us to have a theme that tied into our piece, but I ended up not doing that. I thought that it required too much thinking if I were to do a theme. I'm glad I didn't go along with a theme because I really like the way it turned out. The first thing that pops out at me when I look at this piece is the cards. The way they are cut and lined up really makes a statement at the top of the piece. I started out with warm colors like red, orange and yellow. When I kept doing more and more layers I ended up adding different blues, light pink, and white. I tried to keep most of my lines going the same direction to make the piece more visually appealing, and I also incorporated the circles throughout my mixed media as well. When I look at this piece the mood I feel is happy or chirpy. The yellow and gold I used has a lot to do with that because if I had not used those colors it wouldn't be as light. The best part about mixed media is wall the textures you can use. I used sparkles, gold wiring, lace, and string. This artwork is not really supposed to mean anything because like I said before there is no theme and there is no reason for why I put certain things on the piece. I think this artwork has strong value with the cards and the sparkly clear stuff on top of it. I also think that that the red thin cut of paper next to the purple string really emphasizes the way I was intending the lines to all go.
Did you learn new techniques or processes as part of the work for this project?
Yes I did. This project was about printmaking, even though I had done a print in Art One I had never done several layers. So this was a new experience for me. At the beginning I couldn't understand how the several layers would all make one picture. I was really happy with the way it turned out after it was finished. What I learned was how to start with the lightest color and cut out everything I want to stay that color. It was a really intricate process that Mrs. Rossi did a really good job explaining. I'm so glad I was able to learn these techniques they were super cool! Did you try something that you weren’t sure about as part of this project? When I started this specific building I was very unsure about the small lines and how detailed all the windows were. I really like the way the lines turned out, they aren't perfectly aligned which makes it kind of cool. If I were to try this project again with the same subject I would try to do the small lines first so that they wouldn't get unaligned throughout the process. How did you respond to challenges that occurred as you worked? When we started this project we did practices. Everytime I tried to lay the print down it would be un aligned. My way of fixing the challenge was to have a friend help me which also didn't work. So my last way of trying to respond to the challenges was by finding a different way of laying it down. I started laying the print down backwards and the results were so much better. For this project I painted only part of the whole painting. This was the first time I had ever worked with paints and I really enjoyed it. Mine wasn't that great compared to the others in my painting but, I think I did a good job getting the right colors and blending. I had a hard time finding the right size of the cows butt so mine is a little off of proportion compared to others. This project really made you look at the details instead of the whole picture. It was a really good at to go about it. That's how I ended up drawing my final painting. By breaking it up into parts and drawing only what I saw within those perimeters.
How did you use your own unique ideas in your work?
Yes, At the beginning of this project when Mrs. Rossi was showing us what previous classes had done I saw a lot of pancakes. eggs, and bacon. I didn't what to do anything like that because A LOT of people had done it. Boring. So I ended up doing carmel and candy apples with sprinkles. I had never seen anyone else do it and thought it was would be different. I'm really happy I chose to do them because they turned out really well. Did your work take an unexpected turn due to a mistake or did something happen that was unplanned? Yes, When I started painting and glazing I didn't really think the process through. I glazed all over the apple including the sprinkles. Then I let Mrs. Sudkamp glaze it. Then when she took it out and I decided I would paint the sprinkles I realized that I did it in the wrong order. So the sprinkles aren't perfect. If I were to do it again I would still glaze the whole apple but, I would also use glaze on the sprinkles before I put it in the kiln. When did you step back and analyze you work during this project? Yes, most of the time when I stood back it was to see if the apple was the shape of a normal apple. I also stood back and realized my first attempt at sprinkles was too big so I went back and did it again but with smaller sprinkles. Which made it turn out a lot better. Lastly, when I was painting the sprinkles I stood back each time after doing a color so I would make sure I wasn't over using a color. Did you learn new techniques or processes as part of the work for this project?
Yes, I actually had never painted before this project so I learned a lot of new things. I learned how to do the clouds by blotching them on and lighting blending in the corners. I also learned how to blend on canvas which is what I did for my ocean. I put a lot of the one teal color all over the ocean then added white at the bottom and dark blues at the top to blend in on the canvas. I really enjoyed the blending on the canvas. Another technique I learned while doing this project was how to use a round brush to create the leaves in the bushes. Also how to use dark and lights to create the depths of the bush. Did you find inspiration from another artist or culture? For this project we were given an artist and we were supposed to pull techniques and ideas from them. I had Joseph William Turner, he created a lot of works with the water and the sky. So that is where I got my inspiration to do the light house. A technique that I pulled from him was the dark of the ocean to the light of the sky. If I could have done something else from his techniques I would've done the imperfect lines. A lot of this work wasn't perfect lines and perfect color in the right spot. It was a little messy but, a neat messy. I wish I would've been able to do that in this project because that is what I had envisioned. Did your work take an unexpected turn due to a mistake or did something happen that was unplanned? Yes! and I did not like the way it turned out. The mistake that I made was making the lighthouse gray. At the beginning I saw grey and thought it would turn out better if i just followed the way the photo was but I was wrong. I really wish I had done an off white. In my opinion it would've turned out a lot better and looked really good against the sky and the the ocean. I also didn't draw out the perspective well enough so half way through painting most of it Mrs. Rossi and I noticed so I had to change it. It wasn't a hard change but it was unplanned. 1.Did you try something that you weren’t sure about as part of this project? Yes, I found out I was really good at oil pastels and really wanted to do them for this project. Randomly though, I decided to do water color. I had a really hard time. I was getting frustrated because I had an image in my head that I couldn't reciprocate in the art. It was different having to use a bunch of different water color techniques to create one final piece. Overall, I'm really glad I did water color. I learned a lot and am really happy with how my art turned out. 2.Did someone help you understand important information or inspire you? During this project I was having a really hard time seeing the important details. I was drawing what I thought a sunflower should look like not what my photo actually looked like. Mrs. Rossi was able to make me look at those smaller details and encouraged me to go one shape at a time. I was unsure because I felt like I was making it worse when I did something like draw out the shape of the leaf. Over all though it makes the piece of art so much more realistic. Mrs. Rossi helped inspire me to see the smaller and detailed part instead of the big picture. 3. Did you find inspiration from another artist or culture? For this project we were told that we were gonna do it Georgia O'Keeffe style. We were shown some of her pieces and educated on her background. I found my inspiration specifically from the close up nature drawings she did. After finishing this project and looking back on it, I really enjoyed that we zoomed into a small section of a piece of nature. Georgia O'Keeffe was an awesome inspiration. While we were experimenting with different media I ended up liking the oil pastels. I liked the way they blended easily and created a smooth color. I was hesitant of the water color pencils. They were not my favorite, but not my least favorite. I also did not like the colored pencils, they were not easy to work with either. Granted I was not using Prisma. The media that I disliked the most was the chalk. I found it extremely hard to blend color; I was just all around frustrated. Pretty much I only liked water color and oil pastels.
1. Did you gain skills with familiar materials?
Yes, during this project I used only pencil. Throughout art one I drew sometimes with pencil never trying to shade or have the pencil lines going in the same direction, When I started this project it seemed like quite the challenge. As I started sketching I began figuring out how much better shading helps create the image. By the end of this project I am so much more confident in my skill with pencil drawings. 2.When did you step back and analyze you work during this project? I stepped back and analyzed my work every time I thought I was done but i knew something didn't look right. Several times I kept looking and couldn't think of something to fix the hole. Mrs. Rossi always was able to lead me in the next direction if I really got stuck. By the end of the project I analyzed my work and could definitely tell the sky was wrong. Although the sky didn't actually gradient in the photo Mrs. Rossi helped me step back and decide it was probably best to gradient the sky. At one point I was looking at the side walk thinking it did not look right and then realized that it needed to get really dark at the end of the side walk and get lighter as the side walk got closer. By analyzing my work I was able to create a better piece of art and a more realistic one! 3. Did you pick a material or technique that was new or different over something that was familiar? At the start of the project we were told we were doing perspective drawings and that we could also use pen or colored pencil as well. Since I was still iffy on me actually being able to draw let alone a perspective drawing a stuck to pencil. I'm really glad I did though. I enjoyed shading and making values darker or lighter based on what I saw in the photo. I really liked the monochromatic theme. I picked up several new techniques one being SHADING IS KEY. When I first started shading my doors and windows I thought they looked ridiculous, and was very unsure if was helping my project or making it worse. Now as my whole project has come together I can see how much a difference the shading does. |
Jordan Seward
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