Scratch That, Reverse It: Scratchboard Final

1.  Describe the subject matter and the meaning of your work.
      The subject matter is more of my same magical realism theme, I guess.  It's a girl with wings, trying not to be blown away by the wind as it pushes her umbrella upwards.  I guess a girl with wings would have very light bones, so it might be a danger that she would be blown away.  I don't know if I drew this with a true meaning in mind. I just was thinking one day, and I saw that picture, and I wanted to draw it.

2. How did you use texture to enhance your picture?
     I think I used texture to show the tension in her wings as the wind pushes them along.  Feathers wouldn't be the same without texture, I don't think.  And the water was greatly enhanced by texture, though I don't really know why that was there.  I think that the texture was one of the main points of the composition, because without it, the picture would have seemed very bland.

3. How did you balance your artwork and create a well-organized composition?
     I think that I created a well-organized composition through texture.  Also, the balance between motion of negative space and objects was very well balanced, thanks to Ms. Rossi's input.  The added feathers added a lot to the composition, and make the piece look a lot more spontaneous.  Looking at it now, I really regret the water.  Or, at least, the line that separates the water from the rest of the piece.  I sort of drew that line thinking that it would be the basis for a sidewalk, and then I misplaced the puddle, so now it's a pool, but I really regret that whole bottom third.

4. How did you imply movement in your drawing?
     I think I imply movement with the wind and the feathers blowing everywhere.  And I think the girl's basic position implies movement, because she's reaching up to pull the umbrella back down to her.  Her limbs and her hair all suggest movement to me, as does the position of her head relative to the rest of her body.

5. How could you improve your artwork?
    I could not have that bunch of water in the bottom.  I think that would make everything look at lot better. Also, I think that because this was my first scratchboard I was very inexperienced in the medium, so I made a lot of amateur mistakes.  The wings don't look all that great, upon greater inspection, and some of the lines go in funky directions.  Seeing what some of my classmates did with their scratchboards made me reconsider my skills.

6.  How did you demonstrate a wide range of shading values?
      I think I demonstrated a fairly wide ranged of shading values through the water, and the wings and the girl's clothing, especially.  I tried to make the brights as bright as they could go, and keep the darks as implied as possible, but I found that very difficult because, again, I didn't plan as well as I should have, and I didn't really know what I was doing. Also, I found it hard to take away the lights, as I've mentioned before, and so I accidentally wound up taking some of the darks off instead.  I think that if I redid this scratchboard, I would have a better understanding of what I was doing, and would consequently have a better range of shading and values.

Face Me: Final

Describe:
     So, my idea for this was that I would be slowly turning into a zombie as flora took over my body.  I hoped to show pain, by my facial expression, because I imagine it would be a painful process.  The drew the face in charcoal, with white charcoal highlights, and the flowers and plants were colored in prismas.  The paper I drew it on is a brown construction paper.

Analyze:
   I would say that this work isn't as well drawn as I would have liked it to be.  I do think that it is a good drawing, possibly one of my best, but I also really appreciate the sketch drawings more.  I think the size of the paper threw me off.  I was used to working on a less stretched out paper, so when I moved to a longer paper, the proportions became maligned.  I don't think it looks a lot like me, which is sort of disappointing, but I feel like I pulled everything else off successfully enough.
    I really enjoyed the effect the white charcoal had on the body.  It draws the eye away from the brightness of the flowers to the darker side of the face, which I feel is really important, because both sides are of equal gravity to the piece in its entirety.

Interpret:
   I got the idea for this piece from my fascination of flora and the uses for different sort of flowers.  I think that in this drawing, I've included juniper, evergreen, lichen, hydrangea, violets, Indian's paintbrush, and a rose.  Some of these I've added for specific reasons, and I think that I put the color in to also make the same point.  The color, to me, represents the beauty of nature, vs. how humans destroy the environment. But, in this drawing, the nature is the one destroying the human.  Event though it's beautiful, it still has the potential to destroy.  Maybe this just me being dramatic, but I think that the color detracts from this message, which makes it even cooler to me still.

Judge:
    I think that the effect of the drawing, over all, was very good.  Thought it didn't happen how I wanted it to, I do think that I executed it well.  I don't know what happened to the right side of my hair, I really should have darkened that up, but I think that is the weakest part of the entire drawing.  Overall, I am very proud of this. I think that I was able to use a lot of the skill I've been building up over the semester, and I demonstrated my ability to use both charcoal and prismas effectively.

Face Me: Concepts for the Final

So, we had three concepts we could choose from for our portraits: mechanical, expressive, or zombified.

Mechanical:
    For this concept I thought that I would do a smooth metal face, with seams around all the major shadows, with each shadow group being represented in a different metal color.

Expressive: 

    This was a relatively simplistic idea.  I was just going to draw me being really upset, but I was going to do it in monochromatic red. 

Monster: 

     I just did this one, because I thought it would be a cool idea.  It didn't really come out how I wanted it to, so you know.  It looks really, really strange, so I'm glad I didn't choose do to this one.  I sort of wanted the left side of the face to turn into a snout?  But the perspective would have been difficult. 

Zombified: 

     I saw this image, or an image like this, the moment the project was announced.  It's sort of a flower zombie.  And it's also expressive, because I would be screaming as I was turning into a zombie.  Because I imagine having flowers growing out of your mouth to be very painful. 

Concept

Initial planning

Final sketch