Reflection: Final project

I dislike this picture so much.  a) I hate prisma colors. Either that, or I don't really understand what I'm doing with them.  b) I dislike how I drew this picture.  Let's get started.

This was my reference picture.

In progress photo, day 1

In progress photo, day 2

In progress photo, day 3

Final product

I tried very hard to layer my colors and build up the prismas, but I don't think that I was too successful at it, which is a big problem with this piece.  I also think that I didn't do too well at choosing my colors for the color scheme.  I think I chose fairly dully colors and a fairly dull background to work on, which didn't do anything to exhibit how saturated the prisma colors can be.  I also feel that while my piece came from an interesting idea, the composition was lackluster and unappealing.
      The thought behind this piece, how this artwork is a reflection of me, is that I love to write.  The original picture is of me, writing in my journal, with the words of my journal reflected in my bracelet. I have a couple thick, band-bracelets that I wear fairly commonly, and so that was another insight into  me and my life.
     To improve this piece, I think that I would improve my prismacolor technique, change the colors that I used, and try to go a lot slower.  That is a reoccurring problem from me that everyone is probably sick of hearing about, I know, but I am very anxious to finish things when I really should be slowing down and concentrating on the minutia of my piece.  

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

Face Me: Orifices and Miscellaneous (and Face)

All of my face pieces and the final face!  I don't think I did my hair so well, but I'll do better next time.  And my nose looks so weird but that's probably my face, and not my drawing. 

Let's Get Colorful: Opacity Project

This is my reference photo.  

1. Describe the craftsmanship of your drawing.  Is it neat and well executed?
    I think it is.  I give myself credit because it's drawn exclusively in chalk.  Maybe that isn't the best thing to say in regards to my own work, but I am proud of it.  I hope that I will eventually be able to do better with chalk, but I think that the craftsmanship of this is good considering the artistic stage that I'm at.

2. Describe how your background choices help unify the three artworks and tie them together as one piece of art.
      I think that the background really makes the brights stand out from the background, even though they're chalk and not prismas.  I also think that the dark helps add depth the objects.  As I might have mentioned previously, I don't particularly like the plain black background, but I do believe that there are several good qualities about it.

Actual piece.

3. Describe your choices of colors/color harmonies and how you used them throughout the artwork.
     I think that I used a lot of primary colors here, which really brought a lot of strength to the piece.  It really makes it stand out from the dark background, and also assimilates the white highlights nicely into the color scheme.  I am a bit regretful that both the strudel box and the counter were brownish.  I should have changed the color on one of them, or drawing something other than the strudel box.

4.  How did you create contrast in your drawing?
      I think that the color was a bit part of it. The brightly colored objects in the bottom half of the drawing vs. the dark background brought a lot of tension.  I also think that the shapes of the objects, from the more natural curve of the canola oil bottle to the sharp angles of the bread-bag's tie off also added contrast.

5.  How did you use textures, highlights, and shadows to enhance your artwork?
      I think that I used highlights the most effectively in this piece, and shadows go hand in hand with that.  Obviously I used them to show depth, and the differences between items.  I don't think I used texture that well, both because there weren't many textured pieces here, and because I draw texture poorly.  I think that the shading and the highlights were very effective, though, and added some level of realism to the drawing.

6.  Why did you choose a particular background for the artwork?
      I guess I just went with the background of the photograph.  I choose it originally because I thought it would make the colors in the piece stand out more.  More dramatic that way.  I do regret that choice now. I should have taken a better picture that showed more of the kitchen behind the objects, to add more context to the artwork. But I think it looks fine the way it is.

7. Discuss the importance of understanding the media (prismacolor or chalk) and acquiring the skills necessary to create a successful project.
       I think it's really important to understand the media and have the skills to use it so the piece looks right.  If you used prismacolors like you use chalk, then you'll be sorely disappointed, and vice versa, because the properties of the medias are different. Obviously.  But if you misunderstand what you're doing with them--for me, prismas are about getting very intense colors and details in a small area, while chalk is about getting colors over larger areas of space, with fewer details.  It's important to understand this so you don't approach the medium and the piece with the wrong intention. And that you have the skills to execute said goals.

8.  Describe any difficulties you had in creating your drawing and what could be done to improve your drawing?
   I think that I could choose a better composition, or have more patience.  As usual.  I was very annoyed with the chalk pastel, because it kept smudging and the colors stopped looking as I wanted. And, as I previously mentioned, I do sort of regret the composition I chose, and I wish that it had more complexity and depth.

Let's Get Colorful: Dum-Dum

This is my Dum-Dum!  I started out doing light layers of green as my base color.  For the lighter sections, I went over the green in yellow and for the absolute brightest parts I added white highlights. For the shadows I worked in a progression of blues, with my darkest value being purple.  I think the lettering on this was pretty poor, and I actually forgot a line of words.  I don't think the shading on the letters was all that good either, and the perspective was a bit off. If I'd paid a bit more attention to detail, I think I could have improved on that a lot, so that's something I'll be looking out for next time.  Overall, I find that letters in perspective are some of the most difficult things for me to draw.  But I do like this drawing, and I think it came out well as a piece, if not as a representation of real life.