We are given the ability to express how we think and feel with ART. How each person does that is completely unique to them, therefore all art is unique. As an artist I have been given the proper spaces to express myself and to create art. I see the world as a colorful place that holds power in art, I know how influential the platform is and without new artists emerging, the power will be gone. Art can be made with anything but my favorite mediums are paint, mixed-media, prisma color pencils, and three dimensional objects. I suppose in the world that's full of chaos and clutter, I find looking at myself for inspiration; looking into my true feelings to find the real meaning of whatever art I am creating. I love art and what it shows me, the community, and the world as a whole. It is an ever changing platform and I am very glad I decided four years ago that I should take my passion more seriously. LIVE. LOVE. ART. lol.
Reflection Project
This project is about reflecting upon our lives while using reflective surfaces. I decided to use, for inspiration, a picture of my Dad’s jeep with a friend and I in it. It was on the first day of school so it’s really important to me. High school is something that I want to cherish forever and now that I have the my art which is related to it, I will have a better rememberance of it. This was also our first project. The medium was in Prisma colored pencils, which I am quite comfortable using. I learned a lot while doing this piece as I had to erase a lot. The perspective was hard for me. But I was confident doing the aluminum balloons since I had done car keys a few years back. They are also my favorite part of the piece. They are very attention grabbing which is good. There are still things that I need to change on the piece though, I need to add more details to the greenery in the back; it’s too flat. I would also like to continue to add more black to the coment because it’s not dark enough. Also the numbers are not in perspective, which I did not know I needed them to be when I was doing the project. So I might try and fix them or cut off the bottom. Although there are some issues with this project, I am glad I was able to finish it. It’s a meaning piece that I love. It reflects my life on tnhe first day of school and my graduation in 2019.
Everyday Objects Project
For this project, we were supposed to make an everyday object extra ordinary. I got inspiration from my nephew and his love of cars. I decided to put a match box car inside of a match box. This project was a lot of fun as it was such an interesting concept. The colors Of this project really add a kick to it. I changed up the design and layout of the box to incorporate more colors. I like the way the match sticks came out, I might need to go back and add more textures and details. I don’t like the box thigh. I tried to add the dots of the match starter but I couldn’t figure out a way to make them even. So I’ll need to figure that out eventually. Over all I dislike the project and will not be putting it in my portfolio. But it was a cool idea and I definitely will be fixing it up when I get a chance.
Interior Spaces Project
This project is called Interior Spaces. For this, we needed to create a piece that was the inside of something. I decided to do Heather’s paint palette. It took me a long time to decide what to do for this project as I was going to do a spice rack but it was ugly so I quit. This project took me a few hours and you can definitely tell it was slapped together. I do like the idea of it and I love all the colors of it. I wish I spent more time doing the greens but it’s very hard to do the texture of dried paint. Another thing I like about this piece is the way I used to the curves of the palette to make it look very realistic. I’m pretty sure it’s out of perspective but it be like that sometimes. I also named this piece “Thank you Heather”, she was my inspiration for this piece (sorta: I’ve been wanting to do this his for so long, the colors and the texture is so cool but I never got to it) I think I might eventually add more values into the background color but not sure. I think that this piece shows my style of art because of how random it is. It’s abstract yet very realistic. You’re welcome. Goodnight.
First Oil Painting- Apple
We learned how to use oil paints by painting apples. First with brushes then with a palette knife. I like oil but not palette knives.
Self Portrait:
For this project we were supposed to paint a self portrait with oil paint. We first learned how to draw facial features and how to make skin tone. Facial features were not that easy to do at first, they take a lot of practice. We were asked to have three different ideas & test out different colors and features on it. I chose this picture because of the colors in it. I thought it was would be fun to paint and experiment with different colors. I copied the image pretty much exactly & it definitely looks like the photo. During the painting process, I struggled with the facial features. I gridded the canvas so I would know where to put each element of my face. Though I could not figure out my nose mainly. I struggled with it looking to wide and fat, I got some help from other students who showed me how to draw it on. After I got the nose down, I worked on the eyes which were another struggle I had ( mainly the eyelashes), they looked so fake and out of place and it just ruined the painting. Im still working on them though. My artistic process with this painting was just kinda go with the flow, I didn't have a certain order with it but I left the harder items to the end of the painting. My challenges would have been the facial features and the getting skin tone right. My successes would have been the composition of it and how it is at the proper angle and then the nose (!!!!!!!). Since this was my first oil painting, I definitely realized that I like it a lot more than acrylic. It's very smooth but it transfer sooooooooooooooooooo easily which is not cool at all. The blendability of makes it so easy to use and work day after day. This project definitely had its ups and downs but im so glad I had the ability to try someone out of my comfort zone. I definitely will not do another portrait because of how much I struggled but it was a great learning process. It definitely was a good experience even if it sucks. I hope I can fix this painting and make it actually good.
Animal Portrait
For this project we were supposed to draw an animal, so I drew my cat. I had a lot of troubles actually finding a picture of him because he is old and cranky. I finally found this one picture that is like 7 years old, it had good composition and was very clear. This was the first drawing fur or basically any animal in general, so I had sorta a lot of trouble with it before watching a video on it. After practicing different techniques, I finally was able to do it. Another issue I had was the background, the colors in it were too similar to my cat's fur. I ended up using very bright torquises and pinks, that i had added into the fur. Something I do in most of my pieces is to uses the same colors throughout the majority of the piece. I had added the pinks and blues into the nose, the eye, the shadows and ears. Im not really sure what it does to the piece but it adds a nice touch. I think I did well with my color choices but I don't think he looks very life-like. He also does look like he does in real life but it does look like a drawing. For most of my projects this semester I used Prisma Color pencils. I really like them and I think I have good technique. I chose them because they are the easiest to use and I hate painting. I now know how to draw fur which is cool, the next animal project I do will be a lot easier. I grew as an artist because I learned to have better patience. I usually do things very fast and they look sloppy, so I made sure to take my time on this piece to make sure it turned out the way I wanted it to. Overall I'm very happy with my piece! I only wish I could change the background.
Landscape
For this piece we were to take a photo of a pretty landscape and either paint it or draw it. I decided to paint it with oil paint. I found this photo from a friend and it was so visually appealing that I had to paint it. I started with painting the sky which wasn't necessarily hard to do but it took many layers to get the right amount of sun and sky in it. The surfboard was also hard to do, just because of the darkness on it. In the picture it is completely dark so I added purple values into it so it wouldn't just be black. The purples match nicely with the pinks and yellows in the sky. When I’m “arting” I usually just wing it, I don’t have an order or a real plan when I go into it. My challenges of this painting were the surfboard and the sand. Both had such dark values that it was hard to get it to look like more than just darkness. I’d say a success would be the sky. It took many layers and lots of colors but it turned out pretty good. I don’t really like doing landscapes so I didn’t really like how I was doing it but I just kept looking at the reference photo and it turned out pretty similar. One thing I really like about oil paints is that you can really layer things but also blend them very easily. This project has allowed me to practice different kinds of paintings. I will definitely not do anymore landscapes buttttt I’m glad I was forced to do it!
Nature turns mechanical
(I AM REDOING THIS PROJECT BUT THIS IS WHAT I HAVE FOR THIS TRY) This project was a little harder for me, I didn’t have many good ideas on what I should do so I started over a good 15 times. I chose this idea because I’m sorta alright at doing hands. When I was brainstorming I just saw like animals that were half mechanical and blah blah blah I didn’t really like it, therefore I don’t really like this project. My artist challenges for this project were ideas, I couldn’t find anything I was actually excited to do. Everything I thought of were either already done or were just ugly. My artist process would be a struggle. I’m not really good at drawing grass (basically anything with texture) so I left that for the end. I start with my strong suites which was the hand/skin tone. I struggled to make this piece look real or just good in general. It wasn’t a good concept so my craftsmanship wasn’t good either. I used Prisma colored pencils for this and since I’m used to this medium I just kinda did not use my best techniques. For future projects, I know to brainstorm better ideas and run them by Rossi before I start so the ideas isn’t total garbage. I grew as an artist because I learned to focus better and put all my effort into one piece at a time and be on time for my work.
Concentration #1
My concentration theme is "Is the Juice Worth the Squeeze?" meaning is the effort you put towards something, is the outcome worth it. This can be related to all sorts of things but for my first piece I wanted to show the literal sense of it. For this piece, I used a wood burning tool to carve out the dimensions of my arm and hand then I used oil to paint the orange. I realized that the wood absorbs the oil paint a lot so i had to do multiple layers. I still would like to add wood stain onto it to show the life-likeness of the arm. I really enjoy this piece and the use of the burning tool. I LOVE my concentration theme a lot and I can't wait for my other pieces.
Concentration #2
For my second concentration, I decided to do "Is the Diet Worth the Loss?", meaning is dieting worth the weight loss, anorexia, the physical and mental pain. This piece is oil paint on canvas. It is feet on a scale with the weight of 98.5 lbs on it. That weight is definitely not a healthy weight for people my age or surrounding ages. it shows how an unhealthy weight. The swirls show how its a never ending cycle of issues, it's hard to get out of an unhealthy habit. I made sure to incorporate orange (the toe nails) to represent "the juice". I plan on adding words around the scale that are related to weight loss and such. I really liked the concept of the piece and even how it turned out.
REFLECTION
After not taking an art class for almost two years, it was hard getting back into the swing of it again. I was behind in all projects the entire semester, struggling to even finish one, staying up late to attempt to finish, I finally am ending the year still being behind, Although I struggled with being behind, I love art and I love the community this class brings to my life. I have met so many cool people and made so many good memories because of this class. &&& I love the new seats!! I cannot wait to continue next semester! Hopefully I will be ahead (maybe) before we submit our portfolios. Sorry for never doing my work, love you Rossi!<3