1. Look at your body of work over the semester and choose 2 pieces that show your growth as an artist. Discuss each piece and how you grew in the following areas: application of materials, techniques and skills, artistic vision, use of the principles and elements, creativity, intuition and subject matter.
From the pieces I made from this semester I see the most growth from my color pencil self portrait and my clay food pop art piece. My color pencil self portrait helped me improve on using the pencils and getting close to the colors I needed to make my portrait look realistic. Using only the primary colors and a blending pencil helped me understand secondary and tertiary colors using the material. It also helped me on depth using darker and lighter colors to show the shadows on my face. The graph I used to get the proportions of my face correct helped my grow on the subject as I usually do not draw people. My clay food pop art piece helped me improve on speed using clay as I had to make so many coffee beans and paint them. I also grew in using a real reference to make it look realistic. I improved on the clay technique of coiling from making the cup for the coffee beans and got better at smoothing out the clay piece.
From the pieces I made from this semester I see the most growth from my color pencil self portrait and my clay food pop art piece. My color pencil self portrait helped me improve on using the pencils and getting close to the colors I needed to make my portrait look realistic. Using only the primary colors and a blending pencil helped me understand secondary and tertiary colors using the material. It also helped me on depth using darker and lighter colors to show the shadows on my face. The graph I used to get the proportions of my face correct helped my grow on the subject as I usually do not draw people. My clay food pop art piece helped me improve on speed using clay as I had to make so many coffee beans and paint them. I also grew in using a real reference to make it look realistic. I improved on the clay technique of coiling from making the cup for the coffee beans and got better at smoothing out the clay piece.
2. Choose 2 mini lessons that you felt were the most beneficial in your learning for that particular project. Include photos of these and explain thoroughly. Do you feel you needed more instruction for success? Explain or did you feel that the instruction given was enough to ensure success? Explain.
Out of the mini lessons the color wheels using the color pencils and acrylics were the most beneficial to me for the final projects. The color wheels helped me gain a perspective on how to make the colors I needed only using primary colors. I also got practice on how to use the mediums before I went on to mixing colors for the final projects. I don't think I needed more instruction for success but just more practice on mixing colors and trying to match colors. The practice would help me improve on the texture of the color pencils to be more smooth and not as waxy and uneven. I think the practice I did get helped me on the hair texture and colors of my skin. The practice with the paint helped me make the colors I wanted for my piece and match the colors for the piece of painting that I was assigned. I also got used to the quality of the paint by using layers for it to show up opaque.
Out of the mini lessons the color wheels using the color pencils and acrylics were the most beneficial to me for the final projects. The color wheels helped me gain a perspective on how to make the colors I needed only using primary colors. I also got practice on how to use the mediums before I went on to mixing colors for the final projects. I don't think I needed more instruction for success but just more practice on mixing colors and trying to match colors. The practice would help me improve on the texture of the color pencils to be more smooth and not as waxy and uneven. I think the practice I did get helped me on the hair texture and colors of my skin. The practice with the paint helped me make the colors I wanted for my piece and match the colors for the piece of painting that I was assigned. I also got used to the quality of the paint by using layers for it to show up opaque.
3. What medium was your favorite to work with? Explain why and how you were able to master the techniques associated with this medium.
My favorite medium to work with was the color pencils. As I usually paint I liked using a different medium for a project and spending more time on the pencils to improve on them. The pencils were very different than paint as they are more harsh and the texture is smooth but waxy. The techniques of using the color pencils were interesting to me as you had to build layers of the primary colors to make realistic colors compared to the reference. I was able to master the technique by practicing the colors I needed for the picture. The practice we did in class helped me with blending the colors on my face and the depth using darker and lighter colors. The final project helped me practice using color pencils the most as I had a reference to copy. I also had to practice using the pencils to make a smooth drawing.
My favorite medium to work with was the color pencils. As I usually paint I liked using a different medium for a project and spending more time on the pencils to improve on them. The pencils were very different than paint as they are more harsh and the texture is smooth but waxy. The techniques of using the color pencils were interesting to me as you had to build layers of the primary colors to make realistic colors compared to the reference. I was able to master the technique by practicing the colors I needed for the picture. The practice we did in class helped me with blending the colors on my face and the depth using darker and lighter colors. The final project helped me practice using color pencils the most as I had a reference to copy. I also had to practice using the pencils to make a smooth drawing.
4. Discuss one project where you felt you were the least successful. Explain why you felt this way. What would you do differently to change this piece? Explain.
I felt that I was least successful in my pen and ink project. Compared to my other projects it was more simple and I could have added a lot more to it. I also could have used more time to work and perfect the pen designs I used in the final project. I would have tried to make the pen patterns more neat by taking more time to work on the drawing. I also could have added more depth to the drawing using more variation in darker and lighter patterns. There were also some spaces that were more empty that I could have added a better pattern to. I could have practiced the patterns a few times before I used them on the drawing. I also could have added more components to the drawing to make it more detailed such as more buildings.
I felt that I was least successful in my pen and ink project. Compared to my other projects it was more simple and I could have added a lot more to it. I also could have used more time to work and perfect the pen designs I used in the final project. I would have tried to make the pen patterns more neat by taking more time to work on the drawing. I also could have added more depth to the drawing using more variation in darker and lighter patterns. There were also some spaces that were more empty that I could have added a better pattern to. I could have practiced the patterns a few times before I used them on the drawing. I also could have added more components to the drawing to make it more detailed such as more buildings.