Question 1
I believe my most successful project is my close up painting, inspired by Georgia o'keeffe. The theme was close up art of an object which would help focus on the texture, depth, and values to the object, rather than a zoomed out picture. To start off this project I needed ideas. What was I going to draw close up? I chose something basic but it was well executed with a balanced composition and complimentary colors. I chose my two ideas for what I wanted to draw up close. Either a cupcake, or a flower. For the cupcake I had to print 5 reference pictures to help me get a general idea of how to draw the shape and texture, and then I had to draw three compositions. Three different placements of the cupcake on the page, close up. The same process went for the flower. I chose to do a close up of the flower because I liked the texture of the petals and the rain drops and the way I could mess with light value and depth using one color. This project was done in watercolor, which I believe is a strong suit I could improve. But it's why I chose watercolor, I was pretty good at it. At first I drew a rose and all the water droplets and highlights down onto a poster size piece of paper, then I went over it with a very very light blue by using mostly water with the smallest hint of water color paint, let it dry, and layered from there. I enjoyed using the gradient technique as well, it was helpful in darker areas on the rose.
Question 2
The two pieces that I believe show my growth as an artist is the Mary Cassatt recreation painting, and the pen and ink drawing. Both of these pieces taught me patience. With the pen and ink drawing I got to improve in many areas. It was sort of the whole package. It taught me perspective, values, it allowed me to be creative and free with my choice of scenery, I learned to draw cleaner lines with pen and along with that I learned pen techniques. Hatching, stippling, crosshatching, and pretty much freestyle. These taught me how to keep a steady hand. And it's all wonderful. These techniques along with perspective can be used for anything you want to make. I remember drawing in 2D where my perspective was always off or my people were un proportionate. This project helped me make my art look more alive and easier to connect to and get lost in. The use of rulers became more and more necessary throughout the class since this project. It taught me clean lines matter. And now shading just comes naturally to me and where to place the light source. The Mary Cassatt project was a challenge and that's what I like. It was foreign to me, as I do not paint. The acrylic paint projects before this one were weak willed and not enjoyable. Before this painting I felt discouraged, like I could never mix colors and make them what I want. But I did, and it shows in my painting. It taught me that there are different styles of art, but one is not better than the other because they don't all mean the same thing. Some were painted to symbolize something. Or to trick your mind. To make a statement, to be used as propaganda, to rebel, to distract your eye in certain areas or skew focus, to express something or make you feel a certain way. The technique was done in acrylic paint on canvas. I learned how to layer paint more gracefully than I ever have. I was able to use my knowledge from past projects to enhance this one, such as the shading and perspective from my pen and ink project. This project taught me that when I walk into an art museum and I see simplistic paintings that a 10 year old could easily do, that they have deeper meaning and they have a story. And the artist behind it has a story. I also had the freedom to create my own landscape while painting in Mary's art style. It's like she was over my shoulder. Cause if I think about it Mary was in a class just like me. She wasn't always an "amazing" artist. She felt discouraged. I think what I'm saying is, knowing the background to the artist helped me grow as an artist, and a person. A connection helped me see my painting differently than if I were to just be given a Mary Cassatt painting and been told to "mimic this". This piece also taught me that there is more than one way to holding a brush and using it.
Question 3
Two mini lessons that I believe were most beneficial to learning make my color wheel was the paint value chart knowing the difference between tints and shades, and the prisma colored pencils where I drew peppers and colored them in using tedious layering. For the background on my color wheel I also used tedious layering. Like my prisma pencils there was a lot of playing with colors and adding more color to the one you put down and getting it to just the right color you want. Before the prisma colors and the painting lessons I never really thought about layering. In my art it's always you got one go at it and then you're done. Nothing tedious nothing complicated, all very simple. (this class changed me as an artist a lot) the paint value chart obviously helped me make the piece more exciting by giving me options of adding tints and shades to my mixed colors. I had no idea how to paint walking into this class. I've never done it knowing what I know now. I feel these lessons were taught perfectly. It was clear to understand, the only thing that would make the lessons difficult is the fact it's your first time doing it (it was mine) and that you feel you did horribly. But with practice, those instructions got me a long way. Really helped me play with color.