Though my self portrait does not look like me in the least, I am pleased with the final outcome. I chose to use acrylic paint to paint a picture of myself and rather than doing realistic colors, I used a variety of unnatural ones. I thought of this idea when looking through the work of more abstract artists and some self portraits on Pinterest (example below). Also, I tried painting a close up photo of me. I wanted to do a more colorful self portrait because it is more exciting than average colors. Also, it looks like something from a comic book or as if a photo has a really cool filter. Also, I have never showed value with color before and I wanted to try that. My favorite part of the piece is the technique I used for the painting. On the face, I blotted the paint on to give it an interesting texture. Also, I like the way I blended the colors together. If I could change something about this piece, I would firstly make it look more like myself and additionally, I would add more detail to parts of my face like my eyes. It is very difficult to make a painting look like oneself but I did have a lot of fun trying.
3 Comments
For the art parody project, I drew a modern version of the Magritte Apple. I thought this would be a good piece of art to parody and after thinking about other famous apples, I came up with the apple logo. I did this piece using colored pencils and I am most proud of the blending that I achieved. However, I struggled with the skin tone of the hands and tried to make the background textured but it did not come out so well. I also wish that it could have been more realistic.
In Kirby Ferguson's ted talk, "Embrace the Remix," he gives various examples, such as singer Bob Dylan and creator Steve Jobs, and explains how they have stolen ideas from singers and inventors in the past. Though copying someone else's work is often frowned upon, Ferguson's tells us that it is something we should embrace. As long as you are making something your own, it is okay to use ideas from others as inspiration. I think he makes a very good point because often times we get preoccupied with inventing or creating something of our own. There is a constant battle of being the first or a constant fear of accidental plagiarism. However, if we just create the things that we want to create, maybe with the help of some ideas we have seen before, we are more likely to make something beautiful in our artwork, rather than wasting time and stressing about being a copycat.
I am a big fan of using the stippling technique in my artwork. This is when you use tiny dots to make up an entire image. Also, I thought that stippling would have been a perfect way to reflect the skills that I have learned throughout the first unit in a different way. This unit was mainly about observing and developing skills to create art. With this piece, I chose to observe nature. Although less unique then observing something like real life people, I think nature in artwork to be beautiful because you can put your own twist on it. In the first unit, I also learned how to sketch, look for shadows and highlights, and create value. I used sketching in this piece because before dotting, I looked at the leaves and sketched their outline lightly with a pencil. Additionally, stippling in a great way to show value and it is a bit different than blending with graphite. Instead, you make a higher concentration of dots where it is darker. In this piece, there were shadows on the underside of the branches and on the edges of leaves so that is where I added more dots. Also, when looking at the leaves I was sketching, I noticed there was a gradient in the background. So, I concentrated lots of dots towards the bottom and dispersed them as I got higher up. I think I could work on making the gradient more gradual when stippling but my favorite part of the piece was the value I achieved in the branches. It took me a long time to get it to look like this because I had to go over with more dots often. Lastly, I really enjoyed the dots I placed in the background because it gives the art a mystical look to it, something that I always imagine when looking at nature.
For the challenge project, I chose to work on my colored pencil skills and draw an apple. While completing this project, I learned how you need to you lots of layers when shading with colored pencils. In order to achieve the blended look, I has repeatedly shade with various different colors. Even though the apple is red, I used a large range of colors such as brown, orange, yellow, and even slightly purple shades. My favorite part of the piece was the blending between with the lighter into darker red. Some things I would change is making the reflection whiter and making the dark part of the apple a little less brown. This was my first drawing experience and I really enjoyed it! I look forward to making more pieces with colored pencil in the future. Also, earlier in the summer, I followed a tutorial to learn how to draw a realistic eye. This taught me how to layer with pencil and give an eye the 3-D look to it.
For the famous artist project, I observed John James Audubon's artwork. He was a businessman for over a decade and drew various birds as a hobby. Eventually, he entirely pursued art, and sought out to paint and describe every bird in America. His artwork is very detailed and he uses a lot of muted colors. The thing I enjoy the most about his work is the level of detail. It is as if he paints every feather he sees and this makes it look very realistic. I would like it if he used more bright colors. Even though the colors he does use add to the very real essence of the photos, I think different colors may allow the birds to pop. I personally would not hang his artwork in my house because I am more attracted to abstract photos. However, Audubon's paintings are perfect for his intentions: educated people about birds in a beautiful way.
For my piece, I chose to replicate his flamingo painting because it was one of his brighter paintings. I used watercolor and made it even more of a brighter pink color. I struggled with making my piece as detailed as Audubon's. I think I could improve the feathers for example. My favorite part of the piece was the beak and the eye. I used a very small brush and was able to blend the water color. After finishing the shaded sphere, I was a lot more satisfied with the way it looked. I focused on shading without smudging and I think I still managed to make it look smooth. Also, I learned about the small reflection where the shadow meets the sphere, and I think it makes it look a lot more realistic. The only thing that I would change is the background. I think it looks a bit sloppy but it still provides contrast.
For the next assignment, observe and shade a small object, I chose to do a mug. I wasn't too thrilled with the outcome of this drawing and struggled with it. I was able to see where there was reflections and shadows but had a problem making it look realistic. It was also a very glossy surface and I didn't really show that with this drawing. The part of the drawing that I do like is the inside of the mug, I think the shading look nice in this area. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. Archives
November 2016
Categories |