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
The first piece I chose is my still life pencil drawing. This was the first big piece we did in the class. This piece shows hows I grew in terms of techniques ans skills because it was the first time I have done a large still life like this. I learned a lot about how to work with different weighted pencils . I also learned how to blend the pencils together without using a blending tool. I think my pencil technique improved when I was working on this project and the practices we did before it. I also learned a lot about making creative composition when we made the different composition sketch for this piece. I grew a lot with making interesting compositions and use of principles of elements in general.
This is my pen and ink piece of a fountain outside of the MET in New York City. The piece shows my growth because it helped me learn new techniques and find more creativity in my pieces. This was the first time I had worked with pen and ink so I grew a lot in my skills and technique . I grew by learning about a new medium of art. Pen and ink is so different form other mediums because it is only one color and you can't erase anything, so I learned a lot about planning your work very precisely since there is no eraser with a pen. I learned about hatching and stippling, and about using different patterns to show depth and shadows in the landscape. This piece also shows how I grew in terms of creativity. The different patterns allowed for me to be more creative .
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
The first mini lesson I chose is the 100 patterns project. This project was very beneficial because it gave you a chance to think of patterns that you could use in you final pen and pattern project. It also was a good practice because you can see that some of my patterns aren't the best and some look good. This project helped me to explore with different patterns. It made sure I had all my patterns that I would use in my final planned out, so I wouldn't make any mistakes on them. I think for this project we had plenty of instruction and practice for success. We did plenty of practice so I felt really prepared when I started my final piece.
The second mini lesson I chose is the watercolor candies. I painted the picture form a photo I took myself in class. Before we started this mini project we went around taking pictures of different candies. I chose this picture because how vibrant the colors looked, and I liked the composition of it. This project was beneficial for me because it helped me learn a lot about water color. Water color can be a very hard medium to control so I am glad I got to have some practice with it. Even though I ended up using Prisma Colors for my final project I enjoyed working with watercolor. I think we had enough instruction on the this project because we had a lot of practice before our final to experiment and learn. I also like how you demonstrated to us how to blend the different mediums on spheres, cones, and cubes, so we could see how it is done with our eyes first.
3. 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?
One project where I felt the least successful is the print making project. For this project I printed the white and blue buildings of Santorini in Greece. I felt unsuccessful for this project because the print turned out messy, and the different layers weren't aligned perfectly. I I were to do this project again I would be more careful when aligning the linoleum to the paper. Also I would make sure to cut more deeply into the linoleum so I wouldn't have any of the small marks you see all over the piece. Overall I would have planned better so the piece would look more neat and clean. I also would go slower and take my time so I could be more careful and precise.
4. 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 Prismacolors. I really enjoyed working with Prismacolors because of how blend-able they are while still being so vibrant and bright. I was able to master techniques with this medium because we practiced with it so much. We did the different 3-D figures with it like the spheres and cones. We also did the fruit or veggie mini project. Where I drew an avocado which you can see above this. I also chose to do my final project in Prismacolor. For my final project drew Christmas lights. While doing this project I learned a lot about Prismacolor techniques because I had to make it look like the lights were glowing. I think my final piece with Prismacolors turned out really well, and it helped me learn how to work with the medium.