Describe the piece of art: What images were used? What art elements were used? Describe the details and the color scheme. Analyze the piece of art: List art elements and design principles, such as line, shape, value, color, space, texture, balance, proportion, rhythm, harmony. Interpret the piece of art: What feeling or mood is being conveyed? What thoughts are being represented? What story is the artist telling? Judge the piece of art: What is your opinion of the artwork? Was is successful? Why? Make sure to reference the piece, and include criteria. This charcoal piece features a black and white guitar with a faint shadow behind it. There are dots on the frets and a decorative circle around the sound hole. There is also a pick guard, and subtle shadows around the edges of the guitar. The strings and fret board are made of straight lines, while the body of the guitar is a curved oval shape. The value changes across the guitar to simulate texture, and the pick guard is a different shade to add to that texture. The piece is almost symmetrical, and gives a sense of balance to the piece. A curious, peaceful mood is being conveyed with the soft charcoal lines and the fact that only part of the whole guitar is shown. The artist is telling the audience that the guitar brings them these feelings, and that they enjoy playing it. This piece could also represent a love of music, not just this stringed instrument. I think the piece is well blended, but slightly plain. It was successful because it conveyed what the author intended it to, and showed a likeness of the real object. There are some spots in the piece that could use some touch-ups, such as the strings and frets. They are faded in some areas, and could be more precise and sharp. The artist also could have added small details to help fill the paper, such as music notes coming out of the guitar or simple floating around it. Question#12- I learned about painting techniques when we did our painting project, and was then able to apply those skills when I painted my portrait piece. From one piece to the next, I learned how to better match shades and colors, and how to layer the paint to make subtle shadows or details. When painting a portrait, these skills were especially helpful. I was able to create the small, faint color differences on the face and add small details in the hair and shadows on the shirt to make the portrait seem more realistic. Question#15- I think that my clay vessel piece was the most successful. In addition to being the most successful, this project was also the most fun and allowed me to be really creative and use my hands to make something that has a practical use. The theme in this piece was a vessel, and I think that I was successful in making a piece that was both functional as a pot, and also useful as simply decoration. My process began with making the body of the pot, using the coil method. Each layer was smoothed and evened out before another was added. At the top of the pot, I added a lip so that the lid could sit on top of the pot and not slide off the sides. Then I created the lid, and added a ball handle for easy pick-up. The letters required a lot of precise cutting and shaping to satisfy my desires for the thickness and size. Finally, I added two honey drips coming off of the sides, because anything involving honey is bound to get messy. After the first firing, I glazed all of the desired spots, making sure to use at least two coats. The second firing insured that the pot was glossy and strong. Question#20- I had never used a linoleum block, a brayer, or the tools to carve the blocks. All of these were part of the linocut printmaking project, and it was really fun to get to experiment with a new medium. I had expected the linoleum block to be harder and more stiff than it actually was. It felt and behaved more like an eraser, which made it much easier to carve. The carving tools were interesting, and it was fun to plan out which sections needed carving, and which ones would be inked. It was very helpful that there were different sizes of blades, allowing for precision carving or a quick removal of a large section. The brayer reminded me of a paint roller, and it worked the same way. This tool rolled the ink evenly over the block, and I had to make sure that all of the lines that I wanted ink on were covered. This was a new and interesting project, and it introduced me to a lot of new tools that I otherwise wouldn’t have used.
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To make this video, I simply used LEGO buildings and pieces that I already had to make a story. Each building has it's own theme and characters, so it was easy to make the town look interesting without having to change many details. Each frame was a single picture, and it took about 200 frames to make the video. After each picture was taken, I would move the pieces a small amount, and take another. I learned that the smaller changes you make, the more fluid the video looks. Some parts of the video took editing and re-filming to make it look more smooth, and to keep the lighting more fluid.
I think that the walking of the LEGO minifigure was successful. It was created by switching which leg was forward, and moving the arms to simulate them moving in time with the legs. I also liked how the camera follows the minifigure through the fair, and gives you a more up-close view of the other elements that he walks past. The most unsuccessful part of the video was the end, when the figure comes back down the Ferris wheel, climbs out, and waves. It looks choppy, especially towards the end, and the lighting changes a bit in certain slides, making it look less fluid than the beginning of the video. I decided to do a portrait of my younger brother. I had taken some photos of him playing football, and chose to use a part of one of those photos for the portrait.
I used acrylic paint for my piece. I started with the general shape of the face, then added the hair, shirt, and smaller details, like the nose, ears, and wrinkles in the shirt. The background was last, and was an attempt to replicate the blurred fall background of the real picture. I think that the shirt and some of the skin tones were successful. I was able to match the skin color in most places, but it was difficult to recreate a color I had created on an earlier occasion. The lips, eyes, and hair were unsuccessful. They are a little skewed, and don't look very much like the actual person. If I were to do this project again, I would not paint the mouth with the same color, and change the way I painted the eyes to make them look more aligned. The face proportions warm-up has proven the most helpful so far in my piece. It helped me understand the true sizes of facial features and how to arrange the face to make it realistic. For example, a mouth is actually much bigger than I would have drawn it, and the eyes are further down on the face than I would have placed them. It also helped teach me the general face shapes, which are difficult for me to organize.
The most surprising thing about the facial proportions was that the face is actually about 5 eyes wide, and this makes you think more about where the eyes are being placed and how large you are making them. Before this warm-up, I always made the eyes either too long or too high, but now I can easily decide where I want to place them, and what shape eye best fits the person I am drawing. Since the In-Progress Post, I have glazed and re-fired my pot. The glaze required two coats to provide a smooth and even look. After re-firing, the glaze is smooth and shiny, giving the pot a nice finish.
I find the letters and the pot lid successful. The letters were difficult to glaze, because there are so many small indents and corners. However, it turned out smooth and neat. I also worried that the pot lid handle was going to crack off, or that it wouldn't fit neatly onto the pot once re-fired, but it worked perfectly. If I were to do this again, I would choose a different color for the base of the pot, and try to make the lip of the pot smoother and straighter. My piece shows the theme of line with the lines on the mountains, and the lines that make up the rays of sun. The lines on the mountains are simple straight lines, and the lines of the rays make triangles.
The appearance of the mountains and the clouds was successful. I worried that the clouds would look odd next to the curves of the mountains, but they provide a nice background and fill in some of the empty spaces. If I were to do this project again, I would carve deeper into the piece to prevent any of the lines in the sky from getting inked and leaving spots on the print. I used 2 point perspective. The viewer is looking at the flower head-on, and also a bit from the top.
This photo was taken at Duke Gardens over the summer. I love photography, and I was experimenting with a zoom lens I had just purchased. It was also a good time to practice my aperture and shutter speed knowledge, because the sun and shadow created a bit of a challenge for me. The most difficult part of this project was using enough of the watercolor paint so that the colors showed up clearly. This took a bit of practice, and my first layer was very light. From there, I had to learn to mix in more paint than water so that the piece was easier to see. The forced perspective warm-up helped me understand how I would have to draw things to make someone see 3-D when it was really only 2-D. The sunset warm up helped me learn how to blend the colors, and helped me learn how to make a realistic reflection on water. Page 11
The most helpful and interesting warm-up was the recreating of a scene from a children's book. When copying the picture, I was able to see how the artist produced the effects that they did, and how I could recreate that. Some of the techniques that I used are also going to be useful for the watercolor painting.
I like that the watercolors can be blended together seamlessly, or have a stark difference. This makes many pictures that would hard to paint with an acrylic medium easy with watercolor. Similar to my reason I like watercolor, I also find watercolor a good test of patience. Places that are wet must be allowed to dry completely, or the next color you add will bleed into it. This can be frustrating when it takes a while for one layer to dry, and you cannot work on another part of the painting yet. |
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