KitKat

By the time I felt comfortable drawing the DumDums, we moved on to more difficult candy wrappers. I was given a KitKat to draw. I think I did a really nice job showing the highlights in the wrapper. I really really like how this assignment turned out. If I could re do it I would try to make it brighter. The pencil I used wasn't as bright as I would have liked.

DumDums

For this mini project Mrs. Rossi handed out DumDums and Prismacolors and had us draw the sucker. This was daunting to me, but wasn't as difficult as I had imagined. I had a really fun time blending the different colors and creating the creases and changes of value in the wrapper. I think I did a good job with this assignment.

Learning Ears and Hair

I really like how both of these turned out. I think I did a nice job with the contrast of values, and really making the right parts pop. I think drawing hair is really really fun now! I can't wait to draw it in the final project.

 

 

 

Learning Mouths

In class, we had to draw our own mouth. I think that this turned out decent. I really like the little part above the lip, and how life-like that looks, but I do not like how you can really see every line on the lips. I wish I would have blended it more evenly.

 

 

Learning Noses

In class, Mrs. Rossi had us draw our own nose from three different angles. I didn't have enough time to draw three different angles, so I only ended up doing two. I really like how the second on turned out, I think it looks realistic and as a nice range of values.

 

 

 

Learning Eyes

 

In class, we had to attempt a drawing of our own eye. While drawing it, I thought it looked good, but now, I  don't like it quite as much. I think I made the bottom of the eye to circular. I do, however, like the tear duct in the eye. I shaded it really well, and added a nice highlight.

 

 

 

 

Warm up

 

 

At the beginning of class, Mrs. Rossi had us cut out pictures of facial features from magazines, and do our best to draw them as realistically as possible. I think I did a good job drawing the ear. I added a good amount of shading, and I think it blended really well.

 

Opacity Project

 

1. Describe the craftsmanship of your drawing. (Is it neat and well executed?)

I think I did a really good job with this project. It is neat and organized.

 

 

2. Describe how your background choices help unify the three artworks and tie them together as one piece of art.

I did not add a background to my piece, due to lack of time. I was debating drawing the bag brown (like in the original picture) or to change the color of the bag to be more clear. I think it ended up looking really good with the brown because I was able to add more different values, and tie the colors in throughout the piece.

 

 

3. Describe your choice of colors/color harmonies and how you used them throughout the artwork.

I think the colors were nicely tied throughout the piece. I do however, think that I used too much brown.

 

 

4. How did you create contrast in your drawing?

 

Yes. I had dark browns in the creases of the bag, and whites where the light was reflecting off of the apples, and just about everything in between.

 

 

5. How did you use textures, highlights and shadows to enhance your artwork?

 

I made highlights on the parts of the bag and apples that had light reflecting off of them. I think I did alright with adding the texture of the bag too. I was able to give it a smooth, flowing look, while still showing that it was wrinkled.

 

 

 

6. Why did you choose a particular background color to mount your artwork?

 

I chose the gray paper because I thought it would be something good to build off of, and plus, when we were doing the exercises with prisma colors, I liked drawing on the ray paper the best

 

 

7. Discuss the importance of understanding the media (prisma or pastels) and

 

Acquiring the skills necessary to create a successful project. I think to successfully use prisma colors, you need to understand that it takes time and a lot of patience. You have to work lightly, and in layers. If you try to do it all at once, the colors won’t blend, and it won’t look as real as preferred.

 

 

 

 

8. Describe any difficulties you had creating your drawing and what you could do to improve your drawing?

 

I had a hard time being patient with the amount of time everything was taking, especially since I sit next to Anna, who finishes her projects in a class period. I think to improve my actual drawing I could go back and add a background. I think if I were to do this, it would be on a table, or picnic blanket (typical, red and white checkered) Overall, I really enjoyed this project and will definitely be doing more of this type of thing in the future.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Look At That View Project

Drawing – Look at That View

SELF EVALUATION

 

1.     Describe how you created an interesting point of view? Was it successful? Why or why not?

 

I created an interesting point of view by adding the side-view mirror of  a car into the drawing. I think that was a really original and creative way to use multiple different points of view. I think it was successful, because you can tell that the mirror is showing behind where you are driving and behind the mirror is what you would be seeing out of the window of the car.

 

 

2.     Why is it important to understand perspective and how to draw it?

 

it is important to know perspective and how to use it for this piece, because without it, you wouldn't really be able to tell what's going on and it would all just look off and not as realistic. By using perspective it also helps to draw the right proportions.

 

 

3.     How were the colored pencil exercises important in the success of your piece?

 

Without having learned how to shade and how to layer the colored pencils in the exercises we did, I don't think my project would have turned out as well. I was able to learn what colors worked well on what colored paper and to not press too hard on the prismacolors when drawing.

 

 

4.     Describe the craftsmanship of your colored pencil. What techniques were used? (How well the project is technically crafted).

 

I used one point perspective in my project, but I used two different plains, since there was a mirror looking behind, and a view ahead. I tried doing it all at once, but I had to erase it and start over because the two separate plains were confusing me, so I did them one at a time.

 

 

5.     Were you able to achieve depth by showing a foreground, middle ground and back- ground? Explain.

 

Yes. I think I had a nice composition. I had different parts of my drawing on different plains, and I made sure to draw the things that were closer, bigger, and the things that were further away smaller.

 

 

6.     Explain your experience with colored pencil and the project in general. What were the obstacles and advantages?

 This was my first time using prismacolors in an actual project. I used them once for an exercise in Art 2, but it was just for one day, so it doesn't really count. I thought it was really fun to work with colored pencils! It's currently my favorite medium to use. Even though I liked using colored pencils a lot, I still faced some obstacles.  When I was drawing the grass I had a hard time making it look separate, but at the same time, combined, so it wasn't just a bunch of lines. I think some of the advantages I had in this drawing included the blending of all the different colors. I think the sky looks really good, and is kind of a pop of color.

7.     Looking back on the progression of this project what skills, techniques or other information would you like to have been taught? Do you feel you were prepared for this project?

 

 I wish I would have known how to draw metal, since my drawing involved a car. I can see why we weren't taught this though, considering the fact that not everyone needed to know how to draw metal. I was absent the day after we started on this project, so I feel like I was not prepared, but it was my own fault. I think I pulled through though, and created a decent piece.

 

 

 

Working With Prismacolors

I absolutely LOVE working with prisma colors! Ever since I was little I've liked using colored pencils but I've always thought they were kind of annoying because they leave little white marks where you can still see the paper if you color too light or they leave an imprint where you've colored too hard. (Of course those were Crayola) But I'm absolutely loving using prismas. I think it's really cool to try to see the "colors that aren't there" and shade with colors that aren't just gray or black.

2 Point Perspective and 3 Point Perspective

I thought this was really cool to learn! I have been seeing paintings hung around my home and been thinking "That's in 2 point" I really liked learning ways to draw the things around me. I think I'm decent at finding where the lines line up. I still get confused sometimes but for the most part I think I know what I'm doing.

Still Life Final

1.      Describe the craftsmanship of your drawing.  (Is it clear, clean edges, blended well, smudges, defined space, etc.)

 I think the craftsmanship of my drawing was good! I think that I could have kept it more neat by keeping a sheet of paper under my hand so that I didn't smudge the pencil so much.

 

2.     Are your values and shadows realistic? How many values did you include? How and why are values important?

 

I think that my shadows and values are realistic for the most part. I didn't have enough value. The range of value was not as big as I would have hoped. I could have fixed it, but I actually didn't catch the lack of different values until just now!

 

 

3.     Is there a clear source of lighting?

 

Yes. I believe that you can see the source of lighting especially well on the tin container in the front, and in the reflection on the scissors.

 

 

4.     How important were the compositional sketches? Explain.

 I think that the compositional sketches were very important, because if I were to just start drawing a random spot, I think it would have either looked really crammed, or there wouldn't have been enough in the drawing to fill the space. By doing compositional sketches I was able to see what would work best for me and look best too.

 

 

5.     How is your final drawing successful?

 

I think my final drawing was successful because I did really well with the proportions (which is something I have struggled with in the past), and I did a good job capturing a good source of light.

 

 

6.     Are the proportions, structure and perspective of the subject correct?

 

Yes.

 

7.     Does the placement & grouping of objects create a pleasing arrangement (composition)?

 

I think there is a pleasing composition because all the objects are on separate plains, and are near enough to each other to overlap, but far enough away from each other that they don't completely cover each other up.

 

 

8.     Is there a center of interest and is it well located?

 I think the center of interest is the tin container in the front. I think it is well located, It is in the front, and slightly off centered.

 

 

9.     How well did you manage your time and resources throughout the process of creating this drawing?  Do you see where you could improve in this area?

 

I think I did a good job managing my time for this project. I was able to get a lot done by focusing hard, and not wasting my time.

 

 

10.  What challenges did you encounter during this project and how did you overcome them?

At first, I had a hard time with proportions. I overcame this by 1:Using my view finder and 2: I did a couple of blind hand sketches like we had done in the first unit to help us with our proportions.

 

 

11.   What have you learned drawing a still life? 

 

While drawing a still life II have learned to have patience, and to take your time on the details of things, because in some cases the details can be what makes or breaks you.

 

 

 

 

(The first image attached is my compositional sketches, and the second image is my final project)

 

 

 

Cloth Final Practice Drawing and Final Drawing

1.      Did you use a wide range of values? (A range from white to black with at least 9 values). Explain how is this evident?

 I believe that I did use a wide range of values. I think that I carried over nice shades across the sheet. You can tell I did so because of the change in value to be darker where there was shadows, and lighter where there was highlights in the sheet or where light was reflecting off of the sheet.

 

2.      Explain how your knowledge and creating practice studies with value contributed to your piece.

 Especially since I have never used charcoal (which was the medium used in this project) I was able to test it out and see how it would work for me. I think it helped me to know what to expect concerning how dark the charcoal is especially on the gray paper used in this project.

 

3.      Describe the blending and transitions in your fabric (discuss your use of pressure with pencil/colored pencil/charcoal pencil and other techniques to achieve this).

 I think that I did an excellent job with blending and transformations in this project. I used a blending tool, which most definitely helped to create a smooth transition. I think it turned out so well, because I kind of worked in layers. Instead of starting out really dark and having to lighten things up, I started off light and darkened the areas that needed to be darkened.

 

 

4.      Explain how your interpretation of texture is essential in capturing the look of the object.

 I think that it is very important to capture a smooth and flowing texture in this drawing because without having a flowing texture, I think that the sheet would look less like a sheet, and it would be harder to blend the values into each other.

 

6.      If you could recreate your pieces what would you do differently to enhance the final outcome?

If I could recreate this drawing I think that I would try to do it without using the blending tool. I think that by doing this it would help me improve with creating a more gradual shadow with only using the medium. I think that I would also try to use more of the white colored pencil. I didn't use a lot of it in my project, and I think it looks really cool, and helps to really bring out the places where light reflects off of the sheet. Although I did use some white charcoal, I wish I would have used more. 

 

 

The first picture attached below is of my practice with using different types of charcoal. The second picture is of my final project.

 

 

 



Shape Shading

For this exercise we were given multiple different shapes, and were told to arrange them in a way that would make an appealing still life. We were told to focus on making the shapes look as 3D as possible, by curving our lines to move with the shape.

Paper Coil

For one of our exercises in class, we were given a thin strip of paper that we would loop and tape to a black paper. We had to use a white colored pencil. This kind of trained our minds to really look at the bright spots instead of looking more at the shadows. Doing so helped me to be more aware of the other mediums I can use.

Final Contour Room Drawing

1) I think I used an overall fluid line. There were some spots where the line was kind of shaky because I was uncertain of that was where the line was supposed to go, but I think you can tell I drew with an overall fluid line because of how the line curves when it turns, and every line is connected to another line.
2) The exercises we completed earlier in the week helped me to draw a better final classroom contour drawing. For example, the blind hand contour helped me really focus in on proportion and detail, while not lifting my pen. I think knowing this helped me to be able to draw things life sized, and make it look more like you're in the room.
3) Contour line drawings involve one fluid line connecting everything in the drawing, and outline drawing is where you can pick up the pen or pencil and move it around without a connecting line
4) It depends on the artist and whether they interpret lines as strict, and angular, or flowing and continuous. I personally interpret lines as flowing and continuous, this is important because the way you see it is your style of art, and every artist is different and will see the room differently. Different drawings of the same room can look very different because of the way each artist sees the room.
5) In completing this drawing I learned that fluidity is everything in contour line drawings. If I could recreate my drawing I would try to keep the lines more fluid and connected. I believe that it would make my final drawing look a lot better.

(Sorry the picture is blurry, I didn't realize until now.)

Practice Contour Room

We all had the assignment to draw a contour drawing of our classroom, we could pick any spot in the room, and we would draw from that perspective, and try to add as much detail as we could. I think that my practice drawing was going pretty well! I think I was using decently fluid lines, and I was adding a lot of detail, so it was looking realistic. I think the perspective in my practice could have been better, but the rest of my practice drawing I thought was very good.

 

Backpack Contour Drawing

I thought this exercise was very fun! I really liked trying to draw all the creases and folds in the material of my backpack. This expanded my artistic comfort zone a lot because I usually attempt drawings like this with a pencil, so I can add shading and I can erase where I mess up. Using pen, and one continuous line was definitely hard but I think it helped me improve as an artist. I think my drawing turned out very well.

Modified Contour Hand

The day after we drew blind contours of our hands, we were told to draw a modified contour hand, which is where you can look at your hand but you try to limit how much you look at it, so you're still drawing more of what you actually see than what you want to see. I think mine turned out decent. I captured more detail in the modified contour drawing of my hand than I did on my blind contour drawing.

Blind Contour Hand

This school year started with us drawing a blind contour of our hand. This means that we would place our pen on our sketch book, turn away, look at our hand, and draw it using one continuous line. This was very difficult for me because I am a perfectionist when it comes to art and not being able to see what I'm drawing, or if it looks okay was definitely a challenge. Although it was hard for me, this exercise helped me to focus on drawing exactly what I see instead of drawing what I want to see or what I think I see.

Art Final

1) This semester in Art 2, I created a drawing of feathers with sharpie. I made the feathers look cartoonish, and used really bright colors. While creating this piece, I really struggled with keeping the black lines thin. During this project I was able to learn and appreciate little details. This project wasn't very difficult, since it was cartoon based.
Another project I did during this semester was a Van Gogh painting. I had to re-create "At Eternity's Gate," and include a monster somewhere in the painting. I chose to have a shadow of a hand preparing to grab the man on the wall behind him. During this project I struggled with blending the right colors together, to get the right outcome. I learned the importance of line value and that the thickness of a line really plays a part in the perspective and proportions. I think the next project I do like this will not be as difficult because I know the things to avoid and the things I need more time on.

2) I believe that one of my artistic strengths is shading. I think I'm decently good at making sure one part of the drawing isn't abnormally large or small. I think a weakness I have is mixing colors, and seeing different hidden colors in pictures. I think that to improve in this is just to practice and be extra observant.

3)this semester I struggled with the "10 years from now" project. I used prisma color and found it very difficult. Using this medium takes a lot of time and patience. I overcame this by taking my time to blend all the colors the best I could. If I were to do this assignment again, I think it would be cool to do something with watercolor.

4)my favorite piece created in art 2 was my recreation (with a monster added in) or "At Eternity's Gate" I used acrylic watered down paint to give it the same look as Van Gogh's painting. I think this piece says I have a good eye, and I can notice little details in things. I like this piece a lot because it really shows my improvement as an artist throughout the semester. I think what makes it good is all the different values, including the line values. It really gives it a realistic feel.

(It's not letting me upload pictures?? I can keep trying but I'm turning this in so I don't get a late grade.)

Portrait

For my portrait project, I drew a picture of a girl I saw on Pinterest. I really wanted to try to challenge myself by drawing this, because it's kind of at a weird angle, and she has a lot of natural highlights in her hair that are hard to capture. So in a way, I think that this person represents working hard, and trying your best. I chose to use pencil as my medium, because I wanted to capture as much detail as I could. Using pencil helped me to be able to shade better than I would have shaded with other mediums. Plus, by using pencil, a medium I'm more comfortable with, I was able to challenge myself more with what I would draw. I feel like I did a pretty decent job drawing this portrait. I really enjoyed it. Although I'm okay with my final product, if I were to do it again, I would try harder on proportions. On the mouth, I re-drew it so many times that even though it doesn't look very good, I went with it anyways, because I was tired of drawing the mouth. Overall, I really liked doing this project. ( my phone isn't letting me upload a picture with it but I'll try to on my computer when I get home.)

Quilling

About a week ago, we got to do quilling. Before this project I had no idea what quilling was. When I was told what it was I thought it sounded really boring, and I really didn't want to do it. I did the project anyways and thought it was a really cool idea. I still am not a huge fan of doing the actual quilling, but I think it's a really cool medium!

Artists tell stories

This project was difficult to think of something for. Mr. Sands told us to make art that told a story. I chose to do a watercolor painting of a little girl in a kitchen reaching up to grab a handful of the cake that was on the counter. I like what I chose because I feel like it represents a part of me. I have a family with a lot of little kids who are always trying to sneak a treat without getting caught by my mom or dad. The little girl in this painting is actually based off of my little sister, who is always getting into trouble and sneaking food. This is what my painting means to me, but to others it could mean something else. It could remind them of themselves when they were younger, or it could be some crazy metaphor for life, who knows?! Overall, I really enjoyed this project and liked working outside of my comfort zone by using water colors. I think this project helped me grow as an artist.

For this project I was able to choose anything and any medium I wanted. I decided to stick with the classic pencil. I drew an eye and tried to add as much shading and detail as I could. I googled several pictures of different eyes so I could see small details that make everyone's eyes different. I did a lot of erasing and starting over but in the end I liked the result. I think I learned a lot about shading and highlighting certain parts of the face. Before I drew this eye I didn't really pay attention to the details like how the brow bone is lighter than around the eye, and how there are creases in the eye lid that when drawing an eye I usually just skip over. Overall, I'm very happy with the result of this project.