Figure Drawing

Old Attempt at facial features

 Figure drawing of Sophie in pen

 Most recent attempt at facial features from an angle

During this project I did see some self improvement. I am now able to draw more accurately and quicker than before. I used to be able to tell that proportions were off, or something like that, but I didn't know what threw them off. Now I am more aware of the structure of the human face, and can better recognize what my mistakes are. I liked this project because I think it was very calming, and seemed rewarding for me. If I could re-do my final drawing of my little sister, I think I would try to draw it in something other than pencil. Pencil is my go-to media choice, because it's familiar so I'm more comfortable with it, but I really wish that I would have pushed my boundaries a bit more.
Overall, I liked this project and I think I improved a bit.

Painting

In class we were given the assignment to choose acrylic or oil paint, and we had to paint something using that media. I chose a sunflower because they are my favorite kind of flower and they grow all along the side of my Grandma's house, and remind me of her. I had a challenging time getting a range of value in this piece. Since the sunflower in my reference picture was almost completely yellow, I had to imagine the deeper colors to really add depth to my piece. Sadly, I was unable to get a picture of my painting  when I finished because I finished late and had to hurry and turn it in. It simply slipped my mind to take a final photo. If I could re-do this piece, I would try to pay more attention to the middle of the sunflower. Although I do like the texture I made there, I don't like how it looks kind of thrown together. Overall, I really enjoyed this project, and my love for painting grew immensely.

Prisma texture

What textures did you create in your drawing? How did you apply technique/formal elements to create them?
In this piece, I mainly focused on creating the smooth, even texture of the skin, and the texture of the iris in the eye. I achieved the texture in the skin by a lot of layering and blending with baby oil. For the iris, I didn't really use any techniques or anything other than a lot of practice!

What did you learn during this project? Did you overcome any challenges?
I learned that prisma colors take a lot of patients to use, and that I really like them! I overcame a few challenges, with getting the eyelashes to look realistic, and flowing, instead of twiggy. I overcame this by really studying the picture, and practicing on other papers a lot!

Making Trite Un-Trite

For my trite "symbol" I chose a sunset. I feel like sunsets are commonly used in romantic movies, and books, and basically whenever I think of romance, I think of a sunset. To use this concept, and make it original, I decided to draw a candle, because candles are another, more unique in my mind, thing that represents romance. To incorporate the color in the sunset into my drawing, I used prisma colors to draw a colorful flame.
     I think that the composition of my drawing makes it look really focused, and cool! It really keeps your attention drawn to the flame. Since there isn't very much going on in the background, so it almost forces your eye to pay attention to all the little details. I think another artistic choice that made my art successful was that I tied in the colors to outside of the flame(the extra glow the flame had) to make those pieces of the artwork really go together. At first, I started out with just making the glow around the flame yellow, because that's the way it looked in my reference picture, but adding the other colors really made it my own, and helped everything in the piece tie together nicely.

This is the prep work I did, before starting on my final piece

This is the final!!!!

Skull Drawing

In class Mrs. Rossi gave us a picture of a skull, and a piece of tracing paper (? can't remember the name) We had to tape the paper to the skull photo, and we would attempt at drawing our face, with the skull in the background, so that we would be able to really focus on the right placement of our facial features, and on our proportions. I think this kind of opened my eyes to the fact that we all have completely different faces. I mean, I already had an understanding of that, but now I know that everyone's eyes turn differently, and some people have their mouth placed a little higher than others, and just little things like that. I think it's so cool! I've even started to notice these little details, and how I would draw it in people I meet, and family and friends!
(I'll post picture at home)

Self Portrait

(I'm adding the picture when I get home)

1: Discuss your drawing: I think I did a really decent job drawing this self portrait. I was able to capture where the light was hitting my face quite nicely, and where the shadows were covering, and darkening parts of my face. I think the hair turned out very nice, because instead of focusing on individual lines, I focused on sections, and the different values in them. I focused really well when drawing this piece, and I really think that carries over into my artwork. You can tell that I worked hard and it pays off! I focused on expression instead of making this mechanical, or zombie-like. I kind of wish I would have gone mechanical, just to challenge myself a little bit more, or that I would have at least used prisma colors, as a bit of a challenge.

2: Discuss how you accomplished depth and value in your drawing. Why did you choose the portrait style that you did? What is the most important aesthetic quality of your drawing? How were you able to give the viewer an interesting experience with your choice of medium and techniques?:
I accomplished depth and value by darkening the value where there were shadows, and making sure to have a nice contrast between the lights and darks, to really tie them together. I chose to make my portrait expressive, because I thought that the idea of changing too much of it sounded daunting. Like I said before, if I could re do the project, I would do mechanical, or expressive with colored pencils. I think that the most aesthetic past of my drawing is my hair, or the part of my face that is wrinkled up, because of my hand pressing against it. I think these are the most important because they really add to the realistic look of the piece. I was able to give the viewer an interesting experience when viewing the piece, because of all the little details that I added into the drawing. I drew a lot of small things, like freckles, or veins in the eye, that just added to the realism.

3: Does your drawing evoke feeling and expression? How did you accomplish this?:
To me, I feel that it is expressive, but mostly because I was excited to draw it and put a lot of work into it, so i think that the memories of drawing it are what is making it expressive. I don't know if it's expressive to other people though, I think that I could have added more emotion in the eyes, or done something like that, just to make it even more expressive. I think that it turned out kind of funny, because I look completely bored, so I think that aspect of it's expression shine through.

Description:
Without using the words beautiful, or ugly, I would say that my work is boring. there isn't a lot going on in the photo, and it's in graphite, so it's just kind of dull. I guess it's kind of fitting because I am making a bored face in the picture, and it's in boring colors, but I just think it's too much boring and not enough excitement in the piece to keep people really interested.

Analysis:
I think that I could have done better with my composition, and put something in the background. without having anything in the background, I think it looks decent. I like that my hand is in the front of the photo, and it kind of catches your eye, as the foreground. My actual face, and hair and head and everything acts as the middleground, and then I don't have a background. I think that my drawing would be a lot cooler if I were to add a background. I think it would be really cool to add a bright, colorful background to the otherwise, kind of dull piece. It would act as a pop of excitement and color!

Interpretation:

This piece makes me feel really bored. I think it's a good piece, but it doesn't really say anything. As I was saying before, I think I should add a pop of color to the background, and it could be cool to add some color in my eyes too. If I were to add the said pop of color, I think it could double the success of my piece, and actually say something.

Judgement or Evaluation:

I think that this is kind of tied between being a success or a failure. As I said before, it looks good, but it just doesn't have enough excitement. If I were to go through with adding a background in color, then I would consider it a success. At the moment, I think that the only thing that makes this piece original is that it's of my face. Everything else about it seems kind of like it could be expected from a high school art student, and doesn't really show creativity.

Scratchboard

IMPLIED MOVEMENT SCRATCHBOARD

Your Name: Grace Parnell

SELF EVALUATION

1. Describe the subject matter and meaning of your artwork.

In this project, I chose to make the focus of my piece a puppy. This is a picture of my friend’s dog Maggie, and is meaningful to me, because it reminds me of my first dog Max.

2. How did you use textures to enhance your picture?

I really focused on texture in this piece. I used a lot of different strokes in the areas the light was shining on. My favorite part of the picture (texture wise) is the nose, because I think I did a great job with showing the wet nose. I captured it well because I drew little circles where the light was still hitting. I think doing small things like this really enhanced my picture, because it gave a more realistic look to the piece.

3. How did you balance your artwork and create a well-organized composition?

There wasn’t a lot of composition in the picture. I drew the dog to fit the page. I did a nice job balancing the lights and darks on the page I created a realistic picture using shadows, where I didn’t scratch anything, and I created the peaks/highlights where I scratched off the black.

4. How did you imply movement in your drawing?

I implied movement in this picture by the strokes I used. I drew wavy lines on the ear to create a texture in which you could tell that the ear was moving.

5. How could you improve your artwork?

I think I could improve my drawing by adding more detail on the top of the head. I got tired of drawing lines and just started recklessly doing them. If I could re do this project I would try to take my time with the little things like that.

6. How did you demonstrate a wide range of shading values?

I created a nice range of values in my piece by drawing the lines further apart on the darker areas, and closer together on the lighter values. I think I did a decent job with this, although I think I could have done better. I think I made some of the lights blend together too much, instead of having them be separated.

(The picture won't upload, but I'll keep trying and let you know if I can get it)