Art 3 Final

1. Two pieces of art that I have done this semester that have shown my growth as an artist are my prismacolor pencil wolf and the acrylic wash of the parrot. They both were done in techniques I had never done. I think they both helped grow my comfort zone of what materials I can use.

2. My artistic strengths are my ability to see shapes rather than an image as a whole. Sometimes it helps to be able to break down an object into shapes and makes the object not seem as difficult to draw either. I'm also a perfectionist which can be both a strength and a weakness. In ways I think its a strength when it allows me to zone in on detail, and accurate drawings. Although, it can be a weakness because it makes me see all mistakes I made. This makes me very critical of my own work, and can discourage me. In the end I think I have a rather balanced set of strengths and weaknesses. My opinion might change over the years as my artistic skills change and learn more about myself.

3. I struggled a bit with the metaphor project. At first it was hard to find a good story/metaphor that I wanted to illustrate. Then I didn't have a clue to how I wanted to illustrate it. I ended up making a cute little cartoon. Although, I did the project on mat board not illustration board so materials I used didn't have the effect I wanted. Personally, I don't think I overcame my struggles as more as I just dealt with them. The end result was a cute little comic strip. Sadly, I don't like the project as for it looks kiddish and doesn't accurately display my level of artistic skill. If I was to do this assignment again I might have stuck with the same metaphor, but I would love to have done a more deeper/challenging piece to illustrate. Honestly, I might even change the metaphor as well.


4. My favorite project honestly was the acrylic wash of the parrot. I created by cropping an image I found online and then doing a full value sketch on a piece of illustration board. Then I painted several layers of watered down acrylic paint one on the top of each other. I liked it because I liked how the look of the picture changed as the layers built up. At first I feared that I would never be able to get the right colors. I think the piece says a lot about me, in the way of growth. I never done this technique before and I think the piece shows that its okay to go outside of my comfort zone. Turns out I like the technique way more than I thought. The piece is a lot better than the rest of my work because I spent way more time into the project than anything else. Also, I had help during it, from someone who is amazing at that technique. What makes it good is the detail I created with the layering of colors and each individual feather stroke. I DO NOT HAVE A PICTURE OF THE PIECE BECAUSE YOU TOOK IT UP TO GRADE, I WILL UPDATE IT WITH A PICTURE WHEN I FINISH IT.!!!!

Metaphor Art

So the boring story that I chose to make a metaphor about is my dad getting hit by a bus. So I have been told by many people I don't tell good stories at all, so that was my only option. Although, I haven't gotten to work on it much lately, I will be making a cartoon. The cartoon will be a fox noticing the sign that says "sand trap", and doing the right thing by not walking into it. Sadly, even though the fox is doing the right thing, he gets caught in a bear trap. This is similar to my dad because he had the right of way to walk across the street, he still got hit by a bus. Pictures coming soon

Blind Portrait

In class Mr. Sands had us fill out sheets to describe us, without directly saying who were are and what we like. He then mixed them up and gave everyone someone else's paper. We were to then make a portrait of them based on their paper. The paper I had said, they were happy, and loved nature and classical guitars and animals.

I chose to make their portrait out of tar paper, chalk, and acrylic paint. She hated the color orange, but I hoped she liked it even though there was some.

Its all good, though she loved the portrait, and wanted to keep it.

Zentangle

When we first started the unit I had no clue what to do. While thinking of an idea I got a sheet of paper and a bucket of sharpies and started coloring the page with random shapes. After getting about 3/4 of the way done with the page, I thought why not zentangle each separate shape. So I did, and I thought that even though the entire page wasn't covered it still looked cool. So here is the results of random doodling, which I seem to do best.

After that Mr. Sands came by and said, "that's cool but whats your final project?" I was all like "Mr. Sands have no clue but I like this, can it count? He laughed and responded "No, Silly, it has to original, and oh I know, how about you do that in a monogram of your initials?"
It wasn't a bad idea although I am not enough of a white girl to do a monogram. Then he said wait, if you do the words art of apex, then we can make it the new banner on the website. I liked the idea and went for it. I am still working on it but here is a picture of what I have done so far:

Here is the finished one

Be The Artist

So in class the other day we completed a scavenger hunt where we were supposed to find different mediums that we could use to create art. We looked for traditional mediums like pencils and paint. Also we looked for non-traditional mediums such as glass, CD's, and sticky notes.

Later in class we were given four categories: medium, technique, principles of art, and subject. We were then told to list as many things we could that belong in the category. This was to get us thinking about art, and how to be an artist. Mr. Sands told us after that to take one of the things we listed for each category, and to find a video on how to do it.

After we find a video we were to pick one of them we liked the most and to do it.

For medium I chose watercolor. In the end I found this cool video of a girl watercoloring the London Skyline. I think If i would do this I would make the Seattle Skyline instead. Here is the video. The girl doesn't talk it is just music, so no volume is needed.

For technique I pick knitting, but not just knitting. Instead I wanted to know how to finger knit. Here is a video that shows how to finger knit. 

For principles of art I chose focal point. I didn't find any videos that I liked. Although, I found some pictures that I liked and I think they are self-explanitory.

Lastly for subject I picked a pheonix. I kinda like drawing unsual things and thought pheonix are pretty. I have never drawn one before and thought why not look up a video on how to do it. Here is a video. There is no volume.

As for the one I pick to do, well honestly I might do them all, they seem interesting.