Art 2 Final Portfolio

ART 2 FINAL PORTFOLIO

   1) This "Up Close and Personal" project was the one that I thought was the most successful. This project was the one where I found out just how great it was to use colored paper to use colored pencils on than regular white paper. On this dark brown paper, I was able to use so many more colors that helped it become more elaborate. I was even able to use white to enhance the highlights! The theme of this project was up close and personal. At first, I knew I was going to do a type of animal, but I just didn't know what. The secretary bird is one of my favorite animals so I decided to choose this type of bird for this project. I also learned a ton more about the different types of colored pencils and how they really do make a difference. I noticed how using the Prismacolors added great values and allowed you to blend and efficently transition between values. It also allowed me to use texture for the feathers to make an effective composition.

   2) This "Sticky Situation" was the project in which I felt like I was the least successful. I didn't like how I layered everything and I felt like I could've really done a better job if I'd just taken my time and didn't rush things. I also didn't like how I did the grass, I feel like it doesn't look quite real and the texture was off. If I were to do this project again, I would've probably done straight acrylic paint instead of combining it with water color, it just made it more messy and harder to layer. I would've also done the skin color a lot differently. To me, it looks more brownish and pasty rather tan rosy and full of life. It looks almost a little gray to me. I would've definelty used different colors to make the skin tone next time. Also, one thing I struggled with was the small tree to the right of the girl. It's barely visible and I wish I would've added more contrast to help it stand out from the grass behind it. 

3) These two pieces are the two that I really think show my growth as an artist this semester. Before, much like in the first picture, I only really focused on pencil and paper. I never really thought about going outside of my comfort zone and trying to draw on any other sort of material. The first picture was a pretty generic picture for me but the texture and the idea was outside of my comfort zone. The last picture shows just how  much this class has impacted my artwork. I used so many different materials to make this piece. I used cardboard, book pages, cotton balls, watercolor, tissue paper, and colored pencils. They all really worked together to complete this piece. I also think that the second picture is a lot more creative. I put some hard thought into the petals of the flower in the bottom left hand corner and I decided to make them more round to make a softer look that would go with the fairy. Before, I wouldn't think of that. Plus, in the last picture, I used so many more techniques. I used contrast with the gradient in the background, highlights in the fairy's face, and generally used all of my skills wisely. Both of these pieces took a ton of thought out planning for me. I always had to think "what can I do to make this better?" and most of the time I just went along with whatever my gut was telling me to. 

4) These two mini lessons were the ones that I think I improved the most off of. They both taught me how to properly use highlights and how to layer things in an efficient way. They also taught me how to look at the lights and how to shade according to them to make the values look real. The water color lesson motivated me to do my next project using water color since I liked that lesson so much. I found it really fun because you could easily cover up your mistakes and add more water to dilute the contrast in it if you mess up. Plus, I just really enjoyed how easily it was to blend the colors in both of these mediums to make the transition from value to value more appeasing to the eye. I don't really feel like I needed more instruction for success. The videos online were actually very helpful to me since it can be pretty hard to demonstrate art to a class. The videos gave a clear view of the paper and it helped me a ton. I made sure to keep the techniques described in mind when I was doing the mini lessons.

 5) Colored pencil was by far the easiest and most fun medium for me to work with. When I'm home and drawing, I usually never color anything because I'm afraid of messing up and making it look bad. Now, I noticed how color can really bring a picture or drawing to life if you use the right techniques. Not only did working with colored pencil help my drawing and shading skills, it also helped me with painting since I had to look out for the subtle shades in colors that I wouldn't usually notice at a glance. Colored pencils for me were easy to shade, blend, and show contrast. I also really noticed the difference between prismacolors and just normal crayola pencils. Prismas are more waxy, making them glide easily off the paper and allows them to blend better than other pencils. Now I know why they're so pricey! I also love using colored pencils because it made me notice how adding white to a picture really makes it look real.