Scientific and Contrast Drawing

Some of my design solutions for this theme were to think outside of the box and not do the standard lab coat and other objects that a lot of people think of when they hear the word scientific, i wanted the theme to influence my piece, but not be a direct link that is easily pointed out, so after lots of brainstorming and thinking i came up with the idea of drawing the x-ray of a birds wing, which after more consideration and looking at the other option for my project i decided to go with this one because it appealed to me the most and was out of the box for me to accomplish.

The mini lessons we had during class were helpful in learning how to use the different mediums available to us for the project it was helpful to learn what mediums did what, how they worked, and how to overall use them for the future.  Learning how to use pen and ink was interesting as a different medium to use for the future.  Pencil is the basis of drawing so being reminded how to use pencil again was very helpful.  The charcoal was interesting as it's not a medium I've used before and it would have been nice to work a little more with it, overall it was good to be able to test out these different mediums for both this project and future projects.

To try and show contrast in my work with the white charcoal and white pencil I put to use the lessons we learned about both pencil and charcoal, being careful where i applied pressure, being conscious of where i wanted the lights and the darks to be overall.  It was a little difficult for me as the pencil i was using didn't blend well with the charcoal so that was a bit of a struggle to get the full range of values i wanted, but overall leaving key spots black or white i think i achieved some good contrast with this piece.

Moving on the charcoal and pencil i used.  I chose this medium because it provided the best visualization for what i was trying to achieve that would have been extremely difficult and tedious had i used pen and ink.  I wanted to work with the charcoal a lot because I've never really used it before and wanted to try something new.  Overall i like the way that the charcoal and pencil helped bring what i had imagined onto the paper in the way it does.

Overall the techniques i used during this piece were line work, as seen in the feather bones, there were a lot of lines to do, and they had to b noticeable and clearly distinct which was somewhat difficult to create as i was working with the charcoal because of its tendency to smear while i was working on other parts of the drawing.  Most of what i used was shading and value range to create the look of a bird's x-ray'd wing which involved very dramatic changes in values.

The risks that i took in this project were working with a new medium, which I've had next to no experience with and doing something that's very outside of the box from the drawings i normally do. For me doing anatomy of any animal is very difficult because often times the look expected from a relatively analytic drawing and my style of art clash in very weird ways that don't tend to work out well so this was a big step for me.  The anatomy was the hardest part, finding the bones and the joints and the different parts of the bird that i needed to display, first starting the sketch i had planned an entirely different drawing, but what i had envisioned i wouldn't have been able to draw due to spacial issues and finding how to place what and where it would all go.  So this was definitely a big risk for me to take, but it came together wonderfully in the end.

So my overall experience with this project was positive as i took that big risk and it turned out extremely well, working with a new medium was fun and informative, it was also interesting working with black paper which i haven't done before, but hopefully i can do more works like this in the future.  Overall this project bettered me as an artist and exposed me to things that are relatively out there for me.

Landscape Painting

My landscape painting that I had so much fun making.

Clay Tile

MY ADORABLE CLAY TILE I ABSOLUTELY LOVE.

Game Drawing

In the final piece i think that overall my game drawing was successful in its entirty.  the watercolor compliments the colored pencils and the vanishing point may not be executed great but it's still evident that there is one.  watercolor was difficult to work with on the drawing paper, getting the washes light enough so that i could overlap it with highlights, values, and shadows was a challenge but it was overcome.  I wasn't able to use black and white so i had to change the game piece colors to brown and yellow but i feel that they compliment the orange of the game board better than the black and white did.  A change i would consider if ever allowed to do this project over again is actually giving the drawing a horizon so it doesn't look like it's floating in mid air, and to lay off of the watercolor and use the colored pencils more than i did in this drawing.  A difficulty of this project was that getting the perspective and gradation executed well.  The vanishing points gave me some trouble because i only have one side of something that isn't present in the picture not a point but all the same i was able to accomplish it without it looking like a hodge podge of something only i could decipher, and the gradation wasn't as smooth as i would have liked it to be.  I learned from this project that less is better in the beginning and that although i may be able to do perspective i think that it's not one of my favorite things to do just because it's not the way i generally think most of the time, but that's how you learn what you do and don't like so i'd say that i got a good piece of art and lessons learned out of this project for now so i just need to focus on the next one.

Anamorphasis Drawing

1. Describe the process you went through to change your object into the correct perspective to create the drawing. This is when you were in the lab.

 

the process i went through to change my subject into the correct perspective was to go into photoshop with a photo of an object of our choice, using transform and scale to make it intot this perspective.  looking for different shades and values that would be interesting to replicate in the sketch.

2. How did distorting and stretching the object allow for you to create a drawing that would look different to the viewer?

 

Stretching and distorting the object would make the object look weird when you looked at it one way and then when you looked at it from an angle it looked normal.  It all depended on the perspecitve that you were looking at the object.

3. What were the most important concepts in the project to make it successful?

The most improtant concept for this project was the values, perspective, and grid.  the different values  we had to create is what made the drawing come to life but the perspecitve and grid are what made it possible to actually complete the project without making the chess piece look nothing like a chess piece.

Stencil

1. Explain how you changed your photo in the lab to create a stencil.

First we went to photoshop and got a picture that we liked from the Internet we liked and would use as a stencil.  In photoshop we used the threshold  to make the photo black and white.  In the stencil we would use the black and white to determine what we wanted to cut out to form the photo so we the Positive/Negative Space.

2. When creating the collage background explain your choices of colors, materials (magazine paper, books pages, etc), and placement. How does it relate to your topic? If no relation discuss general idea.

in my collage i chose different photos that pertained to Italy, Venice, or old time sea faring, some areas were just colorful or was a good border so i pasted it on there just trying to get a good amount of contrast from the photos to make the stencil stand out.  Anything that i felt was interesting was put on as well.

3. Discuss the way positive and negative space was used to create your stencil.
The positive/negative space that i used in my stencil was to use the negative space to make the stencil stand out the most.  Using the Xacto knife to make the stencil able to print the image onto the collage using spray paint.

4. When using the xacto knife, explain the safety procedures, how to use the knife and any challenges you had to overcome while cutting.

while using the Xacto knife you had to hold it differently from a pencil which was hard to do, and cut away from yourself in case your hand slipped.  Also you had to have the cutting board underneath the stencil.  A challenge i had with the knife was that i had intricate things to cut out so they came out kind of rough so i was worried that the windows wouldn't show up on the collage.

5. How was your experience with the spray paint? Discuss how color choice is important, placement of stencil, and any other concepts you noticed while creating this. when i was using spray painting i found that it was really fun but difficult to hold down the button because it was hard to press down, it was also hard to keep an even coat going.  my color choice was very important because i didn't want to obscure the composition but i wanted to make the stencil stand out.  I had a mishap with my stencil where i had to make some adjustments to it and respray paint, although i was worried it wouldn't turn out okay i was very pleased to see that in the end it looked really good and the little mishap actually gave it a look of uniqueness and wear and tear which accented the stencil.

Print

1.     Describe the overall composition of your artwork (balance, unity, rhythm and movement).

There is a fair amount of balance, there's not too much or too little of positive or negative space.  There is unity with the different textures not clashing but not blending together they all have a common look and work together.  There is somewhat the illusion of movement with the flower in a position that makes a person think it could be moving.

  

2.     How did you add texture and contrast to your print? Is this important? Why?

I added texture in the different lines or absence of lines in the print, the sharp contrast between positive and negative space.  This is very important because otherwise it doesn't seem real and it feels flat, texture and contrast is what makes a person like a piece of art work some of the time.  Without the texture of the butterfly and bark a person looking at the art without knowing what it is wouldn't know it's a butterfly with a tree behind it, it also adds depth in a way.

3.     Explain how you used positive and negative space to show your image.

I used positive and negative to equal out the different areas in the print.  The blue doesn't overpower the white and it doesn't dominate the picture, there is an equal balance of both that is appealing to the eye.  The little bits and pieces of positive and negative space is equaled out by the large amount of white and blue on the right side.  I could have blend it together better but i think that based on my skill level it is quite good.

4.     Describe the craftsmanship of your print. (How good the project is technically crafted)

I think my overall craftsmanship is good. My lines are good,sharp,and well defined, there isn't a random line that doesn't seem to connect to anything.  The lines of my print are well made so you can see the image that i created with ease.  The texture brought the animal and surrounding to life making them apper almost real.

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

I was able to achieve depth with a foreground, middle ground, and back-ground.  The small leaf in the bottom left corner is in the foreground, subtle as it may be it works out well in the print.  The middle ground is the flower and butterfly which is the main portion of the print which dominates the print.  The back-ground is the bark which sits behind the butterfly giving the sense that the bark is farther away from the butterfly.

6.     Explain your experience with Printmaking. What were the obstacles and advantages?

My experience with printmaking was enjoyable i very much liked making my print.  The obstacle i faced was chosing what animal to print and at what angle i should use for the print, there was almost the obstacle of how to make it all flow together and still look like a butterfly which i overcame all of these obstacles.  An advantage to me was that i didnt' have to worry about shading, and it was fairly simple to cut out the print.