Final Thoughts

    Two of my most memorable experiences from this semester were completing my first sketchbook assignment and the half portrait drawing in my sketchbook. After finishing my first sketchbook assignment, I wasn't very proud of my work and didn't want to show it off as my work. I didn't know what to expect coming into the class and I had this idea that I had to do everything perfectly the first time. After I received feedback on the assignment, I realized that not everything I would do in the class would come out exactly the way I wanted to, but that I should still appreciate the effort that I put into every assignment. Another memorable assignment from this semester was my half-portrait drawing. This assignment is so memorable mostly because I'm very proud of the work that I put in and how the drawing came out. There were few assignments this year that I feel like were close to my best work, so I was very satisfied when I completed the assignment. Even though there are parts of the drawing that can be improved on, I put my absolute best effort into this work and am satisfied keeping it just the way it is. Overall, this semester of Drawing & Painting taught me to appreciate my work and that putting in my best effort into my work is the best way for me to appreciate it. 

Work of Art that I am the most proud of

I am most proud of my still-life painting because of the effort that I put into every detail of the painting. I have a painting style that tends to be more precise and focuses more on details, so I think that this work is a successful example of what I strive to achieve. While I prefer to be precise, there were some aspects of the painting that required me to paint with a looser brush and move out of my comfort zone. It was a new challenge for me to tackle, but I think that I handled it well enough and did my best to paint loosely. While there are still aspects of this painting that need more work, I am satisfied with how it came out. By stepping out of my comfort zone to paint loosely, I introduced myself to a new style of painting. If I can attempt things out of my comfort zone more often, I can widen my style of painting which could ultimately improve the quality of my work. It can be hard to be precise with some mediums, so it would be good for me to extend my skills. Ultimately, I am proud of the work that I put into this painting and the different techniques that I used.

Final Watercolor Landscape

Purpose:

To use and demonstrate what you learned from the watercolor exercises you did in class to create your own landscape painting.

In this painting, I used a few different techniques. For the sky and some parts of the mountains I used a sponge to create clouds and shadows, while I used white crayon to create the look of snow in the mountains. I also used wet on wet and plastic wrap to blend values and colors. My techniques weren't executed very well and didn't turn out like I had intended them to. Besides the fact that I didn't quite finish my painting, I scrambled to add patterns using the sponge on the mountains that ultimately made for confusing shapes that are out of place. The saran wrap worked well in some places, but in others it didn't show up very well. Wet on wet was somewhat effective, but in some places created a greenish value that I didn't aim to create. All in all, I learned that planning my painting out would have helped me a great deal and that a less complex landscape could have produced a better painting.

Watercolor Exercises and Techniques

Purpose:

To experiment with a variety of watercolor techniques;

To make connections between experimenting with watercolor techniques learned to creating your own landscape watercolor.

With the large watercolor study I experimented with techniques, attempting to create patterns that I later learned about in the watercolor book. I had relative success in some areas but in others I definitely needed some guidance in terms of how to execute certain techniques. While completing my watercolor technique book and large watercolor study I learned of several different techniques for altering watercolors and adding effects using outside factors. For example, I used a sponge to create cloud-looking patterns with blue paint. I also learned about mixing of colors and how blending paints when they are wet creates a much different effect than blending dry paints. I think that my collective knowledge of watercolor techniques will guide me in my final watercolor painting and help me to create varying patterns and textures in my painting.

Perspective Strategy Drawing

Purpose:

To review the perspective strategies that you learned;

To make connections between what you learned and demonstrating your understanding by creating a drawing using one of the perspective strategies.

While creating this drawing I used two point perspective as well as aerial perspective. Two point perspective was shown by placing two vanishing points on opposite sides of the drawing and making each object shrink as it approached each vanishing point. Aerial perspective was used by making objects more blurry and having a blueish tint as they approached the vanishing point and grew more distant from the viewer. The combination of both created a drawing that had a larger and sharper image in the middle, with shrunken and blurry images on either side of it. By applying both techniques to my drawing I learned about the effect that using two point perspective correctly can have on a drawing. In my opinion, the aerial and two point perspectives added to the effectiveness of the drawing by making it more realistic.

Watercolor

Purpose:

To become familiar with the history of watercolor;

To become familiar with various watercolor artists throughout time;

To make connections between watercolor purposes and techniques from long ago to its uses today.

The first watercolor painting was used in a prehistoric (approximately 15,000 BCE) cave painting in current-day Lascaux, France, but the Egyptians and ancient Chinese also used forms of watercolor. Albrecht Durer was considered one of the first “watercolor masters,” producing most of his work in the late 15th and early 16th centuries. Durer exhibited mastery of the wash technique, which allowed him to create forms through and atmospheric space. Durer was also famous for using incredible detail with watercolors. Two other noteworthy artists were Anthony Van Dyck and Claude Lorraine. Van Dyck was popular for his detailed and skillful watercolor landscapes which were utilized as studies and backgrounds for his oil paintings. Van Dyke was also praised as a pioneer of the use of translucent watercolor washes. Claude Lorraine painted many large Roman landscapes which were commissioned by kings and clergy. Lorraine was said to be “the best landscape artist in the world,” mastering the use of shadow and light. Watercolor was at its peak in the 1800s, when watercolor was starting to be appreciated by the British monied elite, leading to the spread of watercolor popularity. National academies of watercolor artists were established in most western nations. Women also became involved in watercolor by the late 1700s. It became a popular hobby for women to paint over black and white prints. By the early 1800s upper-class women were being tutored on watercoloring techniques; the Queen even took lessons, inspiring many women to do the same. Watercolor regained popularity in the 1970s and 80s due to a renewed interest in late 19th century art. This renewed interest led to more and more people wanting to be instructed, subsequently leading to more watercolors being produced. While there are many types of watercolor being used today, some of the most popular are environmentally safe types of paint. Fade-resistant and water soluble paints are also popular.

Albrecht Durer, Wing of a Roller, 1512

Anthony Van Dyck, Landscape, 1632

Claude Lorraine, View of the Tiber at Rome, 1635

Works Cited

Batten, Anthony J. "HISTORY OF WATERCOLOUR." CSPWC English History of the Medium. N.p., n.d. Web. 15 May 2014.
"History-Overview." Watercolor Watercolor Painting Watermedia History Contemporary Exhibitions. Watercolor.net, 2012. Web. 15 May 2014.

Lino Prints

Purpose:

• To become familiar with basic printmaking history, processes, and artists
• To make connections between the Expressionist Art Movement and artists who worked in that style, including artists from our past and present;
• To respond visually to artists who work(ed) in the style of the Expressionist Art Movement, by creating a work of art in this style.
• To print 2 editions of 2 different drawings/designs, demonstrating understanding of the printmaking process.

During this project I had trouble initially with cutting out my first print because I had too much going on and it the design got too complex. None of the prints from my first design came out well, due to too much or too little ink being applied to the linoleum. With my second design, I made sure that it wasn’t too complex and I paid closer attention to the amount of ink that I applied before each print. My second round of prints came out much better than the first round. I’m most proud of the second design that I created for my prints. My first design didn’t function well for printing, so I took note of what went wrong and tried to fix those things in the next design. I thought that the second design used positive and negative space well and it was easy to tell what the subject was. This design could’ve produced some very good prints except for the fact that I don’t print well, so even though I was proud of the design, I wasn’t as proud of the prints that it produced.