Book Carving

 Explain how you developed your design for your book carving. How important was it to have a clear plan before starting?

 

The way that I developed my idea for my book was by going on top Pinterest and looking at over carvings to help me brainstorm an idea. After looking at several carvings I finally came up with the idea of a locking and a heart. After drawling several sketches and planning out I finally was sure what I was going to do for my final project. It was very important to have a clear plan before starting because you have to plan out all of your layers and make sure you didn't have any islands so that when you got to the carving stage you would be able to do it without any complications. Once you started carving there was no turnin back so you want to know your exact plan before carving. 

 What were the challenges you faced when working on this project? Explain how you overcame them. 

There were many challenges when it came to the carving of the book. Te challenges that I faced with the book was being able to carve straight and clean lines and also being able to cut through all the layers without ripping anything. I over came these obsticles with time and patience. To make sure I cut clean lines I ha to make sure that was blade was always sharp and never dull. This would also help make sure I would cut through all the layers evenly. 

Discuss your design and how it relates to the book you chose (if that was the case, if not just discuss design). 

 The design I descided to go with was a heart in a locket. On the outside of the book it would be a lock. And when you opened the book it would be a heart with a bunch of tubes connected to the heart to show how the heart is connected to the book. And on some of the tubes there would be keys. These keys would represent what would be needed to open the lock and I also did the keys to make sure the theme was incoerperated throughout the whole project. 

Did you take any risks? How and why?

I did take a lot of risks during this project because I wanted to push myself to see what kind of artist I'm capable of being and what kind of work I'm capable of producing.  The risks I took were by haveing a more complicated theme in my book. I also took the risk by having a complicated design in my book with lots of small spaces and small parts to cut out. This challenged me to really cut neat and clean. 

 Describe how you felt about the overall project and if you felt it was successful.

Overall I felt I was very sucessful with the project. I felt I was able to incoerperated the theme from the cover to inside the book so it would be able to tell a story by itself.  I also loves how this project really pushed you to your limits as an artist and pushed you to realize what kind of work your capable of doing. I would love to do this project again and experiment with a bunch of other techniques that I could of done when cutting into the book. 

Mixed Media

1. How did you show amusement and variety in your piece? Explain your choice of subject matter and how you created a unified piece of art.

The way that I decided to show amusement in my art work is by displaying  a bunch of different colors and also by haveing multiple layers all together to make it appealing to the eye. The matter that I used include pictures from magazines, tissue paper, and spray paint. I made it look like it all went together by first putting down tissue paper so when I put down the collage of pictures there was no white space in between them. Then I put down the pictures and then after I put white tissue paper on top of te pictures to dull the color down. But enough so it wouldn't cover up the pictures totally. This way when I created the stencil and when I spray painted the image on. The images would stand out a lot, but you would still be able to tell what the images behind it are. I also made sure that all the pictures all related to one another so the whole project was unified. 

2. Describe your experience with using mixed media. What mixed media did you use for your piece?

I love using mixed media for this peice because it challenged me to work with multiple different materials all at the same time. Also by usin mixed media it helped me explore all the different lessons we learn through out the year, and astablish it in one project. In my pierce that I did I used a variety of different materials. I used many layers of different colored tissue paper. I also used a bunch I pictures that I cut out, out of magazines. On top of those materials I also used spray paint. 

3. What role did our lessons on visual journaling play in the success of your piece? Explain.

The lesson on visual learning did on the success on my peice was that I taught me how to make everything relate to one another even though they might not. And it also taught me how to make my peice flow instead of looking like a bunch of random pictures glued together. This lesson helped me a lot with my final product for the mixed media. It helped me tie my whole project together. And to make it look like it all flows together. 

4. Discuss any challenges you experienced and how you overcame obstacles.

Throughout this project there were some challenges that I had to over come to create the final project that I visualized in my mind. One of the obstacles that I had to over come was how to deal with not enough picture. I did this by instead of having all of the picture all together at the end, I started to slowly spread out the pictures to make it look like I meant to do it. Another obstacle that I had to over come was making sure that the colors of the pictures weren't too bright so the spray paint would be visible. I had to think about this a lot but finall came up with the idea to put white tissue paper over the pictures to calm down the colors. Then I spray painted over and both the pictures and apart paint were very visual. 

Portrait

1. Who did you choose to do a portrait of? Why did you choose that person? 
 For my portrait I did my little brother Evan. I choose to to a family member to make it personal and to push my self to do something I've never done before. I also choose to do my little brother as my portrait because he's very special to me and I wanted to do someone who was very special to me. I came up with the idea to do Evan because someone beside end was talking about doin their little siblings so it gave me the idea to do him because  he is the youngest out of the six kids. 
2. When brainstorming about this project how did you decide what would be the best materials to use to create it? Explain how your material choice impacted the look of your piece. Why was this so important. Explain.
While brainstorming for this project I came up with the idea of using buttons as my material. I decided this would be the best material by first trying to relate it to the person I was doing and also trying to think of a material that would be cheap to use. I thought of buttons because they are very unique and one of a kind just like my little brother. I also thought because they come in such different colors and shades that it would e easy to show the different features and shades of the face. They were also a cheap choice so I was able to get a large variety of buttons for a cheap price. This material impacted my peice by helping distinguish the different features of the face as in eyes, nose, and lips; it did this by haveing a wide variety of colors to help seperate them. This material also helped impact my peice by coming in a wife variety of offering shades to help show the values of the face in the portrait. This was important to help show who I'm trying to display in the peice. By helping distinguishe the different feature it helps personalize the portrait and help show that I was creating my little brother. Using the buttons were also important because they symbolized my brother in the way that they were unique. 
3. Describe the risks you took or that were involved in creating the project. What were the challenges you faced?

The risks that I took during this project was using hot glue and also working with buttons. Using hot glue was a risk because it dries so fast so I had to make sure I placed the buttons down fast. The challenges I also faced was being burned by the hot glue. I burned myself multiple times trying to glue down the buttons. Using buttons were also a risk because I have never created a portrait out of buttons so I was clueless when I was trying to start. The challenges that I ran into whole using the buttons was trying to make sure that try didn't move out of their place while glueing because if they did then it would of messed up the placement of all of the buttons. Other than that this project was a lot of fun. 

4. How did your choices impact the look and feel of the piece? Did your choice of materials have any connection with the person you chose to represent? 
 My choice of using buttons and painting the background of my carboard impacted the look and feel of the project. Coloring the background made the buttons pop out more and also made the project more personal because orange is my little brothers favorite color so it's connected to the portrait. The buttons help impact the look of the peice by making it more pop out and also showing all the values on the face. The buttons also help the project stand out more because all the buttons are unique and different so there is a wide variety of colors, shapes, and forms. The material that I used did connect with the person I choose. The buttons symbolized how my little brother is unique and different than anyone else I know. He has a colorful personality hence the colorful variety of buttons used in the project. The background also connects with my little either because the background color is also my little brothers favorite color. All in all nothing the in the project was done on purpose. Everything has a symbol or meaning behind it connecting to the person I did the project on, my little brother Evan. 

Sticky Situation

1. Explain how you developed your ideas for "Sticky Situation"

The way I developed my ideas for the project were first by thinking literally. I thought of situations that were sticky to the touch, as in Popsicles melting on your hands.  Then I thought  of it in a figurative manner. I thought of situations that would of put you in a tough situation as in a hot air ballon popping. I also came up with someone ideas by looking around the room for inspiration. The inspiration for the Popsicles came when I saw a peice that Mrs. Rossi did of melting Popsicle; I saw the colors she incorporated into the artwork and I thought that I wanted to do a peice that I could include a different variety of colors in it. To make it more fun. Then after I generated and elaborated on my ideas I picked the two idea that I could have the most fun with and that I could incorporate a lot of color and texture into too. 

2. Were you able to think outside the box when you were thinking about ideas?

When thinking about ideas I was able to think outside the box. The concept that I choose was basic with the Popsicles so I was thinking of ways to make it creative and outside the box. Then I thought of a way to incorporate Popsicle sticks into my painting to really bring out the creativity and the meaning to the artwork. So I choose instead of a canvas, to paint into Popsicle sticks instead. This way the painting also has a different texture and 3-D look to it. 

3. You were to incorporate repetition, rhytnm or pattern. How did you accomplish this. 

I incorporated repetition in my artwork. I did this by repeating the concept of Popsicles melting throughout the whole peice. Instead o just having one or two Popsicles melting I added 8 Popsicles to the entire canvas. Also or repetition I repeated the theme of Popsicles by glueing multiple Popsicles sticks the the canvas and painted on the as the background, so the look and texture of a Popsicle stick is repeated  throughout the entire artwork. 

4. Describe your choice of media (acrylic, watercolor) and your challenges and successes while using it.

The media that I use for my final peice was acrylic paint. I choose this me is because I knew I would be able to create strong values and colors in my art work. I also chose this media because it was the best option for making new and colorful colors, for my final art work. I was very successful in creating many different shades of different colors for the art work. I was also sucessful in incorporating shadows and where te light source was with these paints because they easily go on top of one another. However, I did have some difficulties with this media. One thing that I did struggle with was how fast the paint dryed. This was challenging because when I wanted to go back and fix something, the pain had already dried so I wasn't able to accomplish what I wanted. I also had trouble painting over unwanted paint that got into the yellow background, because the yellow was so bright and transparent it took multiple layers to cove up the spot. Overall, the paint that I choose was a fun media to work with because it challenged me and let me have a good time, all at the same time. 

5. How important were the mini lessons to the success of your final product?

The mini lessons that we had in class were very important to the success of my final project. They were important because when we experimented with each different media it made me realize which media I would be comfertable and most successful in using for my final project. It also helped me get confertable with the media I knew I would be using for my final; and make sure I perfected it befor apptemptibg my final peice. The mini projects were also very important to the success of my final project because they helped me brain storm the different colors I would be using in media. Along with brain storming, the projects also hoed me practice mixing colors and getting the right shades right the first time, I order not to water paint or having to start all over again. All in all the mini projects help contribute to the success of my final project tremendously, and I would like to continue doing this for every project in the future. The sticky situation was so far the most enjoyable project because I knew I would be able to portray myself in my artwork better than with any other media.  

Up Close and Personal

1. Upclose and Personal was our theme. How did you develop your ideas for this project and why did you choose your subject? 

I developed my ideas by just first thinking about things that were personal to me and that I could easily emphasis a feature in it. So then I started things about other things in life that I could draw and it went with te theme. After I brain stormed about 20 ideas I came up with the idea of doing and up close and personal drawling of my chinchilla. I choose this subject because it is very personal to me because I own two chinchillas. I also choose this subject because I knew I could easily emphasis the fur on the animal. 

2. How did you demonstrate Emphasis in your work?

In my artwork I demonstrated my emphasis by texture. I did this by using multiple dcolors for the chinchillas fur to make sure that the fur stood out the most and that it was emphasized in the artwork. Also I demonstrated my emphasis by texture by having different values within the animals fur. 

3. What medium did you decide to use and why did you choose this medium over the others? Discuss how it enhances your piece.

The medium I choose to do was prisms colored penciles.  I choose this medium over the others because I believe that I could emphasized and showed the texture of the fur the best. I believed this because the colored penciles had the most fine tip and it could easily show texture. It enhances my artwork because it shows all the fine details of the fur and of the animal, instead of the fur looking like a blob I colors. The different colored that the colored pencils had also helped enhance the emphasis because it howed the texture more in the animal. Instead of it just being one color. 

4.. Did you take any risks with this project? Explain.
I did take a couple of ricks. One of the risk I choose was using a new medium. Because prisma colored pencils are different than normal colored pencils I had to make sure I layered them and make sure I didn't press to hard so I wasn't able to later. Another risk that I took was drawling a realistic an final with realistic fur.  Trying to drawl realistic fur was a challenge because I had I make surety could still see all the lines of the fur while also adding a multiple different colors to help the fur pop out. 
5. Of the 5 characteristics of great art (technique, concept, emotion, new, medium) which did you include in your art?

In my art work the characteristics that I included would be, medium, technique and concept. I added medium by showing a new medium and by exaggerating the different colors and values with the colored pencils. I added technique by showing the technique of emphasis  I used in my artwork and by adding different colors to emphasis  the texture of the fur on the animal. I also had concept in my drawling because I showed he concept of emphasis like we talked about before we started the project. I made sure that the fur of the animal was emphasized through texture and through color. Over all I had an amazin time completing this project, and I was very happy with my final artwork. 

What's the point

1. What where some of your solutions to What’s the Point? 

 Some of the solutions I came up with to what's the point  includes, flowers, Empire State Building, roses, gratin fruit, Mt. Everest, pencil, waterfall, and boxes. 

2. Which solution did you chose and why? 

The solution that I choose was the rose. I choose to do the ride because this idea I though would represent what's the point the best by darkening the thorns to the roses and emphasizing them in the drawling.  I also thought the roses would be the more fun to drawl and would be the best to draw because they aren't too complicated to show their value an texture. 

 

3. How did you show contrast in your work?

 I showed my contrast in my work by using whites and black and doing different shades of the black against the white. I also showed contrast in my drawling by drawling different size rose stems in the background and overlapping the different sized stems. By doing these techniques, I was able to show contest well in my final project. 

 

4. What medium did you decide to use? Why did you choose this medium over the others?

  The medium that I choose to do for my final project was pen. I decide to do pen because I believed it was the best way to show contrast between white and black because pen is darker than pencil. I also choose it because doing stippling on the flowers showed more texture and show more contrast than it would of any other way.  It was a challenge because  I had to do perfect the first time around  because there was no erasing. 

 

5. What techniques did you use to create this work?

 The techniques that I used to create this art work was stippling for the rose and thorns, and cross hitch for the stems. I thought that each technique  I used for each different object showed the best contrast and represented the texture of the object well. 

 

We encourage risk taking in art. Risk taking can be as simple as trying a new technique or learning about a new medium to as complex as trying something totally new.

 

6. Did you take any risks with this project? 

   I did take many risks during this project. The first risk I took was using pen as my medium instead of pencil; cause this way I wasn't able to erase if I ever messed up I had to do perfect the first time around. I also ha to be careful because you can always go darker and never go lighter. Another risk that I took was using cross hitching. This was a risk because I know it wasn't one of my strongest pen techniques but I knew it was the best for the object I had to draw. So it was an obstacle doing cross hitch for all of the flower stems.  

7. What message are you conveying? How are you convey this message through the use of your images or use of art elements or principles?   

The message that I am conveying is that this are more than meets the eye. I am convey this message through my use of image and art elements because, most people don't always realize the little things in life like small thorns on a rose. So by emphasizing the thorns on the rose it shows that people should just stop and look more sometimes cause they miss a lot when they don't. 

Game

Overall the perspective drawling that we did on a game board was very difficult. Its hard to draw the game in perspective not having any specific vanishing points to follow and instead just eyeing the whole drawling. It was very hard to draw everything to scale. The concept of overlapping and the horizon were easy. I knew where the horizon line was because of the angle I took my picture at, and for the overlapping I made sure I had things overlapping in my picture to create depth and to also show the perspective.  However other than the actual drawling part, the coloring part was fairly easy. While I was water coloring it became difficult when I got to the darker colors to make them more transparent, but just by washing the colors out and by adding more water i was able to create very transparent water colors. After my water colors dried i moved onto colored pencil. By using colored pencils I was able to create depth and value to my drawling. i was able to create depth by the graduation of colors. for the farther object i made sure that i colored them a darker shade and as the object got closer I colored them lighter. I did this to create depth and to show the different grounds of the drawling. this also created value for the object in the drawling. Also while I was coloring with colored pencil i didn't just use one color for one object i used multiple. I blended a variety of colors in my drawling to add value and dimensions of the object; this would create the illusion of them pooping out of the paper. Also while I was coloring i made sure to leave white spots so it would show the highlights of the game pieces; this would show value and where the light source was coming from. Finally, to make all the game pieces to pop i added shadows. shadows help create the illusion that the pieces were 3-D and were coming off the paper.
 While doing this I learned how many differnt perspecitives their are in the world and how their arnt just one and two point perspectives.