Book Carving Project

This project was challenging but a very good learning experience. Coming up with what to carve into a book was difficult, but it made it easier to have categories to narrow it down. I chose the category simplicity. I chose this category because I think simple is beautiful. Coming up with simple things was not as difficult as I thought it would be. I came up with the idea to do a dream catcher. Dream catchers are very peaceful and they make me happy so I decided to do one. This project is very important to have a clear plan before starting because it requires you to plan out your layers and to draw out your design. You must do this before starting or else you will just mess up. I faced many challenges while doing this project such as cutting too far, or accidentally cutting something I didn't mean to. I struggled with using the xacto knife and keeping my lines fluid and steady. I overcame them with practice, and restarting. My design was just a simple dream catcher with a sun in the background and a couple triangles to add a design. I took many risks while doing this project, such as adding triangles at the last minute and gluing a couple pieces that ripped. Overall I think that my project turned out well even if I got a little frustrated with it. Struggling in art is what makes you an artist. Trying is all I can do to succeed!

Mixed Media- cigar box

For my mixed media project I came up with the idea to paste tissue paper on to a cigar box, and then do a collage on top of it. I couldn't come up with any ideas on what to do with the collage so I flipped through magazines and I kept seeing beautiful eyes on all of the models. It made me think about this quote that I liked; "the eyes are the windows to the soul." So I decided to make a sun out of eyes and put the quote in the middle. I showed variety in my piece by using tissue paper and cutting out pictures of magazines. I used different colors to draw attention to the piece along with different sized and shaped eyes. Ive experienced working with mixed media such as collages and other related things. I used to love journaling and collaging, so I have done all sorts of projects related to this project. I used a new technique, however, that I learned from my lovely teacher Mrs.Rossi. This technique is to make magazine photos transparent. If you can tell, the eyes on the outside of the sun, the rays, are transparent. Our lessons on visual journaling played a big part in my project. We practiced pasting the tissue paper into our notebooks, and it helped me get the right technique to do it well on my cigar box. For the most part this project was easy, but I did come across a couple of points that were difficult. For example when i was pasting the eyes down, I had trouble making the sun circular. I also had trouble opening the cigar box a couple times because the glue would make the box stick together. I over came these obstacles and I like the way it turned out. I liked this project and i hope i something similar soon.