Text Art Project

Digging Deeper~~

Challenges~~

Final Project~

I want to spell out a word with string and nails. Like this but smaller:

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.

Non-traditional Self Portrait~ tic-tac edition

When I heard that the theme was going to be self-portraits, not gonna lie I quivered. Then I heard that we could have partners, so I wasn't as upset. Me and my partner Connor sat there thinking of what we could do for the self-portrait, along with who. We decided to do a dog, and of course Connor insisted on it being his dog. We thought it would be fun if we posterized it on photo-shop and then did it with tic-tacs. We came up with tic-tacs because we wanted something small and round, and Connor came up with it right off the bat. I think that it makes the piece look better because it can be compared to the pixels in the printed picture. It makes it look even better, and it allows your senses to feel, see, and smell. I think the use of tic-tacs was an important part of the piece because i don't think any other material would have captured the picture better. We took the risks of choosing an edible material, for as it could have melted because we were using the hot glue gun. We also took the risk of spray painting some of the white tic-tacs black, when it could have just rubbed right off or spread to other colors. This piece draws you in with your senses, and it makes you want to touch and smell it. We most definitely thought outside of the box with this piece, and I think it turned out really well. 

Sticky Situation- Candy Road

When I heard the theme "Sticky Situation", it made me think about things that were sticky such as gum, glue, food, candy, etc. I liked the idea of candy, so I branched off of that idea and came up with Candy Land, the board game. I was originally going to do a candy land, but I just stuck to doing the paths. I was able to think outside the box with my ideas because the theme is so broad; although I suppose I could have stepped even more outside of the box. As you can see in the picture below there is a pattern of the repeating colors on the never ending path. The black background was painted black to make the path pop with color. Using acrylic paint as my medium was a very good choice in my opinion because I think it captures the colors better and dimension well. However, painting is not my choice of method; though the mini lessons did help me a little with my control of my brush and my precise lines. Overall I think that my painting turned out well, even if I do wish I had a little more time to work on it and make it look like a real Candy Land.  

Up Close and Personal

This drawing was for my up close and personal project, which took a lot of brainstorming and playing with ideas. I came up with many ideas for this project such as a bug on a leaf, a spider face, a hand, cupcakes, trees, etc. I chose to do lips because when I look at lips I think about how intricate they are. I emphasized the highlights by using white, and placing it where the light hits the lips. The medium I used for this is chalk pastels. I chose this medium over the others because I have never worked with them before, and I wanted to try new things. My medium emphasizes my piece because I can use more smearing techniques to help things blend, such as the red on the lips. I took many risks during this project such as using a new medium. You have to be really careful with the smearing with this medium because if i had smeared the red into the white teeth, then it would not look good. I encourage trying new things and risks in art because if you don't take risks how will you know what you are best at? By me including medium and technique in my final project, my final project was how I wanted it to turn out. 

What's The Point?

The "what's the point" theme sparked many ideas as to what i wanted to do my project on. I came up with many ideas for this project such as someone pointing, focus point, thorns on a rose, lion/tiger yawning, etc. I chose to do broken glass because it shows sharp ridges, also what's the point of a broken glass? I showed contrast in my work by using lights and darks in my shading, to give my glasses the object dimension. I chose to use pencil as my medium over pen or charcoal because I feel like I can get a lot of contrast and dimension out of pencil with lights and darks. In art you can make simple projects stand out by taking risks and thinking outside of the box. Don't be afraid to push your darks and think outside of the box. Trying new mediums to work with and get a feel for is always a good thing to do because you never know if you succeed better with other mediums. I can admit that I could have pushed my darks a little further, as well as try a new medium and take risks. The message that I am conveying is that broken glass can resemble a lot more than just a sharp object. You can relate it to many things related to life and feelings. Even if you feel broken like a broken glass, you can always be fixed, just as a broken glass can with glue. You may not be able to see this message in my drawing, but if you think about a deeper meaning than just broken glass, it can mean a lot more.