Book carving project

Explain how you developed your design for your book carving. 

I develope the idea of ornaments from the idea of reading a Christmas story on Christmas Eve. I thought it would be an interesting way to portray that and it did tell a story by making you think about how you also decorate the Christmas tree. My  Christmas tree reminds me every year of all the place we have been and where we bought the ornaments. Very important because once you cut some you can not un cut it so you need to make a clear plan describing exactly what you want to do. Then you will do less ripping or taping. Also you need to make sure the frame is thick so it is not super fragile and easy to cut through. I learned all this very quickly. I had so trouble cutting sometimes with the x-acto knife. At the beginning I made the frame way to small and had to rip a lot of pages out but  after that I got better at it with practice. I took the risk of doing a little more holiday type thing rather than something that directly followed the themes. Also using the x-acto knife is a hazard in itself. I felt it was successful and created a product that I can be proud if and I think turned out well. 

Exam Questions

I feel my painting was the best and most successful piece. The theme was sticky situation and the process was quite simple. First you were to come up with ideas and make thumb nail sketches. after you have decided what you want to do you Then you painted a base color if you so desired. Next you painted the back ground and the main part of your painting. The materials we used was acrylic paint and a canvas to paint it on and I used a medium-large canvas an I used my painting techniques that u normally use when doing a painting. I think I over came the most obstacles in the Kitten in a pot one. I had to over come using a hot glue gun because I burnt myself so many times I lost count. I also had to use a hammer to get the lead out. now that I look back I should have done smaller pieces and maybe more drastic color changes to make it stand out. Taking risk did help me in this project cause I tried something new and I worked for this piece. The cactus drawing for what's the point was the starting point and then the book carving showed a lot of growth. I thought of something a little more out of the box even though it is in a book and it showed that doing something different is okay and it can turn out good. I have never carved a book before and I thought it was a new yet fun experience. It did become frustrating at times but it turned out well and I had much more of a vision for this book. Also I got to use a new skill rather than just drawing something which is an improvement and I used more adventurous materials. The change in teaching helped me and was effective in my art because I tried a lot of new things that worked and some that didn't which is exactly what learning is about. For example using an x-acto knife to carve my book was some thing I never would have tried. This new way of teaching showed me that taking risk can be beneficial it may not always turnout perfect but I definitely grew as an artist due to this.

Mixed Media

I showed amusement by portraying a type of food that is amusing to children. That awesome food is ice cream you eat it at the fair and it has variety in the different colors and flavors of ice cream. I chose this subject matter because it is kind of a tradition in my family to all eat ice cream together at my grandpas house there is a fridge devoured completely to ice cream. This project reminded me of that and the ice cream is unified because they are the same colors but different flavors all stacked on top of each other. For this mixed media project I used tissue paper, glue, acrylic paint, and magazine clippings. I learned how to use the magazine clippings and how to mix the different materials in one project so it would go together. I was a little challenged in trying to incorporate the magazine at last minute but other than that this project was very successful in my eyes.

Non-traditional portrait

I choose to do a portrait of my kitten named Sally because I wanted to try to do something other than a dog. I decided to do this project with colored pencil tips because I felt this material could best portray the kitten. My material choice impacted the look of my piece because it added another element to the portrait. The pencil lead gave the picture a texture but it also kind of made all the colors blend. This material choice was very important because the material really brought the kitten to life and if I used a different material it wood look totally different almost night and day. I took the risk of using pencil tips which was a difficult material to attach to the paper and it has not really been used before. One of the major challenges I faced was trying to get the lead out of a pencil and glueing it on was a little difficult. The portrait look very textured because of the use of pencil leaf and it felt rough. The feeling changed to a more fun and spontaneous which is similar to the kitten. My kitten had a connection to colored pencils because the first day that I brought the kitten home she got into the colored pencils and carried them around and we knew then that she was a little bit different. 

Sticky situation

I developed my idea for "Sticky Situation" from the idea of a dog who got in a very sticky situation and  got into some paint buckets. Yes I feel I was able to think outside of the box when I was thinking of this idea because a dog near wet paint is a sticky situation let a lone him getting into the paint. Also having dog can be a bit sticky at times because they tend to get into things which is also why it's a bit sticky. Repetition was incorporated into this painting because of the paw prints on the floor. As well as the wood grin which adds rhythm to this painting but it does not distract from the dog. These both flowed and improved the painting but it also told the story of this situation. Acrylic was chosen for the choice of media because I had used this before and I though it would best portray my idea of a sticky situation. Also it is best for layering which is what is required in this piece because when you are painting an animal with a lot of fur layers are required. The mini lessons were important because I used some of those skills on my final product. I feel this project was successful because I portrayed the theme and the rhythm and repetition was incorporated into this painting as well. This painting also told a story and makes you think what might happen next say this dog gets onto your new couch or maybe he jumps on you in your favorite dress you don't know but hopefully you just get a good memory of when something like this happened to you or even a laugh at the idea of such a sticky situation. 

Up close and personal

I developed my idea for this project from Pinterest because I saw an publish picture of a flower to show a different perspective. I added shading to demonstrate emphasis as well as different colors to make other things stand out. Colored pencils were my medium for this project because I thought the flower would look the best drawn with colored pencils. The colored pencils fit the best and enhance my piece. The risk I took was by learning a new skill in using colored pencils which I don't do very often. I used the technique of texture in the flower to show the text close up or as they say up close and personal. This project seemed some what successful because I tried very hardto make it realistic. It could be better if I used more value and a deeper concept I will use this blog to improve on my next project in order to grow as an artist. 

What's the point

      For the project " What's the Point" some of my solutions where cacti, and a rambutan which is a pointy Australian fruit. Another solution I had was to draw a circle made completely of points which would be neat to make something without out them. In the end I choose to draw a cactus for my solution because I felt that out of all the ideas I came up with I could best exhibit cacti. I showed contrast by shading and blending lights and darks with a tortillon. I used the scribble sort of technique to show the value in the cacti. The medium I used was charcoal to draw because you can easily blend the shading. I was also interested in trying a new technique of drawing. I used the shading techniques to draw the cacti as well as the skills needed to use charcoal that I learned during this unit. 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. Yes I did indeed take risk with this project because I used charcoal which is something I have never done. Therefore I was a little nervous about it but I feel it turned out well. I am conveying that cacti are pointy and that it is okay to take risk sometime when drawing and even if it is an out of the box idea it can turn out well. I used charcoal unlike many other which is a risk and not a lot of people thought about cacti when they thought of points which is why I feel my project was successful.