Famous Landmark Stencil.



1. Explain how you changed your photo in the lab to create a stencil.

 

In the lab we changed the adjustments of color in photoshop to make the entire image black and white so we could get a better idea on how the stencil would look. 

 

2. When creating the collage background explain your choices of colors, materials (magazine paper, books pages, etc), and placement. How does it relate to your topic? If no relation discuss general idea.

 

For the background, I used old books that were slightly yellowed which I thought added a neat aged look to the collage. The red watercolor swirls were just completely random, this project was originally going to be a gift for my sister and her room is decorated with red swirls so I thought it would look nice.

3. Discuss the way positive and negative space was used to create your stencil.

 

Positive and negative space played a big role in this project. The negative space was the area that I cut out in the stencil to be filled in when I spray-painted. The positive space was the area that was left as the background

 

4. When using the xacto knife, explain the safety procedures, how to use the knife and any challenges you had to overcome while cutting.

 

When using the xacto knife, it was very critical to follow safety instructions, the main one being to never cut towards yourself, instead to cut away from you. The knife was a bit of a challenge to use for cutting out the very fine, small pieces, so I had to leave a few of those out.

5. How was your experience with the spray paint? Discuss how color choice is important, placement of stencil, and any other concepts you noticed while creating this.

My experience with the spray paint was an easy one, it was pretty straightforward what to do once you got your stencil attached to your background. My choice of color was black because of the swirls in the background because the stencil needed to stand out against those. I didn't really think to much about where to place the stencil, the middle was the only place where it wouldn't be dominated by the swirls, but still look neat.

Game Drawing.

Overall, this piece was a joy to finish, and a lot of fun. I feel that it really taught the idea of perspective in a creative and interesting way. If I had to name a difficult property of this, it would be the water colors. At times, it was hard to do a really light wash over the game drawing without it mostly being water and almost tearing through the paper. I feel that bringing back the blending with the colored pencils was a fun thing and enjoyed doing it, though I didn't really get why we had to do a watercolor wash over the pieces before we drew over them. If we were to do this project again, I would have preferred to just put watercolors over the areas where we weren't going to go over with colored pencil. It would have been easier in areas with highlights and shadows. I feel like this piece was a success, because I learned how important perspective can be when drawing something, and how it adds depth and perspective to everything.

Owl Print

1.     Describe the overall composition of your artwork (balance, unity, rhythm and movement).

            

- I think that the balance between the positive and nagative space was a key element in this print, allowing the eye to switch between the lightness of the wings, and darkness in the tail feathers and body. The rhythm is pretty steady, nothing that stands out in an ugly way, just pretty average.

 

 

2.     How did you add texture and contrast to your print? Is this important? Why?

            

-I added texture&contrast to the print in a few different ways. First of all being that the wings have many different patterns which directs the eye to the owl. Then the contrast between the dark of the background and the white of the owl's wings and tree bark is distinctive and helps the spectator see the different texture in the owl.

 

 

3.     Explain how you used positive and negative space to show your image.

 

-I used the positive space in the owl's wings to help direct the person to the owl first, and the negative space in the background to kind of just be neautral and not attract to much attention. The positive space in the tree bark also adds the right amount of attention to the background, while not overwhelming.

 

 

4.     Describe the craftsmanship of your print. (How good the project is technically crafted)

 

-I feel that the overall print was crafted pretty nicely. It does have a defined contrast between positive and negative space, and a pretty successful use of texture. I do think the lines could have been neatened up and more of a background could have been added, but in the end the crafmanship was pretty average.

 

 

5.     Were you able to achieve depth by showing a foreground, middle ground and back- ground? Explain.

 

-I'm not really sure I did the best job with showing depth, because of the lack of objects in the background my print. I could have added some trees far back in the background to add some depth, but other than that I think the focus was on the owl and too many background objects could have cluttered the overall print.

 

 

6.     Explain your experience with Printmaking. What were the obstacles and advantages?

-The main problem would have to be the transferring of the ink to the paper. The first time I did it, it looked quite sloppy, and the lines weren't as sharp as I had thought they were, so I had to keep going back and carving diferent lines to help neaten it out. I also had to leave out some of the smaller designs because I couldn't really get the fine lines I wanted with the carving tool, which was a drawback.

Chalk Murals!

 

1. Explain your experience working on a team and executing your ideas for the mural.

 

-Overall, it was a fun process and it was great to work with so different of people to see how they thought the mural should be executed. Because of all these ideas, the project turned out very well.

 

 

2. Explain the importance of collaboration when working on a team.

 

-In order to be a successful, everyone had to participate in the blog, and with doing that, the mural turned out to be a great success. And since we had various art styles/skills in our group, it really made a difference on how well our mural turned out. Also, having a few taller people in our group made a difference, since I couldn't reach the top.(:

 

 

3.  How successful was this project? Explain how and why.

 

-I feel this  project was a big success, because of all of our group member's different skills, it turned out to be a good mix of styles that formed our mural. I also feel we executed the idea of being interactive quite well, and it is very colorful and really pops when you walk by it.

 

 

4. Explain how you feel about creating artwork that others can interact with. Ex. Involving the whole school? 

 

-I really enjoy making artwork that can be interacted with! It's very fun to see people in the courtyard admiring it and figuring out how to interact with it. Overall, I think that interactive projects are a ton of fun to do!

Texture Sketches!

1.Why is texture so important to have in your sketches?

-Texture plays a major role in these sketches because the more texture you draw, the more your final print will pop. Various textures add different contrasts that will really catch the eye if used properly.

2. Why is it necessary for you to have several references of each animal and each background? Explain.

 

-It's necessary to have many references to each animal and environment to
really help customize the animal/environment, and pin-point what features you like most about each picture, and add a little bit of all of those features to your final sketch. It also helps if, for example, you're drawing a forest background, and you need a close-up picture of bark along with your other pictures of trees.

3. When you look at your sketches are you able to see which sketch is the strongest and will make the best print? How do you know this? 

  -I know which one I will most likely use in the print because of the amount of texture I used. More texture will add more contrast to the print, so whatever one turns out having the most texture, will probably make the best print. So far, the owl seems to have texture, with the wings having so many different patterns.

Value Portraits!

1. Explain the process you went through to develop your drawing.

-We first went and took pictures of ourselves in black&white so we could see the different dark and light color in the picture. We then traced the basic shapes of the faces, then also traced the values in the person's face who we were drawing. We then transferred the drawing onto paper and went on to complete the outline and shade the rest of the values.

2. Explain how you found the different values in the portrait?

-We took the pictures and transfer paper and held them up to light from a window. Then we traced the basic values, both dark and light. The face ended up looking a bit like a butchered pizza, but after careful shading, and a bit more sketching, it turned out quite well!

3.  Did you achieve a full range of the different values within your portrait?  How?

-Earlier that week, we made a portable value chart which we got to use for reference during the project, which was very helpful.  I think I could have added more darks to my portrait, but other than that I think it turned out pretty well.

4. Describe your craftsmanship.  Is the artwork executed and crafted neatly?

-I think I definitely could have neatened up some edges during the process, and made some contrasts more defined. I also could have spent more time making sure to include all of the various values. Overall, I think it was fairly neat and well put together.

5. List any obstacles you had to overcome and how you dealt with them.

-When I was coloring the back of the tranfer page, I made it way too dark to the point where I couldn't see the lines on the other side of the paper I needed to trace. To fix this, I had to hold it back up to the window while I darkened the lines and then transfered it.

Questions for Projects:

1. Describe your overall thoughts on the final piece.

 I thought that this project was overall a fun and creative way to experiment with shading and blending. The oil pastels were a nice way to help demonstrate the blending of colors, but were quite messy!

2. If this was a group project, what was your contribution?

 N/A

3. How successful do you feel this piece is and why?

I feel pretty successful after completing this piece, though the blending of colors wasn't as great as I would hope it to be. I think the colors I chose might have been harder to blend together, so next time I might chose different ones.

4. What worked about this project? What didn’t work? The contrast between the black paper and the vibrant oil pastels turned out to be quite appealing, and I think it looked very well. What didn't work would have to be some of the colors I was trying to blend didn't quite want to be mixed together and it looked quite choppy.

5. If you were to do this project over again, what changes would you consider making?

I would probably change the colors I used and maybe try harder to blend them better. I would also make sure to try to create the 3D effect more by making sure to use darker color in the back of the object.

6. What was the most difficult part about completing this piece and why?
 I think the most difficult part would have to be the shading. I don't feel as though I completely mixed them enough, it still looked kind of uneven.


7. What did you learn from this piece?
I learned that you can create a 3D object with just a bit of color and a LOT of blending and shading!


Emily L. Period 1