Project One: In Honor Of
Subject: Hayley Williams
1. Define which techniques you tried and mastered? Struggled?
For my first piece I wanted to do the in honor of art piece. This piece was made with watercolor, watercolor colored pencils, and markers. I enjoy using watercolor but I'm no way am I an expert. So I decided that this piece I would experiment with skin tones and texture. Two things that I've never attempted to do in watercolor. I researched different ways that skin tones can be made and found that mixing and layering multiple colors is the best way in order to get all the different tones that lie in skin. I think it was a great first attempt and will continue to work at this skill. I definitely struggled with making certain aspects realistic. For my next art project I'm going to take more time on the smaller details so that it appears more realistic.
2. How did you draw inspiration from other artists techniques or aesthetics in your work? In what ways did you derive meaning or gain historical perspectives from their work? Why these artists?
This piece was was driven by the band Paramore and the lead singer Hayley Williams. Majority of my art was driven by her personality style and most importantly the music. I didn't have much inspiration from actual artist other than a few water color reference photos. Her music was the art I drove inspiration from. A lot of the art elements I took from her album covers various fashion statements of hers. She gives off a very vibrant personality, I wanted to showcase that through the use of the colorful background. This also was taken from Paramore's most recent album “After Laughter” where the album consist of very vibrant pastel colors
3. Describe the evolution of your piece. Decisions made. Compositional elements.
I knew I wanted to do multiple figures. My original plan was to do three one centered and two facing opposite directions. Proportion wise it was better just to stick with two since I was using watercolor and I was nervous of what layering would do to the paper and potentially distort the colors. I spent most of my time sketching and tweaking my outlines of her to get that realist effect. Once I completed that to my liking I planted both figures to be painted. After that I made the decision on my background to tie in with Paramore's most recent album cover. The cover art is pastel hues with some shapes. I made the decision to do pastel shapes to tie into that part of her music career. And made sure that I always follow the rule of thirds and have most of the details in the left and right thirds. I included movement in the direction of the shaped from going from the lower left corner to smaller shapes in the upper right corner. This helped with utilizing the space of the paper without letting the colors be too overwhelming.
4. If you could consider doing something over, explain why you would do this and what you would do next time?
If I was to do anything over it would be my drawing and details surrounding the smaller girl on the right. I feel if I should have taken more time to develop her features and practice possible hair techniques. By doing this I think her overall appearance would bring the piece together. Also in the details involved in her not rushing and actually letting the paper dry could've eliminated the peeling of her hair. Since the girl on the left is filled with so much detail the girl on the right appears to less connected to the pieces and there not in a flow as I had originally intended. Going back to hair I would have liked to redo the larger girl on the lefts hair just to add in those extra little details that would bring the piece to appear more lifelike.
5. Elaborate on how this piece links with your other pieces? What is the common thread?
This being my first year as a junior in IB art as well as my first art project I have yet to develop other pieces in order to link other works together. But I plan on carrying out the colorfulness of the background as well as other lady figures through my upcoming pieces.
Project 2: Expertise Needed
1. Define which techniques you tried and mastered? Struggled?
This piece was on the experience needed project. I chose to do oil because I have done it in the past and think I have improved as an artist to create a oil painting. I think this is my most improved medium but I am still not at an expert level I am still learning and evolving. I was focused on laying and the direction of my brush strokes to created realist lines to make my image appear more 3D. I did this through layering and smaller more controlled brush strokes. I struggled with value within all the greenery I included in my art piece.
2. How did you draw inspiration from other artists techniques or aesthetics in your work? In what ways did you derive meaning or gain historical perspectives from their work? Why these artists?
The image I referenced was a Photo taken by a Photographer on London Larry Rostant. He focuses on photos relating to lifestyle and he does this through portraits and almost nudity pictures. It was showcased in “Nakid Magazine” based in San Diego California. I found his images to be very creative and filled with a multitude of skin variety which is what I was looking for. I wanted a image with skin so I could practice my skin tones. For the oil side I watched many videos on how to successfully use oils. I wanted to attempt to portray the idea of mother nature and was draw to the rawness of these photos of this women.
3. Describe the evolution of your piece. Decisions made. Compositional elements.
It originally came from an idea of mine to do a very mythical perspective fairies , flowers, big eyes, then slowly I came to the conclusion that wasn't my style so I shifted to a more practical figure and still kept the nature elements. I focused on a color palate of greens blues and purples.
4. If you could consider doing something over, explain why you would do this and what you would do next time?
If I could do something over I would like to have changed the placement of the plants and flowers. I believe that if I did this it would've added more drama to the piece.
5. Elaborate on how this piece links with your other pieces? What is the common thread?
I want to focus my theme on the idea of mother nature and nature itself and everything that is beautiful about the planet that does not include humans impact, on the environment. I love everything about the world and what it has to offer and think that we as a human race need to collectively take care of the environment and the earth.
Project 3: Still Life
1. Define which techniques you tried and mastered? Struggled?
For my third project I chose to do my still life and mainly wanted to focus on and emphasize the importance of color. I chose to do this by using the medium of colored pencils specifically prisma colors. I have in the past done still lifes but only in black and white and never have done a detailed piece like this one before. I tried to capture the realist elements of the objects i chose to draw. I knew I wanted to challenge myself so I chose to do the technique of blending the prismas healthy to get the desired look I was going for. By doing this I experimented with layering different colors to manipulate the drawing yo mirror the objects= still life. I struggled with proportions and correctly adding value and making the light source consistent.
2. How did you draw inspiration from other artists techniques or aesthetics in your work? In what ways did you derive meaning or gain historical perspectives from their work? Why these artists?
I didn't have a specific artist I was drawing inspiration from I goggled many different takes on still lifes in paintings, pencil, oil, water color, and after seeing a multitude of images I focused on prisma colors and I knew from the images I looked at I wanted to tackle the challenge of drawing glass. I wanted my piece to be playful and colorful so I chose two objects that represent that a gum ball machine and a stuffed animal. Through these images I saw the importance of value and wanted to mimic that style and technique. I have always used white or a slightly tinted paper this was my first take using just black paper. Majority of the images I looked at I saw black paper had a greater effect on the color popping off the page.
3. Describe the evolution of your piece. Decisions made. Compositional elements.
This piece was definitely more of a work in process for me. It started very poorly and not fully thought out. I sketched many different ways that the objects should be placed and from there jumped into the water from there. Since it was done on black paper every line I made matters because if I want to change something or move something slightly had to do it very very lightly so the lines wouldn't show. This was difficult for me to do since I am so used to fully sketching in pencil then using my medium. This round I had to rely on my eye and just hope I liked the placement of my objects and had to add the detail as I went. I originally just had the gum ball machine and the stuffed alligator but then slowly after coming to an end with finishing those I realised the piece was missing something. I added the bubbles to go back to the playful feeling I wanted to show and knew it fit into my peice well. Then I added a wooden table to give it a realist feel. The table was originally never in my plan but saw that it was important for a still life. I followed the rule of thirds throughout my process to make sure the eye would be entertained.
4. If you could consider doing something over, explain why you would do this and what you would do next time?
If I could do something over I wouldn't have worked backwards and I would have done the table first then placed my objects. Or at least sketched it out. This would of changed how I drew the gumballs on the table and adjusted how I shaded the alligators bottom half. I also would have liked to practise the glass more befor I drew it on my final paper.
5. Elaborate on how this piece links with your other pieces? What is the common thread?
Currently I am still torn between themes. The only consistency is the used of color. I am still working on if I want to focus on mother nature or connect it back to myself and make it on my biggest fears, or base it off of music.
Project 4:
1. Define which techniques you tried and mastered? Struggled?
I tried the technique of blending with different types of watercolor. I used tube paint with lower quality and higher quality watercolor to blending the girls face. This was a new technique that I have never tried. This allowed me to make different skin tones and add dimension. I struggled with value and not overdoing the darker tones and still not making it to light.
2. How did you draw inspiration from other artists techniques or aesthetics in your work? In what ways did you derive meaning or gain historical perspectives from their work? Why these artists?
As usual I didn't draw inspiration from one artist I just created a collection of multiple ideas from songs and movies. As Well as looking at a few watercolor art pieces on the internet to compare how those artist did skin. I was watching the Secret Life Of The Bees and that movie inspired me to connect bees into my work. It also helped that my shirt was yellow. I got the chemical idea from a song by a band called Movements titled Full Circle. I am in a art state of mind where I'm loving black paper and I think colors pop more and there much more appreciated.
3. Describe the evolution of your piece. Decisions made. Compositional elements.
I knew I wanted to do a layered piece but wasn't sure how I wanted to go about it. I started with the water color portrait then glued it and added the chemicals towards the end to fill up space. I followed the rule of thirds in making the girl in the lower left third. I chose white to do the chemical so the main focus would be on the girl.
4. If you could consider doing something over, explain why you would do this and what you would do next time?
I would be patient and let the watercolor dry to avoid as much wrinkling in the paper. This will make the over all work look more professional and less messy.
5. Elaborate on how this piece links with your other pieces? What is the common thread?
I believe I am staying in the realm of Mother Nature mixed with machinery or science.
1. Define which techniques you tried and mastered? Struggled?
I tried the technique of blending with different types of watercolor. I used tube paint with lower quality and higher quality watercolor to blending the girls face. This was a new technique that I have never tried. This allowed me to make different skin tones and add dimension. I struggled with value and not overdoing the darker tones and still not making it to light.
2. How did you draw inspiration from other artists techniques or aesthetics in your work? In what ways did you derive meaning or gain historical perspectives from their work? Why these artists?
As usual I didn't draw inspiration from one artist I just created a collection of multiple ideas from songs and movies. As Well as looking at a few watercolor art pieces on the internet to compare how those artist did skin. I was watching the Secret Life Of The Bees and that movie inspired me to connect bees into my work. It also helped that my shirt was yellow. I got the chemical idea from a song by a band called Movements titled Full Circle. I am in a art state of mind where I'm loving black paper and I think colors pop more and there much more appreciated.
3. Describe the evolution of your piece. Decisions made. Compositional elements.
I knew I wanted to do a layered piece but wasn't sure how I wanted to go about it. I started with the water color portrait then glued it and added the chemicals towards the end to fill up space. I followed the rule of thirds in making the girl in the lower left third. I chose white to do the chemical so the main focus would be on the girl.
4. If you could consider doing something over, explain why you would do this and what you would do next time?
I would be patient and let the watercolor dry to avoid as much wrinkling in the paper. This will make the over all work look more professional and less messy.
5. Elaborate on how this piece links with your other pieces? What is the common thread?
I believe I am staying in the realm of Mother Nature mixed with machinery or science.
Project 5: Childhood to Adulthood
1. Define what techniques you tried and mastered. Struggled?
I have in the past used water color but this piece was created to try to test my realism in watercolor. I wanted to experiment with the reflections of the metal and the detail in the leaves and the reflections of car itself. This wasn't difficult until my layering of color was not adding to the realist effect I was going for. It made a great base color but not what I envisioned. So i went in with prisma colored pencils in order to do this. I tried to be more realistic and struggled with adding detail with out other tools.
2. How did you draw inspiration from other artists techniques or aesthetics in your work? In what ways did you derive meaning or gain historical perspectives from their work? Why these artists?
Not many specific artists were used as direct inspiration I just knew I wanted to paint a car but also do a piece with foliage and greenery. I put the two together. I searched for older cars since that was my desired car look. And the looked at images of how plants are in the wild. Historical meaning is that older cars have a way cooler look than newer ones.
3. Describe the evolution of your piece. Decisions made. Compositional elements.
I began with a sketch in my sketchbook of the car and in that sketch I had the leaves and the car as equal on the page. After my first drawing on my paper I realized it would be more compositionaly pleasing if I raised the car to two thirds rather than one half. After this the piece fell into place. I knew I wanted the colors to be red and white to tie into the still life I created.
4. If you could consider doing something over, explain why you would do this and what you would do next time?
If I could do something over I would've loved to have practiced the metal of the car more. I was able to practice the car and the leaves but not the metal. I think that it would of given the art a realistic look and would of been less error on the final if I would of did the trials first.
5. Elaborate on how this piece links with your other pieces? What is the common thread?
After making my final two pieces last semester the still life and the self portrait I found a common thread of the evolution of youth. I think that a car is simply one of the biggest responsibilities and successes of teens before adulthood. But I wanted to do red and green to show fun colors but also to tie to my still life color choices.
1. Define what techniques you tried and mastered. Struggled?
I have in the past used water color but this piece was created to try to test my realism in watercolor. I wanted to experiment with the reflections of the metal and the detail in the leaves and the reflections of car itself. This wasn't difficult until my layering of color was not adding to the realist effect I was going for. It made a great base color but not what I envisioned. So i went in with prisma colored pencils in order to do this. I tried to be more realistic and struggled with adding detail with out other tools.
2. How did you draw inspiration from other artists techniques or aesthetics in your work? In what ways did you derive meaning or gain historical perspectives from their work? Why these artists?
Not many specific artists were used as direct inspiration I just knew I wanted to paint a car but also do a piece with foliage and greenery. I put the two together. I searched for older cars since that was my desired car look. And the looked at images of how plants are in the wild. Historical meaning is that older cars have a way cooler look than newer ones.
3. Describe the evolution of your piece. Decisions made. Compositional elements.
I began with a sketch in my sketchbook of the car and in that sketch I had the leaves and the car as equal on the page. After my first drawing on my paper I realized it would be more compositionaly pleasing if I raised the car to two thirds rather than one half. After this the piece fell into place. I knew I wanted the colors to be red and white to tie into the still life I created.
4. If you could consider doing something over, explain why you would do this and what you would do next time?
If I could do something over I would've loved to have practiced the metal of the car more. I was able to practice the car and the leaves but not the metal. I think that it would of given the art a realistic look and would of been less error on the final if I would of did the trials first.
5. Elaborate on how this piece links with your other pieces? What is the common thread?
After making my final two pieces last semester the still life and the self portrait I found a common thread of the evolution of youth. I think that a car is simply one of the biggest responsibilities and successes of teens before adulthood. But I wanted to do red and green to show fun colors but also to tie to my still life color choices.
Project 6
1. Define what techniques you tried and mastered. Struggled?
The techniques that I tired in this piece was a different version of skin tone. The girl has green skin and requires different blending and values than normal skin. I definitely still need more improvement but it was a good first start. Another skill was realistic eyes that contain accurate highlights vales different tones of value. This is one skill that I want to master. One skill that I am on my way to mastering is the use of prism color pencils. I am building on my experience and skills associated with Prismas. This is my third project using them.
2. How did you draw inspiration from other artists techniques or aesthetics in your work? In what ways did you derive meaning or gain historical perspectives from their work? Why these artists?
Not a lot of my ideas came from other artists. I referenced multiple photographs from various to help with my model and color scheme. One artist I did draw inspiration from was a photographer and makeup artist Sarah McGonagall. She did a photoshoot revolving around Edward scissor hands in which she incorporated pink and green and I wanted to replicate that idea of color. I like photography as my main way of inspiration because I am not familiar with photography and it gives me a different perspective and way of viewing color or models shapes that I then try to implement in my art.
3. Describe the evolution of your piece.
I was pretty set on the idea of color and the girl having crazy amounts of color. I originally drew a girl with rainbow hair and a lollypop on a circular canvas. I was inspired by oink and the complementary color of green and subconsciously drew a bubble but ties in well.
Decisions made. Compositional elements.
Going from thumb nail drawing I have on my sketch book I knew I wanted to draw a girl with color. This was important to me because I want to grow my skills as a artist with portraits but also I knew I would enjoy it. I from gaining my color idea from the artist above Sarah McGonagall started with pink and green in my head. Knowing there complimentary colors I had to find a way to separate the two while giving each one it's own moment. I originally started with my pink brick background. I quickly realized that they were not proportional to the size of the girl I pictured in my head. So I changed to drawing the girl next. Since the back ground was pink her skin had to be green to give it the dramatic effect I wanted. She was placed in the middle so the eye could look at the gum then the face then the background.
4. If you could consider doing something over, explain why you would do this and what you would do next time?
I would of liked to improve on the hair. This is a skill I have not mastered and I think more realistic hair would give the price more depth. I also think that in some areas more blending and would fix the piece and smooth out the areas and make it appear more even.
5. Elaborate on how this piece links with your other pieces? What is the common thread?
I am focusing on the evolution of youth. Or the exploration of youth through color and child like qualities. I find bubbles fascinating and also connect them with my childhood. I'm trying to incorporate the idea of color and childlike qualities. And this piece ties in because I find the girl very youthful and one that could be found in a childhood story or fairytale.
Project 7: Frog
1. Define what techniques you tried and mastered. Struggled?
I love bubbles and drawing them. They are included in a few of my art pieces, and these time I wanted to make them more realistic and incorporate a more reflective nature by including brighter and bigger highlights. This is a skill that I am trying to master. I struggled with making the frog appear realistic and make certain elements of the frog's skin to pop out.
2. How did you draw inspiration from other artists techniques or aesthetics in your work? In what ways did you derive meaning or gain historical perspectives from their work? Why these artists?
I didn't really draw inspiration from other artist. I used the same photography photos of frogs throughout and tried my best to mimic what I saw. Occasionally I looked up photos of prismacolor drawings to see how they smoothed out color. Most of my inspiration is a collection of drawings images and ideas that I have in my head.
3. Describe the evolution of your piece. Decisions made. Compositional elements.
Originally I intended to use an entire sheet of paper then posted on not doing so. This changed the way my frog was placed on the paper placing it in the middle. This threw off my rule of thirds so this allowed me to include more bubbles in the upper third in order to draw these eyes attention more towards other elements than just the frog. I knew that I wanted to either do insects or reptiles and since insects scare me I want for frogs. Black paper was important to show off all the color that I want to display.
4. If you could consider doing something over, explain why you would do this and what you would do next time?
I would've liked to practice the frog's skin more in order to give it a realistic effect, including more of the bumps and texture that is on the frog. This would first add texture on such a smoothed out piece and make it more realistic.
5. Elaborate on how this piece links with your other pieces? What is the common thread?
My theme is youth or the evolution of youth. And as a non scared girl I would catch crickets and bugs and one time my dad and I caught Frogs, (non were injured, all were set free). These were fun memories that I have and I think many kids at a young age are curious about these reptiles and insects. In the beginning I wanted to do insects but didn't think looking at bugs for an extended period of time would make me happy so I went for a much more colorful friendly option. I incorporated the color to connect to my other pieces as well as bubbles.