Pastel Self Portrait

      In this project, I created a self portrait, a drawing of myself. During the drawing, there was a mirror placed in front of me to ensure the capture of detail. As seen in the picture, the drawing was not drawn with pencil but pastel, instead. In order to create proper balance, we discussed the amount of space each feature takes place upon one's face prior. After practicing with basic sketches, I began this detailed self portrait using pastel.

      The first step of the project consisted of drawing a light sketch with a simple pencil. After the basic contour of the head was drawn, I began to trace the outline with the black pastel. This same process was used for the eyes, nose, mouth, and hair. After achieving a sufficient drawing, I still needed to create value at places of light and dark. Looking in the mirror, I identified places of light and dark based on the location of the light source. Thus, you can see the areas of darkness under the lips, nose, and the entire left side of the face. Also, the left background consists of darkness which slowly progresses into a much lighter value above the face and to the right. After these steps, I had thoroughly created a detailed self portrait of myself, capturing key areas of light and dark.

Pastel Still Life

      In this project, I had to create a still life pastel of an object of my choice. After much contemplation, I chose to draw three Campbell's mushroom soup cans. The first step was to find a composition. In order to do this, I did many thumbnail sketches. A thumbnail sketch is a very quick drawing of a composition that helps to show how a certain composition might look. Along with thumbnail sketches, I utilized a viewfinder for assistance. By looking through a viewfinder, one can see how different compositions will fit in a frame of reference. Finally, I chose a composition with two cans as a base for a third can on top.

      Next, I drew the contour of each of the cans by observing the actual cans as I drew. Each cylindrical shape was drawn lightly by a red pastel. After this, the details were placed upon each of the cans. After drawing a cutoff at the lid and bottom, the rest was colored red. Then, the label was drawn in with a blue and brown pastel, followed by the words "Great for Cooking" in white. Below this, the can was colored white and slowly blended with the red above. This creates proper value and a realistic blending of colors. To create a three dimensional aspect, the cans on the bottom faded into the background. Also, the lids were blended with blue and white to create a silver tint that was both realistic and three dimensional. Finally, I created a light source by making the right side of each can lighter than the left. Also, the cans were lighter in descending order from the right since the light source is closest there. As for the cast shadows, they were each slanted towards the left and darker at the base. By following these steps, I successfully finished a three dimensional still life pastel.

Ceramics Project

      In our ceramics project, I began by folding a cutting a piece of paper to obtain a preferable design. Next, I wedged the slab of clay to ensure the removal of any excess air inside. After this, the design on the paper was pressed into the clay, providing an appropriate method of cutting out the design in clay. After cutting out the clay, I chose to use a hump mold in which the clay was placed atop a small bowl. By doing this, I was able to carefully cover the clay in slip and regulate the sides with a template. Along with this, I carved a radial design upon the bottom of the ceramic as seen in the second picture. After it dried, the ceramic was fired in a kiln to remove excess moisture and solidify the object. Afterwards, the ceramic was glazed to achieve a glossy surface and then placed into the kiln a final time.

     

      The ceramic that I created serves as a perfect fruit basket, along with many other uses as well. The medium of the ceramic was obviously clay, resulting in a final piece of 10.2 inches and 1.6 inches in height. The design element stressed in this project was definitely form. From this project, I learned in detail how to create a ceramic and the function of a kiln. If i ever repeated this project, I would attempt to create a design on the top and add color as well.

Acrylic Landscape Painting

     To begin this project, I was given the three primary colors: blue, black, and yellow. Along with these acrylic paints, I was also given black and white in order to create tints and shades. Next, I found a few different pictures in a national geographic magazine. The purpose of this was to create an original painting with atmospheric perspective. By analyzing the photos, I chose a sky, background, middle ground, and fore ground. This became the basic composition of my painting which organized into a piece of art that exhibits proper atmospheric perspective.

      After choosing and organizing a composition, I began by painting a bluish sky tinted with white and bluish clouds. Since the light source was located at the upper left, the sky is much darker at the right. This was achieved by creating a shade of blue and black. Since this was a monochromatic painting, the entire piece consisted of blue tints and shaded along with white. The background of greenish water and white icebergs contrast strongly with the middle and foregrounds. The trees, also painted in blue, were painted by dabbing the brush with strong pressure vertically. The value of these trees can be witnessed through the cast shadows facing towards the right. These shadows have a darker grayish white at the base and lighter tint at the bottom. As for the icebergs and skies, a horizontal brush stroke was most effective. In order to paint the man, dogs, and sled, a much finer tipped brush was utilized. The rest of the painting, the foregrounded, was painted with a white shadow, creating a grayish color. The most impressive feature of the middle and foregrounds is the splattered snow throughout. In order to do this, a toothbrush was dipped in white paint several times and the bristles stroked to splatter tiny dots of white paint. Through these long steps, I created an atmospheric perspective painting set in an arctic environment.

Iron Man Cast

      In this project, we were asked to create a cast of either a hand, foot, or face. As the artist, I asked my partner to pose his hand for the project. Our first step consisted of cutting numerous strips of the provided plaster. These strips were approximately the length of our fingers. Next, I had to dip each strip into a bowl of water, releasing excess liquid before placing it upon my partner's hand. During this step, each strip was thoroughly rubbed down in order to ensure its stability. After the plaster dried, I used a pair of safety scissors to carefully cut a part of the cast. After this, I held the cast tight as my partner pulled it off. As for the cut in the plaster, I simply used another strip of wet plaster for covering. Similarly, I utilized these same steps to create the base. In order to achieve the cylindrical shaped, I thoroughly covered a small bucket in numerous strips of plaster, creating a cast. As soon as the plaster dried, I slowly pulled the cast off of the bucket.

      After the two casts were made, I decided to paint each. The inspiration for my painting came from Marvel's Iron Man, a well renown character. The hand was painted a bright red with acrylic paint, including a yellow center. As for the base, it was painted black to contrast with the bright colors of the hand. With the black base, the hand tends to be the center of attention for the eyes. In order to keep both pieces together, I spread hot glue upon the top of the base and held the hand there for a few seconds. Thus, I created an interesting piece of art that is inspired by one of my favorite Marvel comic heroes.

M.C. Escher Inspired Perspective Drawing

      In this picture, you can see my two point perspective drawing. The inspiration for this drawing came from a renown artist by the name of M. C. Escher. Escher is known for his mathematically inspired drawings and use of imaginary characters. Thus, I decided to draw a tower surrounded by hills in the far background. Above the tower, I placed a moon and sun on either side, developing an unrealistic aspect to the drawing. Another inspiration from Escher is portrayed through the creature sitting atop the tower. If you look closely, you may notice its resemblance to gothic gargoyles.

      After contemplating upon the drawing, the first step consisted of taping two pieces of paper to each side of the main piece. Next, a vanishing point was drawn on each paper, creating the necessary components for a two perspective drawing. Also, the far placement of each vanishing points helps in creating a better appearance. The effect of two vanishing points can be seen through the two vertical surfaces of the tower. After drawing each story of the tower, I used the vanishing points to create two flags sitting opposite of each other. After completing the drawing, I chose the sun on the right to be a light source for the drawing. Thus, the change of value can be seen through the darkness upon the left as opposed to the lightness on the right. The value, mythological creature, and unreal setting portray some aspects used by Escher in his long career of art.