Art Three Final
Which two pieces helped me grow the most?
The first piece of work that I think helped me grow as an artist is the first one I did in Art 3. It's not necessarily the best piece I've ever done, but it was one of the first portraits I have done (successfully) in all of my art classes so far. I used graphite pencils, which I'd used quite a bit already, but I still had a hard time getting all of the values to work. I also chose a photograph with a lot of contrast in it, and that didn't exactly make my job any easier. I learned a lot about my own art-making skills with this project because it had a lot of challenging aspects such as hands, hair and facial features. I also learned that I can actually do portraits, which are still one of my least favorite things to create in art. This piece showed me that I still have a lot to work on with portraits, and that I shouldn't be afraid to draw people.
The first piece of work that I think helped me grow as an artist is the first one I did in Art 3. It's not necessarily the best piece I've ever done, but it was one of the first portraits I have done (successfully) in all of my art classes so far. I used graphite pencils, which I'd used quite a bit already, but I still had a hard time getting all of the values to work. I also chose a photograph with a lot of contrast in it, and that didn't exactly make my job any easier. I learned a lot about my own art-making skills with this project because it had a lot of challenging aspects such as hands, hair and facial features. I also learned that I can actually do portraits, which are still one of my least favorite things to create in art. This piece showed me that I still have a lot to work on with portraits, and that I shouldn't be afraid to draw people.
The second piece that helped me grow as an artist is the last project we did in Art 3. This was the acrylic-wash eyes project that actually turned out to be one of the best things I've ever painted. I always love to draw or paint eyes, but I didn't realize how much detail was in the cat eyes I'd chosen to paint. Not only that, but the fur was a new challenge to me. I had never drawn fur, much less painted it with what felt like a million layers of acrylic washes. I had to learn how to be incredibly patient with myself as I did this project, since it wasn't something I could just whip up in a week. I found that I really liked layering all of the different colors on top of one another, and I earned a new appreciation for color. I no longer see just plain black, white or brown. There are always more colors, and this project really helped show me that.
What are some of my strengths and weaknesses?
During Art 3 I learned a lot about myself as an artist, including my strengths and weakness. Something I feel like I've been really good at is capturing details, such as the eyes and fur in the acrylic cat (shown above). I am a very big perfectionist when it comes to my art, so I always have to make sure all oft the details are just right, which helps a lot in the final products. Being a perfectionist is also a weakness for me, because I never feel like my art is done, and I spend so much time planning and overthinking every little aspect of the projects. In the future I need to be more laid back with myself and less worried about my projects all the time. Art is something that relaxes me, so I need to bring that relaxing feel into my art and use that to improve. Another artistic weakness in my opinion is not wanting to step out of my comfort zone compositionally. Especially with portraits, I tend to do a lot of straight on compositions and stray away from angles and profiles. While these are difficult skills to just pop out randomly, I'll never become better at them if I don't at least attempt to do more challenging poses. I also paint more straight faces, and would like to work more on conveying emotions. I feel like this would make my art a million times more interesting for others to look at, and would actually make people feel something.
During Art 3 I learned a lot about myself as an artist, including my strengths and weakness. Something I feel like I've been really good at is capturing details, such as the eyes and fur in the acrylic cat (shown above). I am a very big perfectionist when it comes to my art, so I always have to make sure all oft the details are just right, which helps a lot in the final products. Being a perfectionist is also a weakness for me, because I never feel like my art is done, and I spend so much time planning and overthinking every little aspect of the projects. In the future I need to be more laid back with myself and less worried about my projects all the time. Art is something that relaxes me, so I need to bring that relaxing feel into my art and use that to improve. Another artistic weakness in my opinion is not wanting to step out of my comfort zone compositionally. Especially with portraits, I tend to do a lot of straight on compositions and stray away from angles and profiles. While these are difficult skills to just pop out randomly, I'll never become better at them if I don't at least attempt to do more challenging poses. I also paint more straight faces, and would like to work more on conveying emotions. I feel like this would make my art a million times more interesting for others to look at, and would actually make people feel something.
Which piece did I struggle the most with?
Of all the projects I did in Art 3, the blind portrait project is the one that I struggled the most with. I could not come up with an idea for this project for what felt like forever. I ended up painting a stylized portrait based on the words and information on the paper we were given. I painted this basically in one night and still am not entirely satisfied with how it turned out. I didn't make it very proportional since I wanted the portrait to be more stylized, but I feel like I would have been more pleased if I'd made her more realistic. I also struggled with the emotions in the faces. I wanted to make her look confident and calm at the same time, which ended up being much harder than I'd thought it would be. I had to paint and re-paint the mouth at least 5 or so times before I was pleased with it. If I were to redo this project again I might have altered the facial proportions slightly to make her seem less alien-like. I would also add a little bit more color to her face so she looks less cold. I will say that I love the way the hair turned out and I wish I liked the rest of the portrait as much as the hair. Despite all of the difficulties I had creating this piece, I am pleased with how it ended up looking in the end. There are still things I'd change, but Im much happier with this than any of the other ideas I'd had at the start of the project.
Of all the projects I did in Art 3, the blind portrait project is the one that I struggled the most with. I could not come up with an idea for this project for what felt like forever. I ended up painting a stylized portrait based on the words and information on the paper we were given. I painted this basically in one night and still am not entirely satisfied with how it turned out. I didn't make it very proportional since I wanted the portrait to be more stylized, but I feel like I would have been more pleased if I'd made her more realistic. I also struggled with the emotions in the faces. I wanted to make her look confident and calm at the same time, which ended up being much harder than I'd thought it would be. I had to paint and re-paint the mouth at least 5 or so times before I was pleased with it. If I were to redo this project again I might have altered the facial proportions slightly to make her seem less alien-like. I would also add a little bit more color to her face so she looks less cold. I will say that I love the way the hair turned out and I wish I liked the rest of the portrait as much as the hair. Despite all of the difficulties I had creating this piece, I am pleased with how it ended up looking in the end. There are still things I'd change, but Im much happier with this than any of the other ideas I'd had at the start of the project.
Which project from Art 3 was my favorite?
My favorite project from this class was definitely the Nature Vs. Mechanical
project. I feel like I had the most fun making this, since I was able to use my imagination to come up with creative was to change the natural elements and make them seem man-made. The process of drawing these jellyfish was really helpful to me, since I had no clue how to draw jellyfish at all before this, and I was sort of just winging it. I also loved the medium that I used, which was Prismacolor colored pencils. I just loved how much color I was able to get out of them, and how well I could blend with them. I think this says a lot about me as an artist because its very colorful and bright, even with such a dark background. I have always loved very vibrant art, and this really encapsulated that. Even with it being my favorite piece from Art 3, there are (of course) things I would have changed such as adding some size variation to fill the dead space, but overall it turned out to be something I'm very proud of.
Conclusion
Throughout Art 3 I feel like I grew a lot as an artist, and these pieces of artwork are all examples of this. I am so excited to continue getting better and learning more about myself as I take more and more art classes. Art is something that has quickly become a huge part of my life, and I don't know what I'd do if I hadn't taken this class and improved as much as I did. I can't wait to see where I go with art in the future!
My favorite project from this class was definitely the Nature Vs. Mechanical
project. I feel like I had the most fun making this, since I was able to use my imagination to come up with creative was to change the natural elements and make them seem man-made. The process of drawing these jellyfish was really helpful to me, since I had no clue how to draw jellyfish at all before this, and I was sort of just winging it. I also loved the medium that I used, which was Prismacolor colored pencils. I just loved how much color I was able to get out of them, and how well I could blend with them. I think this says a lot about me as an artist because its very colorful and bright, even with such a dark background. I have always loved very vibrant art, and this really encapsulated that. Even with it being my favorite piece from Art 3, there are (of course) things I would have changed such as adding some size variation to fill the dead space, but overall it turned out to be something I'm very proud of.
Conclusion
Throughout Art 3 I feel like I grew a lot as an artist, and these pieces of artwork are all examples of this. I am so excited to continue getting better and learning more about myself as I take more and more art classes. Art is something that has quickly become a huge part of my life, and I don't know what I'd do if I hadn't taken this class and improved as much as I did. I can't wait to see where I go with art in the future!