Art 2 Final Exam
My most successful piece of artwork was the Prismacolor project. This was when we took inspiration from the artist Georgia O’Keeffe’s close-up compositions and created our own versions using Prismacolor colored pencils. For my project, I chose to do a close-up of my cat, Belle. Doing this gave me the chance to try and draw in the tiny details like the fur. I got many comments on my piece saying that the texture looked very realistic. To do this project I started by drawing the outlines of her face and I filled in each strand of fur from there. It took a very long time, but I’m proud of how it turned out. I’m hoping to send it to my sister at some point.
Two projects that I feel represent my growth are my colored pencil drawings and my paintings, both watercolor and acrylic. To me, growth isn’t just about getting better at a certain art skill, it’s learning something. I’ve grown to realize that the mediums I’m best at using sort of represent my personality. Using a paintbrush, I feel that I have less control, especially with watercolor. However, with pencil, I have a little more control over where the color goes. I like to have things very precise, and I get frustrated easily, so making small mistakes with paint can be very upsetting to me. I feel that I enjoy using pencils way more than paint, and I even preferred to use the watercolor pencils over paintbrushes. I did learn some skills, however, such as layering the colored pencils and I also learned the different techniques to using watercolor, such as dry-brushing or gradients.
One of the mini-lessons I benefited the most from was the Prismacolor apples. I had only just been introduced to these colored pencils, so I was not aware of the necessary techniques. Two techniques I learned from this were layering and blending. Another mini-lesson that I benefited from was the pen and ink shapes. We had to draw four 3-D objects and shade using the various pen and ink techniques (stippling, hatching, cross-hatching, and invented). This lesson prepared me for the final project and allowed me to make a decision on which technique was best suited for me. On both of these lessons, I believe I received enough instruction to succeed in these projects and my later pieces. I was taught the techniques and how to master them, even if I wasn’t able to fully master the techniques, but that had nothing to do with how much I was taught. I’m grateful for the knowledge that was given to me and I hope to improve my skills in the future.
One student from our class who I think shows extraordinary talent is Sadie. The project I like the most of hers is her Prismacolor project. Sadie chose to do a close-up of some colorful rocks. She did an incredible job incorporating shadows and highlights in the rocks. This really added to the realism of her piece, and she somehow made a few of the rocks look almost transparent, which I believe is absolutely amazing. I definitely think she needs to continue using colored pencils. Sadie had never used colored pencils before, which was astonishing to hear, and she did an excellent job. I almost wanted to cry looking through her blog because she has so much potential.