Chalk Pastel Page

This was my chalk pastel page I did. I used chalk pastel on top of toned paper to create a study page of deer. I decided to just draw different aspects of the animal. I did both a male and female deer and I drew some of the things they liked to eat. I also did a nice close up of their eye.

Unity is a principle of design because all the drawings flow together nicely since they have the same underlined subject and color scheme. There is proportion in the drawings of the doe, buck, and in the eye and foot of the deer. Balance can be found if you were to split the page in half, I made sure to evenly space of each of the drawings.

I was mainly just inspired by the deer itself and how gentle and beautiful it is. I find the deer to be a very aesthetically pleasing animal, it is truly beautiful. I also think that animal studies are really nice and wanted to try incorporate that into this piece and make it all more interesting.

I am not completely displeased with this piece. I really liked how the eye and foot came out, I think I could of worked more on the food though. I also would like to try and make the colors bolder and just overall more interesting. I think I would also try to make it look even more like an animal study than it does, maybe add in some facts and notes about the deer itself.

Mixed Media Page

This is my mixed media page, I used pen, watercolor, graphite on toned paper, and scotch tape. I first started off by drawing my failed attempt at Matty Healy. That was what then inspired me to use one of his lyrics in my art. Which I just outlined in pen and filled in with watercolor.

A principle would be proportion, with the drawing of Matty, he's not weirdly uneven or anything. Balance is another principle because the drawing of Matty and then the lyrics balance out each side of the page. Unity is also one because it all flows together nicely and nothing looks out of place.

Matty Healy was my inspiration for this piece. He's one of my role models and I wanted to try and draw him. I decided to do those lyrics because they are from one of my favorite songs from them, "Somebody Else". I like it because it is a really catchy tune and is also lowkey sad which is nice.

I am pretty ok with how this piece turned out. I don't think it's absolutely amazing but I also don't think it is some of worst work. I think for not really ever drawing, Matty turned out pretty nicely. If I were to do this piece again, I think I would just make it more interesting. 

Heart and Soul Project

This is my whale that I created for the Heart and Soul competition. It is a mixed media piece, I used wood, silicon, acrylic paint, air dry clay, and resin. I just started out with the whale itself and just built up as I thought about it more. This was actually my first time using resin and it honestly was a complete mess but the results were totally worth it. 

For composition, there could be like a backwards "L" thing kind of going on, with the whale being mainly straight at the top and then the fin extending down. Emphasis is a clear principle in this piece with the whale being the main focal point of the whole piece. There is also proportion in the whale, nothing is weirdly sized compared to the actual blue whale itself. Unity is a principle, I think the whole piece flows really nicely and nothing seems out of place. 

I originally got the idea for this piece from an article I read about a dead blue whale washing up on the shores of California due to head trauma from hitting a ship and just something about that struck me and inspired me to make this piece. I mainly just wanted to address the topic I suppose and interpret in a way that maybe made people want to look more into the blue whale and how we as a species are single handedly abolishing this world of its largest mammal. 

I would be lying if I said I wasn't slightly proud of myself for how this piece came out. I was a little wary of it at first but as it progressed, it really started to grow on me and I especially like how the water came out, I think it really helps make the piece. The only growth I would say is just to have better planning when it comes to using materials like silicon and resin where once its down its not coming back up without completely destroying the whole piece.  

Choice Project

This is what I created for my third project. It is mostly done with watercolor and pen but there is a bit of color pencil on toned paper in the upper right hand corner. In this piece I wanted to address the topic of bees becoming a new addition to the endangered species list. I started out by painting a couple different types of plants that one could plant that would help the bees. Some of the plants being lavender, sage, and buttercups. I also added an Albert Einstein quote that stated "If the bee disappeared off the face of the earth, man would only have four years left to live". I felt that this quote could be relevant to this piece because it suggests of a time where bees are extinct. 

I personally don't see any distinct composition in this piece, everything is just kind of scattered all over the place to be honest. I think a good principle of design could be proportion, I feel like the plants and the honeycomb pattern complement each other evenly. Rhythm is another principle in this piece, with the continued honeycomb pattern present throughout the whole piece. Also balance because the each side of the piece balance each other out with the plants on one side and the honeycombs on the other side.

I wasn't trying to communicate anything major and certain with this piece. I was just mostly looking to get people to acknowledge the problem of having bees become endangered and just to also suggest small ways that the everyday person could help out. For most of my references, I looked at the actual plant/honeycomb to go off of for the general shape and concept, But I also did look at plant studies as well for the plants just to see how other people drew the plants and what were the reoccurring features in each of the studies that made the plant distinct as that said plant. 

With all honesty, I think this piece is crap. To me it just looks like individual pieces thrown together, there is no unity. I like the way I did the plants and I am also a big fa of the honeycomb pattern but just looking at it all together as one, for me just personally doesn't work. I know that lack of motivation is hidden throughout all my pieces but I feel like it is more prominent than normal in the specific piece. 

SRQ Project

This was the painting I submitted for the SRQ airport contest where I humbly received a certificate of appreciation. I decided to do a landscaping scene and I did it with watercolor. I also decided do the piece in blue monochromatic. I am personally a huge fan of shades of blue and I really enjoy painting in just different typed of blue. The piece started off with just the mountains and then I decided to add in a lake because I wanted to work with reflections and the texture of the water.

I have discovered that I am absolutely horrible at composition. It could possibly have a "S" composition or maybe even a "U" composition?? I also can't decide if I'm bad at creating a composition or just finding composition in a piece of art. A principle of design could be unity, I think the whole piece flows nicely together especially with it being monochromatic. Proportion could also be another principle, the mountains are all proportion, nothing is unrealistic. There is also rhythm in the mountains as well, with how i decided to do three mountains and not just one.

There is literally no meaning behind this piece at all. And if were are being completely honest, almost all of my art is never personal. I just saw a drawing of a mountain on pinterest and I really liked how they did the shading and how to showed depth through simple line work. So I took that idea with the mountains and just rolled with it, adding as I went. I looked at little references for this piece, other than the occasional example of lake reflections.

I think this piece turned out quite nicely, I really like the whole monochromatic thing going on. I think I could work of adding more depth and just not adding a line in between the mountains and lake. That line haunts me. On another note, I am quite proud of how the reflections turned out, I was effy at first with them but looking at them now, I think it turned out pretty decent.

Value Project

This is my value project, it was the first project of the year. I used only graphite pencils for this, which I am still not happy about. I was really feeling hot air balloons for some reason so I decided to try and draw them. I focused mainly on that main hot air balloon close up and then just kind of went around that after to be honest. I really wanted to try my hand at shading and trying to get the texture of the fabric of the hot air balloon.

I did a rule of thirds composition and made sure to place the hot air balloons our proportionally. For a principle of design, I think proportion is a fitting one because of how I placed the hot air balloons around the page. Balance could be another principle because I think that putting two hot air balloons opposite of the one big hot balloon really balance each other out. There is also rhythm in the piece with the clouds and the hot air balloons themselves. 

There is no certain meaning behind this piece. I really just wanted to work of texture and depth. I absolutely never work in graphite, I don't enjoy it at all, I prefer color, lots of color. I referenced different pictures of hot air balloons, trying to capture the way the light hit the fabric and how the fabric moved while in the air itself. 

I have no feelings towards this piece. I don't think it is complete garbage but at the same time, if it ended up in the garbage, I wouldn't mind. I think for never working in graphite, it wasn't half bad but at the same time I just look at the line in the middle of the waterfall and just cringe Why did I do that, I have no idea but yet I did and it was too much of a hassle to go and erase it.