Book Carving

I developed my design for my book carving by applying it to the theme which was scientific. I decided to do my book based on a man landing on the moon. I knew it had to be five layers, so I did one layer as the border, one as the moon, one as the astronaut, one as a flag, and one as a spaceship. It was important to have a clear plan before starting because once you start cutting, you can't take it back. So having a plan helps you know what you are doing and how to cut every single layer and part. One challenge that I faced was cutting the border of my book so many times for so many layers because I had a hard time keeping all the lines straight. I overcame that challenge by using a ruler to cut my lines straighter. I chose that book because the pages were full of interesting patterns and pictures that I knew would make my design more interesting. I took a risk in my book by choosing to do such a thin cut with the flagpole, which could have resulted in cutting the whole thing straight off. At first, I didn't like this project because I thought it would be really difficult and I didn't have any ideas to do for my book. But once I started cutting, the project overall wasn't too bad and I felt pretty successful.

Mixed media

1. How did you show amusement and variety in your piece? Explain your choice of subject matter and how you created a unified piece of art. I showed amusement in my piece by combining many pictures to create one college. I choose to do underwater because I thought it would be fun. 

2. Describe your experience with using mixed media. What mixed media did you use for your piece? I had no experience with mixed media. I used tissue paper and magazine clippings. 

3. What role did our lessons on visual journaling play in the success of your piece? Explain. I learned how to combine and layer tissue paper from these lessons and also how to attach pictures. 

4. Discuss any challenges you experienced and how you overcame obstacles. The only challenge I faced was finding pictures that could go along with each other. But i figured it out by searching through several magazines. 

Dog Portrait

1. Who did you choose to do a portrait of? Why did you choose that person? 

I chose to do a portrait of one of my dogs because I have never done a project involving animals and I thought it would be interesting. The idea also worked well with my materials. 

2. When brainstorming about this project how did you decide what would be the best materials to use to create it? Explain how your material choice impacted the look of your piece. Why was this so important. Explain.

I chose to use different types and colors of rocks for my project. I thought it would be different and a good idea. My materials impacted my piece because it made my project look more edgy and rough. It also added texture which made it look better and more 3D.

3. Describe the risks you took or that were involved in creating the project. What were the challenges you faced?

I took a risk with my project by doing an animal. Most people did portraits of themself but I wanted to do something different so I did my dog. Some challenges I faced with my project was trying to decide how to do my background. It was also hard to find the right sized rocks to fit together to form my piece. 

4. How did your choices impact the look and feel of the piece? Did your choice of materials have any connection with the person you chose to represent? 

The choices I made improved the feel of my piece because it made it look 3D and more realistic. Using rocks added texture and I think it turned out nicely. 
 

Sticky Situation

1. Explain how you developed your ideas for "Sticky Situation" First I just started writing down the first sticky items that came to my head when I thought of the theme, things such as gum, honey, and maple syrup. I also tried to think of ideas that weren't as literal, such as being chased by a wild animal or falling from an airplane without a parachute, but I didn't like those ideas that much. 
2. Were you able to think outside the box when you were thinking about ideas? I thought outside the box with some of my ideas, such as being chased by a wild animal, but the idea I ended up picking wasn't too creative. But I think I made it unique by the layout I chose and the colors I used. 
3. You were to incorporate repetition, rhythm or pattern. How did you accomplish this? I created repetition by adding honey bees around the jar of honey. Originally I was just going to paint the jar, but I realized I needed to create repetition so I added bees around the top of the jar and so I think it added repetition and turned out nicely. 
4. Describe your choice of media (acrylic, watercolor) and your challenges and successes while using it. I choose acrylic for my media because I decided it would give me a more variety of colors. Also, I have more experience with acrylic paint so I figured I could use that to my advantage. I had trouble creating the same color twice, such as when I was painting the purple background and I ran out of paint, so I had trouble recreating the same purple. One success I had was being able to blend the colors of the honey jar.
5. How important were the mini lessons to the success of your final product? The mini lessons helped me decide which type of media I wanted to use, acrylic or watercolor and also which one I was more successful with. It also gave me practice with creating value so that I could apply it to the painting once I started it. 

Up Close and Personal

1. Upclose and Personal was our theme. How did you develop your ideas for this project and why did you choose your subject? I developed my ideas for this project by thinking of things that I could draw and add emphasis and detail to. I choose to do a butterfly so that i could focus on the color/medium and creating different shades.

2. How did you demonstrate Emphasis in your work? I demonstrated emphasis in my work by paying close attention to the value of the colors in the butterfly's wing.

3. What medium did you decide to use and why did you choose this medium over the others? Discuss how it enhances your piece. I choose colored pencil as my medium because I felt it best suited what I was drawing. It would have been difficult to use chalk/pastel in such small places, but with colored pencils I could make it work.

We encourage risk taking in art. Risk taking can be as simple as trying a new technique or learning about a new medium to as complex as trying something totally new.

4.. Did you take any risks with this project? Explain. I sort of took a risk in this project by using the color black. Black is normally not used when drawing/coloring pictures of nature, but I took this risk because I thought it would make the orange/yellows show.

5. Of the 5 characteristics of great art (technique, concept, emotion, new, medium) which did you include in your art? Of the 5 characteristics of great art, I choose to include medium in my art and focus on that by using the colored pencils and value.

What's the Point

 1. What were some of your solutions to What’s the Point?

Some of the ideas I came up with that were more literal were sky scrapers and pencils. I also came up with some ideas that had more of a meaning such as poverty and racism.

2. Which solution did you chose and why?

 I chose to do my project on pencils because I figured I could come up with a really literal drawing. I also thought it would be fun to work on.

3. How did you show contrast in your work?

 I showed contrast in my work by shading different areas of the pencils. This created contrast by putting lights next to darks.

4. What medium did you decide to use? Why did you choose this medium over the others?

 The medium I decided to use in my project was pencil. I choose pencil because I was drawing pencils so I wanted to stick with the theme.

5. What techniques did you use to create this work?

 Some techniques I used in my work are shading and showing contrast. 

6. Did you take any risks with this project?

I think I took a small risk in my project by working with pencil, because it is very bland and boring. I also have never done a project in pencil before.

7. What message are you conveying? How are you convey this message through the use of your images or use of art elements or principles?  

The message I am conveying is "What's the point". I drew giant pencils with arrows literally pointing to the point. I also created a question mark in the middle made out of smaller pencils.

Shoe Drawing

The shoe drawing project was one of my favorite projects I did in art this year. The first step I had to do was take my shoes off my feet and arrange them on the table in an interesting way. Maybe turn one to the side, or put one in front of the other. After creating an original and interesting display, I began to draw my shoes. I started with one shoe and sketched the outline. I looked at the sole of my shoe and followed the line to begin drawing it on my paper. This helped me to learn about and understand contour lines. After drawing the entire outline, I begin to add the small details to the boot, such as seams and the tag. I then repeated this process with the second shoe, except I drew it further back in the background in order to create depth. After I finished drawing both my boots, I outlined them darker so that they would stand out. I think I did pretty good on this project. This project taught me all about contour lines and depth, and helped me understand those two things as well.