What medium was your favorite to work with? Explain why and how you were able to master the techniques associated with this medium. Although my absolute favorite medium to work with is paint, especially oil paint, I thoroughly enjoyed the clay unit. I just had such a fun time sculpting, carving, and then painting. For this unit, I chose to sculpt avocado toast, and I think it turned out really well. I wasn't able to master the techniques perfectly, because I could only make one food item, but throughout the process I learned about scoring, coiling, slabbing, and using slip to create a fun clay food sculpture. Because both toasts were basically identical, I learned as I went, and by the time I got to the second toast, it was much easier to complete. For the crust I used the coiling method, and the slab method for the bread, avocado, egg, and egg yolk, and I scored them all together to get the final project. The most successful part of this was the proportions, and I think the use of slabs really helped achieve those exact proportions. Overall, I really learned a lot using this medium, and all about the different techniques. I would totally do it again!
Choose 2 mini lessons that you felt were the most beneficial in your learning for that particular project. Include photos of these and explain thoroughly. Do you feel you needed more instruction for success? Explain or did you feel that the instruction given was enough to ensure success? Explain. Two mini lessons I felt were beneficial to my learning were the colored pencil fruit drawing, and the pen and ink video drawings. For the colored pencil drawing, I chose to draw oranges. I really enjoy using colored pencil, especially the prisma colors, so I definitely didn't need much instruction to be successful in this mini assignment. When using colored pencil, you have to be patient to get a nice blended look, so, this mini assignment surely taught me to take my time, and pace myself to get a clean finished look. The instruction given was definitely enough for success, because I already knew colored pencil techniques from Painting Honors, from my first semester. Although a very tedious medium, the pen and ink video drawings were very beneficial to my learning. Similar to the colored pencil mini assignment, it taught me patience in art, and that to have a clean finished look, you can't rush the process. Within this small assignment, I learned different pen techniques, like stippling, cross-hatching, hatching, random lines, and contour. I then learned how to apply these to actual textures, and recreate things like wood, fur, and rocks. I don't think I needed more instruction, solely because the video walked me through everything. The video showed many examples of ways to replicate texture using pen, so the video itself was all that was necessary.
Discuss one project where you felt you were the least successful. Explain why you felt this way. What would you do differently to change this piece? Explain. The project I felt was the least successful was my collage. Although I liked the way it turned out, for the most part, I did not enjoy the process of making it. The similar trend of me not planning well, was also prevalent in this project. The colors I chose were pretty accurate, but the way I placed them down didn't always work. For example, after working on the light pink building on the left, I had to glue new pieces on top after realizing the building had no dimension, and wasn't in the correct perspective. I also felt it didn't look realistic. Although I'm no where near a professional artist, I feel like I could've made it less animated and 2D. To change this piece, I would cut different pieces to add more value, depth, and perspective. I would also plan better, as said earlier, and cut all the pieces I needed before gluing them. One of my biggest mistakes was cutting as I glued them down. I would eventually run out of the necessary color that I had just glued over the whole page, and would have to restart. All in all, this was an interesting assignment that I enjoyed, mostly :).
Look over the portfolios of other students in our class. Choose a piece of artwork from one of your classmates that you feel is an exemplary showcase of what the project was to depict. Discuss how the artist used the medium, utilized the elements of art and design principles, was original with their ideas and went beyond their comfort zone or the realm of the requirements. Although this assignment was a mini one, this classmate really went above and beyond. I remember seeing it for the first time, and being confused as to why there was a real picture on her desk, but she was painting over it. This painting was a strawberry. A single strawberry that I thought was just so good. This assignment was to paint a fruit or veggie, and Natalie killed it. The medium was acrylic paint, and she used it very well by adding different values and highlights. What makes it look so realistic is the white in the strawberry. It gives it a freshly washed and glossy look. When creating value, you can tell that she had to darken up the red for certain areas, and lighten it up as well. She also proportioned the seeds very well on the strawberry. Although it isn't considered "original", because it's just a fruit, I think this was the best one in the class, and stood out the most because of its realism. It definitely went beyond the realm of the requirements, as none of us are professional artists. Every little detail makes this piece look absolutely perfect. NATALIES PORTFOLIO