Ashley

toc =In Class Work=

[[image:Still_Life_Drawing_.jpg]] 
Self Assessment

Look at the famous artist’s work that we discussed in class (the laminated sheets). Compare your marks to the marks created by Henry Moore, Vincent van Gogh and Giorgio Morandi. Which of the three artists’ marks, are the most similar to yours? Explain why and exactly where you used these marks: I feel that my marks are most similar to those of Vincent Van Gogh in The Hague. In this drawing he appears to use short lines especially on the sleeve. I used similar lines on the thermos to create a rounded shape and on the glass jar. Van Gogh also used line sensitivity on the lines of the branches in Nunen. This helped him create defined lines that were not so defined as to look outlined. In my drawing I tried to do the same by drawing a line to define the edge but then blending it so it did not look outlined. I did this on most of my shapes and edges. I did not use many of the hurried looking lines that Henry Moore uses in his drawings. The only exception to this might be a little bit on the pear and teapot to blend the black into the drawing. Giorgio Morandi appears to use cross hatched lines throughout most of his work. I did not use a lot of cross hatching but there is a small amount on the white part of the teapot where I attempted to make it appear whiter since the white charcoal did not show up very well on the lighter paper. Look at your work (all in the portfolio) and progress over time. What drawing(s) make you the most proud? Please explain: When looking back at my portfolio the drawings I am most proud of are my thumbnail sketches and the preliminary sketch. The reason I am most proud of these drawings is because the main goal of these was to create good proportion and I feel that in these drawings, for the most part, I did. Of my thumbnails my favorites are the thumbnail I created for the final drawing and of the fan, watering can, rocking chair etc. I feel that these thumbnails best exhibit a strong sense of proportion. The reason I like my preliminary drawing is because I feel it almost comes to life, the shapes seem realistic and proportional and the small amount of shading also helps add some realism to the piece. I would feel more confident in my final drawing if the shading were stronger. I feel that there is a strong sense of proportion but the shading brings it down, In the future I hope to improve upon my shading and finishing skills. What are three important things you have learned? Please explain why they are important. One important thing that I have learned throughout this process is that shading is not always as easy as it looks. It seems as if it would be easy to simply shade in what you see, but it is really important to find all the little different value changes and that is not always easy. Another thing I learned is that thumbnail sketches are very important. My thumbnail sketches not only helped me to work out the kinks in the final drawing but they also helped me to find the still life that would be best for my final drawing. The third thing I learned is that sometimes drawing still lives can be tedious but if you keep at it and don’t lose patience you can create a nice final piece.

Positive and Negative Space Drawing and Reflection:
Self Assessment Technical Skills Justification: Overall I feel that the technical skills of my drawing are solid. There are some minor mistakes or cricked lines but I did by best to try and correct them without ruining the entire piece. With repetition it is expected that there will be minor errors. The outline of the leaves is pretty neat and clean so it highlights them well. The grade I would give myself for technical skills would be a 3.

Creative Problem-Solving Skills Justification: I feel that the strongest part of this piece is the rhythm. The design that I chose for the negative space flows and therefor creates rhythm. I think that the negative space is just as interesting, if not more interesting, then the positive space. My composition could have been stronger but the simplicity of the composition is complemented well by the simple, but interesting, design of the negative space. The grade I would give myself for creative problem- solving would be a 3 also.

Why do artists make thumbnail sketches before starting a formal drawing? In what ways did it affect your work? Artists make thumbnail sketched before starting a formal drawing because it helps them to work out ideas and designs that can later be incorporated into the final piece. Artists often create multiple thumbnail sketches because then they can take ideas from each to come up with the best or most interesting piece possible. The sketches that I did were not as strong as I would have liked them to be but because I found one sketch out of the many I did that I really liked I was able to create a descent finished piece. It took me a while to get the feel for drawing just the outline of the plant but as I drew more sketches I caught on a little bit more, so that the sketches I did later on were better then the first ones I did.

Why does it matter what pattern you choose for your background? How do different patterns affect the "look" of this project? Patterns and backgrounds are an extremely important aspect of almost all works of art. Without a strong background the piece can look unfinished even if the foreground of the piece is very strong. On the other hand the negative space can detract from the positive space of the piece. The goal of this project was for the positive and negative space to be equally interesting. The background on my drawing, for example, creates rhythm because of the shape and lines, there is also some tension because of the proximity of the rows of waves to one another. If I had chosen a different background it most likely would have created a very different atmosphere.

Leaf Designs and Reflection:
Symmetry Free Choice

Tension Rhythm

Self Assessment Technical Skills Justification: I feel that my work is crafted well with very few mistakes. I tried to concentrate on the details so that the finished pieces look well constructed and put together. I also think that most of the leaves are uniform as I tried to take great care when cutting them out. Overall I would give my work a 3.5 for technical skill because there are some minor glue marks and not everything that is supposed to be symmetrical is exactly symmetrical, but I think in general it looks pretty neat and clean.

Creative Problem-Solving Skills Justification: I think that creativity in at least one of the pieces is lacking. I think that I was too stuck on making things symmetrical because that is what I felt looked the best, although it might not have looked the best in reality, if I had tried altering the spacing I think it would have added interest to the pieces. I think that overall the pieces are decent but could have used something to make them a little bit more interesting. I think that a 3 would be a good grade for the creative problem-solving skills because I think that the creativity is there but it just needs to be enhanced to make the pieces more interesting.

Which of the four designs do you feel is the most successful in terms of using positive and negative space well? Please explain. I think that my symmetry piece best represents positive and negative space. I feel this way because for me it was the easiest concept to grasp and therefor I think that it better represents what it is meant to represent. I like how the cutouts of the leaves and the leaves themselves are used so simply, and I think that it really gets the message of symmetry across. I also feel that the blocks around the leaf cutouts are bold and so they really create a strong sense of black/white and positive/negative space.

Which one of the four designs do you feel best communicates the assigned Principle of Art? Please explain. Of the four pieces I created I think that my tension piece best communicates the assigned principle of art. The reason I think that it best represents tension is because all the different shapes that come together don’t really give your eyes a place to settle and therefor it creates a little bit of confusion and tension. I also like this piece because I stepped out of my comfort zone a little and mixed up the spacing so it is not as uniform and I think that this helps create even more tension. I also really like the shapes that are incorporated into the piece because there are some very interesting shapes that can be found if you look hard enough and use you imagination. Overall I think that it is a very interesting piece that achieves tension as well as positive and negative space.

Value Portrait Collage and Reflection:


Self Assessment Technical Skills: I think that the technical skills of this piece are average. There are two problems with the technical skills of this piece. The first problem is that the pieces of paper that I used were too large. The reason that this poses a problem is because with larger pieces details are lost. The second problem with the technical skills was the amount of white space that was left around the edges of the individual pieces of paper. I did my best to remove the white edges but in some of the darker areas they are still noticeable therefore distracting from the overall piece. The grade that I would give myself for technical skills is a 3.

Creative Problem-solving Skills: I feel that the overall piece resembles the original picture in most ways. The biggest problem was that I don’t think I distinguished enough between the different shades. The details in the piece are not very strong and that is a huge problem. Without details the piece looks flat and lifeless. Another problem is that my eyes are not very strong. It was difficult to tear pieces that small to really capture the essence of the eyes. The grade that I would give myself for creative skills is a 2.5.

Why might the exercise of breaking down a photograph into value shapes help when you are drawing? Creating value is a piece is extremely important in creating depth. If a piece lacks value then it lacks depth and interest. This exercise was very helpful because it forced me to look very closely and find even the slightest change in value. It will hopefully help me when I am drawing because I will know now to create different values in the drawing to create an interesting piece.

=Sketch Book Assignments =

Color Vocabulary Terms:
**Hue** The quality of a color as determined by its dominant wavelength. -color tint or shade exp. pink, crimson, and brick are all red but different hues of red **Primary Colors** They are sets of colors that can be combined to make a useful range of colors. -group of colors from which all other colors can be obtained by mixing exp. red, blue, yellow **Tertiary Colors** They are created by mixing primary and secondary colors. exp. red-orange, yellow-orange, blue-green, yellow-green, blue-violet, red-violet **Analogous Colors** Colors next to each other on the color wheel. When placed to together they match well and are comfortable. exp. red-violet, violet, blue-violet **Monochromatic Colors** They are all the colors of a single hue. exp. blue, blue-green, blue-violet **Complementary Colors** Colors opposite each other on the color wheel. exp. red and green **High Intensity** Means the color is very bright and vibrant. There is also very little black or white in the color. -more saturated exp. neon **Low Intensity** Means the color is duller and more subdued, more white or black is added. -less saturated exp. pastel **Warm Colors** Vivid and energetic and tend to advance in space. exp. red, yellow, orange **Cool Colors** Give an impression of calm and create a soothing impression. exp. blue, purple, green

Falling and Exploding:
Falling Exploding

Household Tool:


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