Abby

toc

= = =In-Class Work=

**Final Still Life With Reflection**


In Vincent van Gogh’s drawing of the woman at the table, he uses long, curved marks to show the roundness in the woman’s back. I used similar marks to express the roundness of the watering can, while going with the direction of the object. Also, along the woman’s back is a white line of highlights that is vertical but the marks are going horizontally. I used these types of marks in the legs of the chair. Other marks that are similar are the marks of Giorgio Morandi in Large Still Life with Coffeepot with the effective use of cross hatching, which I tried to use in to create darker values on the rocking chair. The drawings that I am most proud of are the hand drawings and the charcoal drawings. I feel that these both are realistic and were good attempts at expressing what I saw. I know that especially in the charcoal drawing, a lot of effort was put in to have a good variety of marks. Also in the still life drawing, I used the charcoal to add dimension. Three important things I’ve learned are drawing what I see and not what I know, using different shades of gray and black to add dimension, and using different marks to express the shades and shape of something. When I started drawing, I was drawing what I knew. For example, the shoe laces on the shoes- I drew them like they would be placed in a commercial, perfectly round. However, as I went on, I changed it so they were what I saw instead of what I knew. This made it look more realistic, and using this will make future drawings more realistic. Obviously, using different shades of gray and black will help my drawings look three dimensional. If I used just on solid shade of black on the leg of the chair, it would look flat, and you wouldn’t be able to tell that it was round and had shadows and highlights. And finally, using different marks to express the shades and shape of something is important because it also adds more dimension to my drawing, and keeps it interesting. Different methods have different advantages of expressing darks and lights. These different lessons will help my drawings look more realistic in the future.
 * 1. 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:**
 * 2. Look at your work (all in the portfolio) and progress over time. What drawing(s) make you the most proud? Please explain:**
 * 3. What are three important things you have learned? Please explain why they are important.**

**Color Vocab**
Hue: The shade of a color. Primary Colors: Red, yellow, and blue. These colors cannot be produced by mixing any two colors. Secondary Colors: By mixing two primary colors, you can get secondary colors. These colors are purple, green, and orange. Tertiary Colors: By mixing secondary colors and primary colors, you can get tertiary colors. There are six of these. Analogous Colors: Analogous colors are colors that are next to each other on the color wheel. These color schemes are pleasing to the eye. Monochromatic Colors: All the hues and shades of a single color. This is a calm color scheme because of the lack of contrast. Complementary Colors: These colors are opposite each other on the color wheel. These color schemes are very vibrant and sometimes jarring. High Intensity: A pure, bright hue of a color. Low Intensity: A dulled color, mixed with complements. Warm Colors: Vivid and energetic colors. Cool Colors: Calm, soothing colors.

**Portrait Value Collage with Reflection**
I believe I deserve a 3 and a half for technical skills. I paid attention to detail very well, specifically in my eyes, including 9 different values in one eye alone, and including a shadow from my chin on my hair as well as my mouth and teeth. I paid attention to the light values and glued the values that I saw on the paper, instead of the values I expected to see, including dimples and lighter spots on my hair. This created a good likeness of me. The image is also centered on a piece of white tagboard and is held together by the modge-podging. However, I did have some spaces between my pieces of paper, but they are unnoticeable and don’t detract from the piece overall. My hair also did not come out amazingly well, looking a bit dreadlock-ish. Aside from this, the piece was technically fabulous. I believe I deserve a 4 for creative problem-solving skills. The face does look like my own, has a strong likeness to that of the photograph, and is very obviously me. From a distance, the piece comes together and all the different shades add into the overall effect. I used a wide range of values to create a realistic, three dimensional image. All of the features are obviously defined, including details like eyelashes, eyebrows, dimples, and teeth. The colors were used correctly, corresponding with the picture. Because it will help you see all the different shades of value in something, where a shadow is cast. This will help drawings to be more three dimensional and look more realistic and less flat. By breaking down a black and white photograph into different shades of gray, we were able to create three-dimensonal shadows and light on the piece by very carefully matching the shades to those in the photo. If we were to do this while drawing and match the right shades and notice change in shades, the drawings would also be successful in conveying a 3-D look.
 * Technical Skills:**
 * Creative Problem-solving Skills:**
 * Why might the exercise of breaking down a photograph into value shapes help when you are drawing?**

**Negative Space with Reflection**
I deserve a three for technical skills in this project because my lines are mostly clean, straight, and well-drawn. However, there were some lines that were uneven. I did draw to the best of my ability, but the drew the lines too hard so the outline is still slightly visible, as are some of the pencil lines underneath my pen lines on the background. I think the drawing was done well and reflects my time and effort put into it. I deserve a four for creative problem solving skills because I used an original and creative background pattern. My background pattern was very different from every one else’s, and turned out well. Also, my drawing had really good composition. Making a thumbnail sketch before starting my formal drawing was useful because I was able to already work out the proportions and details in an informal way, were it was acceptable to make mistakes, erase them, and see what looked best. If I had jumped straight into the formal drawing, it would have been very messy. I believe making the thumbnail sketch was useful and let me see what looked the best for the final drawing. Different patterns create a different mood for the drawing. It also affects how much detail shows up in the finished product. Some patterns created a tense feeling with close-together lines, while others evoked more relaxing feelings (like the swirly pattern). Depending on the pattern chosen, it can completely alter the feeling of the drawing evokes.
 * 1. Technical Skills Justification:**
 * 2. Creative Problem-Solving Skills Justification:**
 * 3. Why do artists make thumbnail sketches before starting a formal drawing? In what ways did it affect your work?**
 * 4. Why does it matter what pattern you choose for your background? How do different patterns affect the "look" of this project?**

**Leaf Designs with Reflection**


In this project, I would give myself a three for technical skills. Despite attempting to cut with the exacto knife as precisely as possible and get each leaf looking like the previous one, some of my leaves do slightly vary. Another problem I encountered was with gluing down the pieces. I found the glue often stuck to my hand so when I went to smooth down the piece of paper, a glue smudge would result, leaving a glazed-looking mark when the glue dried. However, these mistakes are very few in number, so I would say I meet the standard for technical skills. Unfortunately, because it did take my more time than most to cut and glue, with a penalty for being late I would take off either a point or a point and a half, giving me either a 1.5 or a 2 for technical skills. I believe I exceeded the standards for creative problem-solving skills. Each design was deeply thought out and a lot of effort was put into effectively displaying the theme of the design in the final result. Each of my pieces were unique, and I believe I solved the problem different from others in the class. I tried many different and unique designs for each theme, choosing the one that was most creative while answering the problem. Because of this, I believe I deserve a 4 for creative problem-solving skills. However, due to the tardiness of the assignment, I would take off a point, giving me a meets the standard (a 3) for creative problem-solving skills. I believe the free choice design is the most successful in terms of positive and negative space. Some of the leaves are black and some of them are white, leaving it up to the viewer which they think is the positive and which they think is the negative. However, in my tension design, the white shapes formed by the edge of the leaves are equally as interesting as the black shapes. I believe these two designs were very effective in conveying the idea that the edge of one space forms the edge of the other space. I think Tension is the most interesting and successful design in communicating the Principle of Art. In the tension piece, there are many jagged lines which are placed close together, such as the outline of the leaves placed close to the edge of the leaf. The piece is haphazard, lacking any sort of soothing rhythm or calmness to it, creating a very tense, edgy feel. The piece creates the feeling of stress when observed, and is overall conveys the idea of tension very well.
 * 1. Technical Skills Justification:**
 * 2. Creative Problem-Solving Skills Justification:**
 * 3. Which of the four designs do you feel is the most successful in terms of using positive and negative space well? Please explain.**
 * 4. Which one of the four designs do you feel best communicates the assigned Principle of Art? Please explain.**

=Sketchbook Assignments=