Mini Series #3

The above image is the final addition to my mini series. The mini series consisted of three works which were tied together by a common theme. The theme of my mini series was animals. Although the previous artworks were both watercolor, time did not allow for this sketch of a zebra to be created in watercolor as well. Given more time, I would have perfected the proportions of the chest and shoulders, as well as applied watercolor to the sketch. I enjoy the obscure angle from which the photo was taken, as well as the up close and personal expression of the zebra itself as he stretches for a highly held treat.

Mini Series #1

 

The above paiting is a watercolor image of a fish that was photographed in the Baltimore National Aquarium. Some of the aspects I like about this painting include the subtle shifts in color along the body and fins of the fish, particularly in the areas where the green shifts into orange, red, and purple hues. I also apreciated how I was able to create crisp lines around the eye, and face of the fish, becuase I tend to struggle with alowing my edges to be sharp. I could have enhanced the painting by working more on making the bottom fin a more mirror image of the upper fin, and I also could have added more detail to the image by adding scales along the body of the fish. Overall I am happy with the results of the painting, particularly because it was my first time working with Watercolor paints.

Mini Series Item #2

This water color is a painting of a photo I took of my cat on a warm spring day. I loved playing with different brush techniques to capture the texture of the fur, and I also liked the expression of curiosity across the face. A couple areas I would work on with more time is making the backround more realistic rather than simplified, and I would also work on althering the size proportions within the cat itself. I liked how in the darker, nearly black areas of fur within the face I was able to use various shades of blue rather than brown ad black to create the dark fur reflecting the sunlight.

Mini Series Planning

For my upcoming mini series, I plan on creating a swift series of three watercolor paintings. The three paintings will be related to ones another by a theme of animals. I have chosen this due to the fact that I feel that one of my weaknesses as an artist is paying detailed attention to proportions, as well as creating crisp details in my artwork. Although the backrounds of my paintings will be rather basic, and will use softer blending techniques such as that which I applied to my Transperancy Painting, the animals themselves I aim to be precise and well proportioned.

Match 3

For my third word illustration, I created a quick original sketch of a matching pair of shoes. This is a third interpretation of the single word "match". If I were to develop the illustration further, I would work on accuracy of proportions, contrast in the shading, as well as having crisper edges and angles. For being such a quick sketch, I do like the softness and slight folds which are depicted in the leather of the shoe. I also might consider using a charcoal rather than a pencil, and would also incorporate a background behind the objects.

Match 2

For my second illustration of an interpretation of the word "match", I sketched a quick drawing of a chess piece from a chess match. If I were to create a more developed version of the illustration, I would dedicate more time to the hand, focusing on proper proportions and shading. I do like how the actual chess piece ended up, especially since I did not use a reference photo or object to create the shading on the piece. In a more developed illustration, I might also include other pieces on the board, and I would make sure that the chess board itself is accurate in both proportion of the checked pattern and the amount of squares in an actual chess board.

Transperancy

Inspirational Artists Who Work With Transperancy:

The above image is a painting of a wine glass by artist  Pamela Hunt Lee. I like the simplicity of the image and also how the colors of the stem consist of various colors including yellow, blue and red. The painting relates to my most recent project in that they are both playing with the idea of transparency, with a soft, blended background with a more crisp image of transparent wine glass focused in the painting.

My Artwork:

The above image is a photo of the glasses which I painted for the Transparency project. I love the soft blended background of the photo, and how I used many colors to create an otherwise white background. I also like all the pieces of color that are reflected in the glass. One of my favorite portions of the painting is the base of the blue glass. I need to work on having more accurate proportions, as well as making sure that my cups are not crooked. Overall I am happy with the results of the painting.

Final Hopper Illustration

I turned the Hopper inspired photo into a pencil sketch. I thought a sketch would be the most effective way to accurately portray the photo because of all of the crisp edges in the photo, as well as the black and white effect. The photo consists of various shades of grey which the pencil portrays very nicely. I am happy with the way I was able to depict the vanishing perspective, and i am also pleased with the accuracy of my proportions of the architecture. A couple things I could do better on include making sure all of my lines are as straight and as crisp as possible. I should also note that the proportions of the people are slightly off, and their heads should probably be smaller so that they are more proportionate to their bodies.

The sketch relates to Edward Hopper in that there is a vanishing point, there is architecture anda series of crisp lines and angles. The sketch is also similar to the type of artwork Hopper would do in that there are people who are enveloped in a relatively lonely, and empty scene. I also was inspired by Hopper's use of dramatic contrast in shades, and tried to incorporate these ideas into my sketch.

First Assignment

 

The first Assignment of Visual Art 3 class was to construct a painting of gift bags under a spotlight using oil paints and a pallet knife. The goals of the assignment were to capture the folds within the bag and to practice capturing the light upon the objects. I am overall satisfied with the end result of the painting, but feel i could have made my edges crisper, and for next time would like to practice putting a more detailed pencil sketch on the canvas before I begin to paint so that I do not have to struggle so much with accurate proportions with the oil.

Introduction

For this blog I will be publishing the works of art which I have completed for my Visual Art 3 class. My posts will include photos of my work, brief explanations, as well as inspirations and assignment details. I am in my junior year of highschool, and have been taking art classes since the eighth grade off and on. I enjoy taking art as both a challenge and relaxing hobby. I love learning how I can continue to improve my work and love to see my paintings and drawings continue to develop in technique and quality.

Photo Taken to paint

Photo inspired by Edward Hooper

Inspiration

For the next project in Visual art IV, I will be using the works of Edward Hopper for inspiration. I really enjoy his use of straight lines, composition, and bold shadows. Everything in the paintings of Hopper is very straight and draws the eye toward the main focal point of the painting. As someone who typically tends to paint with a softer focus and less details, I think it would be a good challenge for me to try and take the opposite approach with the inspiration of Hopper. All of the paintings of Hopper evoke a sentiment of loneliness, with typically a single figure alone in a room, or an alley.

Match

The purpose of this sketch is to represent one of the various interpretations of the word "match". Other interpretations might include a matching pair, or a chess match. The candle on the right hand side of the page is there for the purpose of better demonstrating the function of the lit match on the left hand side. It was a challenge to portray through pencil the dull glow of the flame which hovers above the match stick.

Themes

Match
-Chess Match
-Wrestling Match
-Matching Outfits
-Socks
-Candle Match

Queen
Queen Bee
Royal Queen
Queen of Hearts

Bat
-Animal
-Baseball
-Swat