Ophelia

        I am beginning my fist free painting, based on the theme of Humans and The Environment. I at first wanted to based the base the painting off of the tale of Icarus, but I decided against it because my idea was basically throwing myself in the deep end. So I decided on painting Ophelia from Macbeth. She is an example of how her environment effected and killed her. You could also see it as herself drowning in a pond and seeing the environment in the way of nature. I've made a "sketch" of what I want it to look like. I put quotations around sketch because its more of a full fledged illustration. I have begun painting a color study of how I want the colors to look. Of which I have included below.

        

        Since I have gotten a computer that I can draw on, I have been doing traditional art much less. I need to get back into that mindset of holding an actual pencil. I don't have much experience in painting so I hope this class will help with that. I'm excited to eventually try out oils. Acrylic drys out very quickly, and watercolor is unpredictable (though I am excited to start water color as soon as possible). I've been watching a lot of oil painting videos, and I'm excited to start. I'll include my "sketch" that I've made on my tablet. 

Starting To Paint

      I have started a new class. Its painting!! I'm excited for this  new class because I get to use a lot of colors. I do not have much experience with colors so I am ready to learn as much as I can. I have already made some abstract paintings based on the seasons. I personally had fun making summer and winter. The colors I put into summer were the colors of the sea and the color of my sunburned skin. We put those in mattes and they out on display. I read chapter two and three in the book Colors and made some color wheels. These color wheels I will use for future reference when painting. After I finished the wheels, I continued on to a project in chapter nine. The pattern I am going to use is the paper in the picture with mushrooms. You cut a chunk of the paper put then glue it on to an illustration board. Then you match the colors with paint. And then you paint the opposite intensity, color and tone, which is interesting to me. Like I said before, I do not have much experience with co,or so I am excited to continue to learn more about it!

Monoprints

        I decided to make a series of faces on my mono prints. To make a mono print you have to have a jelly plates. It's like jello but it holds together more. I decided to use the subtractive method. To do this you roll ink on to the jelly plate and use a material like baby wipes to wipe off the ink to make the shapes you want. I decided to make faces. They have been called creepy, but I think they are pretty cool.

        

       My favorite is the old man on the right hand side, but I also had a lot of fun doing the one on the left hand side. I spent the most time on that one. It has a lot of faces and I got to experiment with different tools to use. 

       This class has been pretty fun. I would definitely take this again. I liked the linocut and wood block. The reduction print was probably my favorite though. I put a lot of fun into the rabbit. I like making prints of animals. The woodblock of my deer turned out better than I thought it would. I should have done more details in the background. I supposed that would have taken away from the main event. Or maybe the deer design would have turned out better as a linocut. I would enjoy doing another safety cut. Maybe make my hand holding the plant cleaner. Either way, what is done is done and I am happy with what I have.  

Colograph Print

 
        This is my collograph print. I have tried to imitate the image of a branch looming over a lake or pond. I think it will be interesting with the texture of the cardboard lines in the background of the pond. I was also stuck on what material I should have used for the branch over the pond. I then found this boxy like material floating around in the bins in the back room. I picked it apart and glued it together over the cardboard. I then cut out ovals in the cardboard to make it look like there was ripples in the pond coming from the branch. I was also thinking about putting some interesting texture in the background.

Plexiglas print Part II

     

        So, I have put the design of my print into the laser engraver and I believe something in the file has gone wrong because the print has been turning out like this.

      I didn't purposely put those vertical lines there. But that's okay because I go with the flow of the universe and if that's how it goes I'll go with it.  I knew that mine print wasn't going to be as clear as it could be. Because it was a drawing and not an HD picture. The wolf did not turn out how I wanted it to but the clouds did. I am quite proud of my clouds.     

       

        I think I could have done better, and I should have done a print of a picture. I've been scrolling through my camera and have found multiple photos I wish I had done a print of. Well, there are a lot of Whouda, Shoulda, Coulda's in the world.

Plexiglas Print

     
    This is my design for my Plexiglas print. I'm currently putting it through Photoshop and I'm almost done with that process. From what I have been shown,  I know that the ink will get into the grooves of the Plexiglas and I will wipe away at the surface so that its just the ink in the grooves that will stay. I'll put it through the press and the wet paper should go into the Plexiglas and soak up the ink to make the form I put on it. If this turns out well, I am going to put it in the MSHSL art competition. If it doesn't, I'll put in my deer print. I'll be finishing up working on setting the print up in Photoshop and see where it goes from there. Fingers crossed!

Wood Block

        I am planning on making a wood block print next. One design I made for my linoleum print, I have decided to blow up and make it for my wood block design. It will be easier to get all the details in on a bigger scale.

        Once I cover the wood block with ink and then transfer the design I will reinforce it with pencil. I am planning on making more of a background into the design but I haven't made it yet. I was thinking rolling, grassy hills. Or maybe a series of circles framing the stag in the background. I am excited to start on the wood block and get all the little details in. Because I am a perfectionist and love putting details, I know I will love doing this.

Reduction Print

        

        I have started and almost finished my reduction print. For a reduction print, you are supposed to carve out the white first and then with every color carve out what you want to be seen in that color. The theme I choose for this assignment was Urban vs. Rural. The rural is represented by the bunny and the bullet represents urban. I also just really wanted to make a bunny running. 

        I follow a lot of interesting artists on Instagram and a few of them do printmaking. One in particular does etchings in copper, and I have been really inspired by this artist to make my own etching designs. I'm not entirely sure how the etching process works, but I'm sure that I'll figure it out. 

Printmaking

        New class! This class is printmaking if you couldn't tell. Our first assignment was to make a print with the theme "Plant". I decided to make a hand holding a weed. But eventually I realized that would be a bit to boring for me so I added in the circle in the design later. I then started carving into the block that is in the photo. This is the finished result. After I had inked my block and proofed it a few times, I have managed to make two successful prints. I am planning on making at least three more.

Final Self-Portrait

     
       I am Done!! Well, not fully, but I am done with the portrait itself. I just need to take off the tape and make the frame and put it on. And then  I am done. (Can you tell yet that I figured out how to italicize words yet?) I am incredibly proud of it. Of course I know I can do better, but regardless, I am still proud. Maybe next time I'll do more of a difficult position. Like, I'm making more of a facial expression. That'd be fun to make! Here's a little self portrait. It was a practice of the actual self-portrait.

        I mean....its not bad. But I knew I could do better. So, I took another shot at it, and paid more attention to the spacing in between the facial features. And here's what I came up with!

            This one is MUCH closer to what I was trying to get at, especially face-wise. The chin is a bit too much though. I had planned making two portraits, but of course, I used up all my time on the big one because I cant stop making details. So, instead, I made a smaller version of the other one I wanted to do. I made the mouth a bit too low but I think I portrayed the expression well.

   
     
       I really wanted to do a one where I was making an expression but I enjoyed making the one where I was looking up. The powdered graphite was a lifesaver! I had thought that I was going to have to draw the entirety of the background in! I'm proud of myself and of how it worked out.

Self-portrait progress

   
    This is how far I have gotten on my self-portrait. I've made a bit of progress on the clothes. I had specifically chosen to wear a flannel wool jacket because I wanted to challenge myself. I haven't really practiced clothes....ever. So, I knew that I would have a tough time with that. It is very fun working with the different values and noticing the shadows and how they mix with the light. I'm glad I did the face first. If I had made the face last and done everything else first, I feel like if I had felt like the face wasn't good enough, then the entire drawing wasn't good enough.

     But that is how I would have felt. Right now, I feel proud of how it is turning out, and I'm glad that I had practiced making my face before I had started the bigger portrait. I feel like I should make it darker, and I'll bring the supplies that I need to accomplish that.

    I really enjoy making the hair! The hair is sort of time consuming but calming at the same time. I'll get started on the other side of my hair when I am finished with my clothes. I'm excited to continue on this.