Last Blogpost

        

        Now, that's it is coming around to the end of the school year, I'm looking at all of my sketches and ideas I had over the course of this class. I'll explain each of them in detail.

        This first painting was an idea I had for the second project. My inspiration was a picture of a mountain in the Himalayas I saw on Instagram. I was in the middle of a DND campaign to I had a lot of fantasy vibes. The picture depicts a red dragon coming down from a mountain, and a person on a horse carrying a flag. 

       

        The next is a sketch of an idea in which I had a dream. I wrote down my dream from my perspective which you will read now. 

I’m running. My bare feet hit the stiff grass, stray rocks pricking the bottom of my heels and arches. I need to hurry. I just got a warning.

I look to the left. The clouds stopped not even a half mile away, and the sun shines down on the land below. I look up and there is a storm over head. Dark clouds that make you think it’s night time when it’s midday. No rain. Rough wind blows through me, pushing me from the way I want to go.

I’m running. I need to get to someone. Am I hurt? I feel hurt. I run into the forest, glancing at the sunlight that was so close, but too far away. I shake my head. Something will get me if I’m not quick. My breath comes out ragged and wet. I don’t know how far behind me they are. A few feet, a mile. Makes no difference, they are still behind me. Still after me. They? It? What is it?

I follow the trail I’ve run down a hundred times. I’ve picked raspberries on this trail. I’ve biked down this trail. Each step felt like a mile.

Trees eventually envelop me, and I suddenly feel protected. I feel as if I’ve entered a safe haven. This small section of land and green. Someone’s domain? His domain? Maybe it’s his, maybe it’s not. All I know is that I’m safe for now. But I can’t stay here for long.

There he is. He’s running towards me, his mane flying behind him. Hooves pounding into the ground. Though dirty, his white hair shines like a beacon in the darkness cast by the clouds. Large ribs poking out through his white coat. Too thin skin covering what muscles he has left. Running to me, he asks,

“Are you alright? Are you hurt?”

I run to him and collide with his torso into a hug.

“I’m fine,” I gasp out, out of breath. I’m just relieved that he’s here.

We breathe for a moment.

I feel his muscles shift as he looks up to the darkened sky and cries out, “Is this it? Is this all there is?!”

He waits.

I know he isn’t angry. He is scared. He yells out these words with disbelief and hopelessness. He was once a mighty beast. He raced through the forest and fields. Magic and power with every beat of his hoof. He has been there for me and I loved him like a dear friend. He was not perfect, but he had influence and was generous with it.

Now he is starving. Ribs poke out, stretching his skin. The hair in his mane once luxurious, hangs limp and unkempt. Dirt covers his white coat in patches. His legs now kobby and awkward. Still strong, but growing weaker every day.

I know he does not call out to mourn his lost power. He yells for a sign of hope for us, for others. I would have mourned if I lost that much. I would’ve been angry. I would have shook my fist and howled at the sky. I think I would.

The wind whips at us, making leafs clatter around our bodies and rake up my arms. They are indifferent to our distress, but they weren't before.

Branches creek, and the clouds above shift above us, creating different shades of darkness.

“Just endless violence?!”

Hopelessness, fear, and anger swirl within me as I hear this once powerful beast, my friend, beg the sky for answers.

My emotions fight each other battling for a place in my heart.

Anger wins.

         The next is a digital recreation of my watercolor painting, which I realize I haven't posted here. 

       

    This next one was an idea I had for an oil Painting. Growing up I always saw paintings and sculptures of men abducting women. Hades and Persephone, Zeus and Europa, Helen and Troy.

Always the women in the fetal position, in a position of submission, and the man standing tall and dominant. I wanted to recreate that, but the "roles" are switched.

           The sketch itself is not done but the movement line is there and the women is in the position of lifting.

          This next is the digital recreation of my painting Ophelia. The face could be better, but the hair is awesome!!

Painting Faces

        I have found that I have a lot of fun using a technique that I'm not really sure what it is called. You can see below, I paint the faces in little increments with different colors. The first one is the beginning of the first face painting. (With a little Wimpy in the background) 

The next painting was based on Sufa's face. I just saw her sitting there and I was like I'm Gonna Paint Her!!

Here are theses two together. I want to make a contrasting light and dark set. Like Yin and yang. If you can tell, I made their expressions different. The one with the dark background is stern and the other worried. Planning to add more to the light one yet.

Continuing Painting

          This first oil painting I've made was originally was going to be nice and clean, and eventually I gave in to my fear of messing up and messed up all over it. I just barfed my creative process over the canvas. Whenever I worried about if I'd mess something up, I'd do that exact save things that I was worried about. I am also painting over some parts of my painting Ophelia. I am not satisfied with my lily pads and there was too much empty space so I started painting more hair. Going to put more detail with the flowers. Also, made the eyes and eyelashes more realistic. I have to figure out how to make the depth perception better.

Planning Second and Third Paintings

        Here are a few sketches of what I am planning on doing. The first sketch is going to be my third painting. It will be based off of a combination of the two themes Identity and Surrealism. The painting will be a human body with no connected head. And where the head would be will be a galaxy. The galaxy symbolizing that we are all as complicated as the things that make up our universe. I plan on using acrylic with this one. 

        

        This second sketch will be based on journey. A lot of people help you through your journey through life. Friends, and family, etc. The symbolism is simple and overused, but I feel like I need to make something like this. Something that bring my appreciation of my friends and family to light. This is also the painting that I plan on using watercolor with. I'm thinking that I will not be able to make the hands as detailed as I would like, but enough that it helped the viewer get the point. 

        Maybe I should switch the mediums of the paintings. I'm not entirely sure which medium I should use for which. The watercolor would help with the flow of making a galaxy, but I feel like ........... again, like I said in my last post, I should just dive into the deep end. I don't know what I'm doing and that's okay. Just go with my gut.

Finishing Ophelia

This is the final painting for Ophelia. It was difficult trying to figure out how to make the hair look like it was floating in water, and making the water was much harder. I first attempted to create the illusion of the hair floating in the water by making the background, the dark water, first and then painted the hair on top of it. I did leave white space for the hair so it wouldn't be so dark. The NOSE was incredibly difficult, but fun to make. It was satisfying to realize when I had finished making it that it looked better than I had originally planned. The running mascara was not planned but welcome nonetheless. I suppose that is a example of the paint will do what it wants to do, regardless of what the artist wants. Paint has a mind of its own. 

        I suppose that it why I'm sort of cautious going into painting. I'm used to having a certain amount of control when making art. I guess I just need to dive feet first into it. Plus, my next painting is going to be watercolor. So, I'm going to have to give up a lot of control whether I like it or not. I'm going to continue bettering this painting through making the lily pads more realistic and making the water look more realistic as well. Maybe I'll add in water droplets on her face and more of a remnant of a body under the water. Make her lips more realistic too.

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.

Atmospheric perspective and self-portrait

  

                                              

  

          So this is my charcoal atmospheric perspective. I based it on a picture I took up in the north shore. I'm pleased with ho with how the rocks came out, but I could have done the trees much better. I made it so that it was darker in front and lighter in the back, giving it the illusion of the rocks moving away, making it an atmospheric perspective. I could have drawn the perspective part of it out a bit more than I did. I enjoyed using charcoal for the first time and on such a large scale! Now that I have this done, I'm starting on my self-portrait.

      I made this little baby self-portrait so I could get a feel for my face. This was my second try at it, because I wasn't satisfied with my first one. I couldn't get the image of my own face out of my head, and I think that is what messed me up the first time. I started fresh on a new piece of paper and just looked at shapes and where they were in relation to everything else. The shading is a lot of fun, and I have moved on to the hair now. I need to make it darker than I have it right now, but otherwise, I'm pretty proud of how far I've come.

     

White Still Life

          This is the still life of white object that I had made.  We were practicing our black and white  values with shading white objects. I honestly was trying to avoid the pallet by shading EVERY OTHER THING I POSSIBLY COULD. Thus, while going through with this plan, I had made everything look better than the pallet, which I think is funny and ironic. I think there could be more unity (or harmony) throughout the drawing. Especially with the drapery and the objects. I hadn't seen how the values and shading of the objects compared to the drapes, but now that I look at it from afar and with eyes that has not been looking at it for a long time, I can tell what I could improve. There could be better shading on the opposite side where the light of the lamp does not touch. BUT! I am still very proud of this drawing regardless.

Three Point Perspective

        We are now working on out three point perspective. We are shading using little lines going in different directions, like the drawings in the book series A Series Of Unfortunate Events by Lemony Snicket. We were taught how to use horizontal, vertical, and orthogonal lines to create the effect of looking up at a building. A oddity is required in the drawing and I have decided to make the word "HEY" because the building sort of looks like a H when you look at it the right way. I am not entirely sure how I'm going to do the Y in HEY, but I'll figure it out. I'll know if it looks weird. I really enjoy doing these perspective drawings. I've never done them before but they are really fun. I find, specifically, the shading to be fun. I don't use this technique much, but I have been incorporating it into different drawings lately.

Still Life

        So, here is one of my first big drawings in Drawing class. I'll admit, I started over two times. I guess I'm not all that used to drawing big yet. I'll try to be! So, to measure proportions, we were supposed to use that method that you always see people in movies using. Like, where they stick out their arm and shut one eye and use their pencil or something like that. Yeah. . . . I didn't do that. It kept messing me up! I did that on the first two. when I got to the third one, I didn't even bother. And that one turned out the best, Weird!

          This is a contour drawing, so one continuous line. We were also allowed to put some textures of there too. I'm proud of how my bucket turned out. The texture looks a lot like that. And I might have acidentallyonpurpose put some shading in. I COULDN'T HELP MYSELF IT WAS TOO TEMPTING. SO MANY DIFFERENT SHADES!!