Marbleized Ceramic Type Thing!

I marbleized four pieces of paper using spray paint and then cut them up into smaller pieces.  After that I reassembled them to create an even bigger background for the piece I'm working on now.  This is how its looking so far:)

Slightly Different- Slightly Better

While trying to hang this piece it beggan to chip; so my teacher added more liquitex to hold it together.  Even though she lost a hand and has some chips and color differences, I think it adds something it didn't have before.  I like it like this and think this was a happy accident. :)

Shoved Out of the Nest and Trying to Fly

The class finally had their first independent project and it was definetely a big step for me artistically.  Not having to meet any specific criteria and not having as much guidance to go by really forced me to use my own creativity and research, and I think for it being the first independent project I rose to the occasion fairly well.  This piece is 12"x18" and is painted on bristol board.  I used black and blue acrylic paint and white gesso to replace white acrylic.  I started out by outlining the person in pencil and then painting it completely in black, white, and all the shades in between.  To add some color I watered down the blue acrylic and let the blue wash drip down the paper and then added more highlights.  I felt like I did a good job on the eyes and using a lot of shades and tints.  I experimented with drawing a long neck to add emotion.  Also, I'm glad I learned how to use a wash to add color.  The wash could have been done a little bit better and the hair was a great challenge for me because I wanted to make it look too perfect.  Overall I feel like this was a good project for the first independent piece!

I Just Can't Stop!

I was craving to paint something so I practiced an idea I had for a project.  This is mixed media with acrylic and a little bit of watercolor.  For my first independent project I want to use acrylic paint and make it completely black and white.  I think I got some good practice for that by painting this.

My Favorite Project Ever!!

The materials used in this painting include bristol board paper and watercolor paints.  The dimensions are 11"x15".  Some problems I encountered creating this piece include getting the right facial dimenstions and getting enough emotion in the face.  However, in the end I feel like I successfully made an emotional piece and demonstrated watercolor technique well.  I blew through a straw to make the hair, which I think is a really cool technique and it worked really well with my piece  .I was a little timid working with watercolor at first because I've never really been good at it, but this ended up being my favorite project ever!

Experimental Watercolor Investigation!

This is something small I painted with watercolor in my "Investigative Workbook" (sketchbook).  Its definetely not my final piece but I think it was a pretty good start!

Eraser Drawings

This project was inspired by the works of William Kentridge and shows a progression of movement.  The materials used in creating this piece were charcoal and colored pencil.  The dimensions are 11" x 17".  Some things I think I did successfully are finding a good concept and using both dark shades and light tints in the piece.  However, there were a few problems I ran into.  After looking at it for too long I forgot how to draw straight lines and at points got very frustrated.  First I did the back ground and then lightly traced the images of the man and the first position of the woman.  I put all the details on the soldier, colored the flag, and put a few details on the woman and then erase the first image of the woman.  Next I lightly traced the second image of the woman, added a few more detailes and lightly penciled color on the pants and hair and then erased the second image.  Thirdly, I drew out the third and final position of the woman and added all the details and color.

Totally Surprised I Could Paint with Wax

For this project I melted a bunch of green, yellow, purple, blue, and white oil pastels and used gloss to paint on a piece of bristol board with.  The dimensions are 9"x12". One thing I did successfully was find a good color scheme, which for this project was accented analogous.  My biggest problem while creating this piece was the dried pastel cracking on the paper, and because of this I had to keep reheating what was already on the paper to make sure it didn't come completely off.  First I created the back ground by taking a small iron and melting oil pastels directly onto the paper and swirling the greens and yellows together.  Then I traced the outline of the woman in pencil and melted the purple, white, and blue pastels on a hot plate.  I used a small brush to paint in the outlines of the woman, put a coat of gloss on top, then voilà!

So Encaustic Collage Wasn't as Bad as I Thought!

                                                             (Detail Photo)

(Full Photo)

Starting out I did not think I would like encaustic or collage, but in the end I had fun with this project.  I think that the rose creates a nice focal point and the red splashes and free-handed ink rose make a nice bridge from the background to the rose. For this project I coated the board with gesso and made my first layer newspaper. Then I covered it in clear encaustic wax and placed burnt clothes in various places and covered it in more clear wax.  I then sprayed it with matte fixative so I could add another layer of gesso and a layer of brown shoe polish.  Then I used red wax to add color and cream wax to create a box and ink to draw a rose and define the sections of the piece. A fabric rose covered in gloss went on top.  The dimensions are 9"x12".  One thing I did successfully was creating a good composition by having a shaded layer on the bottom, a medium layer in the middle, and a tinted layer at the top of the piece.   A problem I encountered was putting the layer of gesso over the wax on the top, which took several coatings of fixative, and making sure the rose didn't get bumped off, which took several layers of wax.