Starting out
I started off free-drawing a normal face to test out my own skill. It ended up looking very cartoon-ish and not extremely realistic. It was a good base to start off with and to build off of.
Guided Face
I then moved on to a guided portrait of a generic face. This was aided by Mrs. Fiedler, and it also looked not as great as it could be. I knew that I could do better in the upcoming projects.
Self Portrait
After all that practice, I finally got to draw my own portrait. I started out with studying my face and features, and slowly sketching out everything. I had to find my face shape and how to incorporate my symbols into my picture. I knew I was going to do a hand covering half of my face to symbolize the parts of myself that I don't show to others first. It was very hard to get the shading right on the hand, but I like the challenge. As one of my last symbols to draw, I drew a music staff with music notes into my hair for my love of music. For my last symbol, I drew storm clouds behind my head to symbolize the storm that comes with my anxiety. It was interesting to find the right dept in the clouds and make them proportional to my head. All in all, this project was a learning experience for me and I loved doing it.
Clay Alebrijes
For our next project, we worked on making clay pinch pots into something that we could use functionally. We were inspired by Mexican Alebrijes, and how they incorporated multiple animals and creatures into one. I made a simple holding pot that has the face of a rabbit, ears of a dog, and a pig tail. I used many different tools and skills to add the different features to my pot. I had to change my ideas multiple times along the way, but I learned what looks best and what will hold best as well.
Abstract Drawing
For my next project, we took a step-by-step guide to making an abstract drawing. I liked the idea of all the gradients of colors, but I had to learn what many of the steps were before drawing them. I loved doing this project and experimenting with the colors and designs. I liked to think the colors represented emotions and how they all connect.
Perspective Drawings
Next we worked on a perspective drawing that worked with ink of some kind that gave a comic book feel. I wanted to do the perspective of someone standing on the stage to perform because that's what I love doing. It was a very difficult area to draw because of the multitude of seats and details that the room held. However, when it was done and I put my hatching and cross-hatching to give it detail, I was very proud of how interesting it looked and that I had achieved the point of view that I wanted. I did not add any color to my picture, but instead chose an inkwell and pen to do all the details to make it seem like it was in a comic book.
Final Project
For my final project I chose to do something that really means something to me that I could express through art. I chose to embody, "Beauty is in the eye of the beholder" by drawing an eye with a flower in the center of it and having it be held in a hand colored with fauvism in mind. I outlined the eye with watercolor that is dark on the outside and moving to a lighter green to highlight and contrast the colorful eye. In my opinion, I should've started with watercolor paper and gone from there, but since I had not decided to use watercolor at that point I used regular paper instead. I liked this project because I was able to experiment with the different colors in the oil pastels I used and the textures of the eyelid and pupil. I really liked this as a final project and hope to continue on with more oil pastels.