Mixed Media

For my Mixed Media Project, I chose the topic fantasy.  I used pictures from google, wallpaper, glitter, beads, yarn, water colors, and tissue paper to create it.

I created the layout by cutting my paper into a puffy cloud shape.  Most of what is on my project are Disney characters because they are all fantasy.  I also included Santa, the Easter Bunny and the Tooth Fairy because they are all figures that are not real.  I put down tissue paper and added water over it to transfer the color to my paper so that it is a nice background.  Then I took white tissue paper that had sparkles in it and I put that over the entire paper using a gel medium.  I put my pictures down and then added wall paper, glitter, water colors and lots of other materials to it.

The risk I took for this project was that I completely changed my layout from what I originally thought I wanted to do.  I just started randomly adding layers and I am happy with how the layout looks.  My favorite part on the piece is the wizard in the bottom right who is shooting magic (yarn) out of his wand.  I took a risk adding the yarn because I had a really hard time getting it to stick and look good on the mini lesson we did.

While adding to my piece I asked people at my table where there were open spots and if I needed to add any more layers.

This is my least favorite project that I have done.  I loved using mixed media, but I don't like how my final turned out.  I liked what I made in my sketch book (below) so much more because I think it flows better and has more of a message.

Sticky Situation

For my final Sticky Situation Project, I chose to paint s'mores with acrylic paint. I drew s'mores because the melted marshmallow and chocolate in them is extremely sticky.

The way I created the layout for my s'mores was an original idea.  I wanted to zoom into the s'more so the emphasis could be on the sticky, dripping chocolate and marshmallow. 

I took risks with this project when I added the burn marks on the marshmallow.  I was really nervous to do this because I really liked how it looked without them, but it looked like it needed more added to it.  This project was kind of scary for me because I had a concussion and I missed school, and on the days that I missed, we learned techniques for acrylic paint and water colors.  Once I got started It really wasn't as hard as I thought it would be

While painting and drafting my piece, I asked my table mates if they thought the drips in the chocolate and the marshmallow were spaced out good enough.  I also got help from my table because they filled me in on what I missed when I was absent. 

I liked this project and I am happy with the way my painting turned out!

Up Close and Personal

For my final Up Close and Personal Project, I chose to draw pinwheels. I chose pinwheels because they remind me of summer, and the weather has been so warm lately.  To capture the plastic effects in
the pinwheels, I used colored pencil.

My pinwheels are very original, I wanted to take an object that seems small, like pinwheels do when they are stuck into a large area of grass, and I wanted to zoom in on them.  For inspiration, I used pictures off of the internet so I had an idea of how to make the pinwheels look realistic.

Before I started the project, I was set on the idea of using oil pastels.  I really liked them the best when we were practicing and I had my mind set to using them. When doing some practice sketches, I could not get the pinwheels to look good with the oil pastels, so I switched to colored pencils, which I didn't want to do.  I also took a risk when I colored the background black.  Ms. Rossi told me that it would be a good idea to color  the background in black, to make the colors in the pinwheels pop.  I was really hesitant when she told me that because I didn't want the black to mess everything up and to look streaky or weird.  Once I got started with it, I really liked how it turned out and I am happy that I did it.

While working on my piece, I asked people at my table numerous questions and I had them hold up my work so I could look at it from far away.  They also helped me with knowing where to put all the different colors for the pinwheels, so I didn't have two colors next to each other.

I enjoyed this project, and I liked working with colored pencils and I am happy with how my piece turned out.

Up Close and Personal Practice

As practice for our final Up Close and Personal drawing, we practiced using three different mediums. We used oil pastels, chalk pastels and colored pencils.

The first medium that we used was oil pastels.  We had to draw a soda can using 4 different colors to create values.  I really liked using oil pastels because they really popped against the black paper that we drew the cans on.  I struggled with them because I had a hard time understanding how to blend the colors by just adding lines.  I did like drawing with them however, because they make everything look so bright!

The next medium that we used were chalk pastels.  We created a candy in a transparent wrapper.  I really had fun with this mini project, they were my favorite of the three mediums and I would really enjoy working with chalk pastels more.  Even though I liked them so much, I struggled with making the candy and the folds in the transparent plastic to look real

The final medium that we worked with were colored pencils.  I was the most comfortable with colored pencils out of the other two mediums.  I ended up using colored pencils on my final project because I liked it the best.  In class we had to draw a lollipop showing all of the lights and the darks.  I had a hard time capturing all of the lines and folds in the wrapper, but other than that I really liked using colored pencils.

Overall I really liked all of the different mediums that we worked with, and I enjoyed drawing with all of them!

Scientific Drawing

     For my Scientific drawing, I drew an eye with gears in it.  I showed contrast with my colors in the iris, and with the gears.  My idea was also contrasting, because when I think of an eye, I think of something that moves smoothly, and when I think of gears I think of a lot of grinding and clinking from the metal. 

     I drew my eye using various shades of pencil.  I used the 6B for the pupil and 6H for many of the light parts of the iris.  I chose to use pencil because I felt like all of the highlights throughout the eye could not be captured as well using other mediums.  For techniques, I shaded and made the transition between two colors very smooth, which we learned in a mini lesson.

    When thinking of ideas, I wanted to do something that had contrasting ideas.  I originally thought of drawing a light bulb with a plant in it, but when that did not turn out how I wanted on paper, I thought of drawing an eye with gears. Eyes are scientific because they are part of the human anatomy. And gears are scientific because a scientist invented gears. 

    I think the biggest risk I took on my project was adding gears to the white of the eye.  It was an odd shape to fit them in and I was originally worried that adding the gears would ruin my piece.  But, after drawing them I am happy with how they look because they contrast with the gears in the iris and with the white of the eye.
   
    The biggest challenges for me were drawing the eye lashes and drawing the pupil and iris as a perfect circle.  I had a very hard time getting the lashes to look natural and to make the eye look 3D.  I thought I did a good job capturing the light that is reflected throughout the eye and also with the shading around the eye.  I also think I did well with using contrast.
    
    Overall I am very happy with how my eye turned out, I really like the iris, the inner corner and the skin surrounding the eye.  I wish I could have done better with the eyelashes, but other than that, I like it.