Saturday, December 21, 2013

Contour Line Pieces

[both photos pending]

- Explanation of your process.  This includes what materials did you uses? Why did you use these materials?   What was your planning like?
- What is one thing you are most proud of in the piece and why?
- If you could go back and change one thing, what would that be?

My first contour piece was using the prompt "wild", a ghost bear (it was a group idea; mine is the one with the base guitar on the right end).  At first, I sketched my outline on the paper in pencil, not adding in too much detail because I knew it was going to be faded greatly by the painting part. Then, I used watercolor to paint the colors in, haphazardly covering it with green, then coloring the guitar and jacket purple so as to contrast with the green. I also splattered the piece with purple paint to make it look more "cool". Once it was dry, I then outlined the picture with pen. I am most proud of the guitar and the way the splatters turned out, though I wish I could make my bear look more bear-like.

My second piece utilized the prompt "urban", and was a contour line drawing of a fox jumping from one building to another. This was the first thing that popped into my mind when I was told urban and contour lines, so I just went with it. Making this piece was simple- I just drew the image with pencil, then drew each line with pen, moving the line up or down where there was a window or the side of a building. I used a red pen for the fox, to make it stand out. I was pretty happy with how the image looked overall, but I really wish I could have fixed the line I messed up on on the left building.

Sunday, December 15, 2013

Printmaking- Fennekin




Perspective Piece: Skyscraper

[photo pending]

I chose to do three-point perspective for this project, because it struck me as interesting to work with and I wanted to try something new, considering I've done the other perspectives before. The hardest part of this piece was the beginning, where I had to get a ruler and tediously draw a bunch of lines in just the right angles from the three points I was using. Once I had all the lines put down, I erased some of them until only the straight tower part was present. I kept the top square of the newly-formed tower, but for the sides I drew curved lines leading from their starting points to the end points- this was to make the tower look curved as it's going down. I don't know why I did that but either way it turned out okay, so, yep. From there, I added the basic details to the tower and the background in pencil- the continents down below, and all the sections of the tower with different themes like an old cat lady's apartment, a sketchy hotel, an aquarium, etc, and also put a pool at the very top. Once those were in, I outlined everything with pen and added linework to everything to add depth and interest. Overall I think this piece turned out really well and it's very busy looking.

Monday, November 25, 2013

Shadow Art: Fishing vs Motorcycle

[second photo pending]

We mainly used stuffed animals for both pieces, though we also used a few of the random objects in the item bin thingy. I was surprised both days that the stuffed animals I brought in were turned into stuff other than what they were, though it was funny to see Oswald (my alpaca) being used as a cliff and Pikapal (my pikachu) used as part of a motorcycle. The first picture was made with a projector, so we were able to pull a picture of a sunset up as the background. The second picture gave us more difficulties, as the backdrop wooden thing kept falling over and knocking all our stuff down. Overall I liked the first picture a lot more, because it was easier to make and easier to customize due to the projector.

Wednesday, November 20, 2013

3D Piece: Flower Crown

[photo pending]

I chose to make a flower crown, so I didn't use any paint or glaze, and instead worked with wire and artificial flowers. It was based off of other flower crowns I have seen/made before, though I put a bit more work and details. I used a large rose, several smaller roses, and a bunch of teensy flowers, all different shades of pinkish-purple. A thicker wire, usually used for garden purposes, was used to make the base of the crown, and from there I used florist's wire to wrap around the "stems" of the flowers and then attach them to it.

A kiln is an oven built especially for clay, where it's fired, or heated, until it's hardened. Clay is incredibly fine soil that comes in several varieties, and when wet or damp, can be molded into different forms. When sculpting clay, you can score the clay to help it adhere to other clay pieces better.

Thursday, November 7, 2013

Stenciled Non-Objective Piece


A non-objective art piece is one that doesn't focus on a natural, physical subject, such as an object, person, or creature, but instead focuses on colors, shapes, sizes, etc. For this piece, I first painted a non-objective work to use as the background. I then converted a picture of myself to hard black-and-white, opened it up on a projector, then traced it onto another piece of paper that was the same size of the non-objective piece. From that outline, I cut out the white parts of the picture using an exacto-knife, gluing them onto the non-objective piece to create the final product.

Monday, November 4, 2013

Land Art Piece- Dead Guy?


My group chose to make the outline of a dead person, because Emily and I were brainstorming a few days prior and remembered that there used to be a dead person outline made out of tape at the bottom of the courtyard stairs and we were inspired by that. For the initial outline, we used small rocks, because they wouldn't be blown away by the wind, and also because we needed an outline before we placed the leaves. We used the leaves because of the vibrant colors that they had, and we knew that there were dark red leaves available to use for the wound.

Tuesday, October 29, 2013

Relief Piece: Gazelle



A relief is a sculpture made through a special technique, where the image is made to appear as if it's above the background. There are three main kinds of relief techniques: sunken, where the non-background parts are dug into, making the background into the top layer; high relief, where the image is cut deeply so depth is clearly visible; and low relief, where there's only shallow cuts to help show details.

For my relief piece, I chose to create a gazelle. This is because I wanted to try creating a different animal than the kinds I usually lean towards (foxes, dogs, cats), and make something more new and interesting. I am particularly proud of the fading on the hooves, snout, and ears, as well as the brush strokes on the horns, as they seem to make the gazelle more interesting to look at. If I could redo any parts of this piece, I would have liked to use larger pieces of cardboard so I wouldn't have the odd, folded parts on the horns and legs. I also would have liked for the tail's gradient to be a bit smoother.

Thursday, October 17, 2013

Hipster Cat Bear

This is a hipster cat-bear with a space texture on it. I don't know what else to say about it, really.

Friday, October 11, 2013

Color Piece: GAME OVER

For my color project, I chose three things- nighttime, my dog, and videogames. Personally, I love the night sky, and how the stars and moon shine against it. I chose it as my background. My dog is almost a given- she's my first dog ever, and we've practically grown up together. I painted her next to me, resting by the tree. Lastly, I've loved videogames since I was a tiny little gal, and decided to make a 3d "GAME OVER: Continue?" thing at the bottom of the page, as well as including an empty health bar at the top of the page. I chose to paint with acrylics because I wanted my picture to look very solid, then used a bit of oil pastel to add the health/magic bars and some minor details. And of course, I used cardboard and acrylic to do the lettering at the bottom. If I were to change anything about this picture, I'd probably want to add more paint details- I'm not very skilled at painting, but if I had had a while more to finish I might have been able to at least fix up a few issues.

Monday, September 30, 2013

Name Piece

For my name piece, I used an analogous color scheme centered around green. However, I got a little carried away with the first "I" and the "T" and ended up using brown and red. I used marker for my piece because I particularly enjoy using it, and with all the straight edges and lines I needed I knew I needed to use a not-as-smudgy medium.

Monday, September 23, 2013

Art Article II


    Only a couple weeks ago, a long-lost Van Gogh painting was rediscovered, tucked away in an old Norwegian attic. Art academics and Van Gogh lovers alike all marveled at the new masterpiece, thought to have been lost to time. However, one must think; how in the world do you lose an art piece? Especially one created by someone as famous as Van Gogh? Well, there’s a simple explanation for why it had been tucked away for so long; forgery. During the period in which the piece was first bought, art forgery was rampant and spooked many buyers into shamefully hiding away their spoils, thinking that they were tricked into buying something crafted by some master copycat.
    Art forgery had begun over 2000 years ago, when Roman artists mimicked Greek sculptures. Later in history, apprentices of famous artists all the way up to Renaissance times would have their pictures sold under the names of their instructors. Post-Renaissance nobles went through an antique-loving phase, which was a golden age for art forgers, who would go to great lengths to make their art seem authentic. Even Michelangelo, the famous painter of the Sistine Chapel and creator of lifelike sculptures such as The Pieta and David, had created some fake Greek sculptures, even going so far as to bury them and even breaking pieces off to make them seem authentic. Some “fake” art pieces from those past eras are still beloved today, despite their false identities being revealed.
    Today, art forgery is still wildly rampant, though there are many advanced ways of detecting fakes, such as testing the paint’s makeup, giving the suspicious pieces an x-ray, etc. Many “flunkie” artists are often the tricksters behind these fake artworks. Although the art of forgery is far from being exterminated, we can at least enjoy the fact that in this modern age art forgers can easily be caught and stopped.

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Work Cited
Brown, Mark. " Newly discovered Van Gogh painting kept in Norwegian attic for years | Art and design | theguardian.com ." Latest news, world news, sport and comment from the Guardian | theguardian.com | The Guardian . N.p., 9 Sept. 2013. Web. 23 Sept. 2013.


Anonymous Author(s). "Art Forgery" Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. N.p., n.d. Web. 23 Sept. 2013. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Art_forgery>.

Tuesday, September 17, 2013

Realism Piece 3: Tuba Line

Lastly, I chose a picture of myself and two other tubas in a line during marching band to be my main piece. Marching band is a huge part of my life, and I don’t think I would be anywhere near the person I am today without it. I used pencil to create this piece, and used the principal of patterns throughout the whole piece. The reflections on the bells of the tubas were the most difficult for me to recreate, and I spend quite a while trying to make them look correct. Also, the grass texture was hard for me to perfect and I had to erase and redraw multiple times in some areas so that the whole field looked about the same shade. If there was anything that I could fix, I would probably try to add more details to the bells, since I am still unsure about how satisfied I am about their final appearance.
   Overall, the pieces I created for the realism unit turned out a lot better than I was expecting them to. I really think that I did pretty great, and I’m hoping that in future units I will be able to put my talents to the test again like I did on these three works.

Realism Piece 2: Desk

The second piece was an overhead view of a desk, covered in materials I need for APUSH; a textbook, pencil case, eraser, pencil, and sharpener. I believe that this is a common sight for many students like me, especially if they are enrolled in several AP classes. I used pen to create this picture, and experimented with the use of lines to create values. Personally, I think it turned out extremely well, considering my limited knowledge of linework and my shaky hands. If I could change anything, I would probably fix the errors I made on the pencil case, as well as add more detail to the desk itself, since it’s rare to find a flaw-free desk in a school like Apex High.

Realism Piece 1: Sam

    When I was told the theme of our first set of pieces was going to be realism, three of the most common-seen parts of my life popped into my head, and I knew that I had to use them. One thing that came into my head was the family’s pet bulldog, Sam. Then I thought of all the textbooks I’ve had to haul around. Lastly, I thought of marching band, and how I devote hours of my time and effort to it for most of the first semester. When I thought of these, I knew that they had to be my subjects, because they’re all very real to me and greatly depict everyday events in my life.
   The first one, a closeup of my bulldog Sam, was the first one I thought of. She is a beloved family pet in our house, and whenever I think of my life one of the main things that can be seen is how important our pets are to my everyday life. My household just wouldn’t be the same with her foldy, chubby face and her constant lazing around on our kitchen floor. I focused on making her the center of the piece, therefore utilizing the aspect of emphasis by making her the lightest part of the picture. I used pencil for this piece, which worked very well, because I consider myself pretty good at using pencil to create darker and lighter values in a piece. If I could change anything, however, I would probably try a bit harder on the background; to me, it seemed a bit lackluster compared to all the effort I exerted on the details on Sam’s jowls and face.

Wednesday, September 4, 2013

Art Article I

          From the beginning of their existence, human beings have always been creating. Whether it be on the walls of a cave, into the surface of a wooden block, or dozens of other mediums, humans have been painting their lives, hopes, beliefs, and dreams into visual creations for future generations to admire for years to come. However, after centuries of wear and tear, these ancient works get closer and closer to being disintegrated into nothing but colored dust. So, over the years, there are people who rise to the challenge of renewing these beloved masterpieces.
          But, not all of these “art restorers” are up to par. In fact, there are many works of art that have been destroyed by the careless acts of restorers over the years. For example, Greek statues were not supposed to be plain white. In fact, they were very colorful; however, the worn paint was washed away instead of repainted, because historians thought that the sculptures looked “better” that way. Oftentimes, built-up dirt on a canvas and actual darker values in Da Vinci-era paintings have been ignored, leaving some classical paintings looking like they were taken by an out-of-focus camera. Sometimes restorers think it’s a good idea to risk completely destroying a work of art by repainting over an image with watercolors or other paints; oftentimes, this is not too big of an issue, other than certain minute details being blotted out. But when things don’t work out so well, images can be completely decimated; for example, the disastrous results of an elderly woman attempting to restore the painting “Ecce Homo” in a church in Borja, Spain, left the old fresco painting completely unrestorable and lost forever.
          To summarize, people have always been trying to save pieces of the past that have been gifted to them by their ancestors. But sometimes, those works of art would have been better off if they had been left to crumble.

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Work Cited
Inglis-Arkell, Esther. "The Worst Art Restoration Mistakes of All Time." io9 - We come from the     future.. N.p., 28 Aug. 2012. Web. 5 Sept. 2013. <http://io9.com/5938377/the-worst-art-restoration-mistakes-of-all-time?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+io9%2Ffull+%28io9%29>.

Author Unknown. "Spanish artist Cecilia Gimenez to share riches from botched restoration of a painting of Christ." Artdaily.org - The First Art Newspaper on the Net. Agence France-Presse, n.d. Web. 5 Sept. 2013. <http://artdaily.com/news/64519/Spanish-artist-Cecilia-Gimenez-to-share-riches-from-botched-restoration-of-a-painting-of-Christ#UhZOY2TXip1>.