Painting Reflection
REFLEKTING ON PAINTING CLASS.
Welllllll to be honest I didn't like the work I did in this class. Let's go project by project. First with the watercolor landscape. It wasn't that bad as far as watercolor has gone for me in the past. But it still looks pretty stupid. The Hundertwasser or however whatever whoever he is painting was hell to do and working on it felt like someone was flaying me with a butter knife, although it was cool to see what others did with the assignment. The oil landscape was terrible. I really dislike how mine came out. It looks totally flat. I just hate landscapes and I did like three? or something to that effect? this semester so. Yeah. Next assignment. Pet portrait. I don't like animals. But mine came out ok. I think it looks stiff. But I'm satisfied with the colors. The glass painting was boring but it came out looking pretty good. The most fun I had was painting the final project where we got to choose our own subject to work on. I think there should have been more assignments like that, not just one in the last week of the class. But that's just my opinion. |
1/20?/20 - Final Choice Painting
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Unfortunately I did not finish the painting as of the time I am writing this because I had to work and then went on a family trip. So I will post what I have and continue working during this week. Then I will post the finished piece. But for now I will post what I have and discuss the painting/my plans for the painting.I worked really hard last week to try and complete it, bringing it home EVERY DAY, but it was too ambitious for this timespan.
So I just really wanted to do a subway or underground train scene but with a bunch of wacky aliens. I thought that would be cool because I could draw a bunch of different characters. I want to make the painting look futuristic but still recognizable as being in a subway. My method of going about doing all the different parts was to start on one section, like the skin of one character, and then move to another section away from that area once I was done. Then I could go back to that area and touch some things up. I want to make sure I can show a decently clear difference between the foreground and background. |
1/6/20 - Glass Painting
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Hmmm. I do not see questions so I shall REFLEKTTTTT!!!!!!!!
So this is the glass painting we did. First we painted the canvas black in acrylic and then did everything else in oil. The big emphasis of this was to exaggerate the highlights so that the painting would pop out. I tried to make the red liquid in the big jar very bright and eye-catching as well. I then exaggerated the colors of a lot of the elements. I'd say I'm especially pleased with how the ice cream scooper thing turned out. The fork looks really weird and I have no idea how it got so out of proportion. I kind of like this piece for some reason. At first I was unsatisfied with it but now I think I have come to terms with it. The best sections would probably be the ice cream scooper, the light distortion on the glass on the left, and some parts of the big vase. The biggest difficulty was the pattern on the large vase. It took a long time. I was thinking about doing a different composition where I would only paint a certain section of the actual arrangement of all the glass but I just decided to do the whole thing so I could get lots of variety. |
12/6/19 - Pet Portrait
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For my pet portrait, I did my grandpa's dog. The painting is pretty monochromatic because the reference photo was, but I think I did a good job distinguishing the dog from the couch using shading and slightly different hues. My main technique for the fur was using a small brush and short strokes to capture all the details, continually layering the colors after they had mostly dried to show the soft texture and detail of the fur. The couch was done with a lot of blending and a bigger brush. I don't really draw animals at all so this was kind of a challenge. I tried to get all the anatomy right and I think I mostly succeeded. I think I did a really good job with the nose area and I think the nose, mouth, and fur area around there is shaded well. I had trouble with that dark area right under the fur of the neck and above the collar. It was hard to mix the right shade for that, making it dark enough but also not making it stand out too much from the rest of the fur. The eyes,
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especially the eye on the right, had a lot of dark fur around them. That was hard to paint, since the change from light fur to dark fur was so sudden and there wasn't a lot of smooth graduation. I think the eyes do look a bit strange. Overall though I think I definitely benefited from doing this painting as I think it helped me practice with different techniques as well as drawing and painting animals. It's hard for me to paint hair and fur but I think the techniques we learned in class were helpful to me in executing this painting. Probably the best aesthetic quality about this painting, in my opinion, is the soft colors and shading. I didn't want it to look too harsh or bright and I think I mostly succeeded in that aspect, while still showing all the different values in the photo. I think my craftsmanship is pretty good here. I attempted to be more precise with my brushstrokes this time around. A little bit of the red underpainting shows through in some places, but you can't see it that much. I think the quality is good and I'm sort of proud of how I did with this painting, as I really dislike drawing animals and I'm not good at painting hair. The painting looks realistic and I got most of the proportions right, although the tilt of the head looks a little bit off. I do also have trouble making things look like they fit into environments sometimes but with the shading I did under the dog and the similarity in color tones, I think everything fits together decently.
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11/14/19 - Oil Landscape Final
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Describe the craftsmanship of your painting.
I think the craftsmanship of my painting is well executed and not messy. I tried to use more crisp lines on the trees and I covered up a lot of the underpainting. The bushes and leaves could be a little cleaner but I was trying to use different techniques to imply detail. Describe your choice of colors/color harmonies and how you used them throughout the painting. I wanted to alter the colors of the original. I thought yellow and fuchsia would look cool. But I ended up adding purple and yellow so that the painting could have complementary colors. I added some blue and pink to accent the purple. How did you create contrast in the painting? There is contrast between the bright yellow background and the purple tree and bushes. I also added darker blues and purples. They contrast the lighter colors in the areas of the tree that stood out more. |
How did you apply textures, highlights, and shadows to enhance your artwork?
I tried to create texture in the tree trunk by applying lots of thin streaks of lighter colors. The texture of the leaves and the bushes were done by dabbing the brush to create dots and speckles. Most of the highlights were light blue to show where the light was. The shadow was mostly dark blue to show the different crevices and folds in the tree trunk. How were you able to create depth in your painting? I added shadows near the top of the tree and in the crevices of the trunk and the branches to show depth. The leaves behind the branches are darker to show that the branches are in front of them. The different sections of the bush on the right are differentiated by shadows and highlights of different dots and brushstrokes. What painting techniques did you use that made your painting successful? I used long brushstrokes on the tree trunk and branches to simulate the long folds in the bark. I did a lot of wet-on-wet painting for this section. The leaves on the tree and the bush were made with very short, dot-like brushstrokes. The grass on the bottom was made with a thin brush. I also did the small branches with a thin brush. Describe any difficulties you had creating your painting and what you could do to improve your painting. I didn't have a lot of difficulties with this painting as compared with the |
other ones I've done in this class. I'd say the top part of the tree could be improved. I wanted to transfer the dark from that top part to other adjacent parts a bit more but I didn't get enough time to do it. It would make that part look less flat.
Explain the successes you had with this painting.
I liked the combination of colors I used. I like the bark on the tree in the mid-left portion of the painting. The mixture of details looks pretty good. I think the composition was pretty successful as well.
Explain the successes you had with this painting.
I liked the combination of colors I used. I like the bark on the tree in the mid-left portion of the painting. The mixture of details looks pretty good. I think the composition was pretty successful as well.
10/22/19 - Oil Fruits Practice
For this mini-assignment we had to paint two fruits/vegetables with oil, one with the brush and one with the palette knife. I've never painted with a palette knife before but it was fun. Not that fun, but fun. I'm pretty satisfied with how I did with both paintings.
10/16/19 - Hundertwasser Acrylic Painting
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Describe the craftsmanship of your painting. (Is it neat and well executed?)
The craftsmanship of my painting is not that great. I tried super hard to make the paint opaque by adding white and doing multiple coats but they still ended up transparent. The lines are also not as solid as I would have liked. It looks a lot better from far away. How does your work embody the artist’s style? I tried to incorporate Hundertwasser's use of spirals into the painting. I figured that spaghetti would be a good subject because I could put spirals pretty organically into the shape. I made the meatballs spirals as well. I also used bright colors and made a radiating circle in the background which are common motifs in his work. |
Describe the colors/color harmonies and how you used them throughout the artwork.
I wanted to choose bright colors to emulate Hundertwasser's artwork. The main color scheme is the focus on the primary colors. The spaghetti is yellow, but I didn't want it to be too overwhelming so I used a pattern of alternating light yellows and oranges. The meatballs are red and the background is warm to complement the red. The border is blue and the bowl border pattern is blue as well. I wanted to make the bowl black to go with the meatball spirals. What is the emphasis (focal point) of your artwork? The emphasis is on the waves of spaghetti and the meatballs in the foreground. The bowl is the mid-ground and the radiating spiral is the background. How did you use textures and patterns to embellish your artwork? |
There's a lot of spirals and circle motifs in the artwork. The spirals in the spaghetti gives it flow. The bowl pattern and the zigzag texture in the border embellishes the piece and makes it more interesting.
How did you put a border on your artwork? How does it enhance the work?
The border was put on first. I made the sides blue, but I didn't want them to be straight, so I made them a bit crooked. It puts more focus on the center and frames the color in the image.
Describe any difficulties you had creating this artwork.
Working with acrylics was really challenging, especially since we weren't really blending and were just filling in lines. It was hard to make a solid line and I had to paint multiple coats on everything. In some places you can still see brushstrokes.
How did you put a border on your artwork? How does it enhance the work?
The border was put on first. I made the sides blue, but I didn't want them to be straight, so I made them a bit crooked. It puts more focus on the center and frames the color in the image.
Describe any difficulties you had creating this artwork.
Working with acrylics was really challenging, especially since we weren't really blending and were just filling in lines. It was hard to make a solid line and I had to paint multiple coats on everything. In some places you can still see brushstrokes.
9/17/19 - Watercolor Landscape Final
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What watercolor techniques proved to be effective in your painting? How and why?
The watercolor techniques that I used the most were the washes, the dry brush, and wet on dry. The washes were used especially when I was doing the sky and the grass. I put down a light layer, then later added drier and darker layers on top to show the details in the trees, grass stalks, and lavender flowers. These methods helped to layer colors and achieve different textures in the painting. |
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How important was using transparent layers in your painting?
Using transparent layers in a watercolor painting is important because it makes layering the colors easy. If low amounts of water are used to lay down dark colors right away, there won't be as much of a smooth graduation of value. Building up the color gradually through transparent layers helps to achieve more accurate shading and value. Explain how your composition was successful. Did you utilize all the elements of art and principles of design? Explain. I think the composition is successful. The eye is drawn by the darker colors of the lavender in the foreground. The lines of the prominent trees, grass stalks, and flowers are more noticeable, and the purple lavender flowers stand out from the green while the trees of the background are more faded into the sky. Overall I feel like the composition does its job and draws the eye to the correct spaces. Was color choice an important factor in the overall success of the painting? Why? Color choice is definitely important in the painting. I wanted the colors in my painting to be a little different from the reference photo. In the trees in the back, I layered different colors on top of each other to differentiate them from the sky and add pops of color. The lighter colors were all in the background. For the foreground, I layered the green colors as well as other light colors to create the stalks. The lavenders were mixed in the palette. The color is important because it keeps the image from being dull if the color palette is interesting and captivating to the eye. Describe your craftsmanship. I tried to imply different textures using different types of brushstrokes, showing detail in certain places. I think my craftsmanship was decent. Probably the best parts are the trees to the right and the flowers in the foreground. I think this was because I had gotten the hang of the watercolor and wasn't too hung up on repeated washes and too many details. |
If you were able to something different, what would it be and why?
The biggest thing I would redo is the sky. I was really sloppy with the washes and probably should have put down masking fluid so that I could create more defined cloud shapes. I tried to shade them too but it just looks like a mess. I would probably also put less detail in the background trees so that the emphasis would be more on the middle ground and foreground.
Explain what you have learned about watercolor and how it has improved or discouraged your improvement in art.
I've learned to not be afraid to try new mediums even if they seem extremely challenging and my attempts at the medium don't seem good at first. The first few days we worked with watercolor I was really frustrated and discouraged. I was especially discouraged when I looked at other's masterful, professional watercolor pieces. But when I got closer to finishing my final piece I was actually pretty satisfied with how it was turning out. The final piece may not be super good looking but overall I'm actually really pleased with how it turned out in comparison to the other watercolor pieces I've suffered through in the past. I think it's important to accept that your art may not be as technically good as others, and that your improvement from your past pieces should be more important when measuring your success.
The biggest thing I would redo is the sky. I was really sloppy with the washes and probably should have put down masking fluid so that I could create more defined cloud shapes. I tried to shade them too but it just looks like a mess. I would probably also put less detail in the background trees so that the emphasis would be more on the middle ground and foreground.
Explain what you have learned about watercolor and how it has improved or discouraged your improvement in art.
I've learned to not be afraid to try new mediums even if they seem extremely challenging and my attempts at the medium don't seem good at first. The first few days we worked with watercolor I was really frustrated and discouraged. I was especially discouraged when I looked at other's masterful, professional watercolor pieces. But when I got closer to finishing my final piece I was actually pretty satisfied with how it was turning out. The final piece may not be super good looking but overall I'm actually really pleased with how it turned out in comparison to the other watercolor pieces I've suffered through in the past. I think it's important to accept that your art may not be as technically good as others, and that your improvement from your past pieces should be more important when measuring your success.
9/4/19 - Watercolor Squares
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Our assignment was to make four representations of a fruit or vegetable in different color schemes. I chose to do the green pepper. The monochromatic and the complementary ones are definitely the best in my opinion, although the complementary one is a bit imbalanced and washed out in terms of color because I was afraid to add more to it. The cool color one looks terrible. I wanted to add more contrast to it, so I kept trying to layer paint and eventually I just lost control of where the paint was going. The warm color one is the first one I did and it looks...ok. I included the watercolor pencil one I did as well. I used light blue, dark blue, and purple pencils. I think I had more control over the paint when I used this medium but it was still challenging. I was still traumatized from the cool colors one so I didn't really layer on this one either. So excited to see how embarrassing my final watercolor project will be!!!
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8/30/19 - Watercolor Values
This was the watercolor value sheet that I did. The top row is just regular blue, although I did mix yellow and red in to make the last two darker. The middle row I tried to mix orange. The last row is purple. I struggled a lot with that one as you can probably tell. The three shapes look decent I think. I didn't want to overload the paper and make it too watery so I tried to avoid that.
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