Art One Final Portfolio

1.    Which project was your favorite or most successful this semester? Please explain.

One of my favorite projects this year was printmaking. It was fun to design a pattern, and I liked the simple contrast between light and dark. I was very successful in this project and was able to create clean prints. I had done printmaking before this year, and it was nice to feel like I was already experienced. The shapes and patterns in this print are very eye-catching to me. I love the sunset colors, and the cheetah is so cute! This print doesn't have any rough or messy edges. I think the entire thing is very clean, bright, and well-done.

2.    Regardless of whether you liked or disliked a project, which one did you learn, grow, or developed the most from? Please explain.

My success in this project really surprised me. I had never done a serious painting before. The concepts are the same as drawing, just with paint. To add light value, you add white or light colors to the paint you are using. To darken value, you add dark colors or black. The problem I have always had with painting is blending the colors too much. I had to learn to control my brush and blend right on the canvas. After that, it was pretty much exactly the same thing as drawing. The one thing I like better about painting than drawing are the colors! They make paintings so much more vibrant, interesting, and fun. To me, painting is a very expressive art, and being able to achieve it has helped me broaden my horizons. I feel much more capable in art now that I know how to paint, and I understand how to incorporate the skills of art into something that reflects the real world, such as this landscape. It helped me develop into a confident and capable artist.

3.    Choose 1 piece of Art that you used skills and techniques learned from previous projects. Discuss your growth as an artist and how you incorporated these skills and techniques to create the piece.

The clay tile was one of our last projects. Therefore, we had already acquired many skills necessary to complete it. To design the layout of the tile, we had to use texture and contrast, just like we did in the printmaking project. To paint the tile, we used the painting skills we learned from the landscape painting. We had to add value to the paint job using the value skills we learned through drawing. By the time I was working on my tile, I had learned a lot in art, and grown as an artist because of it. I knew to establish a light source and to put the darker values where the shadows fell, and the lighter vales where the light hit. I designed my tile to have contrast between the geometric patterns of the turtle shell and the flowing waves beneath. I used paint to mix the colors I needed and create a pleasing color scheme. This project used almost every skill I had, and was a great way to end the semester.

4.    Which project do you feel was the least important in learning the concepts taught in this course? Please explain.

The project I think was the least useful was the contour drawing. While I understand that it was supposed to help us get the idea of drawing all of the crevices in an object instead of drawing a flat, two-dimensional outline, I think we spent too much time drawing contour. I appreciate the exercises we did in class with drawing contour, especially drawing our hands, because it helps to make you pay attention to detail. But after over a week of focusing on contour drawing, I was so tired of drawing contours that I probably won't draw one ever again. I had to draw three or four hands, at least five objects, two shoes, and two backpacks (neither backpack was superior to what I drew in pre-K), all without picking up the pen once. It was much too repetitive. Most of the people in the class seemed to despise drawing contours by the end of it. While one can appreciate the clean, simplistic look of contour drawing, the amount of drawings we had to do made it frustrating and boring.

5.    Choose a piece or artwork where the subject matter reflects you as an artist. One that you have a personal connection to. Please explain your choice.

As an artist, my go-to medium is drawing. While I love the bright colors of inks and paints, the pencil is much easier to control, and it comes more naturally to me than painting ever has. This drawing in particular is very special to me because it represents the lake I live near. The lake holds memories of summer and being off of school, and the way the forest lights up when the fireflies are out. It reminds me of winter and the few times it froze over, and when it snows and everyone goes sledding. It reminds me of fall walks straight through the woods, surrounded by the bright oranges, reds, and yellows of the leaves; and of spring, when the honeysuckle comes out, and its aroma fills the air. I love this drawing not only because I like the way it turned out, but because it represents a place that will be a part of me as long as I live. I enjoy drawing, especially now after learning more about how to add value and shading, to push the darks and use a wide range of values. The skills I learned in art class made it possible for me to create this very special work.