Art 1 Final Portfolio

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

My clay tile was my favorite and most successful project this semester. I try hard in all my projects, but I feel like this one had the best results. First, we had to sketch out a picture of one the biomes, and I chose the rainforest. I found it interesting to search up the biomes and compare how different animals lived in each one of them. After we sketched it out, we had to sculpt it with clay. This was my favorite part, because I haven't really worked with clay before in the past. I liked it, because I found it a lot easier to do than actually drawing or painting. It also gave me the opportunity to try and make the butterfly look like it was 3D. After we finished with the clay, we sent it off to the kiln to be fired. After that, we painted it. I added value onto the orange of the butterfly, and red onto the pink flowers. I am happy with how my project turned my project, and I liked the new experience of getting to work with clay. Since this was one of the last projects we did, I was able to incorporate everything I learned from the other projects into this one such as adding value. For future classes, I definitely feel like there should be another project involving clay.

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

In the print making project, I feel like I learned the most from it. In my opinion, I had a good start to this project, however, I failed to come through when it came to actually printing it. We started out this project by choosing an animal to draw on paper, then we traced it on to the linoleum. It was kind of difficult to trace, because some parts I didn't press down hard enough on, and other parts I applied to much pressure on the pencil, which caused smearing. Next we had to go and shade the portions of our drawing that we wanted to cut out. When it came to actually cutting out the linoleum, I found it very difficult. I struggled on choosing what size tool to use when I cut out the linoleum. When I used the really small one, I got impatient and  frustrated with how long it was taking. When I used the bigger size tool, it became more sloppy. I also had some really small pieces on the wings, which almost seemed impossible to cut out. When we actually had to print it, I used too much paint which caused mine to look smeared and look messy. Also, the linoleum ended up sliding once I flipped it over. From this project, I learned that you should take your time with that you're doing. You have to try your best to not let the little things cause you to mess up your whole project. If I could go make and redo this project, I would have not rushed, and I would have made sure my project didn't look sloppy.

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.

I choose this piece of art, we did, because we used the same skills from the last time we used the IPads. The last time we used the IPads, it was when we drew the cone, sphere, and cube. We used the app available on the IPad to make the colors blend together, so it looked as if there was a shadow on the objects. In the landscape project, we used the sketching app on the IPad to give us a general idea on how we could lay out our landscape. We had to use the techniques we learned last time to help us. For example, we used the concept of having different layers, and using the smudging tool. Although I didn't get the chance to finish mine, I can tell that I would have used the smudging tool on the sky to blend together the different values of blue. This is similar to what we did last time with the objects, because with the light source hitting them, it caused different shades and tints on the object. If it weren't for practicing the skills we learned the first time, I'm assuming that completing this project would be a lot more difficult.

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

Even though I found the concept of this project to be interesting, I felt like it didn't really relate to anything else we did in the  class. We completed this project by bringing in a picture, then using the computer to change the photo into three to four colors. Next, we projected the image onto the whiteboard and traced it onto different pieces of poster paper. For each different color, we used a separate piece of poster paper. After that we used a special knife to cut out what we traced. I struggled the most with this, because it was difficult for me to cut it. Then, we had to spray paint each stencil on, one at a time. The mistake I made was I used to much paint, which caused it to drip, and when I went back to fix it, tit didn't really work out. I also should made sure all my stencils lined up properly. Although I wasn't happy with the result of mine, other students in our class had some that looked really cool. I feel like this project didn't really incorporate other skills we learned. In  my opinion, this project was just kind of randomly thrown in there, even though I found it to be interesting.

 

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.

This project reflected me as an artist, and I also share a personal connection with it. This land scape is a picture I took in Canada, my hometown. I took it when went up over the summer. Our visit meant a lot to my grandma, because she thought it would be one of her last chances see my part of the family, since were the only ones who live down in the States. This picture brings back memories of getting a chance to see my extended family altogether, as well as capturing the beauty of Canada, and some of its mountains. It reflects me as an artist, because I prefer having a more peaceful and calming environment. I worked really hard on this project to added tints and shades, and blend everything together. I feel like I could have gone back and added more details, but for the most part, I am happy with how my project turned out. I tried to the best of my ability to paint one of the many beautiful scenes in Canada.