What a semester. Art 4 has truly been one of my favorite classes at Apex High School. I am so blessed to know and have worked with amazing artists in this class. Their input has helped me tremendously in making better art. This class has taught me so much more about my art skills and the art I made is better than anything I thought I could ever make with my own hands.
Thank you so much Ms. Rossi. You taught me so many new things about art and my abilities. You challenged me to become the best artist I could be even when I resented the prospect of it. I want to take a few art classes in college now because of your class. I'll be back to visit. Keep inspiring people like me Ms. Rossi. I am forever grateful.
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Okay so when I first started this bubble gum machine I was so overwhelmed. It required a lot of deep and vibrant colors and intricate shapes. I was excited because I feel like every time I make another piece using prisma colors I improve my skills. I was officially ready to take on this challenge.
To begin, I got the basic outline of the shape of the gumball machine. This was so hard because the machine itself is very close to being perfectly symmetrical but the gumballs inside threw me off. So I basically avoided the gum in the machine. I worked instead on the red metal part. I love this part of the machine. I add so many layers and I worked very hard to include a wide range of values. I love the way it shines. After adding a few layers of red I moved onto the gumballs. The gumballs took me a very long time. First I started out at the top, slowly adding the gumballs in below it. Getting the circles to have a realistic shape took a while. It was hard to find a way for all the gumballs to fit together. It felt like I was drawing a puzzle. Then I began adding color. My goal was to capture the vibrancy of the gumballs. This helps make the mood of the piece light and fun. I went to work starting with a base color then added shadows and highlights. I think this was one of my best pieces in terms of value with prisma colors. It took me a very long time but I finally colored all of those gumballs. I counted. There were 64 gumballs visible. Next was the part I really dreaded, the coin slot. I really did not want to capture all the detail in the picture because I did not want the eye to be drawn into the center too much. Instead, I tried to add the values I saw. I avoided to many detailed shapes of what looked to be animals. This worked in my favor in that I was able to create the look and maintain a balance throughout my piece. If I had more time, I would go back and add even more color to the gumballs. This would make this piece even stronger. If I redid the piece I would add more colors because I think that the orange and yellow look too similar. I was overall happy with the way this piece turned out. I think it only helped improve my skills as an artist no matter how frustrating it may have been. Mixed media is definitely a form of art that I am not very familiar with. I have done one other mixed media piece but that was all. I was really excited for this piece because it is a different form of art. It is abstract and interpretative while still maintaining a theme and creating lines and shapes. Mixed media involves both 3 dimensional material and flat material like newspaper and tissue paper. Mixed media is almost relaxing as you add the layers of gel medium and media.
To start, I knew I wanted to use blues. Blues are peaceful and to me, convey a sense of calm. So I added different shades of blue and a little bit of light green. Then I added newspaper. I decided to add in the playing card with glitter which I think is very strong and added a vertical line. When I added the playing card, I noticed the way red adds a new dynamic to the piece. I became inspired. I realized that the blue reminded me of the ocean and red reminded me of royalty and nobility. When I was searching through maps for more layers I found one with Hawaii. This was perfect. I have always dreamed of visiting Hawaii one day. I am in awe of the clear water and white sand beaches. The volcanoes and lava add a twist to this American paradise. Maybe it was my love for Hawaii Five-0 that sparked this interest. I have no idea. But this piece was a perfect way to embrace the inner tourist in me and explore the rich history of this once independent island civilization. I actually found out Hawaii had a queen, not a king (oops). The native polynesians actually sailed 2000 miles on canoe before finding the Hawaiian islands. You may wonder why I included a piece of a European map. Europe actually had a major impact on the Hawaiian way of life and opened the island up as a trade stop for seamen and whalers. Anyway, my passion for the island life helped influence my use of materials. I included a map of Hawaii along with Hawaii in red. I still covered some of this with tissue paper to better enhance the piece. I included a red bird that is actually native to Hawaii along with a hibiscus flower. I then use acrylic paint to add waves. I tried to incorporate circles throughout my piece as well. I used acrylic paint and bubble wrap to add the circles on the top and bottom of my piece. I added the red 3 dimensional circles on the wire to add red and create a horizontal line. I also tried to use repetition throughout my piece. I cut pieces of magazine to make diagonal lines. These were darker blue but had fish on them. This helped add the sea life of the state of Hawaii. I am overall happy with the way this piece turned out. It has meaning and every piece I included can tie back to the native way of life. I would like to go back in and add some more to this piece to create more interest, especially in the middle area. I enjoyed doing this project at the end of the semester. |
AuthorJust make art. Archives
January 2017
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