Studio Art- Acrylic Painting Reflection

Cultural competence:
I went on the Exercise is Medicine trip, and the essence of that trip was looking at natural and herbal medicine and celebrating well being as well as exploring the traditional methods to keep ourselves healthy. I thought that idea was well captured through the herbal teas as it reflects traditional Chinese medicine and health.

Successes:
I think I did well on my reflective surfaces, like the cover off the tea and the handle. I also really enjoyed this part, working with different shades to make the glass area look transparent. I also think I was successful with the depth of color in the tea; even though it was time-consuming, I was happy that the tea had layers of color. I also enjoyed painting the dates because the dates had a sort of depth and texture to them.

Challenges:
Part of the characteristics of acrylic paint is that it dries very fast. Acrylic is a medium I am not experienced with at all, so it took me by surprise how quickly I had to spread my color. Also, trying to make sure my painting didn't show the brush marks I made was a challenge because I had to constantly hide the strokes at every stage.

Peer feedback:
My peers really liked how I painted the glass using color variation. They also like the depth of color in the herbal tea and on the handle, and they thought black was a good choice for the back as it drew the attention to the herbal tea. They said in the future I could work on applying the gloss varnish in one direction to make the gloss more consistent.

Studio Art Live Drawing

This rapidiograph drawing is of my little brother when he was sleeping.



Overall, my process with all the timed drawings has been very enriching. As with a lot of the experiences I've had in in studio art, this unit was something I hadn't really done before, nor was rapidiograph something I knew of before studio art. Through these drawings, I was able to work with materials like Conte chalk, oil pastel, Prismacolor markers, and rapidiograph, and I found myself enjoying rapidiograph and oil pastel the most. Through the mannequin part of this unit, I was able to improve my sense of proportions, angles, foreshortening, positive and negative space, clear contour and sensitivity with shading. I learned the pencil technique and using my dominant eye when figuring out angles. In the live part, I not only built on those skills, but I also got to experience a bit of realism, where proportions drastically affected the artwork, and I was also able to paint creative surfaces. Throughout, I asked Mr. Laurence for feedback, and I think that was really an important step for me to improve my drawings and build off of my mistakes.

Studio Art Student Live Figure Timed Drawing

Ceramics 1 Blog Post - Box

Slab Construction
Construction
Reflection:   Describe what you enjoyed about the construction- I really enjoyed working with a unique shape. In my construction, I made a shape of two hexagons together to create a honeycomb figure. I also really enjoyed making the honey spoon handle because this was beyond what we were taught in class. Describe what you found difficult or needed more instruction- I think making the slabs fit together properly and making both halves equal in size was a struggle because there are always little errors with measurements and working with clay. However, this was a very valuable learning process, and with Mr. P's help, I was able to understand how to fix that difficulty using a ruler for shaping. What do you think about the final outcome of your construction?- I think the final outcome of my piece very unique. I like it because it demonstrates a special part of me through the honey theme (how my mom and I stayed up till 2 am once being very fascinated watching the process of honey on T.V). I also like the hexagonal engravings I made on the surface to create some design and texture. I don't know how others will interpret my box, but to me, it's a personal piece that stands out from other standard boxes.
Glaze Record and Technique
Glazes and Underglazes used: I used the tawny color for my glaze. I used a little bit of opalescent on top (but then covered it back with tawny). Technique: I just used the tawny color all over and covered the opalescent coat I had made because I didn't want to take a risk with how different colors would interact with each other.
Pre Fire Glaze Photo	Post Fire Glaze Photo
Final Reflection
Describe the overall final result of your piece. The overall result of my piece looked glossy and had a nice finish with the glaze. I was glad that the engraving of the hexagons I had made was still there and that my box didn't have any cracks. What was your biggest surprise? My biggest surprise was how the color of glazing turned out. To my surprise, the different amounts of glazing produced a darker color in some areas that gave a really cool scratched or antique look. What would you change for your construction technique? For my construction, I would change the angles at which I arranged my individual slabs. The angles I cut the slabs made it more time consuming to give a neat finish. What would you change for your glazing technique? With more knowledge of glazing, I would definitely like to try overlapping more than one color. I used opalescent but wasn't sure about the color product, so I covered tawny back on top.

Studio Art Timed Marker Pens and Prismacolor Drawing Blog Post

With my pen and prismacolor+pen pieces, I really enjoyed the process. Since I didn't have any experience with the materials, it took me some time to explore and adjust to how to work with them, but I wanted to make sure I have enough practice. With both, I explored foreshortening; I did that with the fingers in the pen drawing and the charcoal colored tile in the prismacolor+pen (using the angle and perspective). I really enjoyed cross-hatching as a shading technique, because I found that I could get through the shading fast and still get a lot of depth. Using the feedback I received from Mr. Laurence, I made sure to clean up my contour lines and add an overlapping element, especially with my prismacolor+pen artwork. For that art piece, I used the pen as my contour. I found it really interesting to work on both pieces because of their interesting composition. I think through this experience I have definitely gotten some practice on using materials I'd never used before, and this has helped me improve my skills.

Studio Art Timed Oil Pastel/Conte Blog Post

With my timed oil-pastel drawing, I tried my best to maintain a sharp and defined contour line throughout the figure. To make the line as sharp as I could, I used a contrasting light color next to the contour which I learned from the demonstration; this helped clean the contour. With the oil pastel, the shading was a fairly quick process. I kept in mind that I'd need thicker, more prominent lines around bigger parts of the body and finer lines around small details. I asked for feedback throughout my process to find out where I can improve, like how I can show evidence of my foreshortening and how to get the white lines in between the fingers to show the slight gap between the fingers. This really helped me improve and push myself to do better. I enjoyed this process because I was observing at an angle that showed foreshortening, overlapping, and interesting negative space.

There were many similarities and differences between the pencil and oil pastel. For one, the oil pastel was way harder to get a sharp contour line than the pencil. It was easier to get finer details with the pencil. However, the shading in the oil pastel went by faster than the pencil. The benefit of oil pastel was definitely that I could clean up the edges with a contrasting color. I prefer oil pastel as a medium because the oil base made it easier for me to blend in colors while shading.

Although my piece isn't complete, I look to completing this and making it a part of my portfolio.

Studio Art Timed Drawing Blogpost

Although this timed drawing isn't fully completed, I wanted to make sure what has been completed hits all of the assessment criteria. I constantly asked for feedback on various stages of my drawing, and that helped me a lot on what to improve on and how to further refine my drawing. I tried to vary my line thickness, making the contour around intricate details thinner and lighter, while long, prominent lines a litter thicker and darker. Since I had never done such a practice before, I found foreshortening a little daunting at first. However, as I got to draw, I really enjoyed the foreshortening and viewing the 3-D mannequin with a 2-D lens. With the feedback I received, I tried my best to make my contour crisp and defined. All in all, this drawing was definitely a new journey for me, and I've really grown as an artist from this. Moving forward, I look to complete this and make it an addition to my art portfolio.