Studio Art Watercolor Reflection

Creme Brulee with Fruit

Successes: I think I was successful in controlling the color variation in my piece, especially with the color detail of the creme brulee surface, and giving the white objects (ramekin, plate) some shadows and color.

Challenges: It was challenging controlling the water when working with watercolor, and it was hard to get deeper colors without over concentration. Something that helped this challenge was using watercolor pencil to control the color and then add a layer of water to secure it.

Peer Feedback: My peers said they liked the depth of the creme brulee and the detail of the slightly lighter color variation with the melting crystals of sugar on top. They also liked the contrast of the background's darkness and the light focus. They suggested I use masking fluid to mask out the whites so that it would be easier working around it.

Overall Journey: Watercolor, in general, was a new experience for me, and I learned a lot about the medium along the way, like how water pulls and pushes the paint, dilution versus concentration, and layering the colors for dimension. What I found intriguing was how watercolor was quite different from acrylic; it was hard to get strong colors, but it was easy to get shade variation of a color by just controlling the amount of color added. It was also useful to get a sheet of paper with various watercolor techniques to expand my use of watercolor.

Ceramics Coil Vessel Blog Post

Coil Vessel
Insert post construction photo:
Describe what you liked about the coiling process of building: I loved how we could control the appearance and shape of the clay with every step by following the template. I loved manipulating the shape of the coil to follow the undulation.
Describe your frustrations: It was a bit challenging forming the little bump before the neck, and
Did your original idea change? If yes what changes occurred? My original idea stayed the same, but I did decide to add the engravings a little later in the process because I wanted to add something more unique to my vase. How could you have constructed better? I should have made sure that I didn't apply as much pressure on areas that are prone to crack, clean my vase better (smoothening the insides), and revive all over my vase to prevent drying and cracking.
Screenshot of your glaze of choice.
Insert Pre Fired Glaze Photo	Insert Post Fired Glaze Photo
Glaze Record: Textured Turquoise base (x2) Chun Plum top (x1)	Glaze application: I applied two coats of textured turquoise and then one thick coat of Chun plum. I used a left to right stroke.
Describe your final result.  Was it what you expected? (better or worse) I think my final result was better than I expected. I think I successfully highlighted the engravings because the color concentrated in the curves and stretched on the edges. I was going for a "warm blue" with all different kinds of colors, and this result was surprisingly a very autumny warm combination with hints of olive green which I really like.
How could you you have glazed better? I think I should have put more coats of glaze because I could see my strokes in some places. I think in the future I will also experiment with the drip effect and use that on the outside or inside.
How could the teacher have taught the unit better? I really think Mr. P was perfect in his in-depth demos but I'll try :) Maybe if we had gotten more demos on how to do additional things with our vase (sculptures, engravings, holes, drawing with glaze...) that would have been helpful as well.

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.