Embedded Files
Section 1: Inquiry Question and Concept Exploration
Explanation of the guiding question or concept
Inquiry Statement: How can layering, color blending, and composition choices transform an everyday object into a compelling and realistic work of art?
I would like to begin by saying that I personally almost never draw with color pencils, usually preferring to use alcohol markers and watercolors, so at the beginning of this work, I lacked a good level of confidence in my skills to make the work relatively realistic. That being said, I ended up enjoying figuring out how to layer colors properly, and expanding my knowledge of color theory, which i found to be my greatest asset while working on this project, having to trust that adding a sertain color in an area, though out of place at the begining, would end up enhancing the over all depth and smoothness of the work was chalenging yet deeply imersive. All of this, i believe, the layers and layers of colors, the use of color theory, etc, really made the work more interesting to the eye, hence making it a more compeling and realistic work of art.
Section 2: Connection
Cultural, historical, and artistic influences with critical evaluation.
Personal Connection: Reference Images of Candy (Day 3)
Picture chosen:
I settled on this image because I liked the separation of colors, the greens, reds, and yellows/oranges. There was a satisfying evenness in contrast, which I really appreciated.
I am not a huge fan of extremely sweet things, even in candy. I tend to choose sour more than pure sweetness, but when it comes to picking colors, I think I made the right choice regardless of flavor.
P.S. I also raised the saturation of the image, I felt it would be more interesting than the plainer, less vivid original.
Section 3: Investigate
Visual evidence of material tests, alternate compositions, sketches.
Value Scale Studies
Sphere Study
Gummy Study
You can see above, from left to right, my gummy bear practice, my sphere practice, and my value scales, all of which helped me practice depth and color theory.
Section 4: Create
Visual documentation of steps of creation
Here you can see my progress through out the project, as you can see, the smooth, slightly glossy finish was
Section 5: Final Artwork
Artist: Julia Hare
Title: Candy
Size: 21x20.5
Date of completion: Oct 12, 2025
The Why: I love vibrant colors; I feel they contribute significantly to the viewer's reaction. What better way to represent them than with a drawing of vibrant sweets?
Section 6: Communicate and Reflect
Reflection:
As I said at the beginning, colored pencils are really not my strong suit, and it was a challenging experience to go from working with things like watercolors, which are easy to blend and make for a much less tedious experience when trying to make a work look smooth, to color pencils, where patience is everything and very little pressure when working is a lot more vital to reach a point where the work looks coherent.
Overall all I am relatively pleased with how my work turned out; it exceeded my personal expectations of my abilities with color pencils and was generally quite an enjoyable experience.
I believe I could have added more shading from the beginning, but in terms of vibrancy (which one can probably tell is the thing that I overall find incredibly important in any work I do), I think I did well and managed to arrive at a point in my process I was proud of.
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