Embedded Files
2023
Amelia Griffin "The American Dream"
Size, Graphite & Paper, 2023
My artwork looks like the head of a bald eagle screaming, with an American flag next to it. I titled my piece, "The American Dream". I called it this because it contains a lot of things that would describe the United States. It contains an eagle that represents the strength and freedom of America. It also contains the American flag which represents the fifty states and the original thirteen colonies. I used a lot of contrast in this piece. I also needed to use spacing to get the proportions of the eagle correct.
My artwork was made from paper and graphite pencils. Some other materials and tools I used were a blending stump, a kneadable eraser, and a normal eraser. I started by drawing the beak of the bird, it was the largest part and the easiest. I added the small details in the mouth and eyes. Once I finished, I moved on to draw the feathers. Lastly, I created the American flag and cleaned up the surrounding lines. I struggled a lot with this piece because it is not the style I normally draw. The feathers were the hardest part because I made them look like leaves and it was hard to make them look like feathers. I kept trying but couldn't get it right so I came up with the idea to make an American flag to cover up the area. Luckily it distracts your eyes and helps cover the mistakes. Although It wasn't easy I am happy with the turnout.
The place I live in inspired this piece. I live in America, and I am proud to be an American so I wanted to make this honorable piece of artwork. I tried to show a sense of pride in the piece. I also wanted it to show freedom and liberty. My artwork does not have a message but instead shows freedom.
I learned that you need to persevere. I struggled with the artwork and at times I felt like giving up. Instead of giving up, I started my other project to get my mind free. I created my abstract doodle artwork. It helped me calm myself and give myself time to brainstorm what I could do to fix it. I also had some encouragement from my teacher which helped me keep going. A lot of times in my art I strive to be perfect but I can never be perfect. What I needed to understand was it is okay to not be perfect because it makes the art unique. My goal was to complete this piece because I was contemplating whether or not I wanted to give up.
The final piece is not what I had imagined. The American flag was not part of the original layout or plan. In the future, I will try to create more realistic pieces so I can see my improvement and get better. I like that I made the flag pole look rustic and worn down, but I like how I drew the bird's beak. I would change the darkness of the flag because it stands out a little too much for me. Overall, I like how this piece turned out.
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Amelia Griffin "Emotionally Connected" & "A Trip to the Zoo"
Size, Marker Paper & Sharpies, 2023
My art piece is two separate collages of different things. One is a complete doodle theme and the other is animal-themed. I named the doodle one "Emotionally Connected" because there are a lot of different colors and shapes going on. But almost every character has a different emotion or facial expression. It draws your eyes to a lot of different spots and it feeds your imagination. I named the animal one "A Trip to the Zoo". I named it that because it contains a lot of animals you would see at a zoo like a giraffe, penguin, and a monkey. In these art pieces, I didn't use spacing. I tried to cram as many things as I could into specific areas. I used a lot of color and contrast.
My artwork was made from marker paper, and I used Sharpies to outline and color my characters. I tested out a lot of the Sharpie colors to find the ones to use. I sketched a lot of random characters onto a sheet, and then outlined & colored them in. On the animal one, I looked up a list of animals so I could add varieties.
One day a few years ago I saw people creating murals of doodles. I had already loved to draw cartoon styles. I still loved to draw them, so I thought back and this idea came to me. I wanted to create some of my original characters that I would learn to love. I tried to show a majority of emotions. From mad and sad, to confused and content. I wanted to make sure the audience could find at least one emotion they could relate to while looking at my piece. For my animal one, it was harder to display emotions so I left the faces simple. My doodle artwork kind of has a message. The lines in some places intertwine and loop together. My message was that people can be emotionally connected, hence the name.
I learned that it can take a while to color on a piece of paper. You just have to be patient. Each artwork took me about one and a half weeks to complete. My goal was to make a couple of collages and finish them both. I met my goal and was very pleased with the outcome.
These artworks were almost exactly like I had imagined them. I imagined a bright colorful artwork that makes you happy. This piece will probably make me want to continue drawing with a cartoon style in the future. I enjoyed making it and it distracted me from the other style of artwork that I was struggling with. It felt nice to take a break and draw something I enjoyed. I like that the characters are unique, and the animals are different species. One thing I would change is I would make fewer brown-colored animals on my animal collage. I felt like the brown was slowly taking over and it was not as brightly colored as my first.
Amelia Griffin "A Butterfly Dream"
Size, Construction Paper, Scrapbook Paper, Beads, 2023
My artwork looks like a black drawing with different butterflies on it. The only thing is that one of the butterflies has a wing that was drawn. All of the butterflies have metallic beads as the body, and most have an old-looking paper that makes the wings. All of the butterflies except the main one, are 3-D and stick out of the paper. I was trying to portray a bunch of butterflies that were unique, and focusing on one species, the swallowtail. The title of my artwork is "A Butterfly Dream". I used a lot of contrast, textures, and patterns on the wings. My artwork is made from black construction paper, scrapbook paper, and beads. The materials I used to draw the singular wing were colored pencils meant for black paper. I used Elmer's glue to bond the beads to the paper and to make the butterflies stick out of the paper. I used rubber cement to stick the large butterfly's paper wing to lay flat against the paper. For my large butterfly, I drew one wing and used it as a stencil to make sure it was symmetrical. For the little butterflies, I drew simple bodies and cut them out. I then folded the body in half and glued the middle to the paper to allow the wings to stick up and out from the paper, to create a 3-D effect.
The only inspiration I had was simply just nature. I admire the way that nature corresponds with one another. Butterflies and other pollinators help flowers grow. I wanted to create a piece with butterflies because they are majestic insects and are very beautiful in my eyes. There were not any emotions involved in this piece besides peace. I wanted the viewer to feel at peace when they glance at my artwork. I learned trial and error while making this piece. When I tried to glue on the beads at first, I did not use enough glue. This meant when I checked it the next class period many of the beads fell off. The next time I tried to put the beads on I used a more generous amount of glue to make sure that they stayed on. My goal was to create an original idea, and to make it how I envisioned it.
This is not the final piece I had imagined for myself. I only imagined myself creating one singular butterfly, but instead, I ended with more than one and some that were 3-D. The piece I believe in the future will encourage me to try new ideas within my art and create new things. I like how the focal point is the pop of color on the main butterfly. If I could change anything I would change the beads on the smaller butterflies. I liked the simplistic look with just one singular line of beads instead of shaping the whole body and antennas. Overall, this is one of my favorite art pieces to this day.
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