Painting I
Bri Clark "The Hold"
10x12
Acrylic paint, Mixed Media, Watercolor
The painting "The Hold" was my first painting I did. I have always had a strong belief, faith, and relationship with God. Something important to me is showing others the way that he can heal you and save you from the works of the devil. At first I wanted to create a single face, representing a young teenage girl, crying. I wanted to have hands reaching out and covering her face to resemble hiding her away from secular and demonic beings. I then had the idea to show the other worldly part of her that was still holding on and had attached itself to her. But when the hands (that represent God) are holding her face, the dark shaw-like being starts to go astray and unattached itself from her. I started by using yellow ochre and white to make the bakcground color of the painting. I used mix media to add it to the canvas for a better hold. I then sketched out my idea and began to paint using acrylic and mixed media. If I could change on thing about my painting, I would make the face and the details to the hands more realistic, as well as the facial expressions. But I love how I am able to grasp the seriousness and depth of the story I am trying to tell.
Bri Clark "Secular"
10x12
Acrylic paint, Mixed Media
"Secular" was my second painting. I wanted to capture the fact of the human race drowning in our electronics and reaching out for help, but just being out of reach. In this time, everyone is often so wrapped up into their own phones and secular (worldly) desires that we don't even realize how distant we have become, and how deep we have gone into our phones until it's too late. In this painting, I started the same way I did with "The Hold", but this time I added a little more yellow ochre to my ochre and white mixture to give it more of an eerie and gloomy feel. Something I love about this painting is the water and the different colors in it, and the breaking free of the hand that is just out of reach. If I could change something about this I would definitely make the hands more detailed and less cartoon like.
Bri Clark "Pure"
12x12
Watercolor
"Pure" was my third paiting I had done. I really like this painting because of the drips of watercolor coming from the heart. I think in todays society we forget what love really is, and we throw around the word a lot instead of actually understanding love. I chose to paint a heart to resemble this because our hearts are the most pure evidence of love we have. I started by creating a white background this time, instead of a yellow ochre and white mix. I then added a few flashes of crimson and blue ochre to make an unertoned purple to add to the crevices and veins in the heart. After that, I added the hand and becan to add more color and layering into the shape of the hand. If I could change something about this painting I would definetly make the hand more even and detailed, and more realistic. I would also add more color from the background to make it look better. I do love the message behind this painting and the heart colors and shape.
Bri Clark "Self Image"
12x12
Acrylic, Mixed Media, Watercolor
"Self Image" is my latest painting. This is by far my most favorite painting out of all of the ones I have done. The girl in the mirror is representing a feeling of mixed emotions. Whether that be about herself or something in the room with her, thats for you to determine yourself. I started by doing my yellow ochre and white mixture for the background, and then adding the sketch of the girl herself. I added many different colors to the skin, the mirror, the silk dress, and the hair. Something I love about this painting is how I used watercolor to make the mirror seem reflective, yet you can't see through it. I also love the different shading and highlighting of the dress, which is a mix of all different colors to make a silky purple. I am still working on this painting and something I could change is the hair placement. The head doesn't look turned towards the mirror, so I will work on that as time goes on.
Inspired Painting
"Empty Swing"
12x12
Mixed Media
"Empty Swing" is my painting inspired by the famous painting "The Swing" by Jean-Honoré Fragonard, made sometime between 1767 and 1768. I was inspired by the texture and shades of the bushes and plants in the painting. In this painting, there is a girl swinging, being wooed by a potential lover, but in the distance there is another man holding her swing. I wanted to show the same imagery, except this time this swing is possibly in a different place, with a different scenario. The swing is also abandoned, but still slowing down from being sat on, which means someone had just sat there. This leaves viewers with suspense and not knowing the full story behind this painting. I started by adding a hazy yellowish color, lighter where I wanted the sky, and darker where the bushes would go. I then sketched out the tree, sky, swing, and bushes. I then took a hardened old paintbrush to add details to the bush es and tree. I also mixed black and phthalo green for the darker corners and back of the bushes. For the sky, i used a paper towel and dipped it in white paint to create the fluffy cloud visual, and finally added the swing. I mixed yellow ochre and burnt sienna to get a wooden feel. if I could change on thing about this painting, I would make the swing more realistic and detailed, however I love the sky behind the swing and the textures of the tree and bushes.
Mother's Day Painting
"Mother's Love"
12x12
Watercolor, Acrylic
This painting is for my mom for Mother's day this year. She is a gardener and has always loved flowers, so I wanted to create a painting that resembled her. The quote is "A mother's love is more beautiful than any fresh flower." This is special to me because my mom is the best mom in the entire world and I want to show her that. I started by sketching the pitcher and trying to figure out how to paint the water texture and color. I then sketched the flowers and background. I then wrote the words and started to paint with acrylic for the background and the stems. I then used watercolor to create the water and the flower colors. The middle of the flowers are acrylic paint as well. After everything dried, I used marker to write over the words. I absolutely love the finished product. However, if I could change one thing about the painting I would make the dark blue at the bottom light blue, because it dips and kind of makes a weird shadowing affect.
Baseline - Finishline:
Throughout the semester, I have improved in my artistic skill and growth. In the beginning, I would only use watercolor, and bland coloring. For my finish line project, I wanted to use the same process and technique as my baseline, but make it more colorful and detailed using the same products. My strengths are shadowing and sketching, adding different colors and making them come together. I have also grown as an artist in other areas of painting, such as mixed media, acrylic, etc. I have become very good at adding details to those paintings, and have spent most of my semester on those. My goals for the future are to become more advanced in watercolor since it is my weakest painting technique. Some watercolor skills I have improved on are adding shadowing and mixing colors instead of using one simple color, although I still have a lot to work on for watercoloring. I am still working on these techniques however, as well as background and implementing it into my watercolor painting. I am also working on not washing out the pencil in the back, because I like the cartoonish-illustration effect it has. Some goals for the future are definitely to keep working on watercolor, mixing the colors, knowing when to add more color or more water, layering, and definitely more depth. Although I have a lot of improvement to make in the future, I still love my creativity and ability to try something new.