Painting l

Clara LeConte "Lost In Greece"

8"x10", Acrylic Paint, 2024

Throughout my life, I've loved to travel. Whether it's to the beach or the mountains, I love an adventure and seeing the sites of a new place. Traveling around the world if one of my life goals in the future. I think Greece would be a beautiful country to visit because of the landscape, culture, architecture, and cuisine. 

I used acrylic paint to create this piece. The most unique technique I used was to create the flowers. I used a small piece of a paper towel to create the texture in all of the flowers and greenery. Then I used the edge of a Q-tip to create the effect of some flowers being closer to the viewer. 

To me, this artwork represents my hopes and ambitions. I hope to achieve my goal of traveling the world in my future, especially to Greece.  When I have a goal in mind, I work my hardest towards achieving it. I also wanted to show the beauty of the world through nature and  human influence. When others see this painting, I want them to picture beautiful scenery and appreciate the beauty of our world. I also want them to envision their dreams, whether it's traveling or something else, then maybe they too will work harder towards achieving them. 

The most difficult thing for me was painting in almost a more "messy" manner. What I mean by this is that I'm used to painting straight and perfect lines. While I have painted sunsets before, the blending of the landscape was different from anything I've done. Painting the buildings without perfect lines and blending color together was also a challenge. If I could change the piece and start over, I would add a sunset and more colors in the landscape to give it more uniqueness and depth.

I don't think this piece can be described with one style. Rather, I would describe as abstract realism. While I was going for a realistic look, I still didn't want it to look exactly like a photograph. I wanted some blends to be blended together, not being able to see every little detail. I think this is why it's unique to my style. While it looks like something in real life, it's still looks more like a painting than a photograph. I think a lot of my work also represents my goals and dreams in places I wish to see and people I wish to be like. I'm proud of how I stepped out of my comfort zone with a different kind of painting for the first time, and it still turned out very well. I love how the painting is very colorful and makes you feel like you stepped into Greece, looking off  a balcony at the beautiful world around you. 

Clara LeConte "The Blue Towel"

3"x5", Acrylic Paint, 2024

My idea came from the inspiration card that is pictured under my painting. As I was flipping through the cards, I stopped on the towel because of its color and texture. I thought it would be a fun challenge to try and recreate this simple, yet complex every day item. 

The main technique I used was dabbing with a paper towel. This created a little bit of texture on the towel like how the material would be in real life. I also dabbed white and black to give it more texture. 

While the towel is a simple everyday item, viewers can understand the complexity while looking at it. I wasn't able to exactly replicate how the towel looks in real life. This shows the difficulty in art and painting. It can also show the complexity of life and how some things are more difficult and complex than they seem on the surface. 

The most difficult part of this painting for me was creating dimensions and shadows. Trying to create the different layers of the towel and the shadows around the outside was challenging. I just kept working at it, using different shades, until I felt it looked accurate. If I were to start again, I would try and make the blue closer to how it is in the picture and create better shadows. 

This art is realistic because it's mimicing a real life object. I think it's unique to me because of the textures and the technique of the textures. I was really pleased with how the dimension and 3D effect really made it come to life. I didn't know I could paint like that, purely looking off of a picture.  I also like how the different colors and shades bring the painting to life. 

Clara LeConte "THE INSPIRATION"

8"x10", Acrylic Paint, 2024 

When scrolling through Instagram, I came upon a painting that was done by Melissa Falconer. I've always been a huge Michael Jordan fan and thought the idea of this painting really brought him to life. Michael Jordan has always been an inspiration for me, so I thought this artwork paid him tribute and exemplified this idea.

After I drew the figure, I began painting color by color. I tried by create hard, sharp lines with all of the contrasting colors. For the basketball, I blended shades of brown, orange, and white, making it lighter as it got to the middle. 

In this artwork, I first want people to recognize not only Jordan's talent, but his drive and passion. Even though I will never be as talented as him, I can still have a work ethic like his. He worked hard to become the best at everything he does. While some just see him as one of the best basketball players, I see him as more than that. I see him as an inspiration and a person with many seen and unseen qualities. I think the many different colors bring out that idea. I just wanted to show people a colorful, fun image of the G.O.A.T. , representing his inspiring work and talent. 

The most difficult part of painting this was probably painting over the background color. Since I started with such a dark background, I had to use many coats for each color to fully cover it. If I were to start over, I would first paint this canvas a light color, maybe even just white. Then once I was finished with Jordan, I would paint the background color around it. This way I wouldn't have to use so many layers on each different color. 

I would say the style of this painting is pop art. This is because it shows an influential figue while utilizing bright, bold colors. It is unique to my style because I combined the things that I love. I love basketball and have always been inspired by Michael Jordan. I also love color and how it brings things to life. I love how the painting brings these two aspects together to create the man who is truly THE INSPIRATION. 

Clara LeConte "Betty"

7"x5", Acrylic Paint, 2024

"Betty" is a painting of a sophisticated, fun alpaca. I got the idea from a wish my family and I have. As my dad lives in the country with farmland, he's been thinking of animals and projects to pursue. One of these ideas is getting alpacas. I though this was a way to bring this idea to life and maybe sway him to follow through with an idea. 

To create the hair of the alpaca, I used lots of  wavy lines. I wanted to create an non-uniform, yet clean look on the animal. Then I used small strokes to create a fluffy look on the earrings and smaller parts of the alpaca's hair. 

This artwork is more of a fun, amusing image. While it doesn't have a deep meaning, it can still represent something. It represents a wish and a hope. It also represents my relationship with my dad. It shows how we can both be a little farfetched, yet realistic at the same time. It also shows something that would allow us to spend time together, maintaining and caring for the animal. 

The most difficult part was probably creating the earrings. it was difficult to create the shading to get the fluffy look on them. if I started over I would probably try and make the earrings more realistic. 

I don't think this painting is described by one style of art. I would more consider it semi-realism. It shows a real animal in a playful, fictional way. I think it's unique to me in the way I incorperated color into it. I always have to have color in my paintings. While the alpaca uses whites, brown, and yellows, I still made sure to incorporate color into the earrings and background. I love how "Betty" brings an unfamiliar animal to life in and fun, playful way. 

Clara LeConte "Baseline - Finishline"

8"x10", Acrylic Paint, 2024

These two paintings represent my growth throughout a semster of painting. They both show the same picture of three different kinds of cactuses, one having pink and yellow flowers. 

I didn't use any crazy techniques for these paintings. But, to create the needles on the left cactus, I would put a dot of paint, then scratch and spread it with the other end of my paintbrush.  To create the flowers, I used a fine brush to create lots of tin, smooth lines to give the flowers movement and make them almost look soft. 

The paintings themselves show my love for the desert or southwestern scenery. I've always been fascinated by cactuces and all of the desert landscape. This was just a simple way to depict some of that. Besides from the actual looks of the paintings, it also shows my growth as an artist. I think I've improved in color choice, as the orange and dark green colors make the painting more bright and evident. I also think I have improved in shading and lighting and texture. I've given the cactuses more shading in the   painting and the flowers are more textured and soft-looking. 

If I were to start over on either of these paintings, I would take more time on them. They were both rushed, so I wasn't able to give them all of the details I would've liked. I would've had more shading and little details to make the cactuses more realistic looking. 

I would describe this style of art as semi-realism. While the paintings depict real life objects, they aren't perfectly arrcurate or supposed to be perfectly accurate. They're meant to look a little cartoonish while still being able to identify a distinct object. I like how they give off a southwestern, desert vibe, especially the finish line painting with the orange background. It shows some of my ambitions of traveling and allows me to picture a small, southwestern, desert town that I would like to visit someday.