My idea at first was to showcase my skill in drawing people but first I needed a cool background. So I painted tulips and polka dots for the background just to give it some more appeal. The first thing I did was get out some watercolor paint and pick out my favorite colors. I added a few petal-shaped blobs of each color, once they dried I did another one overlapping the first. Then to fill in the space between I did a bulb even darker. Once everything had dried I took out the green and traced stems down the paper. Next, I mixed a skin tone shade and made an outline of a head, neck, and shoulders. I had to paint over it a few times to get over the tulips in the background. But after that shaded with a brown and blushed with a pink shade. I covered her with freckles with more brown paint. I grabbed the black paint and did the outline of her dress and hair then outlined it in a blue. Next was outlining the skin in red and using that same red for the lips. The white paint was used as highlights on her face and the eyes, I then got an idea to have her have white eyebrows. All that was left was the brown eyes and outlining the eyes in black and using a little more white for the ey highlights. There really is no meaning behind this work other than to showcase my abilities at the beginning of the semester. The most difficult part of this painting for me was the tulips, I’m not that good at flowers and had never attempted tulips before. I struggled with what to do for her eyebrows since you wouldn't be able to see them because her hair was already black so I had the idea to instead have them white. If I started over I would choose a brighter blue for the outlining of the black. I would say this style of art is more cartoon. It's unique to me in how I did the girl in my specific art style. I love the tulips in the back the most because they are beautiful and turned out better than I expected.
My idea was to paint a self-portrait of me but make it look like it's in a frame. At first, the backdrop was just supposed to be pink but I thought it was too boring so I added colorful patterns to it. I painted the canvas a pretty pink and then I put a picture into an online site that turns it into a coloring page, I then printed it out and transferred it onto my canvas with graphite paper. Then I began on the skin, I did the base coat and then added the details of the counters, highlights, and blush. Next on the list was the lips, eyebrows, and then blacking out of the sunglasses and sweatshirt. I kind of just stippled blue and light grey over the sunglasses to make them look like they had reflections in them. I used a dark grey on the sweatshirt to give the illusion of wrinkles in the fabric. The grey part of the sleeve was easier, the darker spots of it were made with a dab of grey paint and a dry brush. Next up was the hair which I struggled with a lot and ended up not putting in as many details. Just making the edges darker and a little bit of a highlight. Next up was just kind of making random designs in a semi-circle around me with all different bright colors. After that I painted to edges with a slightly watered-down brown and added extra to the corners to make it look like a picture frame. I finished it off with using some white lines to make it look like it has glass over it. There really was no specific meaning behind this painting other then to do a portrait and for it to look fun and appealing. The most difficult part for me was the realism aspect of it. I usually use a cartoon style so this wasn’t what I usually do. Most of all I struggled with the hair, so I kept it simpler than the rest and tried really hard to copy the original look of it. If I could start over I would make the nose a little smaller and make the lips pinker. This is Realism with a little bit of abstract. Obviously, the abstract is the background and the realism is the frame and me. I love the patterns the most out of all.
12'0" x 12'0"
Paint, Canvas, Glue, Glitter
2022
The theme for this painting was supposed to be a social issue. Mine was about teenagers suffering through the stress of high school and teenage life so they try to escape into their own fantasy world inside their heads to avoid it. I got the idea because oftentimes in school I image myself far away in a world where I can be the chosen one selected to save the land. I know not everyone has this specific thing but I'm sure many people escape into their minds when school gets too much. The first thing I did was paint the canvas grey then put down some painter's tape and grabbed a ruler to pencil down the lines for the lockers. I used a darker grey to outline those parts and do the finer details of the locker. Then I used white to do the lock part and highlights on the metal. After that, I used a light tan color for the walls and ceilings and a slightly darker version of it for the crevices and to add some texture. I replaced the paint tape on the other side and painted the blue sky. After that, I made fluffy clouds and a planet. I used an array of greys to give the mountain a rougher look before using greens in short wispy upwards motions for grass. I used the graphite paper to sketch the drawing onto the painting it was off though so I just freehanded it. I then painted it all and added the small details, I used darker versions of all the main colors and outlined them to give it a softer overall look. Once all of that was done I used some clear glue and glitter on the split part to make it look like magic was connecting the two. Like I said before this artwork is trying to symbolize the ways that teenagers escape from the problems of the real world in a much more magical way. The most difficult part was probably the background because I never really draw or paint anything other than people so it was something I hadn’t done before. If I had to change something about this work it would probably be her face because it never quite came out right and the nose was off. I would say this is a more cartoon style, and my own personal style with all of the bright colors, fantasy aspects, glitter, and my own drawing style. I really love how it came out and the message I was trying to convey seems pretty clear.
'" x '"
Paint, Canvas
2022
My idea was to create a painting that I could give to my dance teacher. I knew I wanted some sort of dancer but I didn’t know which, I eventually ended up with a pointe dancer because it's the most theatrical and my favorite style. The First thing I did was paint the entire canvas black, I added some painter's tape on the bottom and did a dark grey for the stage. I assembled the tape into the shape of a spotlight and took a watered-down light yellow for the spotlight. I used white graphite paper this time to transfer my drawing onto the canvas. I worked in small parts first starting with the skin and then the pink tights. Of course, I added some depth to both before moving on to her gloves and dress. The skirt was just a bunch of small strokes downwards in different shades of purple. I used a golden yellow color for her sleeves and started working on her hair. After that was dry I used the same gold for her tiara. The background in the process of all of this was all messed up so I repeated the same process from before to redo it. This time around though instead of a watered-down light yellow I created a dark green and it looked a lot cleaner but still gave an illusion of light. Finally, I outlined her all in a red gel pen and glued some fake flowers on the ground around her. The artwork doesnt mean anything in the sense of symbolism but more in intent. It’s supposed to show my gratitude to my dance teacher of 12 years. The most difficult part was probably redoing the spotlight part of the background. I had to carefully go all the way around her and not get any on her. If I could start over the painting I would redraw her arms to be more straight and graceful. This style is my own cartoon style that I use for all of my drawings and paintings of people. I love her dress the most because it turned out exactly how I wanted it to.