For my baseline painting, I drew a starfish and a seashell. I chose 2 still life objects and decided to draw and paint them. First I looked at all of the details and started sketching out the correct shape. Next I added in the smaller lines and dots to make it look more realistic. Finally I took some acrylic paint and drew in the little details on the seashell and painted some water.  The most difficult part was the seashell because it had a lot of little details that I wanted to be able to capture. If I were to change one thing it would be the placing of the objects because they look like they are just floating in the air. The thing I love most is how the paint color matches the actual seashell so well.

My idea behind this painting was my dog, Rocky. He is only 1 year old but he is so fun and keeps life interesting. My process during painting was I first found a picture I wanted to refer back to. Once I found the photo I liked, I painted my background a dark brown, to make the white really stand out and bring a lot of attention to the eyes. After I painted the background, I traced the picture onto the canvas and began to paint just using white and black. Once the base layers of white and black were done, I started to add smaller details like texturizing the fur. The technique I used for adding the fur was using a very tiny paintbrush and going through adding each little hair. Once I added texture I went in and added Rocky's little dark spots all around his fur. I also added part of his collar. The final thing I did was work on his eyes. I wanted the eyes to be one of the first things you look at because he has really large, pretty eyes. This artwork has a lot of meaning to me because ever since we got Rocky, we have had a very close bond. I want the audience to think about a sweet, innocent puppy when they look at this painting. The most difficult part of this painting was making his large eyes look realistic. He has a little bit of a lazy eye so I wanted to show that on the canvas. It was difficult to add the little glowing effect without making it look unrealistic. The way I overcame these struggles was by just simply trying out different ideas that came to mind. If I didn't like it, I'd fix it. This way I knew it looked the best it could when I was finished with it. If I were to change one thing if I started over, it would be the position he is in. The style of art is realistic. The thing that makes this unique to my own personal style is that it's a very minimal painting with a lot of very small details. The thing I love most about this painting is Rocky's big, bright eyes!

My idea behind this painting was a flower that started to grow in our garden. I see it every morning when I walk outside; only one flower has fully bloomed.  My process during this painting was first to draw what I wanted it to look like on paper. Next, I started painting the flower and the buds. I mixed red and orange to get the perfect color. Then, I added the stems with two different shades of green. The last thing I did was add a blue background to make the colors of the flower really pop. This piece of artwork just reminds me of my mom's flower garden. The one thing I want the audience to see is a flower starting to bloom in the springtime. The most difficult part of this painting was figuring out the best way to use the watercolor. At first, I struggled by either putting too much color or too much water. The way I overcame this was by testing it on a separate piece of paper before putting it on the final paper. If I were to start over, I would add fewer leaves because there are so many that I feel it is taking less attention away from the flower. This type of art is realistic because I am drawing nature and trying to match the flowers in our garden. What makes this unique to my own style is that I love flowers and so I wanted to paint my favorite one. The one thing I love about this is the color of the flower because it matches so well to the actual flower.