Before starting any of the pieces, I looked over my pieces from last semester's 20-piece project. I wanted to continue a similar idea, but develop the process a little further. I also tried to incorporate the birch trees that I love to draw in order to experiment and evolve a familiar drawing subject. Additionally while scrolling through Instagram, I looked more closely at some artists that I follow:        

This week I focused on further developing the process I executed in the first 20 works piece. I started by painting three expressive designs on a 9 x 12 piece of mixed media paper and would let that dry. Instead of going right in with a marker to bring out what I see, I would take the same colour guache, or a new colour if I felt it was appropriate, and then increase the contrast of the design. Additionally, I would add more visual texture and elements with just the added guache to increase the dynamic elements. If I felt the previous design was too busy or I was simply not satisfied with it I would wash it out with more water or add more blocks of colour to create a base layer that was less busy and overwhelming. I realized that adding this extra step before drawing what I saw allowed me to be more comfortable with the base layer and it gave me more time to figure out what I actually wanted to draw. Moreover, I felt less frustrated and more decisive about what I wanted to draw over the base layer.

Overall, I think I enjoyed this process and feel like I have a more stable plan for the direction I want to go. I think that rather than focusing on landscape art, which could limit my initial instinctive colour process, I will view it as an illustrative process of organic objects that can be literal like the birch trees, or more of abstract designs like the blue and violet one, and the orange and red one.

With Professor Rinklin's paintings of more organic work in mind, I tried to focus on producing organic/natural imagery of my own. Moreover, I tried to steer away from making landscapes and allow the organic shapes to take shape on their own. Looking at the last week's work, there is little value or shading that ends up flattening their appearance. TO experiment with dimension, I plan on creating one of the last 10 pieces into this week's 10 pieces to develop more depth and variation in shading. I also plan on developing more spatial relationships with opacity, translucency, and line-making similar to last week's purple and blue piece. 

Review Session Takeaway

• wall-sized pieces that tell a story

• each looks like they tell a story -> create a series with the same colour pallet to develop that story

• try something physical (like clay) and then paint from that to be able to get a 3D perspective. 

• punch up the value and detail even more -> plan on taking more breaks and time in between drying periods to do so

• use some of these 20 works as a model for a larger scale and develop it further

• Future Project Proposal -> three large pieces, unique cut primed wood for watercolour and gouache, with the same colour pallet

As this week there was no physical work done, I focused on research and anything else that has to do with moving towards my final pieces. I also spent time working on my Show and Tell For this week.

I did some internal research to try and determine which direction I want my work to go. I looked at my art for awhile and figured out I want to combine the styles of the two works below:

With these two pieces in mind, I want to create artworks that use the image on the right as the background and then incorporate 3D organic forms moving through the background and foreground. Moreover, I want the 3D forms to interact and play within the plains of the background that I create. In terms of my medium, I think it would be interesting to still play with guache but on larger more sturdy pieces of paper. I think it would be interesting to also create fun shapes from the paper before trying it out on wood panels as cutting paper is much easier and more efficient than cutting wood. At the same time, I think it would be beneficial to the value of a piece if I start to experiment with acrylic again. The acrylic would help create more value and add more gloss to the works. In terms of different shine levels, I think it would be very interesting to see the background paint matte and the 3D organic shapes to be glossy. To achieve this I would add a glaze of some sort to the paint. As I was looking through my art supplies, I realized how much water-soluble oil I still have from my other classes at Holy Cross, and may continue to explore that option. As it is okay to paint oils over acrylic, I may test that out on the wooden panels. I also may continue to use guache and acrylic together as they create a great relationship in terms of transparency and opaque. During class today, I ran into Professor Beatty who suggested using styrofoam as a base since it is cheaper and easier to cut than wood, but it still has the volume.

To Do:

• start putting and painting on smaller pieces of paper to get a feel for painting in different shapes. Also, practice combining the different mediums to see how you would have to execute that.

• Either find larger and sturdy paper that you have in your studio or buy it from a store and cut them in blob like shapes.

• plan out shape on wooden board and have John cut it for you.

• get more markers for drawing aspect.

As in my To Do list from last week, I practiced doing my artwork on smaller paper. I used mixed media paper so that I could experiment with using gouache and acrylic (sometimes together sometimes separately). I first traced the squiggly shape that I wanted to try to paint on and then cut it out. I tried first only using gouache, but now that I am aware of how flat it would stay because there hits a certain point where you cannot build any more value does not sit well with me. Therefore, I tried to use acrylic and did not like it at first because how it feels less forgiving and fluid than guache. However, I ended up getting the hang of the acrylics again and made a piece that was just acrylic. I also liked to use the gouache first to start off with a more forgiving medium and try to create a translucent and opaque vibe. Then I tried to go in with acrylic to try and bring that dimension. I know you can water down acrylic, however, gouache does it so much better and creates really pretty designed wet. after having a satisfying base, I started painting in 1-3 colours per piece, (besides white). after I was happy with the sense of depth and translucent and opaque, I tried to see what I can draw out of or create into the piece. I started doing this by letting the art influences the shapes that take shape. For instance, the purple one had a few circle-like shapes that looked like they were blending together. This persuaded me to continue with the theme of circles and make multiple spheres float through depth. I have prepped the wooden board and the foam board and need to cut the piece of a larger paper. I will plan on using some of these smaller pieces as a model for one of the larger pieces. 

In Process:

Final (practice):

Studio Space

I thought about our last reading and wiring assignment and thought I should make my room more artistic to generate more creativity. To do this I put more of my work on my walls. However, I left the ones I felt that would not influence me too much on the floor. I also added another desk to try and make my creative experience more fluid and easy. I tend to feel that I have no space in my studio especially when it comes to trying to dry out multiple pieces of art and they are all drying on the floor. I think both of these actions made my art studio not just more productive but more organized and inspiring so I want to be in the studio more and create art.  

Studio Review Pieces

This week I spent a lot of time in the studio. I cut the wooden piece into a more unique shape by using a jig saw. I ended up liking the shape so I continued to sand it down to smooth out the edges and the curves. I then sealed it will a matt gloss before putting on two layers of Gesso. I did the same thing with the small styrofoam piece but used the hot wire cutter to shape it instead of the jigsaw. I was unsure if the gesso would stick to the styrofoam, but I waited long enough for the gesso to crumble off if it was going to. I wanted to recreate the smaller purple painting I created and posted in last week's critique. I started by putting a watered-down acrylic purple and whitewash on the board. Then I used a bigger brush to make more expressive lines. I took a step back from that piece and then went to start on the smaller styrofoam piece. I took a green and an unbleached white splat that was on the styrofoam and then took a big brush and slowly, but expressible, filled the surface with brush stroke marks. I went back to the purple piece and started to bring out some of the brushstrokes I felt drawn to, I continued to do this and then outline places I wanted the spheres to go through and interact with the brushmarks. I tried to leave the left side translucent to place with depth, but don't think it worked very well. I then went back to the green to work on bringing out what I liked and focused on the stripes that were brought out between the green and unbleached white. when i felt satisfied I put a red thread-like like through and around the loops of the environment. 

while creating these two pieces, I also created another. I wanted to test out doing this on a larger scale, on paper with gouache. I started out by drawing the outline I wanted and ended up cutting it after filling it in so the edges were more flexible. I used complimentary colours again and brought out what I liked from my original brushstrokes.

Studio Review

I felt like the studio critique was very productive. As a group, we decided that I need to move towards making more pieces like the green one rather than the purple one. I should focus on the interesting brushstrokes that are slower and more controlled in the green one and then bring what I want out, rather than water down the acrylic and just try to cover the surface. Moreover, instead of focusing on creating value within the brushstrokes, as I did in the purple one, I need to focus on the brushstrokes. Focus more on the interesting relationship between the colours within the brushstrokes. It is also important for me to create an interesting colour dynamic that is not basic complementary and try monochromatic for instance. I can still do complementary but should focus on less generic combinations or triad ones. I also need to create more interesting and less landscape-like pieces like the green pieces because even though the purple one is blob-ish, it still forms a rectangular shape. We also talked about focusing on depth and highlights to help create dimension.

The group was also talking about maybe layering my pieces on top of each other as a way to display them for the gallery. This then led to me believing that I should focus on creating styrofoam pieces to make moving and adjusting these pieces easier. For my next piece, I should cut and prep a larger more interesting piece. Before I start painting on it though, I should practice colour relationships beforehand. 

I want to look at artists that create interesting colour relationships like Mark Rothko. I also was thinking about the Ghost Writing and want to use what I wrote for Obiamaka's artist statement for my own. Moreover, I think it would be helpful to use her statement as a guide for my own. 

Planning

For the upcoming class, I plan on purchasing the styrofoam that I need for my projects, cutting, and prepping them. As I do this I will experiment with colour relationships with Adobe colour wheel. I will also briefly experiment with these colours on my iPad to help figure out what kind of object shapes I want to incorporate with each colour. I will then transfer what I have done on my iPad to small pieces of paper to see how it looks with actual acrylic/gouache.

These are the initial colour relationships I was drawn to from the colour wheel:  

I also looked at the uniquely shaped canvases that Professor Beaudoin sent me. I found them interesting and may incorporate more geometric shapes as well as the organic blob shapes into my work:

This week I cut and prepped 2 large and 2 small styrofoam boards. I first started by going to Home Depot to gather the styrofoam. I then marked the shapes I wanted to cut out later with a marker. I used the wirecutter to create the desired shapes of the styrofoam. I decided to sand and curve the edges to soften them a little bit. I then put some hot glue in the premade cuts so that they would not break while I am painting (I assume they added these to make cutting the styrofoam easier. I tried to make sure that the hot glue would not be seen through the gesso by smoothing out the surface after injecting the hot glue into the cuts. I then primed the area with matt primer. After that, I did my first layer of gesso. Then I sanded down the entirety of the styrofoam as well as some of the hot glue marks that showed through.

Looking at these pieces with fresh eyes,  I will add another layer of Gesso before adding colour

In between drying, I looked at the colours I previously decided I wanted to use. I organized them into three different categories to try and help me figure out how I would use the colours:

I decided to use monochromatic colours for the largest and therefore first layer of paintings. I think having more uniform colours associated with the largest pieces will be less overwhelming. Then I was thinking of using more muted and calming colours for the medium-sized styrofoam pieces. I think this will help bring more colour into the layering of the styrofoam pieces without being too overwhelming. Finally, I wanted the smaller pieces to contain the most vibrant colours. I think because they are the smallest layers of all the styrofoam pieces, they can contain bright vibrant colours without being too stimulating. When I decide which colours to use, I may blend the colours by using the colours from the styrofoam in the previous layer as the side colouring of the top layer.

Originally I wanted to layer all the foam into one big work but realized that could be too overwhelming and hard to make work. I think it would be better to do two larger pieces where the larger and medium foam pieces are the first layers for each work. I think I can still have them close to one another but still be two different pieces. It could also be interesting if I use some of the scraps left over from cutting the styrofoam as a third or even fourth layer.

To Do:

• have the 4 pieces close to being done for next week 3/29

• alter the wooden pieces for the John award

• cut and frame the small 20-piece drawings

• get a wider chip brush for larger pieces

• get more acrylic paint (get primary colours)

For this week I spent many hours working on my four pieces, the 20 pieces, and the wooden board for the John Paul award. I first decided on making the 4 pieces to create 2 pieces of art that I will place closely together instead of creating one large piece of art. After adding one more layer of gesso to each of the pieces, I decided which colour to paint on each piece. I decided to do the green and orange monochromatic colours for each of the larger pieces and then a purple yellow, pink, and blue combinations for the smaller ones. (orange = shades, green = triad, purple/yellow = compound, blue/pink = compound).

I practiced the colour combination on the side so that I can then recreate it on top of the gessoed styrofoam. After adding the respective colours to the gesso I used a new wide brush to carefully create spiral moving brush marks.  I ended up having to do 2 different base layers for the smaller pieces because the colours become too muddied. After the second try, the colours blended more smoothly without turning brown. I then started to bring out what I wanted by highlighting and darkening areas. This contrast created more depth within the pieces. I followed the same steps with the larger ones but focused on small areas when spreading the colours on the foam. I will continue developing the smaller ones and start developing the larger ones. (I did not take an individual photo of the blue smaller one's development, but it is seen in the picture with all 4)

I also worked on the wooden board for the John Paul award. I changed the colour to an adobe colour combination and will start to bring out what I saw to increase contrast and depth. I will continue doing this week.

Review

After the review, I realized I need to focus on purely creating more depth and contrast within my pieces and consider the fact that I may not have objects within the environment. I also realized with the picture(with the four pieces on the wall) of the lighting I want to focus on brightening where the lights hit (and will need to make sure that the lighting of my pieces in the gallery illuminate the highlighted sections). I also want to add a few of my 20 pieces and started cutting off the white borders. after I am done, I will put it in a frame for the award this Saturday but will end up putting them on some kind of whiteboard to create a border. 

To Do:

• get a clear spray for finished gloss over finished pieces

• cut smaller pieces and frame for the John Paul award

• after the John Paul award, put small art pieces on a board

• focus on creating more contrast and depth in the four pieces and glue respective small pieces to respective large pieces. 

• talk to john about a more prominent way to hang the pieces on the wall(rather than using a nail)  

• if time, make smaller pieces 

This week my focus was on preparing for the John Paul Reardon award show. I fixed up the wooden piece as well as cut out the whites and framed the small dreamscape pieces. It was a little tricky to frame the pieces. I first tried to glue mixed media paper to the cardboard of the frame to make a white background, but the glue showed through. So I took some of the paper we put down on tables as a white film to make it a little cleaner. I also took out the plastic shield because it did not fit the aesthetic. I then loosely taped each of the pieces evenly dispersed on the frame. I felt that forcing the paper to be flush against the frame would be like trying to control a dream, and therefore against the pieces themselves. 

The wooden piece was hard to work on at first because I did not want to get rid of how much work I spent on creating the purple and yellow pieces. A part of me wishes I left it alone and worked with it to evolve it. However, I wanted to change my perspective from feeling like I am eliminating all my hard work to continuing to adapt my work.

Nancy Burn's Feedback:

I think that Burn's feedback was very interesting and I will take a few things into account. As I was listening to the feedback, I took quick notes on my phone:

Based on Burn's feedback, I revised my artist statements three times with different word counts(these are rough drafts)

In addition to the artist's statement, Burn's discussed how I need to clean up the edges on the smaller pieces. I took some time trying to clean the edges and found that it was more difficult than I thought. Almost every time I cut away a piece, it took a little top layer of paper with it; resulting in some white shown at the top. However, after getting a new blade, it was easier to make more clean cuts that did not expose any white paper underneath.

Working Towards Show:

I also searched for some possibilities for how to hang my work. I will talk to John further, but I think the best option would be to use a very strong adhesive. to mount one of the smaller pieces on top of the other, I was thinking about just using some Elmer's glue, however, I do not know what would stick together after I spray a glossy finish on the pieces.

This week I mainly focused on the three versions of my artist statement. I took out anything emotional or cliche and tried to focus on the process and medium. I had trouble expanding the longest one beyond talking about my process, purpose, and mediums because I was afraid that if I talked about why I am painting what I am painting, I would start writing about emotions too much again. I think the easiest one was the shortest one because I just had to talk about the process, medium, and purpose/goal. Not talking about me as an artist allows me not to write too emotionally. Reworking these has allowed me to also understand how layering also helps to achieve the goal of depth within my pieces. I wrote about its importance in terms of process but not its importance in terms of contributing to the development of depth as I did with colour relationships and brush marks. Here are the most recent adaptations of my artist statement:

I also continued developing my paintings, more specifically the orange piece. I keep focusing on one section for too long and too intensely that I run out of time. As I continue to paint, I have started to take steps back and rework the piece with the large brush stroke again when I feel that I need a different perspective. This also reinstates the necessity of brush strokes and helps me not to go crazy with creating tubes. I think I struggled with this one a little more because it is the first time I am working on a larger scale. I think after working with this for a little bit, I have developed a more efficient way to paint and stay on track. It was also helpful for me to look at the smaller purple piece that I did, since it's more developed, to replicate a similar style.

This week I focused on working towards finalizing the pieces for the art show. I continued by adding highlights and darker tones to increase contrast and depth in each piece. I also started to incorporate a few colours in each pairing that would make the pieces more cohesive. For instance, I added more of a lime yellow as the highlight in the green pieces because it is a key colour in the purple piece (the piece that will go above the green one). I also talked to Merideth about hanging options and have spoken to John to get it ready to be hung when I am scheduled to. We decided to cut the gatorboard for the smaller pieces in a way that would create an edge that would hide the foam interior. We will also add a backing to incorporate the French cleat and extra foam behind the smaller pieces so that they touch the wall. When I am all done, I will add a gloss varnish to make it feel more finished and intensify the colours. I have also titled each of them.

Process photos: Start to Almost Finished

Finalized Statements and Titles:

Today was the day of our presentation at the academic conference! It was a nerve-racking process, but worth it in the end. Seeing all of our work up so nicely in the gallery was really rewarding. Throughout the hanging process, I found myself becoming more and more excited about my pieces finally coming together, physically and metaphorically, and actually really enjoyed going back to help and observe others in the gallery.

Gallery Reflection:

Reflecting on the academic conference and the gallery opening, I am filled with a mix of emotions and thoughts. Although it was a stressful, exhausting, and nerve-racking process the outcome has made it all worth it. It was a personal and introspective journey that allowed me to express my instinctual feelings through my art. I am proud that I overcame the challenges that pushed my creative thinking and artistic boundaries that improved my overall abilities as an artist. Presenting my work in a gallery setting served as a platform for me to share my process and work with others in a personal manner than just inferring my process through the short artist statement. The gallery opening was a great space to introduce my art in a more casual celebratory way to my friends and family. It was nice to see the interest people had in my work and my classmate's work, especially because we all worked so hard to reach this point in the semester.