Whatchama Draw It

The whatchama draw it project is one we do every year to start off class. This year I got a card that said, "draw a fish with glasses and a bushy mustache". I started on the original sheet of paper the project was on, but quickly switched to canvas in order to use acrylic paint. I started with the water as the background and added multiple layers of blues and greens to add depth. I started on the fish with a light orange, but slowly added darker layers to make the fish more opaque. Before the dark orange was added you could see the blue acrylic paint that was underneath it. In order to bring in more detail, I added stripes of red and yellow to the fish and a darker orange over the fins. Lastly I finished off the fish by adding a large, brown mustache and black eyes with glasses around them.

This painting is vertically symmetrical with the fish being the same size and shape on both sides. The stripes of paint and detail in the water, however, create informal balance because they're not the same on both sides. All the colors I used were purposefully bright and bold. I wanted the fish to contrast with the water so I chose an orange color. The brown mustache stands out as being the only neutral color in the painting. I used the stripes of blue and green in the water to convey movement in the water.

This wasn't my exact image I had for this project, but I feel it did turn out good. This prompt was definitely out of my comfort zone, yet I enjoyed working with acrylic after not doing art over the summer.