I am a bit surprised that my teacher thought this was art show material, but I'm glad it looks somewhat realistic! My favorite thing about it is the shiny fingernails because it looks realistic to me. There are a few improvements I can think of, one of them is blending more around the palm area, and I would like to have made outlines around the whole thing, so that it looks like it drops a little shadow. But I like it! Especially the clamp thing I'm holding or whatever it is.

I chose this subject for a painting because I thought it looked like fun to paint. While I was painting, I learned that for an impressionist painting, you don't have to try to make it look exactly like the picture. I also learned to add all of the little lights and darks at the end. This painting was not very inspiring at first, but it got funner to paint the more progress I made. I think the first way others will respond is: "It looks good, I like it!" But sooner or later it will dawn on them that a snail is not an insect. I did see someone else in a different class choose a snail too, so at least I'm not alone. What I like best about this piece is the shell and the little reflective yellow on the top where I messed up, it looks better. What's not my favorite is the spots on the body, they should've been way smaller. But at least I know more of how to paint now, and this is great experience for future paintings.

This, as you can see, is a blobfish jar. I have no idea why I chose to do this other than the humor in the finished result (and my pounded lump of clay was in this shape). This was my first time glazing clay, so of course the glazing job isn't great. It also is quite lumpy, but it is the smoothest I could keep it with all the times I had to touch it to put it away, put it on the shelf, etc. If this jar was pretty much anything else, I don't think it would be my favorite. But it's a blobfish. Also, I wouldn't mind presenting this to my family and friends.

I am somewhat satisfied with this, mostly because it is a pretty accurate representation of my cat, Mr Buttons Galaxar Meatball Bryant the 1st. The only thing missing in that regard is his sharp teeth and claws ripping up everything that remotely tries to pet him anywhere other than square on the top of the head. There are 2 things that I don't really like about it. 1: the clay shows through the glaze, giving the whole thing an awkward spottiness. 2: It isn't quite level, so the front paws are suspended an eighth inch above the surface it is on. Also, some of the glaze ran into other areas, so it looks a bit messy. But I still like it, and I think it is worthy of being a table centerpiece for a birthday party.

I chose to do this pattern because I was interested in making triangles out of pieces of coils. I am kind of satisfied with this. At an angle, (and at a distance) it looks ok, and I find the deep blue color very satisfying. But up close, there are little crackles of clay that show through, and one of the sets of stripes in the top corner is pointed in the wrong direction, and from the top the whole thing is kinda lopsided. Also, in some parts, the clay is stretched out too thin and is not the width of a coil. I'll give this one 6/10, C-. Clay work isn't great, but it's an ok glaze job.

This is a clownfish, as you can see (hopefully). I think I have developed this to the point where people can tell what it is. That is an achievement, all right. I am very satisfied with the background, except for the top right corner, where it looks kind of flat. I also appreciate the light blue shading on the white stripes of the fish, because it accurately fools people into thinking it looks white when it's really light blue. That adds a shade of realism to this piece. I like that there seems to be a recurring stripe of bold orange through the center of the fish, and that looks satisfying as well. My color scheme is complimentary, aside from the black paint I used for the black stripes. This painting, like all of my projects, isn't perfect. But I think this is one of my better ones.