Foundations of Art

My work shows that I have improved because I learned new methods. My time capsule drawings include a self portrait. This is also something I had to draw for an assignment in class. My time capsule self portrait has little value and the proportions are not right. In the historical self portrait, the value has improved greatly and I used a grid method to get the proportions right. Comparing these two self portraits really shows how I improved by learned new methods of art.

The most challenging part of the class was working with a media I didn't like and wasn't good at. For example, I'm not very good at painting. When the two painting projects came around, I spent way too much time mixing colors and sometimes didn't even mix enough paint. This caused the drawings to be sloppy and unfinished. This was really hard. Another thing that was hard was the perspective drawings, since I had to use the ruler so much and couldn't freehand like I usually do. Because I wasn't good at it, I didn't feel the motivation to do well and complete them. This was very challenging.

I am most proud of the projects where we had to draw negatively. I don't know else how to word it, but these were the scratchboard, sgraffito, and printmaking projects. I was impressed by my own skill to be able to see the white and carve into the media accordingly. All of these projects were not difficult and were fun to do. They also look the way I wanted them to. Especially the scratchboard, which effectively shows good use of value and looks a lot like the reference image. I am definitely proud of this project and the others because of how well they turned out and how effectively they show my acquired skill.

My work illustrates that my strengths include attention to detail, and that my weaknesses include giving up easily. Much of my work showcases incredible attention to detail, particularly the scratchboard and self portrait. The scratchboard includes many small details, like the value on the subject’s face, clothing, body, and hair. There is also lots of detail on the ripples in the water and on the trees in the background. In the self portrait, there is a lot of value on the hair, sweater, heart, and scissors. The background has a lot of detail as well. For example, the stitches around the heart and scissors, the tacks in the background, and the heart. The perspective drawings and painting projects both show that I give up easily, though. When the projects got hard, I left them unfinished. This is a big weakness of mine.