Ocean Investigation

My inquiry question is, How is the ocean connected to life? My most successful SI has been the first, Shell Map. I usually stick to gouache and painting in my art pieces, so I enjoyed stepping outside that box and creating something different. I found using other materials in my art fun, and I want to do that more throughout my investigation. I also favor this piece because it has a personal connection to me. The shells I used are from my vacations with family and friends and truly represent the meaning of the piece, memories. My least successful work is the Sand Pipers. It just didn't come out the way I intended, the paint wasn't layering how I envisioned it to. It also took me a while to come up with the compositions, and placement of the birds. I just don't think this piece represents what I can do as an artist, and I do plan to fix it.  For my sustained investigations I have had a hard time with coming up with ideas and executing them. It takes me a long time to even get set on an idea, and so getting pencil to paper takes a while. Because of this I usually don't have enough time to get my idea properly executed before they need to be turned in. I think for the future I will just need to create a list of ideas and have them ready. I could also utilize mind maps or brain dumps, and maybe it will help me come up with ideas faster. I want to experiment with more materials throughout the rest of my investigation. There are so many things tied to the ocean that can be utilized in art, so I want to take advantage of that. I would like to use driftwood and sea glass in future projects. I also think making a watercolor painting with seawater would be cool.  I think my work explores multiple viewpoints of my inquiry, however, the composition and colors are too consistent.  This next semester I need to focus more on the development and process of my art. Major trends and takeaways from peer feedback are that I need to add more warm colors and that there is a lot of blue. A lot of my peers agreed the composition was too similar. I think all of this feedback is accurate, and I am going to use all of it going forward.