2D design

semester 1 reflection

My skills as an artist have been strengthened and added to this semester. Some of the earlier projects we worked on were out of my comfort zone but they pushed me to find ways to incorporate things I care about and solve problems. As projects became more up to interpretation, I started developing more of a theme around surfing but I kept experimenting with different mediums such as block printing and alcohol-based markers. By experimenting, I stumbled upon gouache and it suited my style well. With the sustained investigations, I had to figure out a prompt which was difficult because prior to this project we had guidelines to work inside of which made making decisions easier. Finally, I settled on painting things I daydreamed about with watercolors and gouache. This was easily my favorite project of the year. I had found a new medium to work with and I could paint things I loved.

I have been most successful with my 4 Sustained investigations for two reasons. The first being that I could paint exactly what I wanted with no catches. I find it’s easier to put a lot of effort and innovations into a painting if you working with a subject you care about and enjoy. The second reason I flourished with my sustained investigation was because of my discovery of gouache. It suits my style perfectly, with enough water it can be a flowing paint that creates smooth fluid strokes and shapes but you can also get extremely picky and add loads of detail.

One thing I struggled with this semester was working on projects that had very particular parameters. The two that were very tricky for me were the duck stamp and organ and tissue donation pieces. I think the main reason they were tricky for me is because of the style I work in. I usually have very little idea of how what I'm making will turn out apart from a theme or idea. If I make a sketch it's a rough one and I change the composition as a finalize things. This was a hindrance because for this project I had to be particular with what I made and the size I made it in. to overcome these struggles I found it was very helpful to create a very detailed sketch and stick to it. I still don't like this technique but it yielded good results.

Moving forward, I would like to continue in the theme of my sustained investigation. I noticed a great amount of skill development just with these fore paintings. If I continue to make these on a regular basis I could polish the skill of watercolor n’ gouache painting. I could maintain the regularity by making a schedule to paint on. I would also like to continue trying new mediums because that's how I found gouache wish has become my favorite medium save for a camera.