Drawing and Painting gallery 

The learning objectives of this project were to learn proper shading techniques, get a better understanding of values and how to show them, and to be able to accurately transfer real life objects into a drawing. 

The theme I was attempting to show in my diorama was the burnout that comes with academics. This was surprisingly hard to actually show due to how limited items associated with academics are and also how to show that it was about burnout specifically was extremely difficult. The objects I eventually landed on were a book, notepad, container of thumbtacks, pen, notebook, and crumbled ball of paper. I picked the book, notepad, and pen for the fact that they’re things you would use in a classroom so it was meant to show academics notably I scribbled on the notepad to show stress. The thumbtacks are also used in classrooms admittedly a lot more by teachers than students but the point is still there now the reason I made them spilling out is to show how stressful and messy burnout truly is. The notebook was the base of the other objects it once again is just associated with academics but it also shows how academic burnout stems from well academics the burnout is built from academics. Lastly the crumbled ball of paper was just to once again show stress. 

I used shading to make the tote holding the rest of the objects look 3d by making the middle area of it darker to make it look like it has more depth. I also used shading to make the notepad and the book actually look like one is leaning on the other by making it darker on the book where the shadow from the notepad would be leaning and therefore casting a shadow onto the book. I also made the piece of cardboard look like it had a flat surface while still keeping the edges clear using shading.  

I admittedly struggled with this assignment quite a bit so I ended up with a lot of feedback towards my work. I was given improvement tips by my teacher on values mostly and how to make them more distinct from each other primarily in the tote, cardboard, and the jar of thumbtacks alongside the pen. I also was given a lot of help by my teacher in getting proportions right due to that being something I struggle with. My peers helped a lot during this process as well. I was confused on how to make the scribbles on the notepad actually look like scribbles when one of my peers gave me the idea of using dots to do them. I also was given the advice to make the thumbtacks different pen colors to make them stand out from one of my peers.