Painting and Drawing 

Diorama Drawing 

Many different learning objectives were used throughout this project. One of them was shading the correct way. I had to make sure that farther back items were darker than the ones closest to me, I also had to add shadows to some of the floating objects. Other learning objectives that were used during this project include sighting and measuring objects so that we get proper proportions, using a viewfinder, practicing forms of shapes, and practicing perspective. 

The process of creating my diorama started by cutting a file box in half. I then painted that box with different shades of blue to show the water getting deeper and deeper. I added a gloss to the paint so that the viewer could get that shiny look that comes from water. I then created an octopus out of a foam ball for the head, and paper eyes, and I used chenille stems as the tentacles. I hung this on a piece of blue string through the lid of my box. This way it seemed as if the octopus was floating. I found some animated sea creatures online that included different fish, a sea turtle, a seahorse, and some coral. I cut those out and glued them to the back wall of my diorama. I then used the chenille stems to create more coral reefs that could be 3D and closer to the front of the diorama. I did this by cutting them in half and wrapping the bottoms together, I then messed with the direction of the chenille until I was happy with the product. 

My diorama doesn’t have any special meaning, I have just always loved the ocean and its sea life which is my reason for picking an ocean scenery. The theme of my diorama is everyday life. I wanted to try and show the descending from the top of the ocean to more of the bottom part to show how the water gets darker and darker until you hit the bottom which would be pitch black. I chose to make the sea life seem more animated because I thought it would make the viewer feel more joy like it did me. 

I demonstrated making an object look three-dimensional by shading the sides of the object with different values when I colored in the different coral reefs throughout the diorama. You can also see three-dimensional shading on the octopus and its tentacles. My drawing shows where the light source is coming from by making the top shades of the water lighter than the bottom shades of water that are dark and more filled in. You can also see on the diorama that the bottom crease where the side of the box meets the surface is where the darkest part of the water lays, which is what I showed in my drawing. 

Improvements that I made to my drawing include trying to provide accurate shading to all of the objects that needed it and making some changes to the size and proportions of the objects so that I could draw an accurate representation of my diorama. The feedback that I got from my teacher was that I needed to try and blend the background better and that I should use the viewfinder to try and make correct proportions. Mrs. Laux also suggested that I start with basic shapes rather than later work in detail. The feedback that was suggested to me by my peers was to shade and color the octopus head better and to try and blend the water a bit better. 

Imagined Space Reflection 

One of the learning objectives of this project is perspective. We tried to create the illusion of 3D space on a flat paper by using different ways to create perspective. This included size, placement, overlapping, shading, and using different shades of colors. I fulfilled the requirements of this assignment by overlapping my buildings, making objects in the distance smaller such as the trees, and making the mountains a lighter brown with a mixture of purple to show atmospheric perspective. I also made the grass a much more vibrant green in the front and as it descended to the back it got lighter. 

The concept for my project was to draw a simple yet beautiful image of a person leaving a town. On one side of the street, we have different buildings and on the other, there is an open area of grass that has trees. I added the sunset to add more emotion to the drawing, and so that I could practice mixing and blending different colors. I wanted to draw mountains in the background to show that the person in the car has a journey to go. 

Improvements that I made to my drawing as I worked included changing shades of certain colors, making objects larger or smaller, and adding little details. Details that I added include the apples on the trees, the areas of grass that stick up, the texture of the mountains, and the shading of certain things. The feedback from the teacher and peers that helped me was putting my colors on light then adding darker colors, and making the mountains a certain color to respect the atmospheric perspective. The most challenging part of this project was making the linear perspective lines match up to the vanishing point correctly. I also think that I had a really tough time getting the correct proportions on each side of the street. I’ve never painted with watercolors before, so that was a challenge for me as well. What I enjoyed most about this project was getting to practice with watercolors and having the choice to choose what we drew. I like how we had to create our own drawing instead of all of us painting the same drawing. I also really enjoyed the mixing of colors to make a different shade of color. 

The artist that I researched at the beginning of this project was Amy Sherald. She is a current artist who focuses on portraits of African American people doing everyday things. She normally uses a solid color or gradient background with simple colors. She also normally depicts the model wearing something more eye-catching and colorful. Amy Sherald first takes a picture of the model so that while she’s working she can look back upon it. It normally takes Sherald a couple of weeks to a few months to finish portraits so it would be complicated to do this with a live model. 

I learned from my artist to take a clear picture of the model with good lighting and shadowing so that you can easily transfer these concepts onto the canvas. I also learned that shading of the skin is very important especially when trying to make a realistic portrait. My self-portrait is similar to Amy Sherald's style because it has one model in it with a gradient but solid color background and the model is in a colorful, eye-catching outfit. I also copied how she normally paints her portraits from the knees up. I also copied her method of taking a picture of the model rather than having the model live in front of me during the painting. 

I think that I did pretty well at considering the proportions and mixing the different colors of paint to create a new one. I would like to improve the zebra pattern shown on the pants of the model. If I could restart I believe that I would try and make the lines smaller and thinner so that there would be more zebra lines. I think that since I chose to make them larger it doesn’t look as realistic as it could have been. I would also like to improve the shading and mixing of my skin. I feel like I should have and could have done better if I had practiced better techniques when it came to putting the paint on the canvas. I think that my less successful areas were my face and my zebra pants. The criteria that I set for myself on this project were to get the correct proportions and to try my best to blend the paints and shading. I think that the proportions in the painting were pretty good, especially for a person who has never done a self-portrait before. I think I could have done better with shading, especially around the face and neck area. 

Throughout the process of creating my self-portrait, I changed a lot of things. I changed my skin tone at least three different times, I changed the shade of my shirt, and my hair. I also redid my eyes two different times. Throughout my project, I received feedback from different people. This feedback included things like changing the sizes of certain things as well as changing the color. Mrs. Laux also gave me a lot of feedback on my shading and lighting. I love getting feedback because it helps me to create a better painting so of course when I do get it I consider it and perhaps add it to my project.  I think that I used the class time well. I do think that it took me a lot longer to sketch than I planned. I think I just had a lot of issues with getting the correct proportions. When I could I would go to the classroom during my free time in other classes. This was so I could get my project done in a timely manner without having to rush the process.