Gallery

Class Work

"Cat and Dog" Still Life

This project was for us to put all our skills together. We had learned several things about still lives and shading over this unit and needed to put them together for this assignment.

I started by making different thumbnail sketches of placements to figure out what I wanted. Once I finally landed on one, I worked on a large sketch. I tried to make sure all the proportions were right and even did some shading. Then, I transferred that sketch lightly to another white piece of paper to create a finalized version.

My diorama doesn’t necessarily have a meaning behind it. I think any theme or meaning could be interpreted by the viewer however they want.

I used shading to help with depth and show where things are placed. I also used it to help create contrast since I was using black and white. I had several light sources above my diorama, and you can tell the light source comes from above due to the shadows.

As I worked, I often had to adjust the values. For example, I had worked on the cat first, then had to return to it at the end to adjust its values to help make it more cohesive with the rest of the items.

"The Late Miss Monroe" Portrait Painting (Incomplete)

I started this project by researching the portrait artist Lempicka. She is known for her influence in the art-deco movement of the 1920s, with her smooth, elegant, and geometric style. She took great care in many of her paintings to make them as smooth as possible.

I learned how to use geometric forms in my art and a lot about shading when studying her work. I wanted to make my portrait in my own style while using what I had learned from her. I also wanted to try to keep from having visual brush marks while not having things perfectly smooth since I tend to prefer a messier style.

The portrait is of Marilyn Monroe from a frame in Gentleman Prefer Blondes where she famously performed the song “Diamonds are a Girls Best Friend”. Lempicka’s art is often glamorous, colorful, and depicts rich and or famous people of the time. I chose to do Marilyn Monroe because I think she’s very glamorous and I wanted to make something appreciating her.

I think overall I did really well. I’m not much of a painter, and have never really painted anything like this and to such a scale. I don’t think I made some of the shading as dramatic as I wanted it to be, especially around the face. I also think I was going too fast and not taking my time with some points, making them not as smooth as I wanted.

I had to keep going over certain areas to blend them out and get the colors to what I wanted. At times I would blend something too much and need to add more to get the right look. I also worked at home a lot, so I didn’t get much feedback. I can be overly critical towards my artwork, but I got a lot of positive support from others.

"Aral Sea Ship Graveyard" Landscape Painting

I chose this subject because I thought it looked very interesting and showed perspective very well.

In the foreground, I have the large multicolored ship. You can tell it is closer via its position on the sand and its size. In the middle ground, I have the brown boat. It is smaller, closer to the horizon line, and has less details. Then in the background, there are the plants. They are behind everything else and are on the horizon line.

I started off by doing a blue underpainting, since there are several areas with a blue hue to them. I began painting the sky, laying the paint on thick to create a nice smooth gradient. I then used a dry brush and painted the clouds on. Then I painted the sand, making my brush strokes obvious to create an interesting look and texture. The plants in the background were painted similarly to the clouds, just made thicker. I learned a lot about painting textures, especially clouds.

Personal Work

Madam Inyava Poster

I drew this some time in 2024 in my own time and thought it would be nice to add. It's meant to look a bit like an old poster since this character is a fortune teller machine created in the 70s-80s.

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