Drawing final

1. How have you grown as an artist? Reflect on what your portfolio (all work you created through the semester) may or may not reveal about the semester. Do you think the work in your portfolio accurately reflects your development in the class?  Discuss each piece (the one from the beginning and the project you picked) and how you grew in the following areas: application of materials, techniques, and skills, artistic vision, use of the principles and elements, creativity, intuition, and subject matter. DON'T FORGET TO ADD PHOTOS! (2 photos = 1 from the beginning and 1 from the end)

I believe I have improved on breaking out of my style and attempting realism. I have learned to add textures to my pieces without making them too busy and I really like how I've improved. In the first pen and ink piece I made in this class, the most challenging part of the piece was definitely the stippling because of how long it took. I also found the hatching in certain areas a bit difficult to get the values right.  Overall I really like how the piece turned out.  For the final I decided to do pen and ink because its one of my strongest mediums. I really wanted to focus on texture. I really like how the trees and ground turned out, the way it looks was accurate to how I imagined. If I could do it again I'd get rid of the mountain and switch up the composition a little bit but overall I think I did a good job capturing a story in the piece. 

3. Discuss one project where you felt you were the least successful. Explain why you felt this way. What would you do differently to change this piece?  Explain. 

*DON'T FORGET TO ADD PHOTOS

The project I feel like I was very unsuccessful was the color pencil final piece. I had a really good idea in my head but the execution didn't work out. I really wanted to make it realistic but it looked really stylised. If I could redo the piece I'd start with a clear sketch instead of uncertain shapes. I'd also pick better colors and try new things on a separate paper before trying it for the first time on the final. Color pencils are one of my weakest mediums so if I could redo it, I'd learn the proper techniques before jumping into it. 

5. What medium was your favorite to work with? Explain why and how you were able to master the techniques associated with this medium.

*DON'T FORGET TO ADD PHOTOS

My favourite medium to work with is pen and ink, I was able to get better at the techniques because I did a lot of practice throughout october in the spirit of inktober. I tried breaking out of the blocky style and over all learned how to capture the essence of texture and shading using only two values. Overall I believe I did a really good job breaking out of my older art style and being able to make things look realistic to real life. 

7. Regardless of whether a project was successful or not, describe the one which you learned, grew, or developed the most from.  Please explain. 

*DON'T FORGET TO ADD PHOTOS

The first still life piece is one that I feel like I learned the most from. I learned how to get values accurate to real life but in grayscale. I figured out textures in graphite in this unit because of the diversity in materials we had to draw. I feel like I captured the essence of objects without making them look animated. I really broke out of my artstyle when I did this piece and I think I've improved because of it. Overall this unit taught me how to think outside the box and push my boundaries when making art. 

2. How do you describe your artistic style/perspective? How do you define success as an artist? What do you find most rewarding about being an artist? What are some of the most important skills you draw upon to create your work? What are some of the most significant things you've learned through artmaking? 

*DON'T FORGET TO ADD PHOTOS

My art style is really cartoony and semi-realistic. I enjoy simplifying works to tell stories instead of focusing on something like a portrait or figure drawing. I define success as an artist as the will to improve, wanting to improve is very important to grow as an artist. Something I find rewarding is when I work really hard for perfecting something and the skill sticks around with me. Some skills I believe are important are mastering the basics before trying something harder like perspective. The most significant thing I've learned through making art is that staying in the same place is worse than trying something new and failing. The negative drawing I made has helped me try something new and actually succeeded, I will be trying more things like this in the future.