Art 2 Final Exam

1. In my opinion, my most successful piece was for the topic Up Close and Personal. I brainstormed about what would be interesting to see up close and I thought of a bee hive. I decided to use chalk pastels with some colored pencil mixed in as well. I cut out a hexagon and traced it over the entire piece so that all of the shapes were the same size. I decided to go with a square to make everything look even and placed a bee on the side of the picture as well. I drew the bee with colored pencils and used some chalk pastels to give him texture, after doing the background. Making the bee's wings look transparent was difficult, but with the right techniques and practice from mini lessons I was able to do it to my satisfaction. I was extremely happy with how this piece turned out and I thought that all of the the mediums and materials helped to enhance and create the project that I wanted.

2. I felt that my least successful project was Mixed Media. I chose to use the theme "Fables" and thought it would be interesting to mix different characters from the fables together. I liked the idea that I had but I did not like the end product. If I could do anything different, I would have taken more time to do the project. Also I think I would have liked the project more if I had made the characters look more realistic and not as cartoon-like. I felt like I was rushing to finish the project and did not take my time at all. I would spend a lot more time planning out the project and thinking about which mediums would look the best. I used colored pencils, but I started thinking that it may have looked better if I had used colored tissue paper, or even news paper. I liked the project and the themes chosen, I just wish I would have applied myself better and worked harder to create the outcome I had wanted. 

3. The two pieces that I feel showed my growth as an artist was with the painting unit. I came into Art 2  having very little experience with water color. I was excited to try and learn the techniques used with watercolor as well as acrylic. Some of the mini lessons with water color really helped develop the technique used, starting light and adding layers to darken the color. I decided to do a colorful giraffe out of watercolor. I not only developed the skills to apply water color but also water color pencils. I felt that this piece was one that turned out a lot better than I was expecting. I also had to apply the element of repetition. I did this by using a variety of colors and repeating them throughout the piece. There was also repetition in the background with the leaves. The theme for this piece was "A Sticky Situation," and I thought of a giraffe getting into a bunch of candy and turning colors. Overall I really enjoyed this piece and the outcome of it as well. The second piece that I thought showed my growth as an artist was one of the mini lesson pieces. It was done with acrylic paint and combined with three other student's work in the class. I had a small photograph that I was supposed to copy onto a larger surface. I thought that my technique of blending colors improved as well as understanding the use of acrylic paint. I enjoyed looking at how other students did theirs and the techniques that they used. Blending paint is not the easiest task to be completed, which is why I was satisfied with how my piece turned out. I also learned a lot with how to mix the paints to get the correct color needed; starting with the lighter color and adding in dark as you proceed. Over all, I feel that my techniques and ability to use different types of paint has improved, making these two of the pieces that show my growth as an artist. 

4. Two of the mini lessons that I felt were very beneficial to me were the chalk pastels lesson, and the water color lesson. Both of these mediums I ended up using in my final piece and they were both very beneficial to me. I thought both of these lessons were taught very well and were very easy to understand. With the chalk pastels, I learned to blend the colors together so that they looked smooth and also learned how to make something look transparent. In one of my final pieces I had to make transparent bee wings, which made this lesson very beneficial. I really enjoyed this mini lesson and enjoyed using the chalk pastels as well. My second piece that I benefited most from was with the water color. Like I stated before, I did not have much experience with water color at all but after a few tries I conquered part of the technique that needed to be used. I learned very quickly that I needed to start light and then make values by layering the paint on top of each other. Without the lesson, my art work would be a very dark mess. Along with the water color, we also learned a bunch of different texture techniques. I added salt to my orange to make it have similar texture and look as a real orange. This mini lesson was very beneficial when I started working on my final that was done with water color as well. I learned a lot from all of the mini lessons, and without them would not have been able to produce any of the outcomes of the pieces that I have.  

5. I enjoyed most of the mediums that we used in Art 2, but one of my favorites would have been pen and ink. Although it may seem more plain and simple than the others, I feel that it can be used in a variety of ways. You could do hatching, cross-hatching, stippling, scumbling, or any other pattern that you like. I also like the way that the products turn out. They may not be as colorful as some of the other pieces, but I feel like they can be more detailed. For the pen and ink unit I drew Einstein. I used stippling for the majority of the piece, adding in lines when needed. It is also a very neat and clean medium. Being messy is part of being an artist, but I like how the ink doesn't smudge or get everywhere while trying to apply it. Pen and Ink is a medium that allows artists to express themselves in a variety of ways and that is why it is one of my favorites. 

Mixed Media

Artists Develop Art Making Skills
I developed a lot of new techniques and processes when learning how to do mixed media. There were a lot new mediums that I had never used before and now feel like I can handle. I learned how to layer different mediums and what type of glue works best. I also learned different ways of applying the mediums, different than how we had before.

I fell that I was able to develop better sills with the colored pencils, as well as using tissue paper to make water color. I also didn't know how to apply newspaper or magazines, and with the mini lesson I was able to learn the techniques of how to do that as well.

Artists Communicate Through Their Work
I wanted to show through my artwork the love for the fables that I grew up learning. I remember growing up how these fables were some of my favorite stories, and I thought that putting them into a piece of art would show my past interest for the different characters.

I ran into more issues than I would have liked for this piece. I didn't like how the characters looked more like cartoons than real, if I could do that over again I would change that about my piece. Also I feel like I could have applied the colored pencil to my piece at a higher level as well.

I loved my childhood, and I feel that this piece sums up my life as a kid. It also is appreciative to all the authors who made these stories become real to me. How my parents raised me was important to me as well and each of these fables gave an important lesson for me to learn.

Artists Collaborate
I talked a lot with the students around me as I worked on this piece. Finding the correct place for each character to fit was challenging and the students around me helped guide me to the best locations. They also helped me to decide what mediums would work best with my piece.

No one really helped me to understand important information and my childhood helped to inspire me with what I should do with this project.

Artists Reflect
About half way through I stopped to look at my art work. I had liked the way it was going so far but by the time I finished, I wished that I would have spent a little more time planning and laying out my ideas.
I thought about what I wanted to do before hand, but I didn't know how or where to place the characters or where the scene would take place. If I could go back and redo this project I probably would, making it look a little more realistic.