Charcoal Gesture Portrait of the King

His eye is a bit off, but that's a gesture drawing for ya! 

Painting without Thought

There are no "techniques" that I learned from my art class that I applied here. I just sat and painted whatever came to mind...I actually wasn't even thinking. Lol. Oh well. Here's a painting! 

Printmaking

This art project was by far the most tedious; encompassing many, many steps.  It was the most time consuming as well. We were first to create a design for our prints.  I came up with the idea of a man blowing a conch shell....a latte stone and a replica of Nan Madol, Pohnpei in the background.  These represent both Saipan and Pohnpei, the two places I come from.  I then took my mental design and transferred it onto tracing paper.  I continued to work on the design until I was happy with the outcome.  (I still feel, however, that I could've done better :/ ) After the design was complete, we used carbon paper to transfer the design onto the linoleum block using a pen to trace and carbon paper to solidify the transfer.  The next step includes carving out the "white" areas of the design to ensure that the "black" parts are printed onto paper accurately.  It was a bit of a confusing concept to grasp, but once I began to carve with the tools, I began to understand more and more.  I, at first, hated the carving/cutting part of the project because I had a few scabs in the beginning.  But, it became easier and easier with every stroke.  After the cutting was done, I used black ink to roll on the block with a brayer (spelling?).  There was a certain technique we had to learn for the rolling on of the ink. We had to use a flat surface to get an even coat of ink on the brayer and thus onto the block.  We had to roll up and down in different directions until we heard what sounds like velcro.  The ink is now ready to be transferred onto the block.  It took about three prints and three times going back to the block to cut out and fix things that had printed that shouldn't be there.  It then took another 10+ tries to get five (somewhat) exact prints.  Again, this was a very tedious assignment.  It gives me a better understanding and appreciation for the printmakers of our past and just how much work they had to endure to spread knowledge and art all over the globe.  :)  

Relief Sculpture; Mask

I must admit that my mask didn't turn out as planned.  I wanted a plain mask, with just the eyes and mouth filled in with color.  However, working with the acrylic paint, I realized that I wasn't able to create the exact base color I had initially wanted for the mask.  And the totally new design took off from there.  I at first didn't know what I was doing, but as I became more and more comfortable painting, the mask took shape.  I was able to decide what it was I wanted through the experimentation phase.  I ended up loving what I had created and was happy with the overall paint job.  I then worked my way into the additional materials I was to attach onto my mask as mixed media.  I chose pink feathers to represent my femininity.  The ivory corsage of flowers represents my love for nature. The shells that form a flower shape actually came from a necklace made on Pohnpei, where my mother's from.  It was important to me that I showcase a bit of my culture onto my mask.  The image above shows the finished mask.  I absolutely love how it turned out.  It was amazing to me how the mask turned out entirely different from what I had sketched.  But, I guess that's the beauty of art!  

City Scape

To create a cityscape, we first must understand the concept of depth and space, as well as the devices that portray depth/space.  We learned, beforehand, concepts and terms like overlapping, vertical location, vanishing point, horizon line as well as the different perspectives (linear, aerial/atmospheric, one-point, two-point).  With these learned concepts, we were to create a city scape of 10 one-point, and 10 two-point perspective buildings.  The mathematical/geometrical aspect of the assignment was by far the most challenging.  I had to be sure that the lines all matched up to the points.  Vertical placement is seen as the two buildings in front are obviously closer to the viewer.  The other buildings diminish in size the further back they go.  Overlapping is seen as well in the overlapping of the buildings.  Also, it is safe to say that the cityscape is seen at an aerial perspective as the illusion is given off that we are up high, looking downward unto the the city.  This was by far the most tedious assignment yet.  However, I learned a great deal in carrying out the assignment.  The assignment allowed me to realize that we must be able to think about our art in a much deeper sense....the placement of figures and the message we want to relay through such placement.  Despite this assignment being my toughest, it was a very enjoyable one and I learned so many concepts and terms with just this one assignment.  

Mask Modeling Part I

At the very beginning of the project, I was a bit nervous to work with clay.  I always thought that I wasn't very good at hands-on projects and didn't know how to go about "sculpting".  But by paying close attention to instructions and after experimenting with the clay more and more, I eventually became comfortable while I worked.  My nervousness faded and i began to have fun working with a different media.  
After being shown what could happen if the clay wasn't properly handled, I became nervous again, but it helped me to pay better attention to what I was doing.  We were first to create the shape of a face about the length of our back board.  That took about two class periods to finish.  The next step was to experiment with different textures to figure out which ones would work with our mask and which ones fit into what we were ultimately trying to achieve in designing our mask.  This experimentation led me to finally come up with a final make-up of what I wanted my mask to look like. Within the next class period, we were able to create a contoured shape for the mask as opposed to it just being flat, by using crumpled up newspaper sheets.  After this was done, I went on to attaching the common features of the face.  I went on ahead without any instruction, but it turned out I took the right approach in doing so.  I feel that this was by far my favorite part of the project because I got to see firsthand how versatile clay was as different shapes could be made over and over until you were satisfied with the overall outcome.  It is here that we stop and wait for our mask to dry before the final stages.  :)  

Pointillism: Paul McCartney

For this assignment, I wanted to pay homage to a very prominent musical artist, but had trouble finding magazines that have pictures of the old school artists I love.  I went to the Bestseller and asked for the Rolling Stones magazine, and found Paul McCartney's photo.  Perfect!  First, I traced the 8x11 picture plane for my composition.  I then, by eye, chose the make-up for the picture plane without using a viewfinder.  I placed a grid on the magazine's photo of Mr. McCartney and also drew a grid on my picture plane to ensure that I place my contour line outline of the portrait in exact proportions.  I used the contour lines as a guide for the placement of the "points", attempting to refrain from replicating contour/actual lines.  Through the use of the points, actual lines are made, yet are not considered contour lines.  Also, through the use of value changes we see implied lines.  We are guided with Paul McCartney's eyes, also creating psychic lines.  The shadows on McCartney's face, eyes, neck and the portrait background were the value changes I was most focused on.  Dark and closer points transitioning into lighter and further apart points ultimately created the value changes.  This portrait is one of my most favorite works of art this semester!   

Figure Gesture Drawings

The idea of spontaneity and quickness can be captured in a gesture drawing.  Throughout the course, we have been exposed to drawings that require precision.  The beauty of gesture drawings is that precision is thrown out of the picture; and it is the picture's flaws that give it it's character, substance, and meaning, I think.  Moreover, through gesture drawings, and the absence of precision, we are able to exude the emotional aspect of a drawing.  Although precision is not required, we still have to take into consideration proportion.  To do this, we used a skeleton line to map out the figure.  From there, we were to fill in the proportions of the body with lines and bubbles. 
The five gesture drawings above are five of my favorites.  We were to use the pencil as our main medium, however, for one, I experimented with charcoal pastels.  Three of the five are stills of the video of the pilobolus dancers.  Two of which I used my sister and brother-in-law as models.  As I began to create more and more gesture drawings, I saw how elegant and beautiful the human body is.  You're more involved in the silhouette of the human body and capturing movement.  Also, because you are not focused on specific details, again, more emotion screams through the drawing.....

Contour - Texture Drawing

For this assignment, we were to find a picture in a magazine consisting of two people.  With it, we were asked to draw only contour lines of the outline of the figures and fill it with tactile textures.  Because the piece I chose consisted of full-bodied figures, making it seem further away from the viewer, I had to choose textures that made smaller imprints for it to fit well into the picture plane.  Otherwise, I feel that it would have taken away from the figures as they should be the main focus of the piece.  It is an asymmetrical piece as the figures are not centered, thus there isn't an obvious balance.  I also used different values to emphasize or de-emphasize certain areas.  I tried to mimic atmospheric perspective for the background of the piece.  However, I don't think it worked well...the mountains were supposed to one of the lightest elements of the piece.  To bring the figures to life, shadowing came into play to lessen the flatness.  Vertical perspective is seen as well, with the vines appearing to be closer in proximity to the viewer, then the figures being the next closest to the viewer.  It was a very enjoyable assignment and I've become more and more aware of the techniques I'm using and more aware of what to use as well....

Neutral Ground & Crosshatching Still-Life

With this assignment, we incorporated all of the techniques we have learned thus far, and had also added onto the list.  Again, first, we created a neutral ground using pencil shavings.  Because  we were already comfortable enough with the composition of the Seated Boy for a past assignment, this composition felt almost impossible to replicate onto the piece of paper.  We used our erasers after locating the lightest and most lit areas of the composition.  We were to pay very close attention to the lit and darkened areas to create an accurate or the closest representation of the composition. After having done so, we went in with our pencils, created an outline using actual lines, but then would later rid the piece of them through the crosshatching techniques.  With the exception of the folds in the sheet, and the shadows they gave off, we were to refrain from using any actual lines.  We strayed away from doing so with crosshatching, however, even the crosshatching created the illusion of actual lines in the piece. To further highlight the lit areas, especially in the folds of the sheet, we went in toward the end with white chalk and added to the where we replicated the lit areas of the composition.  This completely altered the piece, I think, and made it stand out even more.  This is one of my favorite pieces thus far.  I am very happy with the outcome