Most successful artwork
I consider my most successful artwork the interior-exterior themed piece. This is because it was one of my first times using oil pastels and it was my second time using it for a major piece. This is one of my favorites because the iris looks very serene and inviting while the eyes are bloodshot and alarming. I also really liked the texture of the red oil pastel on the mushroom. I colored quite hard to fill in all the white spaces crayons leave usually and it feels and looks waxier than the rest of the piece. This is my most successful because it's that one I am given the most satisfaction from looking at. Finished artwork hanging in hall pictured below.
overcoming obstacles
The artwork I had to overcome the most obstacles to complete is my man verses machine themed piece. I chose this for question two because I had the hardest time deciding what to put in the background to complement my robot man in the foreground. I had several ideas for the background, an abandoned warehouse, a doctor over him, complete darkness, but none of these seemed to satisfy what I needed to make my artwork look complete. I chose burned newspapers in the end. To make these I taped up newspaper a wet it, then it immediately fell down. Next I layer it on the grass and sprayed silver paint on it then burned it. Once it was what I thought was dry I folded it up and put it in a plastic bag to take to school. The next day I opened it and it was extremely stuck together. I salvaged what I could at put it on my artwork. Also, my robot was misplaced in the original sketching period, more diagonal and right than I had wanted and I didn't get over it until an almost to completion checkmark. Pictured below is me holding my completed work in the art classroom.
Growth as an artist
My growth as an artist includes finding new mediums, new tools/skills and attention to details. My first artwork of the school year I used charcoal, a medium I have had practice with on a regular basis. While working on this piece Mrs. Barnett allowed me to use the tools in her charcoal box. I choose the use the white smudging pencil, smearing rag, and various types of charcoal other than the usual extremely compact rectangular prism chalk I had used before. These were all first time tools and mediums for me, I practiced on the
paper I had begun using for my final piece. On my next artwork I chose to use oil pastel, a medium I had very little practice with and had only used on good paper once; not just notebook paper while doodling. At first I was hesitant that the pastels would give me enough detail that I had originally wanted in my sketch idea, but decided that I would just jump in and see what happens. While wondering how to smooth out my oil pastel marks, I remembered that oil and water don't mix, so I concluded that oil must help the colors blend. I chose baby oil and used it throughout my paper, but mainly on the pupil to make the black look solid and spherical. The above paragraph and below pictures show growth through deviating from my comfort zone and taking risks with my artwork. Pictured below I have my artwork with only the charcoal finished and my other artwork using oil pastel only partly finished.
paper I had begun using for my final piece. On my next artwork I chose to use oil pastel, a medium I had very little practice with and had only used on good paper once; not just notebook paper while doodling. At first I was hesitant that the pastels would give me enough detail that I had originally wanted in my sketch idea, but decided that I would just jump in and see what happens. While wondering how to smooth out my oil pastel marks, I remembered that oil and water don't mix, so I concluded that oil must help the colors blend. I chose baby oil and used it throughout my paper, but mainly on the pupil to make the black look solid and spherical. The above paragraph and below pictures show growth through deviating from my comfort zone and taking risks with my artwork. Pictured below I have my artwork with only the charcoal finished and my other artwork using oil pastel only partly finished.
Teaching/learning
This year, Mrs. Barnett has allowed us more freedom in our artwork. This makes it a lot more enjoyable and also somewhat harder because we have to think from scratch instead of just swallowing instructions or guidelines. I think her change in actions was a success and find it swell. I was given more of an opportunity to make my artwork something I was proud of and express my artistic abilities better.