My Artwork:
Magazine Portrait:
10/18/21
10/18/21
This piece of artwork is a self portrait pieced together with different pages from magazines. I made my background a light blue color like the sky to contrast with my dark ombre hair. I used a variety of skin tones to do my shadow work and make it look more realistic. The ocean in the background on the left side represents all the trips my family and I took to the beach. For my shirt I chose the color red to represent my loving personality.
Looking at self portraits can alter your perception of someone. When someone creates a self portrait they create things that symbolize them and really make it their own. In person you may not see the same aspects to a person as you could by looking at a self portrait. I can influence what I want people to see by focusing on the main points I am trying to get across. Putting things in my background that represent what I like will tell people what kind of person I am.
Looking at self portraits can alter your perception of someone. When someone creates a self portrait they create things that symbolize them and really make it their own. In person you may not see the same aspects to a person as you could by looking at a self portrait. I can influence what I want people to see by focusing on the main points I am trying to get across. Putting things in my background that represent what I like will tell people what kind of person I am.
Real Anatomy of Technology:
11/18/21
11/18/21
The artwork above is an interpretation of how I see technology. I started out by drawing a girl's face. I filled half of her face with social media apps and wires from various technological devices. I kept the other half of her face natural looking to symbolize what people look like on the outside while technology is influencing them from the inside. Above the girl’s head I drew the evolution of the phone throughout different decades. I decided to add the phones to draw attention toward the evolution of technology that is happening everyday.
My mother Melissa grew up in a totally different atmosphere of technology. Growing up my mom had very little technology and the technology was very slow and undeveloped, whereas now I'm growing up with a lot of different technologies and newer advanced technology. My mother also stated that she feels she would not be greatly affected if technology went away simply because she did not grow up with much technology in the first place. I would be greatly affected because I grew up with technology and it is one of my most important forms of communication. Personally, I enjoy social media apps and connecting through them. My two closest friends and I post on Instagram and Vsco to keep in touch with our online friends. I think there is a borderline when social media is positively affecting you and negatively affecting you. In my artwork I am portraying the girl in a negative way. She is being controlled by social media and her appearance on the outside is what media standards tell her to look like. She has an almost emotionless face like she is a robot controlled by social media. Instagram controls what emotions she puts out, Snapchat controls the people she talks to, and Facetune controls the way she looks to everyone else. Technology is good in moderation but can become harmful if you spend too much time intertwined with it.
My mother Melissa grew up in a totally different atmosphere of technology. Growing up my mom had very little technology and the technology was very slow and undeveloped, whereas now I'm growing up with a lot of different technologies and newer advanced technology. My mother also stated that she feels she would not be greatly affected if technology went away simply because she did not grow up with much technology in the first place. I would be greatly affected because I grew up with technology and it is one of my most important forms of communication. Personally, I enjoy social media apps and connecting through them. My two closest friends and I post on Instagram and Vsco to keep in touch with our online friends. I think there is a borderline when social media is positively affecting you and negatively affecting you. In my artwork I am portraying the girl in a negative way. She is being controlled by social media and her appearance on the outside is what media standards tell her to look like. She has an almost emotionless face like she is a robot controlled by social media. Instagram controls what emotions she puts out, Snapchat controls the people she talks to, and Facetune controls the way she looks to everyone else. Technology is good in moderation but can become harmful if you spend too much time intertwined with it.
Value of Words:
12/3/21
12/3/21
The idea of the rose from Beauty and the Beast came to me right away for this project. My family has a great connection with Disney, especially Disney World. I personally love the movie Beauty and the Beast, therefore I chose my favorite songs from the movie to use for this piece. I used the song “Tale as Old as Time” for the glass encasing and the stem of the rose. To make up the rose and rose petals I used the song “The Rose'' because it tells the story of what the rose symbolizes and how the curse applies to the rose. In the background of the piece is the most popular song from the movie, “Be Our Guest.” I layered words on the rose to show the shadows and the highlights. On the glass encasing I wrote the words very lightly to show the shading but also transparency of the glass.
This artwork feels more personal because it was done in my own everyday handwriting. Words and artwork go hand in hand. Words can be used as describers, symbols, or even add hidden messages. Adding words to an artwork really focuses the person's attention on what you are trying to express through the piece. I am focusing on the tale of the rose from Beauty and the Beast. In a piece of art words can add so much depending on how and why you use them.
This artwork feels more personal because it was done in my own everyday handwriting. Words and artwork go hand in hand. Words can be used as describers, symbols, or even add hidden messages. Adding words to an artwork really focuses the person's attention on what you are trying to express through the piece. I am focusing on the tale of the rose from Beauty and the Beast. In a piece of art words can add so much depending on how and why you use them.
Automatic Drawing:
12/8/21
12/8/21
The drawing above is an automatic drawing. An automatic drawing is a piece of work done with the unconscious mind. In other words it is done in a way where you have very little control and just go with the flow of your hand. Value is everywhere in automatic drawings. You can especially find value in pieces with harsh contrast, overall shape, and randomness. An artist may choose to do an automatic drawing to let go a little and put what they are feeling on paper without any limitations. Personally, I was very intimidated by this project because I like to be in control of what I am doing and have a set plan. With this piece I had to let go of all that and set myself free on the paper. I had a hard time starting the project because I did not want to ruin it or make a mistake. I even found myself saying I wanted to start over a couple times, but I kept going and made my accidents into something unique. My piece ended up being a mixture of light and darkness with hard lines of black for contrast. When I was nearing the end of my piece I started to add lighter colors to brighten the piece up from its dark, weary mood. I don't really like how the piece ended up. I think it shows more of the dark aspect of things where I prefer to see the light side. If I had to give it a title I would call it “The Breaking Sky and Rising mountains.” I chose this title because the warm colored sky has cracks all over it with dark cool colored mountains rising from the ground.
Still Life of my Life:
1/12/22
1/12/22
Certain objects serve a deep purpose in our life. Objects can hold memories we want to cherish forever, like the watering can in my painting. The watering can represents a memory I have with my mom. In the summer I used to love going out and watering the plants with my mom. I chose a rustic/weathered theme for my overall piece because my mom loves the look of it. The weathered blue chair is a replica of one my mother has. I also included lilacs in my flower bucket to symbolize my mother. Her favorite flower is the lilac and her favorite color is purple so it fits perfectly with my painting. I feel like the whole painting symbolizes my mother from the wooden background to the rust on the bucket. If these items had gone away the memories I cherish would go along with them. Painting this piece reminded me of the times I went to painting classes with my mom. I loved spending time painting with her and from those classes, I gained a little experience to use in this piece. Painting the fruit and the color blocks really helped me with my painting skills by introducing me to shadows and color mixing. Shadows were relatively new to me and kind of a struggle/learning experience. I see materialism showing up in my life through social media. If you do not have the latest iPhone you are not happy or if you think you are sad because you don’t have fashionable clothes you see the world in a materialistic way. You believe it’s all about the material and not the spiritual value.
Art For A Cause:
1/20/22
1/20/22
I started this project with the broad idea of mental illness. In my everyday life I see the effects that mental illness has on people and that is what inspired/drove me to do this project. I think our world needs to be more aware of the signs of mental illness. Some people have the idea that mental illness is not that serious and that it is just a way of getting attention. Those people may even have a mental illness themselves. Mental illnesses are hard to detect in young children as they are growing and going through the teenage years. People may call them moody rather than them having depression or anxiety. I do not believe that this artwork could be seen as offensive to anyone since so many people have mental illnesses. I found this piece particularly challenging to find a specific mental illness to portray. I realized that a lot of the illnesses have overlapping symptoms, specifically outbursts. I chose to emphasize the wrinkles that her face makes when she is screaming to show the contrast between the faces. I was successful in making the transition from a “normal” or calm looking girl to a girl who is clearly facing some challenges. The shading in the face really makes the piece come alive, look more realistic, and as if it is actually happening on the pages.