Oil Painting Practice

In Art 4, I painted using oil paints for the first time. We were introduced to a project using oils as our medium, so I painted some small apples to get practice working with the new medium. And I immediately fell in love. Oils are so much fun to work with. You can achieve so much texture and value working with the paints as a result of the paints' consistency. The top apple was completed simply using a brush. It was such a good opportunity to learn how to mix the colors on the paper rather than on the palette. Also, I learned a lot about the importance of layering and the effect that it has on the piece. The bottom apple was done using a palette knife. It was definitely more challenging as I felt that I did not have as much control. I appreciate the opportunity to practice with a different tool as it deepened my understanding of how colors work and different thicknesses the paint can be applied with. Creating these two apples got me super excited to start my project using oils. I am loving the experience and think I may have found one of my new favorite mediums! Here's a photograph of my final piece in progress. 

artSpark

This past weekend, my good friend and I participated in artSpark, a chalk art competition in Downtown Raleigh. Hundreds of college, high, and middle school students participated in the event, covering the streets with bright chalk! We each had a 5 foot by 5 foot square, two packs of chalk pastels, and two days to complete our chalk murals. It was such an amazing experience to be able to put my design in to the community and to be surrounded by such talented people. I learned a lot from the experience and am so glad that I participated! Enjoy the gallery of my partner and I working as well as the final piece! Check out my partner's blog here:

                         http://hannahbush-apex-12.weebly.com/computer-art-and-animation

Original candy land sketch :)

Working hard

There was more chalk on us than the street...

All done!

Final piece!

Reflection Final

Final Piece

I really like how my final piece turned out. I have never used Prisma Colors on such a large scale before so I was grateful for the opportunity to fine tune my skills. When we were introduced to the concept of creating a drawing of a reflection of something that is reflective of us individually, I came up with an idea that I kind of decided on, but was not excited about. As soon as I became inspired by the idea of hands coming together and reflecting in this unique way, I could not get the idea out of my head and soon forgot my original plan. These images show my original sketch and some of the final piece in progress. 

Original sketch

In progress

I am very inspired by the idea of people coming from varying impoverished backgrounds, for example individuals in Africa, coming together under one unique culture. I think that the fact that despite having much materially, they have so much spiritually and I really wanted to capture that in my drawing.








I believe that these individuals deserve to have a voice and to be heard! To portray this message and to tell their story, I decided to show all the hands of multiple individuals in one wash basin.











This is representative of the unity of individuals as well as the joy that can still be found even through the simplicity of things. I tried to emphasize the joy and whimsy through the bright colors and native prints. Here are some of images I used as inspiration and reference.

                                                    

                                                          

                                                


Like I mentioned before, I have not used Prisma Colored pencils on a large scale before. I have had the case sitting in my bedroom but all its done is intimidate me. When I began the project by sketching out the design, I became even more intimidated because the design was very detailed. However, once I got into it and fell in love; I never wanted to put the pencils down! I think that because of the properties of the pencils, it really enhanced my drawing. I love the blending techniques and texture that I was able to achieve with the pencils. 

I think that my piece has a really strong message to tell. I really appreciate the opportunity that I had to tell a story through my art and work with this new medium. I hope that the piece inspires you the way that it inspired me throughout the process of working on it!

New school year, new project

Welcome back! I have started in Art 4 at my high school. The year has just begun and we have already been hard at work! Our first assignment is to create a drawing of a reflection that is reflective of us using Prisma Colored Pencils. I am very inspired from the idea of the peace and innocence of people who live in third world countries. I decided to draw a metal wash basin with multiple hands in it, representing the unity of individuals in third world countries. It's still a work in progress, as Prisma Colors take a while! Here are some pictures of my progress thus far: 

Practice drawing water

More practice and color scheme

Multiple practice sketches 

Final piece in progress