Concentration #3
5/16/18 Phamtastic This is a stipple drawing of Elizabeth Pham, known by most as just "Pham." Pham has a very outgoing, confident, and unique personality, and I wanted that to be captured in the drawing. For her pose, I have her doing peace signs with her hands and an open-mouthed smile to set her apart from the other portraits and show that she likes to do her own thing. The wisps of her hair add movement to the piece and it give it the appearance of being blown in the wind, and the pattern of the dots unifies it. The flowers in the background add a pop of color to make the subject stand out and create contrast. |
Concentration #2
4/24/19 Violet Disposition For my second concentration, I did a pen and ink stipple drawing of my friend Sarah with a floral watercolor background. I decided to create this portrait in the style of my first concentration (stipple portrait and some type of floral watercolor background) to make all of my concentrations more cohesive. I also decided to add the floral background to this drawing because the colors of the plants in the background create a contrast with the black and white subject which I think help draw the viewer’s eye to the piece and help the subject pop. Additionally, the shape of the petals and leaves with their soft, curved lines match the soft lines in Sarah’s hair and clothing wrinkles, and they help unify the piece overall. I chose this picture of Sarah to go along with my concentration of “communication of human identify through expressive portraits." Sarah is a shy person, but she's very social and kind when you get to know her. Since she's not facing straight forward, she's kind of closed off from the viewer, showing that she's not very open with people until she knows them better. She has a kind, soft smile, though, that tells the viewer that she is a kind person when you do get to know her better. I added purple flowers because her personality reminds me of purple. To me, purple is a mysterious color, showing that there is more to Sarah when you get to know her. |
Concentration #1
3/29/19 Little Miss Sunshine This is a stipple drawing of my friend Madi. I used ink to draw her, and then I used watercolor to create yellow flowers in the background. The stipple creates a small, fun polka dot pattern and helps to create a sense of unity throughout the subject matter. The space between the dots adds different values to the piece, but the yellow flowers in the background add color to the drawing while creating a nice contrast to the black and white subject. Since my concentration is "communication of human identity through expressive portraits," I used this photo of Madi as a reference photo because I think it reflects her personality. Since she's laughing in the photo, I though it reflected her happy, positive, sunshiny personality very well, and since yellow is a color that reminds me of happiness, I added the yellow flowers to the background. |
Abstract
6/1/18 Christmastime is Here While listening to "Greensleeves" by Vince Guaraldi Trio, I felt inspired to paint a cheerful winter scene. I added color to the piece with the watercolor paints, and added a sketchy, line feel with ink. The red on the house helps emphasize that it is the subject, yet there is still balance with the trees on either side of the house. |
Portrait
5/21/18 Aubri For this portrait, I painted my friend Aubri. I edited the background to be solid black and added in a slight vignette for dramatic lighting. The lighting and background is inspired by a portrait that my grandpa did in oil paint. His subject, too, has dark hair that blends into the background, and the emphasis is on the subject's face. By adding lighter values to Aubri's facial features and darker ones to the hair framing her face, the emphasis is placed on her face. The contrast of the dark background against her skin also helps emphasize her face, and the red color of her shirt helps grab the viewer's attention and brings out the red hue in her cheeks. |
Acrylic Still-Life
4/30/18 An Artist's Toolkit In my acrylic painting, I painted five objects that are close to me and my art: my eraser, a graphite pencil, a paint brush, a tube of oil paint, and a lucky cat. I use the pencil, paint brush, and eraser when painting and drawing, and both the paintbrush and paint tube were my grandpa’s from when he painted. The lucky cat was given to me by a close friend, and it’s supposed to bring “artistic luck.” I used value through varying hues and tints to create the illusion of depth and form in my painting. I also painted my objects with bold colors and placed them on a plain background to add contrast, and I placed the purple cat and yellow paint next to each other to add contrast as well. The fabric in the background has folds in it that add movement to the piece and cause the viewer’s eye to move across the piece to each object. |
Watercolor Landscape
4/9/18 Driftwood Beach on Jekyll Island The subject matter of my painting is the trees, ocean, and sky of Driftwood Beach on Jekyll Island in Georgia. My Aunt and I visited Driftwood Beach last spring, and it was super neat to see such a different type of beach. The beach has such an ethereal feel to it, and I wanted to capture that feeling in my painting. I used space by creating a fairly open view of the mainland across from the island, and I broke up the open spaces with trees to create a balance between the openness and the objects on the beach. Because of how linear trees are, I used a lot of line in creating them. I added movement to the landscape in the sky by creating soft curves for the clouds that bring the viewer's eye across the landscape. |
Colored Pencil Project
11/15/17 The Windows to the Soul I drew this piece with the idea of "the eyes are the windows to the soul." I based the drawing off of a picture of me with my glasses distorting my face, but then added an element of surrealism within the frames. I used colored pencil and a little baby oil for mixing the bricks, and the colored pencil added the element of color to it – something I haven't previously worked with. There's also a feeling of space with the bricks pushed to the background and the clouds within the frames. There's a lot of balance within this piece since it is pretty symmetrical, and I used contrast with the cool color palette inside the frames and the warm colors of the bricks outside. |
Pen and Ink Project
11/6/17 Baby Ethan For my pen and ink project, I drew my brother, Ethan, when he was a baby. I liked the hat, and I thought it would be something unique and different to draw, with all its folds and textures. I chose to stipple the piece because I liked the delicate feel it has and how detailed you can get with the small dots. Using a tool that has no change in value made it a challenge, and I had to really utilize the space between the dots. That is what allowed me to put value in the drawing and create the different forms of the various components. Stippling also created a feeling of rhythm with the repetition of the dots, and the dots also created a polka dot pattern within their values. |
Charcoal Still-Life
10/10/17 Snow Day I drew my cat, Raja, looking outside my window at the snow. I wanted to draw this picture because of the contrast between Raja's dark fur and the light, white snow. I added texture to her fur by using an oval eraser to make little individual hairs and using the kneaded eraser to show where her fur gets lighter and darker. The value in the fur is what makes her look more realistic, and making her darker really adds emphasis to her as the subject. |
Charcoal Still-Life
10/2/17 Milo and Friends For this still-life, I drew some figures that were on a table in the art room. I used charcoal on paper, and really used the elements and principles of value, form, balance, and variety. I used form with making the objects before I added value to them to make them look more three-dimensional. Balance shows up with the objects being fairly equal on both halves of the paper. The large hand is balanced out by the iron on the opposing side, and the tall and skinny figurine is balanced by the short and fat telephone. Variety is also present with the varying heights and widths of the objects – none of them are the same height. I wanted to draw this section of the table because I thought the objects had a lot of character in them, and I especially liked the little wooden guy whom I have named Milo. |
1-Point Perspective Hallway Drawing
9/14/17 Science Hall For this drawing, I drew my school's science hall. I used graphite on paper, and I incorporated the elements of line and value and the principles of contrast and emphasis. I used line a lot with making the drawing into one-point perspective before adding value to everything to give it depth. I used contrast with the pictures on the walls by making them darker than the rest of the drawing in order to add emphasis to them and make them stand out more. I chose to draw the science hall because it’s the only hallway that stretches from one end of the school to the other, so it seems super long. I also liked the pictures along the wall and thought they were a unique feature that most other halls in the school don’t have. |