Drawing from Observation Skills

Each of our pieces required the use of different art skills. For our small drawing of a piece of paper, we needed to understand the idea of shadow, edges, and background light compared to the objects light. Because the piece of paper stood out from our background do to its color, we needed to make the background paper darker than our piece of paper. For the next, bigger, piece of the wall it was esentail to use spacing and alignment. Because each object was different in size and texture we needed to be able to position them in the right place compared to the wall behind it. Finally with the biggest and hardest piece, the still life of geometric shapes, We had to incorporate not only shading and position but, the angle at which we were drawing it from. From my view some of the shapes blocked out the back of the table and others extended past the edges of the table meaning we had to adjust everything.

Drawing from Observation Skills

Collaborative Drawing

With each new drawing we did I would first step back and look at the piece and the objects we were drawing. I would try to notice the spacing of the live sculpture and compare that to the piece of art. Also i would look at tone and shadow of the piece and try to copy exactly what i saw.

My drawing had not been changed too much after I returned. The thing that was most changed in my piece was the paper towel roll which was re-spaced closer to the chair. I liked seeing the changes in my piece because I could see where the errors where and how they were fixed. To finish my drawing I added more tone and shadow to the piece and tried to get rid of noticible line and instead, make everything seem more fluent having black fade to white and white fade to black.

Pre-assessment

Though we have done a lot of observation drawing from my last term, I felt creating the picture came more naturally to me. Being able to decide which things to draw and how to draw them allowed me to use shapes and images that i knew how to draw or had more experience drawing. Also i could position them whatever way I wanted to which also helped perspective wise.

Final Reflection

I think that I did achieve my goals why in the art principles class furing the first term. A few of my goals was to master depth drawing and also perspective. In the work we did after the first post and the information we attained through the slide shows and also the projects, like the charcoal DEAD, I learned how to do depth and use shadow to help project that depth in my pictures and paintings. Also the scene drawing picture taught my how to use perspective to make things closer or father away in a picture. Learning all of these basics will help me for the next art class because i can improve my skills in the next term.

In the value drawing i did a really good job with the clouds and used shading and smudging to make the clouds look wispy. I would of liked to improve my water and make it fit in more with the painting.

Drop Everything and Draw

I felt the hardest thing about this drawing exercise was refining the circles. It was really hard to make circles that all fit the proportions of the model. I would have too fat of a body then too skinny legs or too long arms.

The easiest thing about this exercise was not getting too detailed. I didn't have a problem with skipping details and just going into the big picture stuff.

Nighthawks #1

Its late at night, the streets are quiet and empty. On the corner sits a small diner with large glass windows with a wooden frame colored rusty green. Outside the dinner sits the sign " Phillies" in a creamy color. Through the window you can see the bar and the waiter behind it. On the brown stools sit three people all dressed in 1950's clothing. A lone man with his back turned to the window and on the otherside a couple. In the center stands the waiter in all white leaning over to get something. the lights above them leak out into the street illuminating the corner but nothing more. The closed shops around the dinner make the background seem dark and quiet.

Through light the artist has created a feeling of "halcyon days" or the old peaceful times. Making the diner the only store open makes everything seem quiet, like late at night. Holding the only light in the painting they eye is drawn towards the diner and the people. The peoples faces are neutral, not happy or sad. The building seems old yet loved as if its old yet has been taken care of well which also adds to the mood of peace.

Edward Hopper uses the balance of light and dark to even out the painting. Though there is only one form of light in the picture he makes it strong so that it carries out into the darkness. The darkness, though there is more of it in the picture is not painted in a strong black but really a shadowy black that has bits of light in it. Through having less, stronger, light and more, lighter, dark he balances the painting.

Story Collage Critique

This class critique was really helpful in seeing what my picture needed. Looking at the four responses I got I can see what aspects of the picture each person noticed and, what parts of the image all four felt improvement was needed. In Terms of improvement I noticed that all four felt the background was somewhat bleak. Adding clouds and the sun would help make the picture more lively and realistic. Also adding a ball, score board, or emotions in the face would help clarify what is going on and give some background to the story. In terms of the positive feedback I got a lot on the players. I think the best feedback was on clarification and making sure I put something into the picture to help show what is happening.

Shape Collage Reflection

For this project I used all three different forms of shapes to project my story. For the field lines and goal I used Geometric shapes like squares, lines, and rectangles. For the lacrosse sticks and the helmets abstract shapes were used. Finally in terms of the players body parts I used anthropomorphic shapes to project legs and arms. In this picture I wanted to show myself carrying the ball down the field. To do this I tried to make the people in the front of the picture bigger than the players in the back. Also I changed the color of the field to make it look like it was receding back. This story wasn't as hard to show because it was sports and so could be understood without words. Just by looking at the picture you can see what is happening by the placement of the players a and the position of the legs which shows whether they are running or stationary. I think doing a story that involves less action would be much harder because action, in this case, is a lot easier to explain without words

Wire Sculpture Reflection

Everything was pretty hard for the wire sculpture. I think the hardest, however, was/is the hair. Its incredible challenging to get the hair looking like your hair and also make it 3d. I think the best part of my face is my eyes. I was able to get the eyelid looking like an actual eyelid which made it look a lot more real. Honestly i don't think the drawing assignment helped at all. I have'nt even looked at my drawing and have been basing my face just off of what i know and not the picture. It already really hard to make the face look like a face and having to then base it off a picture would be impossible.

Finally i have learned that lines define the work of art. For the wire sculptures one of the things i spend the longest on is making sure the lines bend and look right.

1-3 reflection

We did a lot of different things over the past three weeks. I enjoyed doing the still life drawings, especially the still objects like the garbage can and the boxes. I didn't really like doing the moving still life where we kept having to add or take away from the picture. It got really annoying having to keep erasing and then re drawing all the objects perfectly. Over this next term i want to improve on the 5 second looking and be able to keep a smooth rythmn to my drawing, not stopping and starting abruptly. Secondly I want to master depth drawing and be able to illustrate depth in all my work. Finally i want to be able to draw a straight line without a ruler. I can't draw straight lines!