Follow Your Own Path (Collage)

      For the collage project, I created a nature themed background with a road leading to infinity. This work is intending to show that you are the one who decides your future and anything can happen on the way. I used several pictures as my background and used gesso to soften them and make them blend together more. I used paint to write the quote on the road that I cut out of paper. 

     I had trouble deciding on a good way to portray my thoughts and had to try several different things. I chose to do a waged out background so that the path and shadow would be the main focus. I wasn't sure how the gesso would turn out because I had never used it before but I think it was a good choice after seeing the results. 

     I appreciated the help and opinions I got from others because it helped me see my work from another point of view. I also took the time to step back and look at my work for a moment before continuing a couples times. This helps to adjust some items that were not placed in the best way possible and take off or add other items. For example, my first idea was to have the background a sky blue as you can see below: 

I was also planning on creating the path with the pictures but after testing out different ways to place everything, I realized that this wasn't the best way to do this project. I decided to paint the background black and add pictures on top of that.

     The path that I was originally going to do is still there but it is made out of different materials than I had imagined with the quote written on the path. And the shadow walking away from you. 

Macaroons

     For my clay piece, my theme was to make desserts and I chose to make macaroons. I chose to make three macaroons of various colors and flavors, a yellow one, a pink one, and a green macaroon to make the plate look more appetizing. I decided to use acrylic paint for the macaroons to allow me to mix colors and create different shades and tints. I feel that I was able to create a more realistic piece than if I had used glaze. I also made a small white plate out of clay to place the macaroons, which I painted with glaze to create the shiny finish of a glass plate. 

     This project allowed me to work more with a median that I have struggled with before. I used techniques that I had already learned but I was able to gain more skill with those techniques and try them for different types of projects. 

     I was glad to have the opinions of other people with this project because it allows for a different perspective on the project that I could not see myself because I had been working on the pieces the entire time. It also let me take a minute to step back and try and see what I was missing or what needed to be improved and I was able to create my final piece to the best of my abilities. 

Clock Hands

      For this project, I drew close ups of clock hands in colored pencil. My first idea was to do one particular area of the clock blown up but after a few sketches, I realized that when I put all the views together like a puzzle, it makes the drawing more interesting. After I finished drawing the clocks in pencil, I chose to use colored pencil as my median. I used various blues and golds as the main color, which was unique compared to other clocks. I also used grey, as my background, and black, for some the details such as the numbers. 

     Throughout this project, I was able to try new techniques with the colored pencils that include shading and layering. As I was working, I changed my first ideas with the colors after testing out different options. I decided to go with blue and gold for the clock hands because those are two colors that I love and that represent me. 

     At various points in this project I had to take a step back to see where I needed to work more and what seemed finished. It also helped me what needed to be changed completely or altered a little bit. I also appreciated the help I got from others because it brought other opinions and ideas to make the final product look better.