Art 2 Final Exam

Exam Questions

1. The project that I felt was the most successful was my clay piece because I was able to follow through with my idea and create a piece that was realistic. I made macaroons on a white plate as my final project. My first step in this project was sketching the macaroons and choosing how many I wanted to make. Once I finished sketching the macaroons, I made them out of clay. To make them, I would make the top, middle, and bottom separately and than attach them together using the slip and score technique. For the plate, I rolled out a piece of clay and shaped it however I liked. Once the pieces were out of the kiln, I used paint for the macaroons instead of glaze so that I could mix colors to create the colors I needed and to make different shades. Another reason why I used paint was because I did not want the macaroons to look shiny since they are not shiny in real life. I decided to paint one macaroon pink, one mint green, and one yellow. I did not use a top coat for them because, again, I did not want them to shine. For the plate, I used white glaze to add shine. I believe this project was successful because I feel that the macaroons are not only the correct proportions, but the colors also helped add a realistic look to them.

Clay Macaroons

2. The project that I felt was the least successful was the painting of the Coca-Cola bottles, inspired by Wayne Tiebaud, because my final piece did not have the details I would of wished to add. I chose to paint three Coca-Cola bottles using cool and warm colors because Wayne was a very colorful artist. I chose to paint each bottle two different colors and each bottle were different colors. I decided to use neutral colors for the background. The background is a couple different shades of gray. If I were to change my project, I would start by planning my time better and drawing a clear sketch to help me on the final piece.
   The first aspect I would change on my project is I would draw the bottles better, meaning I would draw them to look more realistic and add small details such as the logo of the bottle. For the bottles, I would use colors that gave more contrast, using different shades of one color and highlights of other colors in one bottle. The logo on the bottle would pop out and add texture to each individual bottle. My last change would be on the shadows of the bottles that you see now at the bottom of the canvas. I would sketch the shadows  out clearly first and then add more values. At the moment, the shadows are not as realistic and detailed as I would like. To sum up, the most important problem that I encountered was time because of my lack of good planning.

Bottles- Final Piece

3. One of the pieces that I did first was the Bottles piece, which I did in colored pencil and acrylic paint. In this piece, I did not apply the paint as well as I should have to make the bottles three dimensional and detailed. My technique for this piece was not the best it could have been which affected the final product. For this project, I would of needed to take my time and paint the background better. I also should of painted the bottles with more values to make them pop and look real. My idea for this project came from the colorful paintings of Wayne Tiebaud but I did not add enough of my ideas to it and the painting is not as interesting as it could be with more details.

Colored drawing of Bottles

   Later on in the semester,  I learned how to add texture and value to create three dimensional drawings. One example would be the drawing I did of a peppermint and compared to the bottle above, my techniques had changed. I was able to use my intuition to figure out where certain values went and how to draw the smaller details onto the peppermint. A final project that would show how my skills have changed over the semester is my collage because even if this project is not made with the same materials, you can see that I have learned how to combine colors and elements that work together and create the piece that I visioned. 

Peppermint

Final Collage

4. The two mini lessons that were most beneficial for the semester was the acrylic painting and water color paint. For the acrylic painting, I painted a small part of a bigger painting. This lesson was beneficial to me because it taught me to focus on the shapes and lines used that I saw in the painting instead of what I thought the objects should look like. I noticed that this made the project less overwhelming. I also learned to focus on the colors in front of my eyes and the textures. To paint this piece, I would go by sections which is another technique of painting that I had never realized would be so helpful. I believe that taking the time to try a new technique with new materials made me a better artist. The instructions that were given to me for this project was enough because it gave me structure so I knew what I was doing and how I should get it done. But at the same time, it allowed me to test out my abilities because the instructions were not step by step and let me explore some techniques and use a new medium.

Acrylic Painting- Mini Lesson

   The other mini lesson I found very beneficial was painting fruit using water color. To start out, practicing different water color techniques, such as dry brush, wet on wet, and salt, helped me understand that there was way more that I could do with water color than I had imagined. These techniques taught me how to add texture, color, and shape to painting and create more realistic effects. For the paintings of the fruit, I got to to apply the techniques in an actual painting. The few instructions that were given for this lesson allowed me to use the colors and techniques that I thought would make great effects. This mini lesson taught me how to use another medium that I was not familiar with before.

Water Color Apple- Realistic colors

Water Color Apple- Complementary colors 

5. The medium that was my favorite to work with was pencil because of the new techniques I used and the projects that we did. While working with pencil, we learned shading techniques, how to use perspective, and shadows. I really like getting to use these techniques for several lessons, such as drawing buildings or rooms using one, two, or more point perspectives. Learning how to use different techniques has helped me understand how to draw better and make more realistic pieces. I also appreciated the practice I got with shading and shadows, which is another aspect that helps create drawings that are realistic. When practicing how to use softer or harder leads to achieve more shades and values, I understood how soft or hard the lead needed to be to have certain values. I also learned how to create drawings that were three dimensional using shadows, lines, and values, which has helped me so much as well. Our final  project for this unit gave us more freedom to apply the techniques that we thought were the best for our ideas while also giving us some structure. Using perspective as the main element was nice because you can use perspective in so many ways and create so many different effects. Overall, this unit was fun because we took the time to learn many new things and understand how to use them correctly and I will always remember all that I learned with these lessons. 

Rose and Keys- Final Perspective Piece