Leftovers

Colored Hands

My goal for this project was to create an interesting piece with color that stands out on the black and white.

My goals in this artwork were to create bold, dark shadows alongside light areas. I accomplished this by shading some areas with compressed charcoal and erased other areas to make it lighter. I was surprised at how hard the chopsticks were to draw. My drawing is about the three dimensional shapes the takeout box and chopsticks make. The most difficult challenge I faced was drawing the chopsticks in the areas they moved from the light into the dark. I met this challenge by using charcoal pencils to draw the small details, instead of the vine charcoal. I shifted to right brain artistic thinking by drawing the chopsticks and takeout container as one dimensional shapes to create three dimensional objects. My drawing really works in the handle on the takeout box. It looks realistic in the way the handle and it's shadow move in opposite directions. I learned how to draw more realistically in this drawing. I learned from Audrey in this project. She helped me set up the light and box to create a long shadow and interesting composition. If I had a do-over, I would change the position of the chopsticks to make them more angled towards the right of the picture. I feel best about the side of the container with the handle on it. I think the different values of grey make it look three dimensional and visually interesting.

Carving Out the Light

My goals in this artwork were to create a drawing with lots of dimension and a wide range in value. I accomplished this by using an eraser to pull out the whites, white chalk to highlight them, and darkening the shadows with charcoal. What surprised me the most was how much I used the eraser to pull out the light areas. My drawing is about the different lights and darks in the pumpkins. The most difficult thing I faced was the complex shadows. I met this challenge by looking at the shadows as shapes of light and dark and drawing them. I experienced the shift by visualizing the pumpkins in light and dark shapes. My drawings really work in the interesting shadow in the small pumpkin. Some of the things I learned while drawing this, that I can take into my drawing, is the use of an eraser to pull out the light areas of the work. I learned a lot from Kaelyn in, because she helped me figure out the curves of the pumpkins. If I had a do-over, I would erase more in the stem, to make it more visually interesting. The best thing about  my artwork is the bottom pumpkin.

Into the Night

Obsessions

I am obsessed with architecture. This is a building in the center of Detroit I saw this past weekend.

I am also obsessed with my sister and Canada - both pictured in this photo. This was also taken in Detroit over the weekend. You can see Canada from across the river.

I am obsessed with my friends frog, Althea. She is named after her favorite song by the Grateful Dead.

This is another photo that captures two of my obsessions - Crocs and camp. This was taken at camp with all of my friends.

This is my horse Blue. I am obsessed with him because he is so goofy and sweet.

In this project, my goal was to convey the feeling of the word while creating an interesting drawing. I accomplished this goal by making dark shadows to make the drawing more captivating. The texture of the paper can be seen in the dark shadows and the white and black create a lot of contrast. The most difficult challenge I faced was drawing the M and the shadows it created, because they were so complex. I met that challenge by trying to draw what I saw, even if it wasn't intuitive. My drawing works in the contrast between the white paper and the black shadow and in the double shadow created by the light. In this project I learned how to shade and still have the texture of the paper show through. My mentor was Ed Ruscha. I tried to copy his dramatic shadows and detailed shading. In the class, Kenzie was my mentor because she helped me decide what looked right. If I had a do-over, I would try to spend more time on the shading on the letters. I feel best about the shadow in my work.

Family Pictures

This is my camp "family." We are all counselors at 4H camp and have grown so close that it feels like we are family.

This is my Dominican Republic family. This past summer we all went to the Dominican Republic and built a house.


This is a picture of my cousins. They are some of my closest friends and I am lucky to call them my family.

This is me and my friends at a Lumineers concert. They are the people I have the most fun with and are my "chosen family."

This is a picture I took of my cousin while we were canoeing.

Self-Portrait

 


 

This spread was inspired by the artist Wolf Kahn, who uses pastels and oil paints to paint scenes in nature. He is known for using bold, unique colors he creates by layering the pastels and paints. When asked about his style Kahn said, "Here I am, still trying to do new things that I don't know how to do, strike our in new directions. I think that's very healthy and I consider myself fortunate."