Mandala
For the mandala project, we were challenged to design a template in Adobe Illustrator and create patterns and designs to print onto a physical material. For my pieces, in particular, I took inspiration from the essay I wrote in English and made my pieces about growth, prosperity, and flourishing. Below is a build reveal video of each line I drew to construct my mandala. There is also a reveal slide showing both the colored and black and white mandala as well as what my piece looks like engraved on wood.
Artist Statement:
For my mandala project, I made two separate illustrations using Adobe Illustrator surrounding the theme of animals and flourishing. If I could change anything about my mandala project, I would have added more depth to my engraved mandala. I like how mine came out but if it lacked anything it was depth.
What I value most about the mandala project is the difficulty of having to come up with a repetitive design. Usually, when I make art I have a wide-open canvas whereas, for the mandala project, you can only fill a small slice of the canvas to cover the whole surface. I learned a lot about how reflection can create beautiful shapes and patterns and I really loved this project.
I learned that as an artist I like to create work surrounding the theme of growth. Throughout this project and my projects in my other Freestyle classes, I had a common theme of adaptability and flourishing which I see present in each piece I have made.
Photoshop Art
For our Photoshop Art portion of the Digital Media work we produced, we utilized many different brushes starting with the pastels. I chose to draw my dog for this piece because I thought I would try to capture her expression and the lighting nicely.
Pastel Artist Statement:
I had a lot of fun completing my Photoshop Pastel Painting. This was the first time I had used the pastel brush to paint in Photoshop so it was a new experience for me. I chose to draw my dog for this project because I had taken a picture of her that I knew I wanted to utilize for an art project.
This project taught me a lot about painting in Photoshop. First of all, I am most comfortable with traditional paint so this was a very new experience for me. I struggled at times with deciding whether or not to work on the background first or the focal point, my dog. After I messed around with the brushes, I began to get more comfortable with how to layer to properly recreate the image.
I learned a lot about myself as a digital artist. I learned that I like being able to draw on the computer due to the easy ability to redo your brushstrokes whereas, in traditional painting, it is much harder to take back what you have already done. I also learned that I complete projects faster when they are digital. If I set the time aside, I can complete a digital painting in one day whereas traditional mediums take me several days to complete.
For my Watercolor piece, I painted someone holding a handful of lollipops. Since the color scheme of my first piece was pretty consistent, I wanted to add more variety which is just what this piece has. This piece of mine was featured at Nature Gallery in Downtown Los Altos!
Watercolor Artist Statement:
My painting is a picture of someone holding a handful of lollipops. My painting is supposed to relate to Halloween since it is in a few days as of right now. I used a reference photo to get the coloring right and I wanted the lollipop wrappers to be the one thing that stood out the most. I also decided to add blue to the background to balance the painting.
Three of the most meaningful connections I made to the reading were that painting connects to memories, magic and that it is important to not expect immediate success. Since it is the narrative unit I feel as though paintings holding memories are important. Deeper meanings are often associated with past experiences and I wanted to reflect that in mine. I also like the idea of using magic in your paintings and I tried to show that with how vibrant the colors of the wrappers are in comparison to the jacket and background. I also understand the importance of not expecting immediate success. I started the watercolor project with a whole different idea using a still from a movie as a reference but I ended up choosing the lollipops instead because I liked how it came out a lot more.
This being my first photoshop watercolor painting, I had a lot of fun experimenting with how to layer depending on the brush. It is hard to get used to in comparison to analog painting but I really enjoyed getting to mess around with the different tools. When it comes to digital art I feel like it is much easier to experiment since you can always undo and redo different parts.
Surreal Artist Statement:
For my Surreal Composition, I created a piece that resembles a fish tank with objects you wouldn’t find in one. Though I added fish, rocks, and a pearl which are typical fish tank items, I also included film photos, a camera, books, and more. I made this piece as I completed my college applications and during this time I felt very lost due to the endless cycle of writing about my challenges, hobbies, and interests to people I don’t know. To convey that feeling, I used a fish tank since they are glass containers that enable you to sit and stare at the small little life of a fish. I put in a figure covered in books to represent me as I felt vulnerable writing to admissions officers I will likely never meet.
The techniques I found the most useful for creating my composition were the object selection tool and creating layer masks. I also utilized the luminosity adjustment layer often to make the colors in my piece all cohesive.
Overall, I really enjoyed making my Surreal Composition. I thought it was a fun, limitless project that enabled me to think outside the box and piece together objects and environments that you usually wouldn’t find in the same place.