Block prints seem a lot easier to work with than paper and pencil. Pressure from using the cutting tools kept my hands from shaking, letting me create clear precise shapes and add a greater amount of detail than normal. I should focus on drawing more dynamic curvilinear lines. Another student also assumed that all three pigeon illustrations from my print represented different pigeons, so I did a bad job portraying the same pidgeon in different increments of time.
Tesselate blog reflection November 4, 2008
I had a really hard time picking a motif for this tesselate. Making a scheme with two different shapes fit together AND clearly represent a real-life object is needlessly complicated. I went through several themes, both simple and complicated, before I finally decided on the fish/turtle theme. Defining the balance between positive and negative space was challenging and a good learning experience. I painted a lot steadier and slower than usual. Yet it’s still messy, not for lack of trying. My hands are really shaky. I can’t draw a straight line without turning it into a fine squiggle. Drawing precise contours with either a paintbrush or a pencil is beyond my ability until I can make the shaking stop. The tesselate is actually the closest I have ever reached to drawing a GOOD contor, especially compared to the projects I’ve made prior to this class.
The fish’s light blue fins were meant to evoke a peaceful temperment, as if the picture were bathed in water. But the shade ended up too dark. I’m really unsatisfied with the darker blues, because they take away from the picture’s contrast and draw too much attention away from the turtle.
I REALLY REALLY need to work on keeping my work clean. I know that. I just … forget where my hand is sometimes. And I often forget that I’m holding a brush in that hand, and that brush will make unwanted marks if I get too close to the paper. Hence the paint outside of the inner boundary. I really, REALLY don’t want to start over once I make a mistake, so I try to blot it out. I also need more practice with using opaque goache. I started using more effectively with the fins (Thanks to Vanessa), but I had already painted most of the project by then.
Color Wheel and Fabric Swatches October 19, 2008
Well, this was my second time working with Goache, and my first time using it seriously. I’ve never created a color wheel in my life, so this was a new experience.
I dedicated a good amount of time to mixing colors, but I still can’t get them exactly right. I guess that will take practice. While I was mixing color, I noticed red tends to take over the color completely, even when I add a small amount. Is that due to my paints, or because red is a strong color? Black is even worse, it turns EVERYTHING into puke green. Whenever I add it to a warm color, it has a greenish tint. I don’t know if that’s natural either.
I had a few setbacks while setting up my color wheel, mainly because I spilled a huge amount of glue over my project, and had to rip a couple things off. I accidentally threw a couple complimentary color hues away, so I had to find the color, AGAIN, and re-paint, which took a while. I have no problem with painting, but finding the right color was really hard, especially since I had already painted 8 of 10 swatches and they weren’t in order. Did I mention my complimentary colors were green and red, which (according to the FM test) I’m weakest in?
I had trouble finding the correct opposite colors, so I just guessed, with the assistance of my color wheel. I hope I did well enough…
Design/Redesign review October 8, 2008
At first I didn’t know what I was going to do with this project. I gradually formed more ideas as I went along, primarily to add balance to elements already on the page. I added the green bookshelf to draw attention away from the colored half of the face, which would have otherwise pulled attention away from the grayscale elements. I intentionally made the left eye unusually large to attract attention. When the assignment sheet mentioned something about focusing on areas that disappear when you squint at the picture, I was a little confused because I thought the main elements of the picture would be more obvious when you squinted. Instead, the areas I assigned ink and construction paper are the shapes that drew my attention first.
