Perspective Drawing- The Colossus Snake
My perspective drawing was of a building with a giant snake creature spiraling through it, ready to attack the onlookers below. The idea behind this was creatures known colossi, massive beings who can be big as buildings and sometimes even bigger. i have always had a thing for creating monsters and fantastical creatures so I thought this would be the perfect way to incorporate it into my perspective drawing. I started by gathering references on materials I wanted my colossus to have. The colossus would be made up of stone bricks with a fur like underbelly that was actually grass that had grown on it's body, giving it a rather interesting look to it. The stones would almost be like overlapping scales like a traditional snake but the scales are much more thicker and more like armor than skin.
The background was key to making this a perspective drawing, snake or no snake. Using many references of tall buildings I created the background in a three-point perspective to make it look like yo were looking up at the colossus slithering on the building. Speaking of buildings the taller ones in the back lead up to an arch like top, but I decided not to add the whole thing. This was due to the fact I wanted the monster to be the centerpiece instead of the building itself. To do this we practiced shading techniques using pencil and simple shapes like squares and cones. With this knowledge i knew how to shadow areas and create light source effects on drawings.
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The background was key to making this a perspective drawing, snake or no snake. Using many references of tall buildings I created the background in a three-point perspective to make it look like yo were looking up at the colossus slithering on the building. Speaking of buildings the taller ones in the back lead up to an arch like top, but I decided not to add the whole thing. This was due to the fact I wanted the monster to be the centerpiece instead of the building itself. To do this we practiced shading techniques using pencil and simple shapes like squares and cones. With this knowledge i knew how to shadow areas and create light source effects on drawings.
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This picture was used to help create the stone armor back for the giant snake.
the random sized stone was what I was looking for.
the random sized stone was what I was looking for.
This old stone armor was what I referenced for how to try and overlap the scales on the body of the snake. The scales were like armor so what better way than to model them after actual armor.
This reference photo was one of two I used to draw the 3 point perspective for the background buildings. The perspective allowed me to show how big the giant snake really was in comparison to the building and to the viewer as well.
I used this reference photo as an example of how to scale the monster from the viewer and the buildings it was around or on. Originally the colossus was to be a bipedal creature but the idea was scrapped in favor of a more animal look.
This is my final sketch for my perspective drawing. The snake will have its head side ways instead of the front view of it's mouth you see here. I do hope this comes out well.
Before we started the drawing we practiced values by making a value chart. This helped me learn to control my hand to make different levels of value.
Using the techniques we used in the value chart, we started shape shading shapes to practice our values. In this picture I created different values will shading a pyramid.
Art 2: Perspective Drawing Final Piece
To make this is used new techniques to help create this work of art. I drew in stone and then textured them with lines, making the stone scales on the back. Other line techniques were used in the creation of the fur lined belly of the snake and the shadowing of the background. Most of the work was created by dozens upon dozens of overlapping lines one way or another; the same technique was used to shadow in the clouds and smoke behind the head of the snake creature. I used Prisma colors to help create shadowing in the teeth and to give the eye a milky look to it as well.
This piece was a rather risky one because of my lack of experience in pen and ink. Usually I use varieties of pencils to create artwork but I decided that i would like to give the pen and ink style a shot for this piece. Another risky move I did was use a three-point perspective, one of the more tricky types of perspective to use in these works of art. The three-point perspective, which involves looking at it in three directions, would allow me to pull of the idea you were looking up at this thing coiling around the building in front of you. I think it didn't turn out the way i wanted it to but,being my first time, think I did relatively well.
My source for inspiration was giant monsters such as Godzilla or King Kong, but I wanted to do something a bit different then them. I've always been around snakes for most of my childhood growing up in Tampa, Florida and, as a result of this, I came to grow used to the massive snakes that you can find around the area. I combined this idea with regular object that could be other things such as stones for scales and grass for fur on the body. The result was a massive snake made out of the aforementioned materials above, resulting in a monstrous creature terrorizing the city.
This piece was a rather risky one because of my lack of experience in pen and ink. Usually I use varieties of pencils to create artwork but I decided that i would like to give the pen and ink style a shot for this piece. Another risky move I did was use a three-point perspective, one of the more tricky types of perspective to use in these works of art. The three-point perspective, which involves looking at it in three directions, would allow me to pull of the idea you were looking up at this thing coiling around the building in front of you. I think it didn't turn out the way i wanted it to but,being my first time, think I did relatively well.
My source for inspiration was giant monsters such as Godzilla or King Kong, but I wanted to do something a bit different then them. I've always been around snakes for most of my childhood growing up in Tampa, Florida and, as a result of this, I came to grow used to the massive snakes that you can find around the area. I combined this idea with regular object that could be other things such as stones for scales and grass for fur on the body. The result was a massive snake made out of the aforementioned materials above, resulting in a monstrous creature terrorizing the city.
I made this Coca Cola bottle using oil pastels that we learned how to use in class. I made on outline of the can by drawing it in pencil and then made the logo and all the detail work and then put on the base colors. The can was highlighted with white and grey colors blended together, the logo was highlighted with blended orange and white colors.
This next one was made using chalk instead of oil pastels which, in my opinion, were the easier of the two. Like before I sketched an outline of the apple and then blocked out areas where I wanted color to show in the apple's highlights. The next thing I did was outline and fill in the apple, blending the highlights with the red to give it a more realistic look. The background was made by just rubbing the chalk on the paper, in other words, I didn't put much into the background as I would have liked to.
These fine apples were made using colored pencils. I first drew out a basic outline and then I went over them. The next shade was of more darker tones and then some shadowing. The bottom ones have no shadow because of the light being head on. The green apples was meant to have a highlight that was more blended but instead i tried making it dark around the highlight.
These apples were made using water colors and water color pencils. The first one was made using simple painting techniques that were second nature to anyone who has painted anything. The second one was more of an experiment of different techniques we learned in class, the ones I used were salt and wet on wet techniques. I quickly learned that it was a very bad idea. The wet on wet messed up the salt which i was using to darken the edges of the apple to give it more value. The bottom picture below was made using water color pencils. I used them like any colored pencils but the water blending was a bit too much and i messed up the shading a little bit.
Up close Nature Project
For my up close nature project I am doing a flower called the echeverria, one made of white pedals with red and pink in there as well. I have decided to do the flower in colored pencils to try and bring out the colors in the pedals while still sticking to a medium I am relatively good at. The original photo was a bit hard to comprehend but-as you will see in my sketches- I managed to draw out something that I think would work for this piece. The reason behind this change of scenery was because of my first final piece up above. I wanted to make something more eloquent and not as monstrous as the colossal snake creature.
The echeverria was I good choice out of all the plants I could find in nature and in pots, being that it was one of the best photos I had as well. The other idea was of a Venus flytrap but, as I said before. I wanted to do something a little bit differently than before. I had originally intended to make it with browns like it is in the picture but I wanted some more color so I went with red instead. The echeverria pedals will be a tedious thing to do but I'm sure the result will be well worth it. I am really looking forward to this one and I think this will turn out very nice. I guess we will have to wait and so won't we?
The echeverria was I good choice out of all the plants I could find in nature and in pots, being that it was one of the best photos I had as well. The other idea was of a Venus flytrap but, as I said before. I wanted to do something a little bit differently than before. I had originally intended to make it with browns like it is in the picture but I wanted some more color so I went with red instead. The echeverria pedals will be a tedious thing to do but I'm sure the result will be well worth it. I am really looking forward to this one and I think this will turn out very nice. I guess we will have to wait and so won't we?
This is the reference photo of the echeverria flower that I am doing. The browns on it will be replaced with red and the pedals with be more flattened out in the final piece.
This is the other reference photo I had in case I didn't want to do the echeverria. I was going to do a close up of either the closed or open jaw of the flytrap.
This is my final sketch and practice for my echeverria flower. The pedals will be changed and the bottom and tips of them will be reddish pink instead of brown. The middle will also have some water in it like the photo as well.
Up Close Nature Final
For this piece I used brown paper for this piece to make the whites in the flower pedals, making them more realistic when overlapping. I blocked out areas where I wanting color to be such as the reds in the pedals, the water in the middle, and the highlights in the back ground. These blocked out areas where put on an a light pencils sketched on the paper. The pedals where colored in white and then blended with the red that I put in earlier, making the pink that you see in the picture above. Prisma color pencils where used in the making of this piece.
I think that this piece turned out quite nicely since I don't use colored pencils that often. The Prisma colored pencils can do wonders and make things look really nice when used correctly and in this piece I think I did just that. One of the things I needed a good amount of patience for was doing every individual pedal for the flower. It took quite a long time to good the colors I wanted in each individual pedal plus I had to blend them since I didn't have pink to use. The middle had water in the middle so decides to put some blue blocked out areas in there and blended it with some white. The background was made to contrast with the reds in the flower pedals. I think that some risks where also taken in the transition from something monstrous (the first final) to the one you see before you.
My source of inspiration was up close pictures of nature such as the ones artist Georgia O' Keffe made. The up close idea meant I would be able to put a good amount of detail in them and I really like making detailed things. The source for my picture was going to be nature so I wanted so photos of certain plants that I thought would be interesting to make a art piece from. I wanted something that would contrast to the monstrous snake I had made before; therefore, the best choice was the echeverria. This flower reminded my of lotus flowers which I am quite fond of so I altered it with some lotus flower details, such as the flattened out pedals compared to the more closed ones in the photo. The result was a rather beautiful flower blooming in the green grassy fields.
I think that this piece turned out quite nicely since I don't use colored pencils that often. The Prisma colored pencils can do wonders and make things look really nice when used correctly and in this piece I think I did just that. One of the things I needed a good amount of patience for was doing every individual pedal for the flower. It took quite a long time to good the colors I wanted in each individual pedal plus I had to blend them since I didn't have pink to use. The middle had water in the middle so decides to put some blue blocked out areas in there and blended it with some white. The background was made to contrast with the reds in the flower pedals. I think that some risks where also taken in the transition from something monstrous (the first final) to the one you see before you.
My source of inspiration was up close pictures of nature such as the ones artist Georgia O' Keffe made. The up close idea meant I would be able to put a good amount of detail in them and I really like making detailed things. The source for my picture was going to be nature so I wanted so photos of certain plants that I thought would be interesting to make a art piece from. I wanted something that would contrast to the monstrous snake I had made before; therefore, the best choice was the echeverria. This flower reminded my of lotus flowers which I am quite fond of so I altered it with some lotus flower details, such as the flattened out pedals compared to the more closed ones in the photo. The result was a rather beautiful flower blooming in the green grassy fields.
Painting Project
For this project we are going to create a painting based off a famous artist whether they be old or newer ones. My artist was a newer artist by the name of Takashi Murakami. We were asked to research them and their styles and write an essay on what we have gathered. Murakami's style was painting cute and/or cartoon-like characters that often had messages that he wanted to convey.
The intention of my piece was to display my mind when it comes to art, which is many ideas all jumbled up in a mess. The sketches were just random things on my mind and whatever I thought would be cool in a painting. After two sketches of randomness I decided on one to paint on my canvas. Right now I am just putting on a complementary color wash for the whole painting; it may be tedious but with patience it has turned out well,
The intention of my piece was to display my mind when it comes to art, which is many ideas all jumbled up in a mess. The sketches were just random things on my mind and whatever I thought would be cool in a painting. After two sketches of randomness I decided on one to paint on my canvas. Right now I am just putting on a complementary color wash for the whole painting; it may be tedious but with patience it has turned out well,
This picture was made of a mini project in class today. Each us were tasked with making a painting that turned out to be parts of a larger famous painting. I think it turned out well but I believe I could have blended the colors better. I used a basic color palette for most of the colors but I had to mix a bit in order to get the pinks and sky blues. It really helped me see how colors mixed in order to get a better feel for painting and how it works. I'm definitely not the best painter (not because I was given an abstract artist) but I can see how certain skills would need to be fine tuned.
Art painting Final Project
This piece was originally inspired/based of Murakami's paintings and my representation of my own mind when it comes to art. That is a bunch of ideas all swirled it to one crazy hodgepodge of everything. I liked the idea of the wide Cheshire like grins so I incorporated three of them within this painting, some wider than others. This is by far my favorite thing I've done in art class because of the personal feeling I had for it and the crazy ideas as a whole.
I asked many other students for feedback on my work in case there was something I wasn't seeing that I needed to fix up. Many of them suggested a more thick coat of paint in order to bring out the different colors in this art piece. Since it was suppose to be flat surfaced art style one person said I shouldn't do much about painting it over the sides in order to attain that 2-d look I was looking for. These comments and others helped me make this painting look better in terms of my artist's style I was going for.
One of the new techniques I tried in this piece was doing a contrast wash over the whole thing. After outlining lightly in pencil I painted a very watered down coat of paint. The wash colors would be the opposite of what I wanted on the painting, eliminating any white spots I might have had. This technique was a bit tedious to do but with patience it all turned out pretty well.
I asked many other students for feedback on my work in case there was something I wasn't seeing that I needed to fix up. Many of them suggested a more thick coat of paint in order to bring out the different colors in this art piece. Since it was suppose to be flat surfaced art style one person said I shouldn't do much about painting it over the sides in order to attain that 2-d look I was looking for. These comments and others helped me make this painting look better in terms of my artist's style I was going for.
One of the new techniques I tried in this piece was doing a contrast wash over the whole thing. After outlining lightly in pencil I painted a very watered down coat of paint. The wash colors would be the opposite of what I wanted on the painting, eliminating any white spots I might have had. This technique was a bit tedious to do but with patience it all turned out pretty well.
Clay Food Final
One of the unique ideas I used in this painting was the idea of what I wanted to sculpt. The macaroons (or the dumplings if you prefer) are carmalized Hershey kisses shaped coconut shavings and sugar covered in powder. The carmal look was achieved with burnt cyena paint and then liberally covered with a dry brush for the powder. This technique was one of the many ideas I could of done of these macaroons.
I had gained skill in making clay sculptures, specifically food. Certain pieces had to be poked with wholes to make sure they didn't just blowup in the kiln, ruining my clay and possibly others in the process. The candycorn was to small to worry about air pockets but the macaroons had to be poked to prevent any unwanted complications. This was my first time actually making any sculpture wise in terms of a project.
The source of my inspiration for my project was a treat my mom makes during Christmas day or Thanksgiving. My mom was in a hurry one time and so, instead of making them all fancy with swirls and all, she just threw them on a pan. Carmalized them with light baking and a blowtorch for carmalizing afterwards, slightly amused at my moms "to heck with it" approach that year. This piece therefore was inspired by that event on Christmas Eve.
I had gained skill in making clay sculptures, specifically food. Certain pieces had to be poked with wholes to make sure they didn't just blowup in the kiln, ruining my clay and possibly others in the process. The candycorn was to small to worry about air pockets but the macaroons had to be poked to prevent any unwanted complications. This was my first time actually making any sculpture wise in terms of a project.
The source of my inspiration for my project was a treat my mom makes during Christmas day or Thanksgiving. My mom was in a hurry one time and so, instead of making them all fancy with swirls and all, she just threw them on a pan. Carmalized them with light baking and a blowtorch for carmalizing afterwards, slightly amused at my moms "to heck with it" approach that year. This piece therefore was inspired by that event on Christmas Eve.
Printing project
For this project we are going to be using something that I have never used before: linoleum. What we are going to be doing with this linoleum is carving into it to make a print with multiple colors we pick out. We first draw out the picture we want ( we were given wonders of the world and prehistoric creatures) on regular paper before transferring it to tracing paper and than to the linoleum. I think it was pretty different from the generic art mediums we had used in an art class before.
Personally I know that my first piece ever using this medium will not turn out as well as some of my other pieces did ( which is to say very few). The cutting part will be hard and tedious but the printing may be just as hard if not harder than the former. I guess we will have to wait and see if it turns out well.
Personally I know that my first piece ever using this medium will not turn out as well as some of my other pieces did ( which is to say very few). The cutting part will be hard and tedious but the printing may be just as hard if not harder than the former. I guess we will have to wait and see if it turns out well.
Print Final
My source of inspiration was the Roman Colosseum in it's ruined glory, hence the title "Jewel of Rome". The Colosseum was pieced together from multiple close up pictures of the real thing, creating a zoomed out version of it for my print. The background was designed to depict the Colosseum during the fall of Rome with smoke billowing in the back and an archway ( or whats left of it). The piece came together in that respect but I wish I decided put more in the background to fill up the sky.
Some techniques I learned during my time with this piece were different approaches to how to print. The prints needed to align with the last print and so on in order to achieve the picture above and I tried different ways of approaching this challenge. Putting the linoleum to the paper, paper on the linoleum, up down, right ways, left ways, and everything in between. I managed to achieve a few ok prints but the others were poorly printed in my opinion.
Despite inability to produce a piece I though would look decent I cant deny that I did gain skills with this medium. The need to be precise has helped me be precise as an artist and I hope it is something I can take with me to other mediums such as paints, pencils, and pens. It may not show in the "best" of my six prints but I actually liked the idea of being precise because it gave me a challenge to do. Whether or not you like this print is up to the viewer but I actually came away with a better outlook on how to be more precise.
Some techniques I learned during my time with this piece were different approaches to how to print. The prints needed to align with the last print and so on in order to achieve the picture above and I tried different ways of approaching this challenge. Putting the linoleum to the paper, paper on the linoleum, up down, right ways, left ways, and everything in between. I managed to achieve a few ok prints but the others were poorly printed in my opinion.
Despite inability to produce a piece I though would look decent I cant deny that I did gain skills with this medium. The need to be precise has helped me be precise as an artist and I hope it is something I can take with me to other mediums such as paints, pencils, and pens. It may not show in the "best" of my six prints but I actually liked the idea of being precise because it gave me a challenge to do. Whether or not you like this print is up to the viewer but I actually came away with a better outlook on how to be more precise.
Mixed Media Piece
See my blog post of the perspective drawing for before
This piece titled, "Crazy Christmas", was created using a variety of art supplies, non-art supplies, and a whole lot of glue. The credit for this artwork goes to Joseph Paolillo. The artwork seems to be spliced together from tissue paper, ribbon, thread, and what seems to be golden Christmas themed wrapping. Googly eyes appear to be starring through wholes in the paper and a layer of cross-hatched paper of some sort. The first picture clearly places it on top of a table and then the others have fixed the eyes of the audience with a smaller portion of the art. The first thing to notice was the eyes that seemed to stare at the viewer no matter which way you turn the piece ( I guess laying it down got rid of that). The tissue paper wasn't void of texture either but instead has depressions and rising hills take shape on a usually flat landscape. The light helps manifest this texture onto center stage helping us see whats going on underneath the layers. The artworks means Christmas time to me and I put things in there to represent different things. The color symbolizes Christmas at it's base level, the card represents the presents wrapped in paper and waiting to be opened. The eyes even symbolize my little brother who always try to find where we hid the presents. I feel that the art work creates a sense of surrealism when you look at it. The only places it falls short is blank space in certain places. While not the best of the best it certainly depicts how mixed media should be. Mixed, duh.
This piece titled, "Crazy Christmas", was created using a variety of art supplies, non-art supplies, and a whole lot of glue. The credit for this artwork goes to Joseph Paolillo. The artwork seems to be spliced together from tissue paper, ribbon, thread, and what seems to be golden Christmas themed wrapping. Googly eyes appear to be starring through wholes in the paper and a layer of cross-hatched paper of some sort. The first picture clearly places it on top of a table and then the others have fixed the eyes of the audience with a smaller portion of the art. The first thing to notice was the eyes that seemed to stare at the viewer no matter which way you turn the piece ( I guess laying it down got rid of that). The tissue paper wasn't void of texture either but instead has depressions and rising hills take shape on a usually flat landscape. The light helps manifest this texture onto center stage helping us see whats going on underneath the layers. The artworks means Christmas time to me and I put things in there to represent different things. The color symbolizes Christmas at it's base level, the card represents the presents wrapped in paper and waiting to be opened. The eyes even symbolize my little brother who always try to find where we hid the presents. I feel that the art work creates a sense of surrealism when you look at it. The only places it falls short is blank space in certain places. While not the best of the best it certainly depicts how mixed media should be. Mixed, duh.