Imaginative Self-Portrait

• Nine mouths which represent my love of language and my goal to learn nine of them at a conversational level
• The binary code represents my love of computers
• The ‘ear’ is a symbol for a video game I play
• The heart represents my love of biology and that I was once able to draw an anatomically-correct heart from memory
• The brain--in a most straightforward way--represents my thoughts and is filled with the things that consume me (Travel, language, art, and my work)
• The flag represents Spain and the Spanish language and relates to me because I consider Spain (Madrid, specifically) to be my second home and I intend to live there when I am older
• The building blocks (within the brain) represent my work (at a daycare) and how much that work has impacted me personally
• The fountain pen nib (within the eye) with ink running down represents my love of writing and of fountain pens in general, of which I have two so far.
• The globe represents my love of travel and my future plans
• The DNA further represents my love of science and biology and is in my brain because I consider it to be an integral part of me
• The circular symbols are from a T.V show that I adore and which pushed me to begin drawing; without having watched that show I wouldn’t have discovered my passion for art

The white values and dark values complemented each other. If there is a light value towards the bottom right portion of the head there is also a light value towards the top left of the head. I used similar patterns of light and dark in particular areas to bring out certain objects (i.e the brain and the heart) and unify the piece as a whole, as the pattern would be throughout much of the drawing. Overall, I could have done a better job at this, as my final drawing has a lot of while and very little middle value.

My strength in this piece was drawing the symbols; the brain looks like a brain, the heart looks like a heart, the boat looks like a boat, and so on. A quick glance at any one of these objects would allow the viewer to discern what it is that has been drawn. A challenge I faced while drawing this was to make the whole thing flow. Although the brain connects with the heart and the boat and the ocean work well where they are, there is a lot of negative space which isn’t conducive to having things flow; if I were to do this piece over again I would fill the entirety of the head with objects instead of leaving vast swaths of nothing as I have it now.

Creating Depth in Landscape Paintings

Agonia de los verdaderos azules - 1995 - Tomás Sánchez

The objects in the foreground are much larger and the colors are more intense than the objects and colors in the background. Sánchez uses diagonal lines to lead us around the paper and further create a sense of depth. Although this piece is not depicting traditional mountains, the way it has been composed mimics a mountain landscape.

The Origin of Life - 2014 - YongSub Noh

In this painting, Noh uses warm colors in the foreground and less intense, cooler colors in the background to create depth. The eggs appear to get smaller and smaller as the background continues. The top of the cave in the foreground helps to convey even more depth by placing the viewer within the painting, and the shadows assist with that as well. The rocks on the floor of the cave in the foreground are much larger than the rocks in the background and even larger than some of the mountains which, due to the atmosphere, are tinted blue.

Landscape Painting: A Brief History

Beginning in ancient times, the practice of landscape declined sharply after the fall of Rome; landscapes were seen as purely depictions of scenes from the bible until the 16th century when the Renaissance sparked an interest in the natural world. Although it was not once popular everywhere, the Netherlands was one of the first regions in which landscape paintings were popular by on their own without a biblical or historical connotation otherwise. An example of a landscape painting from the netherlands comes from Jacob Van Ruisdael’s Bridge with a Sluice painted in 1648-1649.

Shortly after this was the birth of the Classical Landscape in the 17th century which “sought to illustrate an ideal landscape recalling Arcadia, a legendary place in ancient Greece known for its quiet pastoral beauty”. After this period, in which such works as Landscape with a Calm by Nicolas Poussin (1650–1651) were produced, came the acceptance of the art form in the academy. This acceptance was aided by Pierre-Henri de Valenciennes who published a book on landscape painting and who attempted to convince the academy to accept landscapes as a legitimate art form.

As time progressed landscapes began to become less realistic and more stylized, just as in Irises by Vincent van Gogh (1889). Around this time period also photography was beginning to be introduced which gave artists another realm of options for the composition of their pieces. The acceptance of photography as a legitimate art form only strengthened its use to take landscape shots and, as the 20th century progressed, more and more artists turned towards the lense to capture not only natural landscapes, but city-scapes and cultural-scapes as well.



Source: https://www.getty.edu/education/teachers/classroom_resources/curricula/landscapes/background1.html

Realistic Self-Portrait

 


I was given feedback primarily on the proportions and features of my face; I revised my nose which was too long, my ears which were too long, my eyes which didn’t look like mine, my hair, my neck, and my mouth--essentially the entire face. These are all evidenced in my final drawing, as these changes are what made my final drawing.

My shading has improved immensely; no longer are there large swaths of single-toned areas but areas which sweep into each other and mimic how light actually works. Everything has so much more detail from my eyes, to my hair, to my nose especially -- these forms are much more developed in my final drawing than they were initially. Finally, the proportions of the face are much more accurate in the final drawing than in my pre-instructional drawing.

Sketchbook, Half-Portrait

Purpose:

To look closely at half of a portrait and complete the portrait by drawing similar features;

To practice drawing facial features: eyes, nose, and mouth

Sketchbook, Portrait Replication

• Purpose:

To become familiar with past and contemporary portrait artists;To use critical thinking skills to analyze artwork;

To understand how and why artists create portraits.

Sketchbook, Realism Replication

• Purpose:

To gain a basic understanding about the Realism Art Movement and to identify Artists who work(ed) in this style;

To practice drawing in the realist style by “imitating” a professional, realistic work of art.