Drawing Final Exam
1. When I was researching ideas and past scratchboards I saw one of a cactus and like what they did with it. I wanted to use my own cactus’ from home for this project. I first started with my ideas of what I possibly wanted to do. Once I thought of doing a cactus, it was hard to think of other ideas, I thought the cactus was a pretty unique idea for the project and felt my reference pictures were strong. For my sketches I wanted study the cactus and how I could possibly do each one. I wanted to know what shape to use and understand the details of each individual cactus. This was my first time doing scratchboard so practicing beforehand on the test slips were very beneficial to me. If I didn’t have those I wouldn’t have understood where I needed values and how to achieve my final. The scratchboard overall encompassed the idea of texture. I think I captured this well with the spines of the cactus. I thought this project also included focusing on line and lighting. At one point while working on with the test slips I went quickly when scratching just to get something down fast to see what it would look like. When I did this I found it was hard to control my tool and line. When using scratch board I have to make each line with a purpose and think of direction when scratching. Another challenging factor for me was providing contrast with each cactus. It was hard to make sure they didn’t blend in to one another and get lost. I think this was especially challenging for me because since the cacti are generally the same, I had to make sure they were different enough. I would definitely say without a doubt that the most challenging part of this project was the crosshatching. When I was introduced to this project I originally had thought that to get the different values it simply involved the pressure that you scratched. So when I was coming up with my list of ideas at the beginning I wasn’t aware of the technique that is used when using scratch board. Crosshatching is especially challenging for me because I can’t grasp the technique and idea of direction. Even when I studied pen techniques I generally stayed away from crosshatching, but this project forced me into using it, or else I wouldn’t be able to achieve any values. I think I overcame this pretty well, I would like to learn more about crosshatching more before I do another scratchboard, but I was happy with my results.
- Which project was your most successful? Describe the theme and or topic and the process you went through to complete the project. Were the choices you made regarding material, size, technique, etc beneficial to enhancing this project. Please explain.
4. Look over the blogs of other students in our class. Choose a piece of artwork from one of your classmates that you feel is an exemplary showcase of what the project was to depict. Think about how the artist used the medium, utilized the elements of art and design principles, was original with their ideas and went beyond their comfort zone or the realm of the requirements. Make sure you have the image of their artwork along with their name (first name only) posted with this response.
I chose Tess' scratch board piece. We didn't get a chance to do a feel good Friday so I didn't get to see everyone's but I saw Tess doing her blog and I was amazed at her piece. I think Tess went above and beyond with this piece. I read her blog and she said that she wasn't very familiar with using cross hatching but i wish i had her level of technique with it. She used it in a way that I cant replicate myself. I have trouble with cross hatching in a direction and making the cross hatch go with the object. Tess was able to provide a realistic shading to the face by cross hatching with the flow of the face which created a really nice final. I also think Tess' idea was very creative. I know when I first was introduced to this project my first reaction was to look up 'things that move', whereas Tess chose to create something that you cant see yet you know is there, which I thought was very creative and original. I also like the fact that she chose to do a person, I know I was too scared to attempt a person on scratch board. I also like the thickness of the lines in the sound waves because with the level of detail in the person, I can see the sound waves being overlooked, but since she chose to make them thicker, they stood out and balanced the piece out.
I chose Tess' scratch board piece. We didn't get a chance to do a feel good Friday so I didn't get to see everyone's but I saw Tess doing her blog and I was amazed at her piece. I think Tess went above and beyond with this piece. I read her blog and she said that she wasn't very familiar with using cross hatching but i wish i had her level of technique with it. She used it in a way that I cant replicate myself. I have trouble with cross hatching in a direction and making the cross hatch go with the object. Tess was able to provide a realistic shading to the face by cross hatching with the flow of the face which created a really nice final. I also think Tess' idea was very creative. I know when I first was introduced to this project my first reaction was to look up 'things that move', whereas Tess chose to create something that you cant see yet you know is there, which I thought was very creative and original. I also like the fact that she chose to do a person, I know I was too scared to attempt a person on scratch board. I also like the thickness of the lines in the sound waves because with the level of detail in the person, I can see the sound waves being overlooked, but since she chose to make them thicker, they stood out and balanced the piece out.