Elements of Art

I did a portrait of Audrey Hepburn to show the element of value. I used both graphite and charcoal; I am more comfortable with graphite but I used charcoal to get darker value. To begin, I used a grid that allowed me to do an outline of the drawing. I then added the details and some light value to build on. I wasn't careful enough with the grid and ended up with a nose, eye, and jawline that didn't match what I was going for. I also had trouble getting enough value. I couldn't get as dark as I wanted with the graphite so I used charcoal, but I had issues with putting the charcoal on top of the graphite. It gave a grainy, uneven texture that I did not like, and erasing didn't help. Overall, I am indifferent to the final product. I like everything but the face (save the eyebrows), but as a whole I'm not impressed.

Portrait and Surrealism

My artistic skills have greatly improved in these first few weeks of art class. My goal in the class was to learn to draw people, and I did! I learned about proportion and how to properly shade facial features.

I don't use anything in particular to help me generate ideas for my work. I often use pictures to help me do the work (almost like a model). When I'm given a topic to do a piece on I think about what comes into my mind when I think of the topic and think of a few ideas. I then pick one that I like and then start working! I typically figure out how to approach the work best, sketch, then add value or paint. 

I think that I've had major success in learning how to draw faces/people. My first photo of a portrait looked nothing like the person I was trying to draw, but by using the grid method I was able to achieve a drawing that looked extremely close to the picture I used as a model. My challenge was definitely creating value with paint. I've definitely had trouble with it and still haven't mastered it, but I am building up by using pencil and paint together.