Task 7 - Ongoing and final evaluation

For the first task, I practiced using different art mediums and techniques, involving pencil, charcoal, oil pastels, tea/coffee, acrylic paint and watercolours. I also experimented using glue, tape and string to create different textures and effects with the other mediums. Overall, I think this task went well. I knew the majority of techniques for pencil, charcoal, and the paints, but learned a lot about the other mediums, as well as the glue and tape, which I had never thought to use before. This task gave me good ideas for the upcoming tasks, but I felt as though I didn't use as many techniques as I could have. 

The second task involved collecting a minimum of 3 images from the internet, to be used as inspiration and reference for my samples in the next task. Overall, I feel like this task went well, but some of my images looked quite similar to each other, and I probably could have benefited from a greater variety of images, of both landscapes and urbanscapes.

Then I had to create 8 sample pieces of one of the collected images (or a combination of multiple), using techniques that I practiced in the first task. My first sample was done on A4, using one of the images I found, but I found the image difficult to use, and the size of the paper to be a bit too much, so for my other samples I switched to a mountainous image and used A5 paper instead. My samples were done using watercolours, acrylic, felt tips (not included in the first task), tea and coffee, pencil, and oil pastels. One of my watercolour samples used watercolour pencils, and one acrylic sample used a painted sponge.

After completing my 8 samples, I had to create a final piece on at least A4 paper. I looked at my 8 samples, and picked the medium/techniques I felt most comfortable with, and felt were most effective. In the end I decided to use watercolour pencils, because I felt like I had the best control with them. Overall, I liked how my final piece turned out, but the main improvement I would make is improving the fog/clouds so they look less like solid blocks. My final piece took around 2 and a half hours, which I think was enough time to complete it, and improve small details.

Once my final piece was complete, I had to present all of my work up to this point in my sketchbook. I cropped and organised all of my practice work, separating them into groups, like pencil work, watercolours and acrylic. Next were my samples and my final piece, with my reference images at the end.

For the project overall, I feel like it went well, and I believe the majority of my work to be of a good standard.One thing I could improve with is time management. I gave myself too much time for the 8 samples, and didn't leave much time for other tasks. 

Task 6 - Final A4 hand rendered graphics still

This is my final art piece. I had trouble deciding on which medium to use for my final piece, but I ended up deciding to used watercolour pencils, as I felt I had good control with them. The final result was similar to the sample I did using watercolour pencils, but I added more details using a smaller brush, and pressed the pencils harder to leave more marks. One of the problems with this piece is that the fog looks too solid. I could probably have solved this by using a sponge with grey paint on it around the edges of the fog. Overall, I like how my final piece turned out, with the pencils making marks in the cliff and the grass, to make them more than just solid blocks of colour.

Task 4&5 - At least 8 hand rendered alternative ideas for environment artwork

I chose this image because I felt like I would be able to use a mix of bright and pale colours, due to the contrasting lighting in the landscape. I also felt I could use watercolours for the reflections in the water.

 This is the image I chose for my samples. I chose it because I wanted to be able to use darker and thicker colours because of the duller landscape. I also thought that the clouds and the sun flare added a nice effect to the image.

I chose this image because I thought that it would be good chance to use watercolours, due to the pale and thin colours in the sky and the rocks, as well as the reflection in the lake.

Samples

For this sample I used felt tip pens. For certain points of the cliff and grass, I tried to create distinct horizontal lines, and left noticeable gaps, as I thought this might make it look more detailed. For the mountains in the back, and the smoke/clouds, I made the colours fuller and darker to show that they were far away, and details couldn't be seen as well. Overall, I felt like using felt tip pens lowered the quality of the sample.

For this sample I used acrylic paint. I used lighter shades of green and brown as I painted further away pieces of land. Due to the size of the paintbrush I was using, the sample isn't very detailed, and is quite messy in some places, including areas with clouds. I could have tried to use a smaller brush to add more details.

For this sample I used watercolour pencils. I felt that using watercolour pencils was much easier than using normal watercolours, and I was able to create marks in the colours. I also found that I could more easily decide how deep the colours were, and avoid mixing colours that I wanted separate.

For this sample I used a pencil. Much of the sample was done with a blunt pencil, which was then smudged slightly. Because I made the foreground very light, I used shading to gradually move towards the dark background. The sky was kept light like the foreground by lightly applying pencil and smudging it. Using a rubber, I created the smoke/cloud effect on the mountains, and using the sharp corner of the rubber I create small lines on the grass. I thought this medium was quite easy to use, and effective.

For this sample I used tea and coffee. When I started this I stained the entire sample in a light amount of tea. Afterwards created the dark background by using multiple layers of coffee, and only one layer of coffee for most of the foreground. Using tea and coffee wasn't as effective as I hoped, because I felt like I didn't shade the background and foreground different enough.

This sample was done for a different image than the rest. This is because it is the first sample I did, but after completing it I felt like it would be better to use the image of the mountains instead. This sample was done with watercolours, mainly using bright colours. I wanted to create a distance effect by making the background cliffs a lighter shade of orange than the foreground, and I think the effect works. For the reflection in the water, I used slightly different colours, and made them very pale and vague. I didn't like using watercolours much, partly because I felt like I didn't have much control over it.

For this sample I used oil pastels. For the grass I had a dark green layered on top of a lighter green, and used a toothpick to scratch through to reveal the lower layers. The cliffs were the same but I added a layer of brown on top, and tried to create marks. The clouds/fog were made by smudging black, and the background mountains were made using a lot of black oil pastel. The sky was also made using smudged blue, but didn't work as planned. Using this medium was messy and looks quite childish, and was quite difficult to use effectively.

For this sample I used acrylic paint. Unlike my other acrylic sample, I added the grey paint for the fog using a sponge, to try and create an effect for the outer edges of the fog. I felt like this didn't work as well as intended, because it was messy and hard to do small areas of fog, due to the size of the sponge I was using. For the paint itself, I chose to use lighter colours in the foreground, so the grass and cliff are much brighter.

Task 1 - Colour and Surface Visual Library

For these 3 samples, I used acrylic paint of the 3 primary colours, and cotton buds to try to create a blend effect. I dabbed the buds towards the middle of the paper, and had the colours overlapping in the middle. This technique didn't create a gradual blending of the colours like I planned, and looks rather messy.

In these samples, I used acrylic paint and a medium-sized brush. To create the purple, I used blue and cadmium (lighter version of red) and blended them together. I used cadmium because a darker red would have produced a browner colour. For the orange, I blended cadmium and yellow together, and the green was done with blue and yellow. I liked the way the paints blended together, with the exception of the green, which didn't turn out properly.

For this sample, I tried to gradually change the tone of the pencil by drawing short lines at the top of the paper, and making the marks lighter as I moved down the paper.

For this sample, I drew short bursts of lines across the paper, and tried to keep the lines as close together as possible to make it look like a pattern. 

For this sample, I drew short lines going across the paper facing one direction, and on the next line facing the opposite direction, to create chevrons.

For this sample, I used a pencil to try and create consistent wavy lines from one side of the paper to the other. As I progressed, the lines became clearly different from the original line.

For this sample, I used a pencil to draw a continuous line of figures of eight. The line ended up having a squiggle effect as it progressed.

Like the angled line sample, I tried to create a gradual change in tone, but this time doing a cross hatch effect.

For this sample, I used a pencil to gradually change the tone on the paper, and then used a rubber to erase diagonal lines down the paper.

For this sample, I used a pencil to create a gradual tone change on the paper, and then used a rubber to erase lines down the paper.

For this sample, I drew lines down the paper, but tried to change the heaviness of the line as it went down. As I moved down the paper, I applied more or less pressure on the pencil to change the strength of the lines.

For this sample I used a pencil to draw a zig-zag pattern down the paper, and then tried to draw another line next to it, keeping the shapes of the lines similar to eachother. As I drew more lines, the zig-zags became increasingly different from the original line.

For this sample I used the side of a pencil to shade the paper. At the top I pressed down hard with the pencil, and pressed lighter as I drew down the paper.

For this sample, I drew squiggles across the paper, and made them lighter as I moved down the paper to create a shading effect.

For this sample I used a pencil to create a gradual change in tone, using my finger to smudge the pencil.

For this sample, I used charcoal to cover the entire paper, which resulted in it all looking unevenly drawn.

For this sample I lightly applied charcoal to the entire paper, and then drew heavy lines on top of it.

For this sample, I lightly applied charcoal on the entire paper, and used a rubber to erase lines in the paper.

For this sample, I applied a layer of grey acrylic paint, and after letting it dry I put white acrylic paint on top using a sponge.

For this sample, I glued down a layer of newspaper text, and then painted a layer of white acrylic paint on top of it.

For this sample, I put a layer of orange oil pastel on the paper, and then a layer of blue oil pastel on top. Afterwards I used a toothpick to scratch through the surface to create a zig-zag pattern.

For this sample, I put a layer of green oil pastel on the paper, and then put a layer of blue on top of it. Then I used a toothpick to scratch through the surface and reveal the lower layer.

For this sample, I covered parts of the paper in PVA glue, and then painted green and yellow watercolours over it. The glue caused parts of the paper to resist the paint, and leave blank spots on the paper.

For this sample, I drew random lines on the paper using white oil pastel. Then I used green and yellow watercolours and tried to blend them towards the middle of the paper. The oil pastel resisted the watercolours on parts of the paper, creating a nice effect.


For this sample, I glued 4 pieces of string to the paper, and then painted over them using green and yellow watercolours. Removing the string afterwards would have left behind clear lines.


For this sample, I placed ripped up pieces of tape on the paper, and painted over them using green and yellow watercolours. The tape slightly resisted the watercolours, and added texture to the paper.

For this sample, I put a layer of white acrylic paint on top of a piece of brown paper using my finger.

For these samples, I used a glue spreader to paint red, blue and yellow acrylic paint on the paper. I then used the glue spreader to mix the colours with white acrylic paint, and tried to create a gradual colour change on the paper.

For this sample, I separated each watercolour into blocks on the paper. After letting them dry, I went over each block using the same colours, but less water to make the colours fuller.

For this sample, I used a pattern of yellow, red, blue, and yellow watercolours and blended them together on the paper. The colours did not blend very well, but the effect still works.

For this sample, I covered the paper in diluted coffee, and then used a cotton bud to create the dot effects with concentrated coffee.

For this sample, I applied a layer of slightly diluted coffee over the entire paper. The coffee was applied unevenly, which created the effect shown on the paper.

For this sample, I covered the paper in some white acrylic paint, and then used a toothbrush with tea on it, and used my finger to 'flick' the tea onto the paper.

For this sample, I applied a layer of tea on to the entire paper. Due to the uneven way I applied it, it created the odd effect shown on the page.