Printmaking
The focus of my final project was routine and how each persons' routine can be specific to one's self. I wanted to explore the manner in which my routines had changed during quarantine and how, in turn, I had changed so I immediately thought of using a butterfly as my central figure as it is a symbol of change. I also knew I wanted to work with Photoshop, to demonstrate our move to online learning and social distancing. In addition to the six butterfly prints I drew, I came up with two patterns that I felt were representative of my time in quarantine: the shoe tread found on the bottom of my Birkenstocks and a fish scale print for my I stay at my lake house. I wanted it to look like something I could’ve made on a press with the patterns in the back looking like they were done in the pressure printing style. I am really happy with the way the prints turned out and feel I was able to accurately represent my current situation and routine.
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Drawing
In my drawing course we had several projects that tasked us with combining traditional pencil to paper with digital methods. We began the course by sketching items around us using charcoal to understand concepts of dark and light, as well as soft and loud. Greyscale played a major role in this as we avoided color while working on these projects. After gaining a better understanding of composition, we began work on our final fragmented portraits. I drew two self portraits, one happy and one sad, to utilize in the final piece. The more neutral or sad portrait became the center of my piece and I surrounded it in the background with cut out parts of the happy portrait. I wanted to represent the pressure to "put on a brave face" or "fake it until you make it", rather than just letting yourself be upset.
Soft
Using color layout and drawings of common items to create a "soft" piece
Loud
Using color layout and drawings of common items to create a "loud" piece
Fragmented Portrait
A combination of two moods portrayed in self portraits
Color and Composition
The goal of my Color and Composition class was to explore the use of color in works to further develop concepts while using composition to create movement and tell a story. We did a number of projects throughout the duration of this course, but began with the creation of a color wheel. I chose a summertime theme for my wheel and searched for images and colors that went along with this. The first major work that I did, and probably my favorite project of the class, was my propaganda piece. I chose to do mine on conservation and based my work on the iconic Jaws poster. I hid images of environmental threats in each element, smoke smokestacks in the air, plastic bags in the ocean, plastic bottles in the shark, and cigarettes in its mouth. This course was valuable in allowing me to explore and learn to work with a variety of mediums and develop my layout skills.
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