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Over finals, I went to mr Larson's room to finish up this painting. First, I used ink and water to make diluted inks to my liking, then I colored the background; my initial intention was to make the border a bit darker and add some values into my background. However, I did not want to add too much values as it distracts the main characters and lessen the overall contrast in the painting. After that, I cut all of the colored-pencil cut outs then I used the super glue to stick them on; I tried arranging the colored words to make it coordinate well with the surrounding area---the warm colored 'sis' near green and orange, and the other cool colored words to be on the other side to create balance. I did use some oil crayon to brighten and highlights the aura around the baby even further, I used light blue crayon first then blended it out with white. For the final details, I used a darker pencil to add more values into the girl's portrait: compared to the previous work, this one's hair has much more shadows and the clothes' wrinkles are much more defined. I did use the 'slime' eraser to erase the parts with the highlights coming in from the light.

This artwork represents my childhood---and my whole life. At first we see that the background surrounding the little girl and herself are all black and white, suggesting that my life was boring. I was the first born and prioritized my whole life (the queen girl symbol in the painting at the back and the expensive pearl necklaces); however, that life always felt bland because I was lonely and needed someone to accompany me. So when my brother was born, he became the best thing to happen to me. He was a ball of sunshine---as shown in the aura around him---and full of life---how vibrant in color he is. The sight of him glowing and being vibrant in color isn't actually how it was, it was just how I saw my precious brother through my lenses. I also used the acrylic to paint him instead of colored pencils even though pencils are easier to control because I wanted to emphasize how vivid my memories of him were. The things around him are in thinner and dreamier medium except him. The words floating around was what I heard from him during his early stages, and I was over-the-roof happy when I heard this, as seen in my widely smiling child portrait. Therefore, through this artwork, I wanted to illustrate how I---or any sister---see their siblings and how their siblings are the only thing that truly matters to them; I wanted to emphasize how bland and boring life was, for that i can remember, before my brother---my life---was born.

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Today I decided to draw my brothers accessories and toys. I drew his baby toys using another piece of paper to add dimension and texture into my artwork. I alsp used color pencil because it is the most precise and nostalgia media; I didn't use acrylic because I wanted the main emphasize to be my brother and I decided to make everything about him colorful since I want my artwork to express how there were no color in my life before him. I did draw some cut out words that baby often say and also phrases that mean sister. I also did oil pastel for the aura around him because it is thick and can cover my previous acrylic mistake underneath ( I also wanted to use as much materials as possible). Next class, I will be working on the black and white background and sticking everything together.

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Today I finished my self portrait with pencil mostly. Now looking at it, I try try to blend the skin out more to give a more dreamy and nostalgia effect. Moreover, I will use drawing pen to add darker values into my portrait. I think I might use dilluted ink as the background since I want it to be black and white but also simple and not too attention catching. For the next class, I will start working on the background but will add colors to my brother's side of the painting.

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Today I finished his shirt and giraffe toy. I used three different shades of orange, dark orange---where I mixed with dark blue, the contrast color, to mute and darken---orange, and yellow orange as highlights. I did the same with the face; I tarted of with dark shadows of the shirt then started building up lighter layers as highlights. I am very proud of this shirt because I can cleary see the crease. After the previous lesson on watercolor, i feel much more confident to paint realistic acrylic now because ive felt myself improved significantly!

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Today I sketched the baby face on my acrylic paper. I enlarged the picture abit so he would be the center of attention. I was very careful on the coloring. I put the picture into chat gpt and asked it for an acrylic version with colors ruled out. I started off wit the dark shadows, then I built the lighter layers slowly. This was my result by the end of the day.

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Today i experimented between wet media and dry media. The left side is acrylic, although it might be messy (because I rushed it), I like the feelings it gives. The effect of acrylic is stronger as in the focus turns into the baby figure i drew. The colour is also more vibrant in acrylics. The right side is more controlled as it is easier for me to do the details and the feeling is more nostalgic. But the colors are abit tooo light and not as much of an emphasis.

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So my idea is going to be about my childhood memory. I am going to focus on my bother because he is the most important part of my life growing up, therefore, everything around him is going to be black and white while him and his toys are going to be fillied with colors. I will use water color to give the nostalgic and dreamy feelings. I will also use color pencils to add emphasize and details where I want it. I am going to be focusing on colors and values for this project.

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I collaborated really well during this dragon made event because i was working with my partners very effectively, as well as helping others. I taught a lot of the visitors to do bracelets' patterns such as striped, braid, and more. I would say that I was very involved in the activity. Overall, this experience was also really great because I loved seeing people give their beloved the friendship bracelets as well as participating in others' art activities.

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To make revisions, I’ve been carefully looking at my work and comparing different areas to see where values, textures, or details feel inconsistent. I’ve adjusted shading in the background and added highlights to improve contrast and make the main subjects stand out more.

I’ve also been open to feedback from others and using constructive criticism to guide changes, especially in balancing the composition and refining details. Especially with mr larson's feedbacks, I stepped out of my comfort zone and added white chalk into the backgrounds. Additionally, I’m applying skills from previous practice, like cross-hatching and value layering, to improve depth and texture across the whole piece.

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To meet my goals for today, I focused on managing my time and prioritizing the most important areas of the drawing. I planned to complete more of the value and texture, especially on the right building and the background.

I was able to finish adding shading and texture to the pawn shop, including the sign and wood details, and I also developed the dark background to increase contrast. This helped bring more balance to the piece and made the focal areas stand out more clearly.

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The main elements and principles I’m focusing on are value, texture, contrast, and emphasis. I’ve been using strong value differences and detailed textures, especially on the tree and the left building, to create depth and make them stand out as focal points.

These choices are helping the success of my piece because they make certain areas look more realistic and visually interesting. However, they also show areas I want to improve, like the right building, where the values and textures are less developed. Moving forward, I want to make the contrast and detail more consistent across the whole drawing so everything feels balanced.

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The part of my studio time that caught my attention was developing the texture and value on the tree and the main building. I focused on using cross-hatching and darker shading to create contrast and make these areas feel more detailed and realistic.

My approach to texture and value was to build up layers of lines and vary the darkness to show depth and surface differences. This relates to my detail shot because I zoomed in on areas like the bark and the wall, where the textures are most visible, to make them more visually interesting and three-dimensional.

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Today, I worked on developing my composition and adding stronger details to my drawing. One skill I successfully applied was shading and texture, especially on the tree on the left side. I used darker values and careful line work to create depth and make the tree look more three-dimensional. This helped it stand out clearly from the rest of the sketch and gave the piece a stronger focal point. I used pencil for the base shading of the tree then I added pen shading techniques onto it. Finally I added some white gel pen details.

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Based on today’s experiments, I plan to use graphite pencil combined with charcoal for my finished drawing. Graphite allows me to create detailed lines and controlled shading for smaller elements like the buildings and characters, while charcoal helps me achieve deeper, richer dark tones and a more dramatic background. Using charcoal for the sky and ground creates strong contrast and atmosphere, making the scene feel more intense and textured. Together, these media allow me to balance precision and expressiveness, helping my drawing look both detailed and visually impactful.

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Someone can tell what the surface feels like in my drawing by looking at the different types of marks and shading I used. For smoother or softer textures, I used light shading and flowing, curved lines, which make the surface look more even and gentle. For rougher textures, I used darker shading, cross-hatching, and jagged or overlapping lines, which create a more uneven and harsh appearance. I also used patterns like repeated shapes and clustered dots to show bumpy or raised surfaces, while scribbled lines suggest a messy or fuzzy texture. These different marks help show the texture visually, so the viewer can imagine how each surface would feel without actually touching it.

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This photo best captures the chapter Leonia from Invisible Cities because it visually represents the idea of a city constantly consuming and discarding materials. The slightly low camera angle makes the buildings appear larger and more dominant, emphasizing the overwhelming presence of human structures and waste. The lighting source comes from the upper left, which creates strong cast shadows and occlusion shadows under the buildings, inside the windows, and beneath the debris. These deep shadows highlight the broken boards, trash piles, and damaged structures, symbolizing accumulation and neglect. The gradient background helps separate the objects from the environment and directs the viewer’s attention to the main structures, while also creating atmospheric depth. I used Chat GPT to creeate the anime, loomy, and eerie mood into my reference picture. I think this AI animated photo will really help me through my value drawing, but i wont be shy to add more of my own details into it. Techniques such as hatching, cross-hatching, and shading emphasize the textures of the cardboard buildings and the rough environment, reinforcing the sense of decay. The reflective surface at the bottom subtly mirrors the scene, suggesting how the waste and actions of the city repeat and build over time. Like Leonia, where the city renews itself each day by throwing away yesterday’s objects, this image shows a space filled with discarded materials and remnants, visually expressing the theme of constant consumption and waste.

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Sumi's Value Drawing- Artist statement template

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I chose this photo because it shows a contrast between two foods. The larger fruit looks more appealing, but the skeleton hand holding it suggests it is poisonous or dangerous. The other fruit looks more overwhelming in texture, but it represents something more natural and healthy.

The story of my still life is about how things that look attractive can sometimes be harmful, while healthier choices may look less appealing.

For my sketch, I will squint and block in the shadow shapes first. The tints (0–3) are the highlights on the table and hand, the midtones (4–7) are on the fruits, and the shadows (8–11) are under the objects and in the darker textures. I will use hard edges for the value shapes.

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I chose this photo because it shows a contrast between two foods. The larger fruit looks more appealing, but the skeleton hand holding it suggests it is poisonous or dangerous. The other fruit looks more overwhelming in texture, but it represents something more natural and healthy.

The story of my still life is about how things that look attractive can sometimes be harmful, while healthier choices may look less appealing.

For my sketch, I will squint and block in the shadow shapes first. The tints (0–3) are the highlights on the table and hand, the midtones (4–7) are on the fruits, and the shadows (8–11) are under the objects and in the darker textures. I will use hard edges for the value shapes.

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When I used clear value shapes with hard edges, the light and shadow looked more defined and easier to see. The contrast between light areas and dark areas made the form of the object appear more three-dimensional. The shapes of the shadows became clearer, which helped show where the light was coming from and how it wrapped around the object.

One challenge I experienced was resisting the urge to blend the shading, because I’m used to making gradual transitions. However, a success was that using hard edges made the shadows more accurate and easier to organize into simple shapes, which helped me understand the structure of the object better.

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Before today, I usually started a drawing by sketching clear outlines first and then adding shading with lines or light cross-hatching to fill things in. I focused more on the object’s shape than the lighting, so shading was something I added after the drawing felt finished. Today’s approach was different because I didn’t rely on outlines as much—instead, I focused on blocking in light and dark areas first, which made me think more about where the light was actually hitting the object.

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We finished cutting out all the objects, so now we just need to paint and tape them on.

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First, my partner and I plan our roles. She's better at building, so she takes care of creating the houses, and I paint the houses and make little decorations to add around the buildings. We would frequently check what the other is doing to make sure we stay on the same page. Since it's the first day and we are mostly planning, I just try using different materials to make the mini items, seeing what works best.

To apply texture and details, we use different materials and colors. For example, when making the roof, instead of making it flat, my partner folded the cardboard to make it look rigid and more realistic. Then I painted it dark brown and added highlights and other colors to make it look rusty, fitting our concept. Usually, I would paint/add detail after my partner creates the pieces, then after it dries we stick them together.

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1. How your idea developed since day 1? Has there been more clarity in vision through practicing the iteration process? Explain

My idea developed a lot from the original passage because me and Tiffany have a better idea of what we want to do for our sculpture now. We had the ideas of a pile of rubbish and trashy houses; however, after many revisions and plans, we decided that we wanted to add many bright angels and cats to symbolism bright in darkness.

2. Has there been any unexpected outcomes through this process? What pleasent surprises or drawbacks have arrived and how do you plan to elaborate or solve them ?

We luckily didn't have any unpleasant surprises and it was pleasant instead because me and tiffany both decided on the structure of the model and the symbols used.

3. List the extra material you may need and provide the rationale behind this need.

I think we will definitely be using clays (air dry or hard clay) to create smaller models of cats and angels. We will also need acrylics and different materials of hard paper to create more textures for housings.

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I used jagged, uneven lines for the trash to show chaos, and smoother, curved lines for the angels and cats to contrast the filth with gentle, organic shapes. The mix of sharp debris and soft figures creates tension and visual interest.

I used contrast by placing clean, smooth shapes (angels/cats) against rough, chaotic trash. Balance comes from spreading the clutter across the page so one side isn’t too heavy. Rhythm appears in the repeated shapes of trash bags and scattered debris.

I’ll present Iteration 3 because it has the clearest structure, stronger contrast between chaos and calm, and the best overall balance between the trash-filled city and the symbolic figures.

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I chose a butterflies and grass theme, and I used positive and negative space to create depth within it. The positive shapes—like the butterflies and blades of grass—stand out in the foreground, while the negative space around them creates the sense of open air and space behind them. By varying the size and placement of the butterflies and the gaps between the grass, the darker positive shapes feel closer, and the lighter negative areas make the background feel farther away. This push-and-pull helps the scene feel more layered and alive.

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Design Choices:
How did you use positive and negative space to create balance and visual interest? What specific choices improved your final composition?

I balanced my composition by placing the main subject slightly off-center and using the negative space around it to frame and emphasize it. Adjusting the spacing and simplifying crowded areas made the empty shapes clearer, which strengthened the contrast and improved the overall visual impact.

Application & Understanding:
How can the ideas behind Notan (contrast, balance, push/pull of shapes) influence future artworks you create—such as drawing, photography, or mixed media?

Notan can influence my future artworks by making me more aware of how light and dark shapes interact. Instead of focusing only on details, I’ll think about the overall balance and the push-and-pull between positive and negative space. In drawing or photography, I can use strong contrasts to guide the viewer’s eye and create clearer, more dynamic compositions. In mixed media, I can layer shapes in a way that keeps the design balanced and visually interesting, using contrast as the foundation for any style or technique I explore.

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Sumi Art Foundations: Drawing Styles Self Assessment

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Paying attention to negative space helped me understand proportion because it made me see the actual shapes formed around the object. Instead of guessing the size of an armrest or the length of a blade, I looked at the space beside or between those areas. That made my proportions more accurate because I was comparing shapes, not symbols or assumptions of what the object “should” look like.
It basically removed the pressure of “drawing the thing” and replaced it with observing the relationships between shapes.

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CONTRAST

Since contrast feels comfortable for me, this exercise reinforces how naturally I use it to make things stand out—whether in art, writing, or even decisions. Drawing it helped me understand that I rely on contrast to create clarity and make choices feel more defined. It also showed me how contrast helps me separate what’s important from what’s distracting.

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What principles are in your comfort zone? Why?

Repetition is in my comfort zone because it helps create rhythm and unity in my work. I find it easy to use repeated shapes, colors, or patterns to make a design feel organized and cohesive. It also helps guide the viewer’s eye through the artwork in a predictable way, which feels natural to me.

What principles are risky? How can you become more comfortable with them?

Proportion feels risky because it involves balancing the sizes and relationships of different elements, and it can easily look “off” if not done correctly. To become more comfortable with it, I can practice sketching from real-life references, study how artists use proportion effectively, and experiment more with exaggeration or distortion to build confidence in adjusting scale.

What Principles are risky? Why? How can you overcome your hesitation?

Balance is risky because it’s hard to evenly distribute visual weight without making the artwork look too plain or too crowded. I can overcome this by practicing different compositions, studying how other artists use balance, and asking for feedback to improve my sense of harmony.

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I chose these artworks because they are very colorful and self expressionist. They all talk about a story of themselves and use colorful materials to present their meanings, All these artworks have a warm toned color theme which I really like and I think really fits mine. Therefore these are my wishlists.

Artist Statement

My artwork represents who I am through the things I love and the colors that inspire me. The self-portrait shows me holding a camera, symbolizing my passion for photography and capturing meaningful moments. The pink lilies express my appreciation for beauty, growth, and creativity, while the ladybug represents luck and positivity—values I try to carry in my daily life. The warm background colors reflect my optimistic and bright personality. Through this piece, I wanted to combine my interests in art, nature, and photography to show how they all connect to my sense of identity and how I see the world.

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Sumi - Art Foundations: Line and Shape Self-Assessment

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The colors in my artwork express emotion and meaning. I used warm tones like yellow, red, and pink to create a vibrant yet soft atmosphere that represents warmth, energy, and positivity. The pink lilies symbolize beauty and growth, while the red dress shows confidence and passion. The glowing yellow and orange background ties everything together and give a dreamy feeling, reflecting self-love and creativity.

Egon Schiele’s style inspired my use of gesture and detailed contour in the figure. His expressive lines and emotional poses influenced the flowing shape of the girl’s body and hair. I used delicate yet sharp outlines to show both vulnerability and strength, capturing emotion rather than just accuracy. This approach helped me give the figure more personality and depth, much like Schiele’s portraits.

This artwork connects deeply to my identity and passions. The background elements—the camera, lilies, number 777, and ladybug—each represent a part of me. The camera shows my love for photography and creativity, the lilies reflect beauty in every objects, and the number 777 symbolizes luck and positivity. The ladybug represents joy and hope, reminding me to stay optimistic. Together, these elements make the artwork a reflection of who I am.

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On my second production day, I focused on just getting the water color on my page. I tried to do the ombre in the background but it looks a bit blotchy because I didn't have time to dry it properly. I also just tried and color my self in the corner using guache to make it more opaque and focused than the background components. I decided to move the numbers to the top right because it is pretty empty in that corner.

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1. What media and processes are you using to create your project? Explain why you have made these choices.

I chose to draw on water color paper, and I am combining water color, color pencils, gouache, and pencils to do this artwork. I chose water color and gouache to give my artwork a more dreamy feeling and and I chose color pencils to add emphasis and control for the focus of my artwork.

1. Where did you revise, adjust, or problem-solve during the process, and how did these changes affect your decisions for your final project?

During the process, I revised and adjusted several parts of my drawing, especially the proportions in the portrait and the shapes of the flowers. At first, some features looked uneven, so I used the grid to realign them and make the composition more balanced.These changes helped me decide to focus on harmony between accuracy and expression in my final project, making it feel both detailed and alive.

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How did you select and combine 3 drawing skills for your project, and what changes did you make along the way to refine your work?

For my project, I blended grid drawing, contour, and detailed contour to bring my portrait and flowers to life. The grid helped me build a strong foundation, while contour lines shaped the flow and emotion of the piece. I added detailed contour to capture delicate textures and depth. Along the way, I refined lines, adjusted proportions, and softened details to create a more natural and expressive final artwork.

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This third prompt is about what I am looking forward for this year and a moment I would like to capture. I chose academic excellence because that is my main goal of this school year. I've shown this through my collage using newspaper. I also used specifically newspaper with just words to show the academic meaning behind collage.

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This second prompt is about something in the past that I wished to capture. I chose to paint a picture of eating dinner with a friend where he made me buldak noodles. I did this using water colors. I think using wet materials to communicate this artwork was very smart because using watercolor for the sunset really blends it in together.

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This first prompt is about what I did in the summer that I wished to capture. This is me cartwheeling through the sand in Bali in front of this amazing sunset. I did this using oil pastels. I think I did very good communicating my memory because right away we can see that this is a human cartwheeling at the beach during sunset hours through the color chosen for the sky.

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For revision, I listened to Emily's advice and blended the pastels oils. I think it helped my artwork SO MUCH. This is because blending the pastels together just make my artwork look so much cleaner and the sunset is more dreamy. I also added a red sun in the middle because I want to emphasize the sun setting.

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We decided to make a ballerina pose for this tape figure. The biggest struggle of this process of making the life sized ballerina is using tape as our main material. This is because the tape is very thin and unstable therefore, it is very hard to shape the ody the way we want it to look like. However, the play of this making process is working in a big group and helping eachother out with creating our life sized ballerina tape person. Today due to the limited time, we created a stand and a leg.

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As your team continued to work on this sculpture, did the communication improve?

How and why?

I think the communication improve significantly throughout this project. We talked about how we want to build this sculpture, and even though we had a lot of disagreements throughout, we still came to an agreement at the end and then we worked very well together after.

Are you surprised with the end result? What was surprising about it?

I am very suprised with the end result because I didn't think it would turn out this good. This is because at first, I could never imagine the how the strcuture of this sculpture would look. And as you can see, the end result looks very realistic and structured. I just thought it was very hard to commincate each ideas.

Has your definition of struggle and play changed as you went through this process? Why or why not?

I think the struggle of making this was just agreeing and going on board with everyone's decisions. I feel like that was the biggest struggle was deciding the proportions and structure because it was very confusing to understand what everyone was talking about. The play about the process of this was adding the colorful details into our struggle to make our ballerina more unique and girly. We had a lot of fun as a group decorating our sculpture with girly clothes so that ours was more unique.

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How did focusing on line and shape change the way you drew?

I think focusing on lines and shapes changed the way my human drawing is structured. I feel like it is more accurate to the sculpture. Moreover, I feel like we can clearly tell me movement because we've identified the line from the start. These changes are pretty significant to the final resulte because I think human structure is one of the biggest component in human drawings.

What was hardest about simplifying forms into basic lines and shapes?

I think the hardest part about simplifying foms into basic lines and shapes is that deciding which one is the main focus. For example, I find it very difficult to choose the main focus.

Which sketch shows your best use of line and shape, and why?

I think my ballerina because the movement was very enlarged and clear which enhances my human drawing.

How could this practice help your future drawings?

I think this practice could practice my future drawing by helping me guide the structure.

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How did focusing on line and shape change the way you drew?

I think focusing on lines and shapes changed the way my human drawing is structured. I feel like it is more accurate to the sculpture. Moreover, I feel like we can clearly tell me movement because we've identified the line from the start. These changes are pretty significant to the final resulte because I think human structure is one of the biggest component in human drawings.

What was hardest about simplifying forms into basic lines and shapes?

I think the hardest part about simplifying foms into basic lines and shapes is that deciding which one is the main focus. For example, I find it very difficult to choose the main focus.

Which sketch shows your best use of line and shape, and why?

I think my ballerina because the movement was very enlarged and clear which enhances my human drawing.

How could this practice help your future drawings?

I think this practice could practice my future drawing by helping me guide the structure.

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Explain why your rationale for the placement of each element within your comfort, risk, and danger zones.

Color - I put color in my comfort zone because I researched about the color theory really closely and i just love experimenting with different color combinations so I would put it as my comfort zone.

value - I place value in my comfort zone because I think shading and pretty easy. I understand clearly how the shades of different objects work in different lightings.

Line - I put place in my comfort zone because I think lines are very simple. Lines of actions are easy to be identified in my opinion.

Space - I put space in my comfort zone because I think dimensions and spacing are very interesting as well as simple.

Form - I put form in my risk zone because I think form has a lot to do with the structure of my artwork. Therefore it can be difficult because the structure of my artwork might not be realistic all the time

Texture - I place texture in my risk zone because I think it can be kind of confusing to add different textures and materials into our artwork nicely.

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Exploration of Media
How can experimenting with different tools and materials (e.g., pencils, ink, charcoal, brushes, found objects) change the variety and expressiveness of your marks?

I think experimenting with different tools and materials can add variety to our artwork a lot by having different values and weight of lines. For example, when I use oil pastels, I can easily blend the colors together as well as adding thickness to my color layering. Moreover, when I used the big black marker, it adds a lot of weight to the artwork as well as emphasizing areas that need to be recognized.

Intentional Choice
In what ways does the choice of media influence the mood, texture, and meaning of your artwork? How do certain tools help you communicate specific ideas or feelings?

I think the choice of materials can help communicate our feelings in many ways. For example, when I used oil pastels, I can easily blend the colors together and that gave me a very dreamy and "free feeling". I felt like I could do anything I want without it being permanent. This also ties to how oil pastels allow me to layer over my mistakes without showing the markers below it. And the markers I used was to describe how bold I was feeling.

Process and Reflection
As you layer, repeat, or vary your marks, what decisions do you make about control versus spontaneity, and how does the media you select either limit or expand these choices?

At first when I layered, it was all very spontanious as I didn't think much of the result and I was just experimenting with colors and different materials. However, the more I did it, I started to learn about the characteristics of each materials and started to be in more control of how I wanted my artwork to turn out. I used black pen marker when I wanted more control and emphasize on my drawing

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Blind contour:

How can the “imperfections” in blind contour drawing help you embrace experimentation and discover new expressive possibilities in line?

-The imperfections in blind contour drawing can actually help us focus more on the small details. Since you’re not allowed to look at your paper while drawing, you don’t worry about making everything perfect. This lets you focus more on really looking at your subject and noticing the small details. Even though the drawings often look strange or messy, they can show interesting and expressive lines you wouldn’t normally create. Over time, blind contour drawing can help you see better, draw with more confidence, and find new, fun ways to express yourself through line, as well as finding smal details of lines in an artwork

Contour:

Why might the practice of contour drawing be more about understanding structure and relationships in a subject than creating a polished final image?

I think the practice of countour drawing helps us undrstand more about the structure and relationships in a subject more than creating a polished final image because we are not focus on one area but rather more on the realistic ness or the structure of the drawing of the object. For example, when I practiced contour drawing, I find the structure of my work was wayyy better and it looked way more realistic like the page on the left. I think this is because we are more confused on how the lines and shape look together to make an object.

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Which of the three drawings felt most successful, and why?

Personally, I feel like this prompt of contour was the most successful because I got the structure of the flower pretty accurate using the contour method. I started by drawing the outline of the flowers first then start adding the details later. In the progress, I carefully look at each petals in the reference and draw it back on my medium. I am very proud with how the flowers turned out as it is very accurate to the picture to each details. I think this contour drawing techniques have really improved my skill of replicating a reference on my artwork because it helped me replicate the object as a whole.

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Did you notice any moments when your eyes and hands were “out of sync”? How did you adjust?

Moments when I noticed that my eyes and hands were out of sync the most was while drawing the outline of the face and the lips. This is because I start my artwork with drawing the nose of my portrait, I then move up and draw the eyes and brows. I think I got these elements pretty accurate and recognizable. However, after these steps I usually struggle with drawing the outline of the face as I couldn't navigate where the facial features are anymore. Moreover, I also couldn't figure out where I should draw my mouth and it shows in my artwork. However, I overcame this by starting with the lips then gradually going up and I think I can see the small but steady improvements already.

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What was the biggest challenge in maintaining hand–eye coordination during these drawings?

I think the biggest challenge in maintaining my hand-eye coordination during this drawing was focusing on accurately drawing the outline of this pose. This is a pose of a ballerina, and I had to do a positive shape drawing where I only outlined pose. I struggled quite a bit here as I found it difficult to navigate where each body part was as I was only drawing in one continuous line around the body. I think this was the biggest challenge because I only had one continuous line around the body so I had to be very cautious and careful with where the marker goes.

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How did starting with a positive shape contour and then layering gesture drawing help you better capture the proportions, movement, and personality of your classmate in the portrait?

Starting with a positive shape contour helped me lay down the right proportions and structure so I didn’t lose accuracy in the portrait. Once I had that solid base, layering gesture drawing on top gave the figure more flow and movement, which made it feel less stiff. The gesture also helped me show my classmate’s personality through their posture and the way they carried themselves. Combining both steps made it easier for me to capture not just what they looked like, but also their energy and character.

When adding details from the reference photo, how did you balance accuracy with your own creative choices in media and mark-making to strengthen the final outcome?

When I started adding details from the reference photo, I focused on keeping the main features accurate—like the proportions of the face and the placement of the eyes, nose, and mouth—so the portrait still resembled my classmate. At the same time, I used my own creative choices in media and mark-making to bring more personality and style to the drawing. For example, I experimented with line weight, texture, and shading to highlight certain areas and add energy instead of just copying the photo exactly. Balancing accuracy with creativity made the portrait feel both realistic and expressive, which strengthened the overall outcome.

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September 18/19 Grid Drawing

1. How did the grid system affect the accuracy and proportions in your drawing?

I think the grid system significantly affect the accuracy and proportions of my drawing because it gives me a smaller area to work on. When I divide my drawing into smaller portion, I will be more precise and accurate in each smaller square, which makes the general drawing much more proportional and accurate to the reference

2. Which parts of the process felt easier with the grid, and which parts were still challenging?

I think copying the reference into our sheet of paper is the easier part of doing grid drawing based on the reasoning I gave earlier. However, the hard part about grid drawing is that it is still difficult to shade accurately

1. How might you apply what you learned from the grid method to future drawings?

To copy a reference, specifially a harder or more realistic reference, I will definitely use the grid method to copy a reference because I find it most effective and accurate. Even if I dont use the grid system, I will practice focusing on a smaller portion so my drawing turns precise and accurate.

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Sumi Art Foundations: Drawing Styles Self Assessment

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1. How did you ensure that you had variety within each of your sketches when brainstorming? What elements stayed the same, and what elements changed?

I made sure I. had a variety of thumbnail sketches because I had three sketches and I also wrote a lot in my brainstorming, which gave me alot of ideas for my sketches.

1. What themes or stylistic exploration do you see appearing in your sketches?

I see grid drawing, water color, contour drawing and a lot of colours in my sketches. I will for sure use the grid technique in my drawing as well as other contouring methods to enhance the details and accuracy of my artwork. I will also use a variety of materials to add variation to my artwork.

Bonus question:

3. What questions do you have based on topic (what your work is about/ themes), media (material), and process (order of operation and application)?

Can we start working on it next class?

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How did exploring a variety of materials when experimenting impact your overall vision?

I think the exploring a variety of materials helped me realize what I wanted to keep and what I wanted to remove in my final work. For example, I used water color as a background and I realized that I really love how it blends out and how easy it is to layer other materials on top. Knowing this, I tried using coloured pencils and crayons to draw on top of it which I really liked but will consider more closely because I want the materials to pop out more. I also realized I wanted to make myself the main focus in the middle by having a lot of details so I might use pencils for accuracy or acrylic for emphasis.