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4/22/2017
I wanted to experiment with watercolors again after my Dory self portrait, so I initiated a freelance watercolor project. I took a photo of my friend and altered the color scheme as well as the background into the display case of a candy store.Further buying on the candy theme, I changed my friend's color scheme to be more vibrant and colorful. I liked the amount of color I put into this piece, but I think I shaded a bit way too much, dimming the bright effect I had wanted. I didn't mean to convey any message with this piece, just make a painting that had a bright aesthetic to it.

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Final Piece, Raven Steals the Sun-Watercolor on Yupo with pastel, charcoal and colored pencil

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Final Piece, Raven Steals the Sun-Watercolor on Yupo with pastel, charcoal and colored pencil

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5/24/2017
This is my final project for the semester. I decided to go with the prompt of a narrative piece. I chose the story "Raven steals the sun" as the theme of the painting because it is one of my favorite stories in myth. I used a mixed medium for my final project-watercolor on Yupo for the background and base layers and colored pencil, pastel and marker for further details and shading. When the piece was finished, the thing I liked most about it was the beautiful marbled background. One thing I feel could be improved was the lack of light and shadow difference on the raven herself. The internal message that I wanted to convey with this project was the same of the legend-often people who bring light into dark times will suffer for their good deeds.

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5/1/2017
I started with a depressing subject as a third project (war and death), but after being through some depressing moments in recent months, I decided to create a happier painting. I used oil paint for this piece which was based on a photo I took in Michigan. I altered the color scheme a bit and added the Loch Ness monster to add some whimsical elements. This painting does not have any internal message but instead is meant to give the viewer a feeling of calm and pleasure. I like the colors of the piece and its soothing atmosphere the best. One thing that could be improved is the detail and proportions of the objects in the picture.

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5/5/2017
This Cyber swordfish was my 3rd initiated project. I looked at the self initiated grid and decided to make a biotech themed oil pastel illustration. I got inspired by a swordfish and a shell photo in a photo book to create this underwater power plant scene of methane producing shells.
The main message of this piece was to reflect on us humans' own lack of knowledge about the ocean. It's a theoretical image on what we might have been missing out on that had been going on in the bottom of the ocean. Perhaps advanced peoples had harnessed methane as energy, produced these massive plants and trained swordfish to guard them as we have done with dogs. The final version of the project pleased me, but didn't really blow me away. The detailing on the bubbles and the rusty plates was one part of the painting that I really liked, but the shading really could have been improved to be darker with more distinct values.

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Dory-Character Self Portrait Watercolor and Colored Pencil

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Dory-Character Self Portrait Watercolor and Colored Pencil

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3/11/2017
This was for my Self-portrait project that Mr. Zimka assigned to us. I chose to draw myself in the style of Dory the blue tang from Finding Nemo. I chose Dory because like me, Dory is very friendly and energetic but forgetful. I used watercolor as a medium for this painting and added smaller details with colored pencil. This Self-portrait meant to convey a feeling of happiness, and the bright colors were chosen to create an atmosphere of ridiculous cheeriness, ludicrousity, even. One thing I liked the most about this painting was the vibrant and diverse background colors. One thing I could improve about it is adding more objects and detail to fill up the large empty spaces.

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The Fittest of the Species Final-Charcoal Pencil

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The Fittest of the Species Final-Charcoal Pencil

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3/4/2017
This is my 2nd self-initiated project which was never quite finished. For this one I used a medium I was familiar with-charcoal pencil. I came up with the idea for this piece when I had a cold and my brain was very bleh. So I decided to just let my hand do the thumbnail making. I ended up making a shape similar to the one in the picture and I decided to work with that thumbnail to create a work of art. I ended up making the thumbnail into one of the fetus of a strange creature. I researched up some references of fetuses and placentas to gather references for my work. This project's was meant to convey both the awe and fear in the creation of life and the prenatal stages of fetal development. We have this bizarre alien creature as the subject, and yet upon closer inspection we can see that it is merely an ordinary horse fetus. In the finished piece, I liked the differences in shadow and value the most in the work. However, I still think I could have added more shading to the background.

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2/24/2017
This is the first self-initiated project I finished. I wanted to use acrylic for this piece because I had never used acrylic as a medium before. I took inspiration from Niel Gaiman's The Sandman to create these dream-like figures rising out of the sand in a desert night.
I wanted to convey the feelings of how terrifying it can be to be trapped in your own dreams by something larger than life can conceive. This was meant to be an illustration of the paralysis of dream-like states during sleeping patterns. What I liked most about this piece was the three dimensional effect that the different shade and lighting had. What could be improved probably could have been the color variety in the painting.