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Over the course of this semester, I have learned a great deal about different media types and how to express each media in its own technique to overall capture the essence of a particular theme or value that I can covey throughout the art piece. I also have been expanding how I conjure up compositional layouts and further think outside the view of a centered focal point of artwork, but rather portray ideas with a composition that moves throughout the piece in a variety of perspectives.  The most significant areas that I noticed of my growth as an artist is by learning to experiment with compositions that are dynamic throughout the artwork, and using media to express different stylized themes of subjects. Artistic struggles I have learned from are developing new ways to use techniques with media choices overall to attain textures and blending tones with contrast. New subjects in my study of art include learning to work more with drawing from perspective, and creating depth to my pieces comprehensively.
To conclude this semester I  have gained insight to creating art from diverse components from composition to technique and hope to further grow with my artistic endeavors altogether.

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For this project the areas I used of the revised project grid were: Abstraction/Optical Illusion for the subject, dry media of specifically colored pencil for the media,  organic basis of shapes for the technique, and circular composition based around the diagonals.

The subject of this piece of artwork was derived from a type of tube optical illusion, which was shown in the art in the form of a plant type of shape which gave an almost otherworldly unique atmosphere to the piece overall. This also consisted of abstractive stylization with a variety of organic elements as well. The media that I focused on for this particular piece was the dry media base of colored pencil. I usually create artwork with a diversity of  mixed medias, but for this one I focused on using one form of media for a challenge of creating depth with only one type of media itself. Colored pencil gave the blended smooth effect and was able to create a contrast with colors that altogether appear as the optical illusion with the shading and different tones of the colored pencils. The technique followed the basis of using organic shapes and lines, that as a whole gave the piece of sense of surrealness with the values of a piece that seemed out of reality in the means of bringing together aspects of imaginative creativity in its own way. For the composition, it was one that was of circular perspective, but also was stretched to the edge of the paper with the strong diagonals. This gave the artwork a movement that flowed across the page and connected the piece with the color concepts that balanced the piece comprehensively. The aspect that was strongest in my opinion was working with different tones of color to create three-dimensional perspective of the plant and the use of creatively original structured subject matter that was based off an abstractive view and surrealistic. I learned about the approach of creating an independent piece of artwork that was solely consistent of a imaginative form of thinking outside of a normal standpoint by just going with the flow of the pencil. When I create artwork without a basis of a starting point, I find in interesting to let the strokes of the pencil create something that breaks from any standard notion and develop into a piece all its own. This type of concept went along with the optical illusion perspective of the artwork and the ability to be interpreted in any means of abstraction in all.

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The four areas of the grid that I used for this first Independent Project were: Nature exploration for the subject, Reticulation with India ink on wet watercolor paper, for the media - also including mixed media elements of oil pastel, watercolor, and colored pencil, gestural strokes for the main aspect of the technique, and focal point at rule of thirds intersection for the composition.

Pertaining to the subject matter of nature exploration, I developed upon this idea by thinking of it differently by not as exploration of drawing natural elements (such as plants) but quite literally the exploration of nature itself. I related this perspective to that of Lewis and Clark who were in fact individuals who were explorers of nature and its pathways. So I chose that to tell the story of the subject. For the media the reticulation with India ink on wet watercolor paper added to the fluidity and whimsical quality of the landscape. The receptibility to the ink spreading in a variety of patterns throughout the lines gave the technique overall a very elegant blending landscape that is complemented by the watercolor and oil pastel. As an final media element for the explorers, I chose colored pencil to create a differentiation between the landscape. The technique consisted of a mainly gestural standpoint which gave the piece a flowing sense of composition which was focally centered in the layout of rule of thirds intersection. This was made up of the cliff, the forest, and the mountains which move the eye throughout the scenery with the colors blending from the warm colors of sunset and the cooler colors of the forest and river, tied in with the cliff as a whole. The aspect that I thought was the strongest was the overall blending of the media of oil pastel, the layers were especially flowing in the skyscape. I would like to experiment more with working with techniques in different media and expand my skills. Within working on this independent project, I learned the effects of working with a variety of different media from ink to colored pencil, along with watercolor and oil pastel and how they can contrast and complement each other to bring the piece together as a whole.

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in progress

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in progress

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oil pastel free choice landscape

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landscape focus

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continuous line

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final project

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ebony pencil - one day sketch

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in progress day 3

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ebony pencil - one day sketch

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one day sketch

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ebony pencil - one day sketch

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oil pencil/ebony pencil - one day sketch

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progress day 2

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progress day 1

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reference fabric

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work in progress