I tried working with a lot of different paints that I hadn’t before like the oil paints and the closed acrylics. I’ve also never really tried abstract art so I did a lot of that in my studies. I also tried to vary the materials that I was using a lot, even if I initially thought that they would not work for the medium. For example, I did not think watercolors would hold well on Bristol paper, and although they did not, I liked how they looked there better compared to on canvas material. I experimented with mixing mediums a bit as well when I used an art deco marker with my watercolor and painted open acrylics, close’s acrylic, and oil paint side by side to see if there was any noticeable differences. I also experimented a lot with color and tried changing the colors of objects to something completely different.

2. What were the various subjects you explored and what remains interesting to you now?

I tried to do a large mix of subjects in my studies. A lot of them were abstract just from my imagination. For others I used references I found online and based my painting on that like with my watercolor painting of a pine tree and flower or my oil painting of a crab. The most interesting for me right now is nature based scenery. 

3. Which are the most interesting/most “successful” studies to you? Give specific examples of formal elements/imagery/concepts and discuss why those are strong/engaging.

I think my most successful studies were my watercolors. I found that the water colors more smoothly blended together than other mediums. With my pine tree study for example I was able to blend a mix of oranges, reds, and yellows into the background, and added some gray as well after it dried a bit since my original ideas was for the pine tree to be in the foreground of a forest fire. For the tree itself I blended a few different greens together. Although my original idea was for the background to look like a forest fire, it could be perceived as a sunset depending on how you look at it which I think makes it more engaging.

4. Which are the least interesting/least “successful” studies to you and why? How might you improve these if you were to continue working on them or to try the study again?

I think my least successful study was my dark green acrylic circle on canvas. I had never added texture to a painting before so I wanted to experiment with that and put a little bit more paint than usual down. I also tried to add some yellow to it to make the color more interesting. It looked very slightly better when the painting was still wet but when it dried you can not really see the added texture. If I were to do it again I would use more paint for the texture and add a different color that stands out more from the base one as well so you could see the texture better. 

5. Describe your studio practice during this project.

In terms of studio practice, outside of class I tried to come in before my classes or after my classes at night. I also came in on the weekend.