Scratchboard Drawing

The scratchboard drawing was very interesting. I have never done anything like it before and I am glad I was introduced to such a cool art style.

1.) Artists Create Original Art- I did not base this artwork off a picture. I chose to do a forest fire and I felt like it would be more interesting if I put trees in random places rather than copy somebody's photograph. I used a lot of creativity in this project with the fire and trees falling in the background.
2.) Artists Develop Art-making Skills- This project was the first time I have used a scratchboard. I developed different techniques on how to use the scratchboard while doing this project. The different tools i had available really helped me create different textures in different places on the scratchboard. I think the skills I developed while doing this project will help me in the future if I ever do another scratchboard drawing.
3.) Artists Solve Problems- I faced a couple of problems while doing the scratchboard drawing. The first problem was making it realistic. I somewhat solved this problem but I wish I took more time on putting detail into it. The major problem I faced was accidently putting a line in the wrong spot. When this happened I had to rearrange the placement of the trees and fire. I think i did a good job of overcoming this problem but if I use the scratchboard again, I am going to be more careful with my line placement.

Life-Size Figure Drawing

For the figure drawing, we were asked to create a life size drawing of somebody in the class. This was a very challenging project and getting the proportions correct was a challenge. I did not like this project but i think i would like it more if i tried it again.

1.) Artists develop art-making skills- I learned a lot from this project. It was one of the first times i have shaded with charcoal and the first time i've drawn on such a large scale. I used a yardstick and a ruler to help me get the correct proportions of the body. Another new thing i did was using a paper towel to blend in the charcoal. Overall, this project helped me develop skills that i previously did not have.
2.) Artists Collaborate- During this project I Collaborated with classmates which helped me learn from their experiences. Jud and I took turns working on our project so we could both work on the same body parts at the same time. this allowed us to give each other tips on what methods we used to create the drawing. I think that collaborating with others while making art makes a big impact on the final product because it allows the artist to learn from other peoples mistakes. Not only do artists learn from other peoples mistakes, but they can prevent others from making mistakes too by collaborating.
3.) Artists Solve Problems- I faced many problems while creating this drawing. The first problem was the proportions. I redrew the body parts many times till I got them in the place that I wanted them to be in. Another problem I had was the shading and the value changes. On some parts of this drawing I had already shaded it but I realized it was too dark. To fix this, I erased sections and then added more value back by shading lightly in layers and getting progressively darker with my pencil. The final problem was making it look as realistic as possible. I did not do the best job at this and I wish I spent more time on the details of the face.