Clay Food Project

I Develop Art Making Skills:

Did you learn new techniques or processes as part of the work for this project?

            -For the clay food project, I chose to do blueberry muffins with a cup of tea for our "Breakfast Group". One technique I learned while actually transforming the clay to the object was how to make the clay piece evenly distributed on your wooden board. By using two rulers on either side of the board, you use the roller to evenly spread out the clay so not one side of the clay is flat while the other is thick. However, I learned most of the techniques when it came to painting the clay. First, using the wash on a clay piece was something new for me. I also discovered that the wash can become a much darker shade than what you would expect, so adding a lot of water to the paint was important. Next, when I started painting, I learned how to put in the highlights and shades on the cup and the blueberries on top of the muffins. With the cup, I added in black underneath the handle of the cup and underneath the cup itself where it sits on the saucer. Then I did the highlights on the side of the blueberries and a little on top of the handle of the cup. At the end, we also got to put the shiny, clear paint on top of our pieces to make it look glossy. Also with the muffins, I added in some yellow in random spots to make it look like the inside of the cooked bread. For this project, I mainly learned how to paint an object realistically.  

I Take Risks:

Did you try something that you weren’t sure about as part of this project?

         -The thing I wasn't sure about with doing this clay project was how to make it look realistic in terms of the shape and color. When I first started molding the clay, it took forever just to get the base of the saucer right. So I wasn't exactly sure about how I would make the saucer look realistic, since it wasn't flat like a plate. As you see in the picture above, I needed to even out the clay a lot more and add a smooth surface to the top in order for the cup to sit straight. Another thing I wasn't sure about was the choice of colors I should use for the muffins. Since the color of bread is a mix of some brown and yellow, getting the right shade for the muffin was hard. So I took a risk of painting the muffins with one solid brown color, and then added some yellow in random creases of the clay. I had never painted a clay piece with the focus of making it look realistic; in Art 1, I focused more on the designs and brightness of the colors, however, this project introduced me to some new risks, techniques, and processes that helped my clay food look more appealing.



I Reflect:

When did you step back and analyze you work during this project? 

          - My strengths of the clay project was that I attempted to correctly use highlights, shades, and overall color for the food. I liked how I added in the small bit of highlight on the sides of the blueberries. I also liked that I used a lighter shade of blue on top of the cup's handle to show its highlight. The shape of the muffins turned out good for me because it wasn't molded perfectly. Usually objects look more realistic when the shape of it isn't completely straight, curved, or flat. So I'm happy that the bottom part of the muffins weren't completely vertical, and by default, my finger impressions around the clay made it look more "not-perfect". The things I needed to improve on for the project was: painting, molding the cup/saucer, and to have a clean finish. With the painting part, I struggled especially with the cup, because the different shades of blue made it look like the cup itself was different colors, when actually I was trying to show shades and highlights. Also, I should've had a better understanding of what color to paint first, how long it should dry, and then what color can easily be painted on top. For example, when I was painting the rim of the saucer, which is white, I accidentally put black there before, which gave a grayish shade after I painted on top of it with white. With molding the cup/saucer, I should've improved on making the rim of the cup smoother, as well as the sides. Unlike the muffins where the uneven sides looked realistic, the cup is an actual solid object which should've had straight,smooth sides. Lastly, I could've improved on having a cleaner finish to the paint, since for me, it still looks a little unfinished with the painting and molding of the cup/saucer. 

Close-up Drawing

I Create Original Art:

How did you use your own unique ideas in your work?

             - For the drawing project, I chose to do an up-close look of jingle bells. Originally, I thought of coloring the bells the original color, which was a golden brown. However, I thought the repetition of one color would look unappealing; so, I chose to do a mix of bright, colorful colors for each jingle bells. In order for the bells to look more customized, I kept at least two bells of the same color, but in different areas of the paper. I also decided to do only a small portion of my reference picture (which was a collection of 100 bells on my leg). To make the drawing look more detailed in terms of texture and colors, I thought if I screenshot only a couple of bells bunched up together. What I really focused on was the bells being on top, on the bottom, and next to each other so it looked repetitive yet different with the shadings and highlights.  Another idea I chose was to have the bells take up the whole paper. The more crowded the bells looked, the more opportunities I had to focus on the different positions of the bells. So while referring back to my basic reference, I put in my own unique ideas of keeping the bells to face different directions, as well as adding my own choice of bright, contrasting colors. 


I Develop My Art Making Skills:

Did you gain skill with familiar materials?

          -The medium I chose for the drawing project was prisma colored pencils. I have previously used prisma colored pencils but not as effectively. In this drawing, I focused on the use of different shades of one color to produce a more realistic look of the bell. For example, for the blue colored bells, I used white, light blue, teal, turquoise, dark blue, violet, light purple, and black. For the purple colored bells, I used white, magenta, pink, violet, light purple, baby pink, and black. For the green colored bells, I used, white, sea-green, forest-green, neon-green,parrot-green, and black. And lastly for the orange colored bells, I used red, dark red, white, yellow, orange, red-orange, brown, and black. With the whites, I made 3 sections on the 3 sides of the bell for the highlighted section. I used the black for the bottom of the bells or next to the bells where the bells intersect and where the light is darker towards the bottom of the bell. I also used black for the inside of the bells where there's no color and light. The technique I learned specifically with prismacolors is how to blend two colors successfully. From the bottom of the bell, I had the darker shades and then gradually blended in the light colors in the middle of the bell where the rim is. I repeated the same process for each side of the bell where the highlight is the center. I colored in a circular motion towards the center for the sides of the bell, and for the bottom section I dragged the pencil back and forth in a roundish motion to make the bells look spherical. 

I Communicate Through My Work:

How is this artwork about who you are or what you like?

           - I personally like drawing realistic objects. With this unique idea of a close up drawing of jingle bells, I wanted to show how I liked things that look somewhat realistic; and in order for that to show, I added in the highlights and shades of the bells. I also get attracted to bright colors, especially when there's more than one color being used in a drawing. So I added in the light greens, pinks, oranges, and blues to the variation of the bells' colors. With Christmas coming soon, I thought maybe doing jingle bells will make sense for a theme, however I changed the typical "red and green" combination to be a combination of different shades of the primary colors we usually see. For example, I chose to do a brighter shade of green instead of using the normal forest-green we see during Christmas time. I also like working with colored pencils. Prismacolors are really attractive because you don't see the gaps of the paper when you color something, making the drawing look more realistic. So I prefer any realistic drawing of an object to have full color, variation, repetition, and shape.