"Rose"

Sketchbook drawing of a rose in graphite.

"Nick Jonas"

This is a simple portrait study of one of the most beautiful people on earth mixed in with the modern looking shapes and the solid red background. I still prefer charcoal over graphite because i never seem to get the full value scale out of pencils with makes my value look weak. The eyes were very hard to capture since i was drawing from a picture, i couldn't exactly find the light source so i just kind of guessed so i'm not sure if i like the eyes. However i think the fabric in his shirt turned out very realistic and it'd the part i'm proud of on this particular drawing. The cardboard at the bottom complimented the random rectangles and gave texture to the composition. Overall, a pretty easy drawing and i think it turned out well.

"Three Views of a Still Life"

This was a fun but difficult study because it really challenged me to draw exactly what i saw. The first piece, done in watercolor, was easier and i didn't spend that much time trying to make it look realistic, i tried to stick to simple contour lines drawings with little value in the watercolor. It is my favorite of the three. The next piece was done in graphite pencil and i don't like the outcome because, although i tried very hard, the value and shading wasn't done to the best of my abilities. But overall, i think it was average for a still life. The last piece was done in oil pastel, which was a medium i wasn't that familiar with at the time so i struggled with the shading on the gourd and the light source on the bottle so i didn't find this piece very successful but the beautiful colors almost covered those flaws.

"Nutella"

This piece was done entirely in acrylic and i plan to make some changes with the background since it is very plain and only serves in making the foreground pictures stand out. I'm not sure if i like this piece because of how the knife turned out with the nutella dripping off. To some people it looks very realistic but i can't see it that way after looking at it for so long. I love the bottle however. This painting was just a fun breadth piece to display my obsession for Nutella:)

"Dancing Color"

This piece was originally a gesture drawing study that was then created into anything i could make out of the sketches. I'm not very good at drawing figures so i hated this study at first but once i added the colors, it all came together very well. It was fun using all the different mediums like the watercolor and oil pastel and the bright colors all mixed together made the figures pop. It's a piece that makes you stop and stare and that to me sounds like a successful art work so i'm overall pleased with the turn out:)

Crosshatching in Pen

I love this piece because it has a lot of meaning behind each separate picture and i remember being very excited about the finishing product. I never liked using pen because it was so permanent but i messed up a couple times in this and had to learn to work with it so it was a good learning lesson. I also had to practice a lot with the shading and using crosshatching to create value and depth. I'm obviously no expert at it and still think this looks too cartoony bt the composition is creative and the story it tells is meaningful to me so i like it:)

"Peace"

Self-Portrait Bug Study

This painting was done in acrylics

with a white oil pastel glow around

the portrait. I absolutely love this

piece because the colors that make

up the hair and face are bright and

blend together very smoothly. I also

think the shirt and hands look fairly

realistic. The butterflies in the back

are very light because the self-portrait

was such a center focus that i didn't

want to take the emphasis off that by

cluttering the composition with bold

butterflies. This piece is dedicated to

my kindergarten teacher, Mrs. Gotschalk,

who passed away from cancer when i was

still in her class. Her favorite animals

were monarch butterflies and she helped us

raise some from cocoons but passed before

she could see them be released. After they grew into beautiful butterflies,

the class released them in honor of her life. Basically, the painting is a

reminder that i still remember her and every time i see a monarch butterfly,

i say a quick prayer to say thank you for being an amazing teacher.