WHAT'S YOUR POINT?

POINTILLISM  WITH WATERCOLOR & FRAMING

ADVANCED 2-D ART

assorted colored felt tip markers w/ both large & small nibs, watercolor & brushes on mixed media paper or bristol, matt board & matt cutters

During the last several years,

a few of my 3rd year 2-D students have asked if they could bring in a bit of watercolor

 to their Pointillism piece.

Absolutely,

great idea!

So I believe it was last year that I changed up this assignment by adding watercolor 

as an additional requirement.

I asked then senior Samantha Tun to do several small samples before she began her original piece.

First she tried the markers all by themselves in Pointillism,

then she tried another by putting down her watercolor first,

letting it dry, 

then bringing the markers over top that.

But it was her third sample that she liked the most.  

She laid down the markers first then watercolored over them for a very cool effect.

Since the markers are water-based they smeared slightly as the watercolor went down 

which soften the pointillism look. 

And that's what we are seeing below in her finished original piece.

Her subject,

 a photograph she took of herself (self-portrait) amongst the leaves on the sidewalk.

I loved the composition the moment she showed me her photo. 

And with the watercolor skills already in place from 2nd level art class,

she was able to make a stunning piece.

In fact,

 I liked it so much, 

I bought it at Open House to teach with this year.

If you look closely below you can see several areas where the points of marker went down, 

then the water smeared them a bit into a value change.

So subtle and lovely Sam!

Also note how she framed it out.

That was an additional assignment,

her final actually for 1st Quarter.

She had to build and design a pleasing matt for her piece.

First she chose a piece of black poster board and flicked white paint on it.

Then she thought to place pieces of aluminum foil over several sections.

Unusual idea but it works.

I adore this piece, 

and it fits the season so well with all our falling leaves right now.

MIXING YOUR MEDIA

WATERCOLOR W/ COLORED POINTILLISM

ADVANCED 2-D ART

watercolor. water-based felt tip makers in various colors & pen & ink

This assignment for 3rd year 2-D student & senior Samantha Tun was part review of watercolor 

and part learning to work in color pointillism.

The pen & ink was brought in at the end to define & make edges pop a bit more.

Sam has always enjoyed and done well with watercolor in the first and second year class,

so this time I wanted her to pick her own subject matter (she chose herself),

and put in the foundation in watercolor but to up the values with colored pointillism.

I hope I was able to get close enough for you to see the dots.

You can see it in the green leaves...

and in the sand.

At the end she brought in a fine marking pen and used implied line to make everything pop.

For her final for 1st Quarter,

 Sam was required to take her favorite piece from this quarter,

and mount in in a creative, pleasing and crafty way.

Here is her final.

Super cool,

right??

FIRST QUARTER FINAL

MATTING

ADVANCED 2-D ART

mat board & mat knife

For seniors Elias Rodriquez and Jonathan Hsu,

choosing either their Pointillism or Prismacolor original to mat up, 

was their final for the quarter.

They both have cut two previous mats for me in the Intermediate class

last year,

but it's still a challenging task. 

And not only did they need to cut a mat, but they were required to embellish the mat

in some way to flow visually with their art piece.

Above we see Elias touching up his Prismacolor

by adding more highlights to it,

to balance with the white pen drawings he did on the mat.

Both works turned out phenomenally,

and I'm so very proud to show them off.

Elias Rodriquez

Jonathan Hsu

CONNECTING THE DOTS

COLOR POINTILLISM

ADVANCED 2-D ART

felt tip markers & watercolor

I am so thrilled to show off the outstanding work

 of my 3rd year Drawing/Painting students,

seniors Jonathan Hsu and Elias Rodriquez.

 I've known and worked with these two young men since 7th grade,

and both of them are planning on going on in the arts in college.

So let's see their first major assignment of the year.

First off is Jonathan with this lovely portrait.

Besides drawing the entire piece using only dots of color,

I asked both boys to use watercolor as an accent 

either alone or under the felt tip markers.

Jonathan began his piece first with the markers 

then laid the watercolor into the dress area

 which gives him a wonderful contrast that catches the eye.

I especially love the stars/dots of white that he put on at the end

over the watercolor dress.

The boys brought in their own photos to work from,

and I really like both their choices.

Soft yet powerful.

In this next masterpiece by senior Elias Rodriquez,

he did the opposite,

 he started with watercolor underneath, 

then brought his pointillism over top,

for a brilliant work.

I have to tell you that I've been working fairly closely with Elias since 7th grade,

encouraging him to continue with his art studies,

giving him his first sketchbook.

And in the years when he couldn't fit me into his schedule,

he would still drop in to show me what he'd been creating 

and there were always words of encouragement.

But recently,

over this last summer,

his style and craftsmanship have come together in such a mature way.

I'm so very proud of how hard he's working 

and what he's producing.

This piece is by far one of his most outstanding works thus far,

 and also one of the most important pieces to come out of Whitney High School.

Bravo Elias!!

I'm so proud of you!!!!!

I wish all of you could see this piece in person,

it stops people in their tracks so they can take a look. 

Right now it's on display in our District Board Room

on Norwalk Blvd. and 166th in Cerritos.

Check it out if you can!!