LEARNING TO USE A NEW MEDIUM

STILL LIFE IN ACRYLIC

ADVANCED 3-D ART

acrylic paint in tubes, brushes & water on canvas

My first experience with acrylic was not good.

It was in junior college and we were told what to buy,

then left on our own to figure out how to use it.

The teacher would disappear for the entire class.

There were no demonstrations,

no discussions, no critiques.

It was a big fail.

And of course I thought it was me.

So before I have the students work in acrylic,

I have them paint realistically in Tempera first in the 4th Quarter of the Beginning 2-D class.

Even though the paint binders are completely different,

the drying time is similar,

FAST!

You must work quickly.

So it's a pretty natural transition to acrylic by the time the kids reach the 3rd year level.

Both media clean up with water,

the only difference is is that if you wait too long to rinse the acrylic paint from your brush,

the Polymer base (glue) will dry in the brush,

leaving it a dead solider.

This is the work of senior Samantha Tun.

She was my sole 3rd year 20-d student last year.

I had Sam do several small samplers first,

3" by 3"

all in different styles,

large stokes versus small,

points versus hatchure strokes,

and different shading techniques:

Monochromatic, Analogous and Complimentary. 

When she felt comfortable I asked her to set up her own Still Life.

Sam took to the acrylic like a duck to water and this was her result.

I was really impressed with her skill level and craftsmanship

 and everyone enjoyed her Still Life she had set up with her sketchbook,

 diary nail polish and alarm clock.

The life of an art student.

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.

SPOT-LITE ON SAM

PRISMACOLOR METAMORPHOSIS

ADVANCED 2-D ART

prismacolors on black construction paper

I am so very pleased with how this piece photographed.

Without the right lighting it was a bit on the dark side

because of the night scene.

Senior Samantha Tun,

my only 3rd year 2-D student this last year created this work.

But first she had to learn to work with the Prismacolors.

They are a bit waxier then regular colored pencils and require a special touch.

But as you can see below,

Sam handled them beautifully.

Her value ranges and blending them together are seamless.

The assignment was to morph two unlike objects.

Sam chose balloons and faces.

And then to figure out an environment to put the morph into that made sense.

The entire work was done in Prisma after Sam did several practice pieces.

I was so pleased with how it came out and how it has a story

that the viewer gets to figure out

Another terrific work Sam!.