A LONG TIME COMING

SELF-PORTRAITS

INTERMEDIATE 2-D ART

mixed media

Haven't posted artwork from my ex-students in a while,

but these pieces have been on my mind since 2017-2018.

These works are by 3 of the most talented kiddos I ever worked with.

All High School seniors in 2018.

The assignment was to do a Self-Portrait 

in any 2-D medium they felt most comfortable in.

Each final work is truly remarkable

and I'm thrilled I finally got around to showcasing them.

This was their last assignment of the year for me.

We begin with Sarah Oh,

a young woman headed off to art school

 (she might have graduated by now),

accepted into Art Center in Pasadena.

Over the years and even after she graduated from Whitney,

we kept in touch and I continued to show off her pieces.

Sarah excelled in both the 2-D and 3-D realms.

Sadly over Covid we lost touch.

If you put Sarah's name in my search engine you can she most all her pieces 

for me and beyond.

First of all,

I love where Sarah chose to work from,

the classroom floor.

Here she was able to prop up a piece of mirror as well as her canvas.

She created her portrait in Acrylics.

What I just noticed for the first time in this photo below

 is she has reversed her image from what she is seeing in the mirror.

Or maybe it just seems so in the photograph.

Not sure??

When Sarah was in my classes,

she frequently brought over top her main subjects images of animals,

a secondary content for the viewer to ponder.

What I find so visually appealing about her Portrait 

are the harsh cast shadows she put in.

I love that she chose to use violet and blue/gray tones.

And that she chose a canvas that was more vertically inclined than most.

An exceptional work Sarah.

I miss you and hope you are doing amazing things!

One of my favorite things about all 3 of these works are the close-ups.

I love to see the brushstrokes, color mixing & blending, plus the fine details.

Here are Tiffany Chen and Mary Kim.

Just look at the concentrated focus one needs 

to pull off something this difficult.

Both girls worked from current photographs.

Interesting that Mary chose to prop hers up 

while Tiffany laid hers on the table.

What do I recommend?

Usually by propping up your photo helps the image from distorting

and keeps it looking more 3-D.

By laying it down sometime shapes can become distorted.

But I've always believed in letting the kids choose what works best for them.

I only did 2 self-portraits in my lifetime,

one in Pencil (from a mirror in college) and one in Acrylic 

(from my High School photograph).

I hated the subject matter,

ha ha,

and completing them was like pulling teeth.

But I did because I was being graded on both.

Mary,

like Sarah,

 chose to deepen her shadows with warm tones that are so rich.

And I adore her color choices for the background blanket.

The aqua compliments her warm skin tones.

Mary is also working in Acrylic, 

but you can see her style is so much different than Sarah's.

Mary has watered down her paint so that it almost comes off as Watercolor.

Acrylic can be a very versatile medium.

Just lovely Mary!

And we end with Tiffany.

In her photo,

the lens of the camera caught an additional image in its refection.

Tiffany could have left it out,

but I'm so glad she chose to keep it.

Like Sarah,

she has chosen to give the viewer a real treat.

But I know it had to be killer hard to deal with.

But in most all Tiffany's works she does love to challenge herself,

always pushing to be her very best.

Tiffany has an incredible work ethic and headed to Art Center as well.

Couldn't be prouder!!

Of course the close up is amazing to see.

If you look closely you will note that she has chosen to bring Colored Pencils 

over top the Watercolor to help with the cast shadows.

This also brings delicious texture to her portrait.

Another superb piece!

As I look back at these girls and their Portraits,

I know I was very blessed to work with such incredible talent.

What a wonderful job I had,

to love going to work everyday to this.

I still miss it so much.

Special Note:

I looked for all 3 girls on LinkedIn and found 2.

Both Tiffany and Sarah graduated with top honors from Art Center in 2022,

and are now Illustrators and Motion Designers.

Wow!!!

One proud teacher!

SCRATCH THAT ITCH

SCRATCHBOARD WITH WATERCOLOR

INTERMEDIATE 2-D ART

scratchboard, nubs/pen holder & watercolors

Every year the kids are intimidated but excited to try this completely new medium.

They've seen the results from years before and they want to give it a go as well.

I buy the nicest scratchboard I can find because if you don't it won't hold up to the watercolor.

I get mine at Art Supply Warehouse in Westminster, Ca. 

I'm sure they take online orders. 

You will also need two different types of nibs that fit into a pen holder.

One is pointy and the other is a scoop shape.

tiny amplers done by seniors Christian Balbido and William Tan

1 1/2 " by 3"

2" by 2 1/2"

I start the kids by demoing the two different nibs on a tiny piece of scratchboard.

Then I give them all a small sample piece and have them choose a subject 

and practice working on this little piece.

Then they practice their watercoloring over top.

In the meantime at home they are searching for a great subject for their larger piece.

Here is another sampler.

It looks enormous but is really very petite.

Probably about 2 1/2"  by 3" at the most.

I believe this kitty was done by Sarah Oh as her practice.

These are the larger pieces from last school year.

Some of these photos didn't turn out as colorful as I was hoping for

so I apologize ahead of time.

The best resources to work from are photos are animals because of their fur.

Most of the nib strokes are done with crosshatched or hatchure lines.

Some of the kids like to incorporate pointillism as well.

In this gorgeous owl by junior Angelica Luza, 

you can see her watercolor much better along with its range of value.

They had to bring in range in both the drawing and the painting.

These dogs above were beautifully done by senior Sarah Oh.

You can see the pointillism in the backdrop.
The kids were also required to make their own matt.
I really like the thin strip of gold that Sarah put on before the black matt.

And senior Christian Balbido choose to do his own adorable pup.

Loving the scale he worked to as well as how he cropped the piece within the matt.

 This regal and incredibly gorgeous piece is the work of senior Tiffany Chen.

I feel this work really shows off her amazing drawing skills and attention to detail.

I so wish there would have been an art competition at the end of the year.

I would have entered this piece.

Exceptional work Tiff!!

WAnd w end with this brilliant work by senior Mary Kim.

She spent so many hours on this work and it was worth the wait.

She wasn't able to complete it when it was due 

so this is the first time the kids from her class are seeing the finished product.

Exactly a year later because I'm so tardy getting these pieces posted.

LIGHT & AIRY

WATERCOLOR W/ CHARCOAL

BEGINNING 2-D ART

watercolor with charcoal accents

After spending almost 3 weeks studying & practicing both watercolor and charcoal techniques,

the students are required to put together both in a subject of their choosing.

Probably the most difficult aspect of watercolor is to keep the medium transparent.

And the other challenge is how much charcoal to use with it

Do I draw it in or shade it in or both?

Do I put it under the watercolor or overtop?

We experiment with all the above before starting the "real" piece.

And it's also nice to leave a bit of the white paper showing as well,

I call these sparkles.

Let's see the lovely results.

I adored the subject that senior Deborah Harris picked.

And her light touch with the watercolor is just right with tiny touches of charcoal.

And isn't this next one a cutie patootie with the little pilot in his box aeroplane?

Notice how senior Melissa Ongko got the cool texture on the plane's wings?

That's done by dropping clear water into the pigment before it dries on the paper.

And what a wonderful cloudy sky she has put in as well.

And I so wish I'd have focused this landscape a bit better with my camera.

This gorgeous work was created by senior Lauren Kennedy.

Look at how realistic that sky looks!

And the water (which is so difficult to pull off) looks fantastic as well!

One of the most difficult ways to work in watercolor was pulled off by clever senior Cathy Huang. 

The difficulty comes into play 

when having to layer in each darker value after the previous lighter one dries,

and making it look natural.

Cath did it with ease in this very sweet composition with the child reading to the dragon.

And I have no idea where senior Helen Park came up with the western theme above,

but it so much fun

and so different then everyone else.

And she wasn't afraid to lay down the charcoal over top the watercolor to put in her cast shadows.

Way to go Helen!

Here we have a combo. use of the charcoal over the watercolor.

Senior Jocelyn Chou has drawn with the charcoal to outline & emphasize the watercolor edges,

but she has also used it for the trees cast shadows in a cross hatching style.

Love the blue-violet with the green,

it compliments the fox so nicely.

One of my personal favorites was done here by junior Mary Kim.

It's an incredibly complex composition.

Love all the insects that are crawling and landing about.

I'm also really enjoying the variety of line thicknesses she is using 

with the edge of the charcoal pencil.

Such a playful, well thought out piece with so much for the eye to enjoy.

Now look at the fabulous texture junior Julie Guan is getting with her charcoal 

on the tummies of the penguins.

Almost looks like she's drawing tiny circles.

Is she?? 

Also note the presence of ice within the fore and backdrop ground.

Those are large pieces of salt that were dropped into the wet pigment on the paper 

and brushed off when the paint dried.

Gives a real feel for snow crystals.

And everyone loved this beauty that junior Tiffany Chen created.

We were all so impressed with how she got the light shining thru the water.

I'm going to have to go back and ask how she did that.

Can you find the two different uses of charcoal in this piece?

Some are linear edges in various thicknesses 

and some of the dolphins underbellies are lightly shaded in cast shadow.

I believe junior Varisha Azmi used a pix of a child she had photographed 

while visiting relatives in India for her subject.

Very lovely piece Varisha,

and great gutsy use of color and charcoal shading.

And I save the best for last.

This one was done by none other then junior Sarah Oh.

Of course!

We have seen so much of her  2 and 3-D artwork this year.

I just love it when my art majors are able to fit in at least 2-3 classes with me their senior year.

What makes this piece so important is first of all the subject matter.

Sarah's signature style is to incorporate fish and animals into each of her pieces.

But in this one it's the wise old man I adore

and the fish surrounding him seem to be telling us a story.

She has used several transparent layers for all the value ranges,

interesting color mixtures and schemes, 

paid great attention to details, 

& has done a lot of cast shadow work with the charcoal.

This is well beyond high school level work and belongs in a gallery setting 

with a wonderful frame around it

(not sitting buried on your mother's desk Sarah!!!).

Hint, hint.

By the way,

a big congrats to Sarah and Tiffany.

They both just found out they were accepted into the prestigious 

Art Center College of Design in Pasadena,

one of the premier Art Colleges in the nation.

Rarely do they admit kids right out of high school.

Both girls will be in a highly competitive atmosphere with much older adults.

You have to be extra talented to be inviteded with an incredible portfolio

which both girls had.

We are all so happy and proud of you both!