Self Portrait

Acrylic on Canvas

11 X 14

My class and I did self portraits for an art show and this is mine.

Colby

Charcoal on Brown Paper

9 X 10

I decided to go outside of my comfort zone of acrylic paint and try charcoal. Before this, I had only done a portrait of myself in acrylic but I really enjoyed using charcoal. Colby does not have strong facial features besides his chin, so I had difficulty getting the shape of his face right. The picture I took of Colby was dark and the light was mainly on his face. He had some facial hair that I tried to achieve by smearing a light layer of vine charcoal. I prefer using the vine charcoal over the regular charcoal because it has a delicate touch to it.

Laying Brick

8 X 10

Acrylic on Panel

A friend of mine took this photograph and when she showed me I thought it would be perfect for my concentration. It shows working and building something that is in everyday use. The colors are all in a neutral range, with some warm colors. There is not a large range of foreground and background, but I like that about the composition because it gives the feeling of hard work. The worker is the focal point, which I made by the contrast of orange on the neutral background. I also emphasized the focal point by the proportion and location of the worker, making him the most important object in the painting.

Summer Time Fun

 9 X 10 

Acrylic on Panel

This was a photograph taken at my nephew's birthday party in the summer of 2011; He is the boy on the right. Their backs were faced toward the sun so there is a contrast in values making their skin have a gray tone. I had some difficulties getting the skin color to not look too gray and still look like skin. So instead of starting from scratch and only using red, yellow, blue and white to mix the skin tones I started with a pre-made skin tone and went from there. The background colors help the children look like they are facing away from the sun. Also the white "halo" around their heads and in their hair give it an outside look.