Two-Dimensional Forms: Paint

Techniques and processes

Painting has always been a struggle for me. It has always been a challenge to manipulate acrylic paint to me whether it
be the paint drying too quickly or not understanding proper technique. Blending was definitely one of my weker skill sets
so I attempted to test and challenge myself in my final painting Death.
I started this painting by sketching the hand. I drew a hand in the shape I needed and then drew in the bones. This kept
the dimensions of the hand accurate and proportional without using the grid method. I then used a grid in order to get
the dimensions of the body correct. I have never drawn or painted a full body before which made this a bit of challenge.
Once these were finished, I began painting. The skeleton hand was created using a gradation from dark gray to white.
This allowed for it to become more three dimensional rather than flatly laying on the canvas. I then created a skin tone
and worked solely with that tone to create the center figure. It was challenging to get extremely detailed because the
figure is only about 30 cm tall. I focused on shading areas of contour in order to bring the figure more to life. I found that
he highlights and shadows are what show the detail rather than using line. These two subjects were the focus of the
work.

Review, Refine, Reflect

This painting has a mix between realism and abstraction. The foreground is realistic while the background is abstract.
This creates an odd contrast but the piece still seems unified. The hardest part was trying to paint a detailed body in
such a small space. If I could redo it, I'd make the figure slightly larger and maybe exaggerate some of the features in
order to get more detail in the work. My favorite part is the hand. It is bent is such a way that it looks like the creature is
messing with the man or "pulling his leg".
Overall, this painting made me a better artist. It challenged me to step out of my comfort zone and practice the skills
which I had been trying to avoid in fear of failing. Through this project I was able to demonstrate how far I’ve come in
Art due to the IB Program.
 Two-Dimensional Forms: Paint
Critical Investigation
Inspiration for this piece came from the Renaissance era. Many of the works of this era have a focus on religious
subjects. They were often paintings created for churches or other important buildings. Some depicted religious
figures while others depict important religious events such as judgement day.
One of the most famous painting being Michelangelo's painting of the Sistine Chapel. This massive work depicted
everything from the creation story all the way to the story of Noah's Ark. As he worked he decided he needed to
make the figures larger and more expressive in their movement. these changes are definitely apparent within his
work.

​Another Renaissance work that I drew inspiration from was The Last Judgement by Hans Melming. This tryptic
depicts the final judgement of the human race where everyone is sent to heaven or hell. This is an event that is
believed to one day happen which is different from the stories told through Michelangelo's mural.

My inspiration lead to my choice in subject matter,

religion/judgement day, and the more realistic style. The overall
viewpoint was religious and the depiction of the end of time. It is
seen as a good thing for some and a bad thing for others.
Through the belief and understanding of religion there is a
generally accepted understanding of situations which can be
considered true beliefs.
Michelangelo. Sistine Chapel. Paint on Ceiling

Hans Melming. Judgement. Paint on Canvas

Two-Dimensional Forms: Paint
Planning Ideas and Intentions
The overarching theme for my work has been my life and
experiences. As this is the last project my goal was to depict the
end... Death. Death is the end, literally. These drawings are my
attempts to depict death. The first two drawings are focused on
death more literally by taking a living hand and having it decay into
just bones. This seemed too zombie like which wasn't my goal. It
could be viewed as an end and a new beginning, but zombies
aren't the new beginning I was going for. The final sketch is a
depiction of heaven and hell during judgement. This is a much
better depiction of the end and hits the message I was trying to
depict much better.

Review, Refine, Reflect

My work and my inspiration are similar. I focused slightly less
literally on the religious aspects. My inspiration came from pieces
much larger than mine which allowed for more detail and a larger
focus. My work focuses on the judgement of one man whereas my
inspiration had the judgement and prosecution of many people.
This doesn't take away from my piece though. The single man
brings focus towards the idea of the end and death on a more
personal level rather than a group event.
 Two-Dimensional Forms: Paint
Critical Investigation
For the majority of my paintings, my inspiration came from more classic artists such as
Michelangelo and Van Gogh rather than modern painters. These classic artists intrigue me
more than modern artists because they have such a distinct style, technique, and purpose
which all have stood the test of time.
Van Gogh was a major artist in the Post-Impressionist movement. Artists of the movement
painted what they observed and imagined using both color and shape in order to depict the
intended observations. The Post-Impressionist artists had developed their own personal
styles, but each shared the characteristic of abstraction. Pieces from this era, 1880 to 1914,
were created by applying paint onto the canvas in specific pattern which caused them to be
considered more abstract.
Van Gogh had a very unique style of painting. He used saturated color and thick brush
strokes. His artworks were often very symbolic and had some sort of personal meaning to
himself. Van Gogh's Self-Portrait from 1889, seen on the left, has a dominant color with the
focus being drawn to the contrasting face in the center. His hair is in contrast with the rest of
the painting as it is a completely different hue. This makes it stand out and bring focus to his
head. Another important feature of Van Gogh's work is his deliberate use of line. He uses
repetition of line in order to create patterns which in turn produces the movement. In his self
portrait though, this aspect of line is important in depicting the contours and overall form of
his facial features. This means that the direction and hue of the lines were very important
Van Gogh's pieces.
​I attempted to incorporate the important aspects of Van Gogh's portraits in my Self Portrait. I
Van Gogh. Self Portrait 1889. Oil on Canvas
tried to incorporate the broad brushstrokes and differing hues in order to control the focus. I
really focused on the directions of the brushstrokes for the contours and shading of the face.
 Two-Dimensional Forms: Paint
Techniques and processes
The first step in creating this piece was to set up the canvas and prime it with gesso. I put three layers
of gesso on the canvas so that I could apply the acrylic paint smoothly to the canvas. The second step
was to grid the canvas and sketch out the image of myself. The reason I did this was so that the
proportions of my face would be correct or at least reasonable. I then began painting my shirt. I started
with the shirt so that I could experiment and see what worked well so that I could apply this knowledge
to the background. I found that I was definitely going to need to mix a lot of paint because of the the
thick lines of paint. I then painted the background by filling it in with one solid color and then creating the
intended pattern with a different color. I finally used other colors to fill in the background and intensify
the patterns and movement. The next step in painting was to paint the areas of skin. Once again I
started near the bottom, the neck, in order to experiment. I found that creating small lines with one hue
helped me to visualize the contours and forms of my face which also helped me find where to shade. I
finished the face by placing the first lines in the basic skin tone and then filled it in with darker and lighter
shades for the highlights and shaded areas. The final section to paint was the hair. I did the hair much
like I did the background. I filled it with a solid color and added the thick lines in the direction of the hair.
The most important part of this process was to create the piece using thick brushstrokes and use
different colors to cause visual bending without actually blending the hues to create a gradient.
Review, Refine, Reflect
My inspiration was vincent Van Gogh’s self portraits from 1889. I decided to move away from realism and more towards
abstract art. My piece incorporated the style in the use of line, pattern, repetition, and movement. This causes the
painting to be quite similar to Van Gogh’s portrait, but I didn't keep the same use of color. Van Gogh used primarily on
color throughout his piece and offset it with just one other hue. I instead used multiple colors and used pattern and
shade to offset the focus from the background. This caused the more sad and depressed mood which is common within
Van Gogh’s work to be removed from my own portrait. I rather wanted to have a more positive outlook within the
portrait. The most important similarity is the thick brushstrokes. This is a prominent aspect of Van Gogh’s work that I
made sure to include in my own.
 Two-Dimensional Forms: Paint
Critical Investigation
The inspiration for Three Wise Monkeys was Roy Lichtenstein’s pop art paintings. The Pop
Art era lived from the 1950’s till the 1970’s. Some well known artists of this era were Andy
Warhol, Roy Lichtenstein, and James Rosenquist. These artists worked in the 1960’s and
are often the faces of Pop Art. Their works were often emotionally removed and attempted to
show that everything we know has been mediated through cartoon, ads, ect.

Roy Lichtenstein Experimented with high and low art. This aspect shows the popular culture
of the era. Much of Lichtenstein's paintings were reproductions of comics with slight
variations. He reproduced the images which led to him being accused of copying others’
work, but his changes had purpose and are a common trademark of his work. Another Roy Lichtenstein. Crying Girl. Enamel Paint
signature part of his work was patterns of dots. This repetition of dots is done in a way which
makes it seem mechanical as the dots are placed precisely in order.

Many of Lichtenstein's pieces appeared to have little personal connection. This is due to his
style of reproducing works, but in fact his choice of subject connected with his deep personal
life. Lichtenstein was hurt by women and it is no surprise that he wanted to produce pieces
of women crying. The crying women was almost what he wanted women to be because he
wanted them to pay for what they put him through.

​Important aspects of Lichtenstein's art that I intended to use were clean lines, opaque colors,
and the dot patterns. In his work, I noticed that the men tend to have more straight lines that
produce definition, shade, and detail to the face whereas the women have more
organic/rounded lines.
Roy Lichtenstein. In the Car. Enamel Paint
Two-Dimensional Forms: Paint
Planning
The majority of my planning had to do with the organization of my subjects. This painting was going to be
a triptych which meant I needed a plan to make each subject become an equal part of the focus. I decided
to do one large canvas and divide it into three sections. By doing one, I was able to divide it however I
wanted. I did a few sketches in order to insure that each section would have nearly equal space or for it to
be pleasantly balanced. These sketches helped me to visualize how I would begin my painting.

Techniques and processes

The first step in creating this piece was to divide the 3 ft by 2 ft canvas into three sections. These did not
have to be even, but I decided to make the total surface area of the sections equal. I did not just want to
divide the canvas into three even rectangles because I did not want it to be too geometric. I then produced
slight curves on the corners of the dividing line by sketching parabolic curves. By using parabolic curves I
was able to get the same perfect rounded line to ease the sharp 90 degree angles and make the piece flow
slightly better. I then painted the background three different colors, one red, one yellow, and one blue. For
each section, I put an even layer of paint and I did my best to make the brushstrokes invisible. The blue and
yellow worked well, but the red needed multiple touch ups as some of the areas were either too dark or too
light. After completing the background, I sketched the images out onto the sections and began to paint. I
first started with a coat of a light skin tone. By doing this, I could go over the lines and touch it up with the
black outline later. After the light tone was complete, I added the other colors into their designated sections.
After this I placed the dot pattern over the face and finally I used black paint to outline my characteristics
and add both shadow and detail.
 Two-Dimensional Forms: Paint
Review, Refine, Reflect
My piece has direct inspiration in its style from Roy Lichtenstein's comic reproductions. I
didn't take comic books that already exist, I rather placed myself into the style of a comic
book. Though partially different, my piece used the way that Lichtenstein put detail into his
art with thick opaque colors and purposeful use of black line. The meaning of this piece
was decently portrayed in the painting. The idea of the artist in the city and the city in the
artist was used very loosely in the piece, but the whole idea was to show how I feel about
my impact and the world's impact on me which I believe this piece did well.

This painting turned out decent. The centerpiece turned out the best as it had crisp lines
and decent proportions. The process of creating these panels was fairly straight forward.
The easiest part was probably figuring out what details to include and what to exclude.
In order to better incorporate my inspiration I decided to go back and add lines coming
from behind each of the heads in the piece. This improved the painting in two ways:

First, there was a lot of space in the background that was causing the painting to appear
unfinished and too open. The black lines contrasted the bright primary colors and helped
to create a sense of unity throughout the three sections.

Second, it better helped to reflect my inspiration. The rays were meant to be a direct
inspiration from Roy Lichtenstein’s Sunrise. This leads to just one more meaningful
incorporation of the inspirations style.

Roy Lichtenstein. Sunrise. Enamel Paint

 Two-Dimensional Forms: Linoleum Print
Techniques and processes
The first component to creating this block print, Day and Night, was to carve your block. Every single
section of the block that is left uncarved is what would be printed onto the paper. In order to create the
desired image, I had to carve out all of the negative space from the block and leave the rest. I before
carving, I sketched with a pencil the shapes and lines that I wanted to be printed. I then used three
different linoleum carving tools. The first had a sharp “V” shape on the end of it. I used this one to get
into tight spaces and make close lines. The second tool had more of a flat U shape. I used this one to
carve out some of the smaller spots that still needed to be precise. The third also had a flat U shape on
the end, but it was much larger. This one was used to carve away the large spots such as the the
background of the day scene. As I carved, I came across times I was unsure of how to create certain
shapes. I experimented with this by finding space that would be carved out later so that I could carve the
forms to perfection. Once the carving was complete, I had to begin the printing process. The ink had to
be rolled out and then transferred to the block. Then a piece of paper had to be placed on the inked
block and covered with another paper. Pressure was then applied to the paper so that the ink would be
transferred to the paper.
Review, Refine, Reflect
It was a lot of trial and error in order to get it right. The first couple didn't have enough ink and I
didn't put enough pressure on the print. My final print had enough ink, and I took my time putting
a good amount of pressure throughout the entire block print. The goal was to have solid darks
and clean lights on the print. This was a real challenge in some areas due to the large amount of
space where there was no carving. After many tries, I was able to get a piece that had some
really nice and clean contrast and detail. There were still some white specs in the final work that I
chose. I redid it many times, but I chose my second to last print because the white spots showing
through worked well in symbolizing distant stars.
 Two-Dimensional Forms: Drypoint
Techniques and processes
The first step, as usual, was to sketch the image that was to be carved into the glass plate.
Once the desired image was complete, I removed the plastic protection from the plate and
placed it above the drawing. I then began to carve the design into the glass by cutting and
scraping the plate. This was challenging at first and I experimented a little on the side that I
wasn't using. I first carved the outline of the feather in order t make sure the shape was how I
desired. I then continued by filling in the shape with the feather texture that was mostly
created with the repetition of line. On the droplets, I crosshatched the leftmost side in order to
convey their spherical form. This would complete the carving process. I then had to begin the
printing process which was for the most part trial and error and took very much
experimentation. I first had to put the paper into warm water for about six minutes to loosen
the fibers in order for the oil based ink to be absorbed. Then I had to take the ink and force it
into the cracks as seen in the fifth image. After this, the goal was to remove the ink from the
surface without removing it from the scratched out crevices. This was done by taking
newsprint and wiping away the excess inc. This process would determine how the final print
turned out. I experimented with how much ink to put on the plate to begin with, and I found
out that the less you use, the better it turns out. I also had to experiment how much pressure
and how long I needed to wipe the plate. This was the most difficult part because sometimes
the ink was pulled out of the plate when I didn't want it to be. After the ink was removed, I
placed the plate under the paper, wrapped them both in newsprint, and used the press to
print the piece.
 Two-Dimensional Forms: Drypoint
Critical Investigation
This piece was inspired by the Surrealist movement. Surrealists attempted to go against rationalism
and rather focused on expressing their imaginations. They combined dreams and fantasy with what
we consider reality. Max Ernst, Andre Masson, Rene Magritte, and Salvador Dali are some Surrealist
painters. Each of their works are very different due to the fact that the see and imagine things
differently. They create their works through self-exploration which means all of their pieces will be
quite different. Salvador Dali was the biggest inspiration for this piece. Dali took objects and things we
can recognize in reality and would take them and put them out of context which makes you question
reality. This was a goal of the surrealists, to make you question reality and what we consider
rationalism. Imagery in surrealism is a trademark. Each painter had a motif that would show up often Salvador Dali. Persistence of Memory. Paint
in their pieces. Salvador Dali’s were ant’s and eggs. You could claim that another could be clocks
which is seen in his piece “The Persistence of Memory”. This piece of his is specifically what inspired me. It is a dreamscape which was really
inspiring because I can absolutely picture this being a dream or in an imagination. I too tried to do the same but rather than creating a
dreamlike landscape, I used a feather to symbolize a dream. The reason I chose a feather is because I felt like it fit my dream extremely well.
In this recurring dream, I am falling, but I don’t know from where or where to. The other aspect I thought about is that I don’t feel worried or
scared, it is just a smooth free fall which is kind of how I picture a feather falling. A feather in a way falls swiftly or calmly in a way. I also took
the melting component of Dali’s piece by making the feather drip away in order to convey more of a falling sensation.

Reflection
The process of my piece is extremely different from my inspiration. I used the style of Dali's Persistence of Memory in the droplets falling from
the feather, but other than that there are not many aspects that are visually inspired. The meaning of my piece has the most inspiration from
surrealism and Dali. Both my piece and many of Dali's works are images from the imagination or dreams. The ideas are similar, and the idea of
Surrealism was self-exploration which made all the works unique. The meaning of my piece was to depict a reoccurring dream I have. I don't
believe that this was a super clear way to depict the concept of falling, but I think the fact that it is meant to be a dream can be observed in the
unrealistic drops from the melting feather. I think that the meaning of my piece was partially met, but it still needs some extra explanation to
fully understand the question "why".
 Two-Dimensional Forms: Linoleum Print
Critical Investigation
This piece was inspired by the style of German Expressionism, and the meaning and
purpose of Impressionism. German Expressionism was prominent in the early 1900's.
German Expressionist artists warped shapes and space in their pieces in order to express
themselves. This movement was inspired by expressionism which is one reason realism was
not a focus in German Expressionism.
This piece is a block print which is very similar to German Expressionism woodcuts. The
process is very similar and has been around for centuries. I was inspired by many different
German Expressionist woodcuts, but Ernst Kirchner's piece, Three Paths, was a big
inspiration because it is one of a few woodcuts with the subject of nature. It got me thinking
about the ways I could design the trees and background of my piece.
As for the meaning and purpose of my piece, I was inspired by Impressionism. Impressionist Monet. Haystacks. Paint
painters tried to convey a certain moment in time. I was specifically inspired by Monet's
series of Stacks of Wheat. Monet painted the same scene at different times which is what I
also tried to do in my piece with the living tree during the day and the dead tree at night.
Night & Day is visually quite similar to German Expressionism which is no surprise due to the process
being so similar to German Expressionist woodcuts. While using the technique and style of this
movement, my purpose originated from Impressionism. More specifically, I was inspired by Monet's
series of Stacks of Wheat. I include this idea of things changing and being different at different time,
but the medium made me unable to portray the abstractness of Impressionism.
I think that the meaning was for the most part clear. It may not be completely clear that I meant for it to
both represent nature and people, but the idea of change over time was definitely clear. The two
foregrounds are alike which infers that the trees are the same tree. In order to show the change over
time, I focused on contrasting the backgrounds and certain characteristics of the tree. I believe these
aspects of my piece make the meaning fairly vivid.
Ernst Kirchner. Three Paths. Block Print
Three-Dimensional Forms: Sculpture
Technique, Process, and Experimentation
Through the course of this project, there was very much trial and error. I began by just playing with
the sand and seeing how well sand holds and how to create different textures.
​I then started with my first idea which was to sculpt a hand and have it sink and erode into water. I
started out by packing the sand into a large bucket, the more compact the better. I then flipped and
removed the bucket in order to form a solid cylinder to start the subtractive sculpting. The first step
was to carve out the main form of the hand. I removed large chunks from the cylindrical block of
sand. Till it began looking like an open hand. Second i outlined the fingers and then started cutting
them out and adding the details. This is when the three of the fingers collapsed. From this I found
that having part of the sculpture greatly suspended from the mainframe or main body was not going
to work because the sand wasn't supportive enough to do so. Because of this I had to go with my
second idea.

My second idea was to create a face in pain or agony as it washed away. The first step, like
the other idea, was to create a compact form to begin with as a base. This idea was more of
an additive sculpture. After the morphed spherical base was finished, I added sand to it to
create facial features including the eyebrows, nose, cheeks, and chin. I then smoothed out
the entire face and added notches for the eyes and dug out the mouth. Finally I added lines
and shaped the sides of the head to better suit the emotion of agony that I intended to
create. I went through this process twice. The first was a rough draft for me to get a feel for
this process and to understand what I needed to change for my final piece.
In the final piece I decided to make the facial expression more exaggerated by elongating
the face. I also created arms to the side holding kids tools rather than hands to the side of
the head like in Scream. The final aspect in the process was setting up the background and
taking images of the sand as it fell apart as water was added and moving.
Three-Dimensional Forms: Sculpture
Critical Investigation
The inspiration for this piece, Changing Childhood, came from Edvard Munch's Scream_which was in the
style of Expressionism. This style was prominent during the late nineteenth century and the early twentieth
century. Expressionists have a strong focus on symbolism and the use of intense color and form to
express themselves and experiences. The distortion of images was also often used in order to further
amplify the symbolism and expression held within the paintings and other works. Munch demonstrates
many of these traits in his work Scream including the robust color and distorted figures.

Edvard Munch’s Scream was created in 1893. Throughout his piece are organic lines which produce
movement and emotion. Both the foreground and the background are essential in analyzing the meaning
of this painting. From the screaming figure in the foreground you can extract the feeling of pain or
suffering. This figure seems to be sexless which may have been done this way purposefully so that
anyone, male or female, could relate to the painting. In the background, two figures appear to be moving
away from the pain filled figure in front possibly meaning that the person is lonely or maybe that the
process of losing something or someone that is loved is the cause of the pain.
​
With this in mind, I used the emotion of pain or sadness due to loss or change in order to depict growing
up and the differences that I’ve observed between my bringing up and children now. Other than this
meaning inspiration, I also used the aspect of using both the foreground and background to analyse the
piece’s meaning.
Edvard Munch. Scream. Paint
Three-Dimensional Forms: Sculpture
Planning
The first part of the planning process was to find a medium that would fit well with the project. I chose
sand because I've used it since I was too young to remember, and I knew it could decay/breakdown
from water and or just drying out. After this I had to come up with an idea that would convey the
meaning I wanted to get across. My first idea was to create a hand that would fall apart slowly once
water was added to the bottom of the base. This would appear almost as if someone were drowning
which is in a way what is seems my childhood is doing. My second plan was to create a face with the
sand and focus on exaggerating the emotion. I drew two faces, one with anger and another with
sadness or pain. On these faces I marked what I believed to be specific characteristics that would help
identify the emotion.

Review, Refine, Reflect

This piece was supposed to show how times have
changed and how what kids do now for
entertainment is different from what I did for fun
when I was a kid. From my observations there is a
pretty large difference as many kids nowadays
prefer technology over outside entertainment. My
piece depicts this meaning quite well. Changing my
idea from the hand to the agonized face really
helped to express the emotion of a withering.
Three-Dimensional Forms: Sculpture
Technique, Process, and Experimentation
This project had a major focus on design and functionality. I began by creating a miniature chair
for reference to style and support. I collected the necessary materials, sticks, from outside my
home and around my neighborhood. I chose sticks that would both be aesthetically pleasing and
also have structural integrity. In making the main frame, I found that it was more efficient to find
one longer stick that I could cut into pieces rather than trying to search for multiple pieces with
approximately the same diameter and length. By doing this, I could insure that the dimensions of
each piece would be nearly exact. Once all eight pieces of the main frame were collected and
trimmed, I was able to start assembling the chair. I attempted to use saddle joints, but doing this
didn't provide the necessary support. I then decided to use some black string to hold the main
frame together and keep it sturdy. I used smaller sticks and twigs in order to add some designs
and patterns for a more aesthetic appeal. These added design aspects also provided more
support for the chair making it more sturdy. I found in starting the design details that connecting
the two back parts of the main frame at the top both made the chair more sturdy and also
created a good space to do the design details. For the designs, I used semi-flexible sticks in
order to create a weave like pattern in the back of the chair and in the seat of the chair.
I took what I learned from this miniature model and applied it to the final product which is over
twice the size of the miniature (the miniature was nearly one meter tall. I started with the main
frame once again as it is the base for the rest of the project both structurally and aesthetically.
This included all the supports. I also found that the design sticks used also made the chair more
sturdy in the miniature. I decided to make a similar design throughout the chair although it was a
challenge weaving the sticks. I ended up scrapping the idea to weave the seat because the
branches snapped as they were too large t bend around each other in such a tight way.
Three-Dimensional Forms: Sculpture
Inspiration
This projects involved finding wood sticks that I saw aesthetic value in and using them to create
a piece of furniture. I had much inspiration from a Michigan woodworker named Leonard Fieber.
He creates contemporary furniture with a rustic style using found wood. He calls this project
Beaver Chew Furniture because the wood that he includes in his furniture has been stripped of
its bark or otherwise tampered with by local beavers. He produces chairs, desks, tables,
benches, and miscellaneous wall decoration pieces. By using the beaver stripped wood, Fieber
brings an important aspect of the nature around him, and home decoration and comfort together.
Every piece of his is a fully functional piece of furniture that is to intended to be attractive in a
home. Leonard Fieber's process begins with collecting his materials from around his home. As
he collects it, he visualizes every piece he takes in a piece. he then takes it home and
assembles the wood into the furniture using a few different methods. Fieber uses saddle joints,
wooden dowels, and tenons to hold his pieces together. He then adds a finish with an
anti-yellowing agent t ensure his pieces are able to withstand the test of time. Most of his
woodworking skills were either learned from his father or self taught.

Reflection
Leonard Fieber's Beaver chew furniture impacted my piece in a few different ways. First, His
work impacted the way that I collected my materials. Every stick I collected had an aesthetic
value that I could picture in my piece. As I was collecting the pieces of wood, I knew what I was
going to use each piece for before I took it home. Second, I used the nature around my
Leonard Fieber. Beaver Chew Furniture. Found Wood.
environment in order to turn it into an aesthetic part of my work. Much like my inspiration, I used
the natural beauty of Nature in order to create my artwork.
Three-Dimensional Forms: Sculpture
Technique, Process, and Experimentation
First I gathered a couple soda cans, a cardboard roll, and some duct tape. The first piece I
created was the metal flower. I cut the base and the top of the soda cans leaving one large
sheet of metal to work with. I then cut the metal into strips and continued to cut the strips into
petals for the flower. After, I proceeded to place the petals into one of the basses to keep them
rounded similar to a flower. Some of the petals hadn't settled into place correctly so I used a
lighter to heat up the metal which also heated up the glue allowing me to move the petals into
the correct position. Once the petals were in place I curled the edges of the petals in order to
resemble those of a flower. The last step for the petals was to add on more row closer to the
center. I then used the tabs from the cans to create a central piece similar to the seeds in a
flower. The next step was to create the stem. I cut one long thin strip of metal from the second
can and used pliers to safely twist metal sheet and pinch it together as I twisted. This gave me a
decently long stem with enough support for the head of the flower. To connect the stem and the
head I punched a hole in the flower and glued the stem into the hole in order for it to hold. I then
repeated the necessary steps to create the remaining series of pieces within Life.

Review
The process of turning a man made can that would normally go to waste into the likeness of a
flower throughout its life cycle is a great representation of the dispute between organic vs
industrial. The materials used are very much a representation of man made objects which can
quite easily hurt the environment while the subject matter and final product demonstrate the
impact on the environment.
Three-Dimensional Forms: Sculpture
Inspiration
Inspiration for this work came from the works of Michelle Stitzlein. In her artists statement she
explains, "My work is created with recycled and found materials. Items such as old garden hose,
electrical wire, computer cables, piano keys, mini blinds, china shards, license plates, and bottle
caps are utilized to create imagery and abstractions born in my imagination." She utilizes these
materials to create a holistic piece with a large focus on nature motif. She has produced a few
series including the Fynbos series and the Moth series in which she focuses on portraying
nature in a more general. Rather than focusing of depicting specific breeds of plants and
animals, she creates an abstract version that represents the creature and its many forms. She
likes to use recycled materials in order to exemplify the contradiction of nature and the waste of
consumerism. By depicting nature she is reversing the process of production. Rather than taking
nature and molding it into industrial objects, she takes industrial objects and forms them to
produce a reflection of nature.I incorporated Stitzlein's work in mine by using recycled and
industrial materials to depict an aspect of nature including a flower and a hand. I used a few
recycled cans, duct tape, and a paper towel roll to create my work which is similar to her use of
non natural materials or found objects as a medium for her art.

Reflection Michelle Stitzlein. Moth. Found Wood.

My work has a direct reflection of my inspiration. Much like my inspiration, I used a material in
order to create an organic subject. My work has less of a focus on nature and more of a focus on
abstract concepts. Nevertheless, It incorporates the inspiration well without taking away from my
intended focus. Another incorporated aspect is the use of a general lifeforms. I decided to not
recreate a specific flower much like how Michelle Stitzlein created works with a general theme
without a specified species.
Three-Dimensional Forms: Sculpture
Planning
In my planning sketches I tried to look at different ways to depict life and death through the use
of flowers and graves. What I wanted to focus on was looking at both the sad things about
death, but also look at it as an end to a happy life. To focus on the good rather than the bad.

Reflection
The message of the piece is relatively clear, especially once the materials
used are made known to the audience. The work repurposes an object that
has lived its ;life in order to depict the message of life. Also, the focus is
more on life rather than death so that the positive is the focus and death
isn’t seen as something to be feared.
Lens-Based, Electronic, Screen-Based Forms: Digital
Process and Technique
​For this project I used a photo editing software called GIMP. After finding the photos I wanted to use I uploaded them to GIMP. I started by
cropping what part of the background photos that I needed. I then was able to move it onto my previously created work space in the position I
wanted them and began to “colorize” them. I started by colorizing the entire photograph and then selecting what I wanted to be a different
color by using the lasso tool. This allowed me to single out what I wanted to be a different color precisely. I made sure no two similar hues
were touching which would be important later. Once I completed the colorization, I moved onto the blurring or smudging. In order to do this I
put all the layers of my collage into one single layer. This gave me the ability to smudge the background colors in order to give them a sense
of collision. What this also did was make the main focus of the photos to pop out and make the mid-ground contrast more from the
background. I had originally planned on morphing the colors of the background more, but I decided to scrap that Idea because I thought it
looked great as is. Once my midground and background were complete, I was able to start on my foreground. For this I had to once again
select the part of the image I wanted to be seen and delete the rest of the image. Once complete, I copied and pasted my foreground picture
onto my work space. In order to make this stand out and add to the overall appeal to the piece, I made the image white in order to imitate
negative space.
Lens-Based, Electronic, Screen-Based Forms: Digital
Critical Investigation
My piece, Development, is inspired by the style of German Expressionism. This type of art was important
in culture from about 1905 till around 1935. German Expressionism was inspired by Van Gogh's
expressionist paintings. Another inspiration of this art culture was Edvard Munch. The German
Expressionist style includes distorted colors, misshapen scale, and malformed space in order to convey
their subjective feelings on what was observed from their perspective. German Expressionist artists often
created pieces portraying dramatic and compelling scenes and people. There are two parts to German
Expressionism. The first is Die Brucke. Artists of Die Brucke created a modern style with fauvist coloring
that often expressed radical social views in paintings. One medium used in Die Brucke was the woodcut.
In these pieces of art, the use of space is very important. The negative space was what made the image
and the overall composition of the artwork. The second part was Der Blaue Reiter which expressed
spiritual belief and values using a primary component of color. My digital collage was inspired by two
pieces of art from the German Expressionist movement. Both also originate from Die Brucke. The first was Karl Schmidt-Rottluff. Portrait of Gerda. Paint
a painting by Ernst Ludwig Kirchner called Portrait of Gerda. I incorporated the use of color from
Kirchner’s painting in the background of my collage by colliding the colors together in order to give it an
appealing contrast. German Expressionists I was also inspired by Karl Schmidt-Rottluff’s Saint Francis
and woodcuts in general. In my collage the central figure is depicted through negative space much like
that of woodcuts.
Reflection
My piece had a much different process of creation due to the different mediums. My inspiration came from
a painting, Portrait of Gerda by Kirchner, and a woodcut, Saint Francis by Schmidt-Rottluff. My piece was
created using modern technology whilst incorporating these pieces' style. My use of color in the
background was inspired by Portrait of Gerda. Kirchner's piece includes organic shapes with contrasting
colors. I attempted to collide the colors to give the same effect, but I didn't use the organic forms as he did.
As for Saint Francis, I really just liked the idea of using negative space to create an image. I couldn't have
the same style and use of negative space as Kirchner due to my medium. Karl Schmidt-Rottluff. Saint Francis. Woodcut
Lens-Based, Electronic, Screen-Based Forms: Digital

Planning/Intentions
The goal for this mixed media work was to produce a painting
and to combine that with photography. The painting would be a
representation of the senses and emotion in order to amplify
the photograph. It was supposed to work as a support for the
audience to experience the photo more accurately. The most
influential part of planning was choosing the image. I created a
couple sketches of the photos and what painting I could do to
pair them up. These were my visit to Colorado and my broken
ankle. Both were experiences that had an impact on me, but I
truly liked the broken ankle work better and the impact it had
on my life was much larger than the vacation.
Eventually I chose neither of these even though I had a
sufficient plan. I ended up choosing a picture I had taken on
just a normal day of my brother goofing off. This was definitely
the better fit as it was a photograph that would benefit more
from the support of the painting rather than the photos with
extravagant memories attached to them.
Lens-Based, Electronic, Screen-Based Forms: Digital
Critical Investigation
Inspiration for this piece, Car Ride, came from Rosie Hartmann. She is an abstract artist from
Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Her signature works are a combination of photography and abstract
painting, both of which she has had much experience in. Some of these mixed media pieces
include "time" and "longing". Rosie Hartmann's process and purpose has very much to do with
emotion and capturing a moment in time. She begins with the photography portion of the work.
The photography captures the view of a specific memory. It captures the action or essence of
the experience, but sometimes an image isn't enough to re-experience that moment. What is
often lost in a photograph is the memory of the feelings and emotions which makes the abstract
painting portion of her art extremely impactful. After capturing an image of a certain memory,
Hartmann begins the abstract painting. She is able to capture the emotion of a memory through
the use of color, pattern, and form in her abstract painting. She then uses a photo editing
software in order to overlay the photo onto her painting. She works with the contrast,
brightness, and the transparency in order to see the photo while also being able to experience
the painting without one getting in the way of the other. Some important aspect of her art
include the balance and composition of her photography and the color composition and pattern
of her abstract painting. With all of these combined, her pieces become complex artworks with Rosie Hartmann. Longing. Mixed Media
balance, color, and unity.

Reflection
This piece has a strong connection to my inspiration, Rosie Hartmann. Much of Hartmann's work consists of abstract and sometimes almost
surreal paintings which provide a background on the feelings that occurred or connect to photographs that she took. I too used painting in order
to convey feelings along with a photograph that contains a memory of those feelings. The conceptual qualities of my work are similar to my
inspiration, but the formal qualities are quite different. Hartmann's color pallet includes many dull and darker hues whereas I intended to use
vibrant and brighter colors in my work.
Gallery Visit Inspiration

While visiting my future college last year, there were a bunch of student galleries with
their work set up. Some of the works included paintings, prints, logos, architectural
designs, installments and many more from all the different majors. It was fascinating to
see the work I might be doing in the upcoming years.
The gallery which truly caught my attention was the animal gallery. Students were to
create life size animals using only paper and glue. I had heard of the project before and it
didn’t seem all that significant until I saw some of the student’s works. Their use and
manipulation of the material was something I had never seen.
This gallery inspired me to really look outside the box when trying to look for materials for
my future projects, but more importantly problem solving. Throughout the past couple
years, I’ve run into many problems in my art which I have been able to solve by trying to
use a material I had never thought to incorporate for example plaster works great for
holding things in place while trying to put up a sculpture, or yarn could work as a filler for
large structures rather than wasting expensive materials.