Process Portfolio

Cheyenne CoadCandidate #: 002843 0217

Two Dimensional Forms: PaintingsSkills & Techniques

Experimentation for Tryptic ProjectPlanning Sketches

With the tryptic project I focused on a storyline of how the city influences me and is reflected within myself and my actions. I decided to do a three panel triptych including three different canvases.

PREP

It’s an important step to make sure that your canvas is prepared correctly. I stretched all three of my canvases myself and made sure that all of the corners were stapled clean. I also applied multiple coats of gesso to have a smooth surface for the paint.

I sketched out the design on the canvas before going in with the paint to ensure that all of my lines would be clean and that my figures would be proportional.

While experimenting with this project I found that it was helpful to add white paint to the primary colors to help with the opacity. Using white paint also took off the amount of layers needed to have a full coat.

Working with so many straight lines in Pop Art has helped me improve my painting skills. It helped me with experimentation and new techniques. I expanded the materials used such as using cotton swabs for dots.

Two Dimensional Forms: Paintings

Experimentation on Techniques for Tryptic Project

A common technique in Pop Art paintings is having clean and precise lines. To ensure the lines were clean and straight I used painters tape. Painters tape was gentle when peeling off so I used this to make sure the gesso would not peel up with the tape.

To create the dots seen in many of Lichtenstein's pieces I used a cotton swab. After I went back and fixed it up with a small round paint brush.

When starting the tryptic piece I started by going straight in with the yellow shade and later noticed that while drawing the paint became lighter and the sketch lines were visible. To fix this problem I experimented with many different things. Once the surface was dry I painted over the space with gouache paint in the same shade once it was thicker. I later noticed when painting the blue panels that adding white paint helped with the opacity of the colors.

I included many similar aspects to Lichtenstein's pieces. I cleaned up all of my pieces once they were dry with paint to clean up the lines and any spots that weren’t smooth. I also included geometric and non organic shapes to add to the Pop Art theme.

Two Dimensional Forms: Paintings

Communication of Ideas & Intentions/Critical InvestigationArtistic Inspiration When I first started this project I had no idea what I wanted to show to go along

with the connecting story. My first idea was to paint nature and the actual environment but I was unsure on how to connect it to who I am. After thinking more about what style of painting I wanted to do and the cultural inspiration, I decided to go with pop art. Pop art reminds me a lot of comic books so I decided to paint about the city. Another thing that comic books remind me of is being adventurous. The city has a lot to do with me being adventurous because I like to go urban exploring. Urban exploring lets me see the environment in a creative way. Seeing the environment this way goes along with the story the piece is telling because it's how I affect the environment and how it affects me. Although Lichtenstein is associated with other art movements, he is widely known for his pop art. Something that really interested me about his work is the comic book style that it shows. Something that I noticed with Lichtenstein's work is that he uses vivid primary colors and creates a contrast.

MyWebRoom. "Blog | myWebRoom." Blog myWebRoom. N.p., n.d. Web. 25 Jan. 2017."Classical training that made Roy Lichtenstein a Pop genius." The Telegraph. Telegraph Media Group, n.d. Web. 25 Jan. 2017.

Cultural Inspiration

The cultural Inspiration used for the Tryptic project was Pop Art. I chose to do Pop Art to inspire this piece because the graphic design of the characters and the city intrigued me. I also wanted to incorporate clean lines to add to the Pop Art techniques. Some common Pop Art artists are Roy Lichtenstein (used in this project) as well as- Andy Warhol and Romero Britto.

Two Dimensional Forms: Paintings

Communication of Ideas & Intentions/Critical InvestigationArtistic Inspiration Roy Lichtenstein is an artist who is known primarily for his pop art pieces. Lichtenstein has a comic book like

style in his paintings. The artist uses vibrant primary colors to create a contrast, similar in my work. The artist also uses small dots to add onto the comic book like effect which I incorporated into my project. Roy Lichtenstein got many of his ideas from cartoons and manipulated them into his own. In the first panel, I took one of his pieces and manipulated it into my own by changing aspects like the hair, eyes, size, etc. The artist created a comic book style in the pieces which I wanted to use in my paintings. I also used multiple aspects of his pieces and used them in one panel.

Cultural InspirationWhile researching my inspiration I generalized that pop art is commonly inspired by comic books and they most often tell a story within the paintings. The idea around my research is pop art and comic book style. The theme has helped develop the story connection and development of my piece. I used the red comic book style dots in the first and last panel to bring the paintings together. Comic books are adventurous and the city makes me adventurous through urban exploring. The city also makes me creative and creativity shapes the city. While researching, I inferred that the artists are very precise, using sharp clean lines and small dots. I inferred that tape should be used to help achieve straight lines.

Two Dimensional Forms: Paintings

Reviewing Refining and Reflecting on the Tryptic: The City

I am happy with the way my final project has turned out. I've never painted pop art until now and I really enjoy it. One thing that was a challenge was creating the small dots and precise lines. Another challenge to do was the details in the piece such as the nose and the windows on the building. I am glad that I chose to complete the project this way. The project has helped me grow as an artist and explore different cultural art themes. I also enjoy the meaning and story behind the piece. At first it was challenging to come up with the story and how it connects. Another thing that was challenging was sketching the design. After the gesso dried on my canvas it was hard to erase pencil lines even if they were very light. On the third painting I drew an X inside the yellow boxes so I knew which to fill in. It was very challenging to make the yellow paint opaque. If I were to do this project again, I would grid my design onto the canvas to make sure it's proportionate. I procrastinated painting the final product so I rushed when sketching the design. At first I thought that it would be a good idea to use tape to get straight lines but it didn't work too well so I switched to using a small flat paintbrush.

The piece ‘The City’ is one that I chose to include in my final exhibition. I chose to include this piece because I feel that it truly shows the process of an artist. I went through a tremendous amount of experimentation and process with this piece that has helped me grow as an artist.

Two Dimensional Forms: Graphic Works

Planning Process: ‘Alice’Planning

Many of my portfolio pieces that I have completed are paintings. I wanted to expand my portfolio with a digital piece. I decided to create a digital painting. I chose to do an Alice in Wonderland themes piece because it was one of my favorite movies as a child. Disney movies were a huge part in my upbringing. I liked the idea of Alice being in this wonderland world with talking animals, so vibrant, etc. I waned to incorporate main pieces of the movie such as the caterpillar, the rabbit, the Cheshire cat, etc. The background was inspired by the journey that Alice had, walking through the colorful forest. Alice in Wonderland has a lot of drug references and I wanted to emphasize this within my piece. Milwaukee has a huge drug problem especially in recent years. Many people my age currently take Hallucinogen Drugs that cause you to 'trip', I wanted to incorporate this real life situation and how it affects this character.

Process

To start this piece I completed the characters before creating the background. I wanted the characters to be similar to the movie since it was inspired by the movie and plot.

When creating the characters I would start with an outline and then fill it in with color and details as I went along. A slideshow of process is shown below.

An important aspect of this piece was the layering! The layers helped when choosing the order of creating objects. I created the trees before anything else to help lay out the background and design of the piece.

Two Dimensional Works: Graphic Works

Experimentation on Techniques for Tryptic Project

When starting this project I started by created a new project for each one of the characters and then a new project just for the background. I created multiple draw layers to help when creating the background. For the background I started by creating the outlines of the trees. The trees helped lay out the background and setting of the scene. The trees displayed the whole setting and where the other objects would fit. After I had the outline done I then started filling in random shapes including multiple shades of the same color to give it a favist and cartoon feel. Once the entire shape was filled with color I then started on the ground. I drew the bush and the walking path. The bush I left solid since the background was so intricate. The path was brown so it didn’t take away from the background so I kept the technique of the different shapes and shades. For the grass I kept the shade range small so it wouldn’t take away from the background. I made sure to leave room for the characters. In the movie the Cheshire Cat often hides so I left room for him on the tree branch. I also wanted Alice to be centered in the piece which is why I included a path rather than having the trees take up the whole piece.

Two Dimensional Works: Graphic WorksCommunication of Ideas & Intentions/Critical Investigation

Artist Inspiration I researched into animation as well as digital illustrations, etc. I wanted to get a variety of sources to find what style I wanted to have. I wanted to stick with a similar style to Alice in Wonderland but I wanted to have a twist on it. I wanted the colors to be vibrant in comparison to the original. While researching, I came across an artist known as Tyson Murphy. Murphy is an artist that took many Disney movie scenes and Illustrated them to give more details and depth.

Cultural Inspirations

“Alice in Wonderland .” Disney Movies, Disney, movies.disney.com/alice-in-wonderland-1951.

Dovas. “Artist Breathes New Life Into Old Disney Scenes By Painting Over Them.” BoredPanda, Artist Breathes New Life Into Old Disney Scenes By Painting Over Them.

Two Dimensional Forms: Graphic Works

Communication of Ideas & Intentions/Critical InvestigationArtist Inspiration

Cultural InspirationDisney movies are created for children. The films and stories are often very adventurous and colorful. The details within the scenes are very simplistic in color and design. I wanted to take this idea and elaborate to mature it. I included more shades of colors and more details and textures. I chose to alter the disney theme and relate the concepts to issues we experience growing up and the loss of childhood. This theme related to real life examples such as addiction and drug use. These ideas interfere with children in today’s societies rather than having an adventurous childhood they’re also affected by these conflicts. I wanted to incorporate this into a piece because I felt that it was an important topic that needed to be recognized and improved upon.

The artist, Tyson Murphy created the pieces he did because he wanted to elaborate the scene from a popular children's movie and give it more depth. He takes screenshots of the movie scenes and draws over them using photoshop paint. He as mentioned before that by doing this technique of graphics he tends to focus on lighting to improve skills and learn about highlights. I chose to do the same technique that Murphy did because it would help with me incorporate a new medium of digital work. I chose to create my own scene rather than drawing over the exact same Disney scene from the movie.

“Animation: Disney's Artist Tryout Book.” AnimationResources.org - Serving the Online Animation Community, 7 Dec. 2016, animationresources.org/history-disneys-artist-tryout-book-2/.

“Artist Breathes New Life Into Old Disney Scenes By Painting Over Them.” Bored Panda, www.boredpanda.com/disney-remake-illustrations-tyson-murphy/.

Two Dimensional Work: Graphic WorksReviewing Refining and Reflecting on the Tryptic: The City

I think that this project turned out really good. I enjoyed doing my first digital illustration. The background was my favorite part. The different layers and colors were fun to create. One challenge that I had was moving the characters onto the background with having transparent backgrounds. Once I figured out how to place the characters the placement was easier and I added more leaves to blend them into the background. Choosing to expand my portfolio with a graphic piece such as this one has helped me to expand my technique and portfolio. I have never worked with photoshop or drawing in the style like this piece in the past and it has helped me expand my knowledge with new artists as well as things such as dimension within two dimensional work. I would love to do more pieces such as this one in the future.

This is one piece that I chose to include in my final Exhibition. I wanted to include this piece because most of my portfolio included paintings and I wanted to diversify it with a graphics piece. This piece really took me out of my comfort zone as an artist. It helped me learn a new medium and skills as well as new themes and artists.

Three Dimensional Forms: SculptureExperimentation for Organic v. Industrial Project

The rules for this project were to create an industrial piece using organic objects or an organic piece using industrial objects. With this project I wanted to combine the idea of both organic and industrial objects to create one piece. I thought of how both organic and industrial objects impact modern day society and I decided to use the concept of the importance of both nature and elecrticity/technology. I wanted to use light bulbs because I knew I could put organic objects inside of the lightbulbs. I started looking into the idea of using lightbulbs. When researching I found that a lot of pages said it would be challenging to take apart lightbulbs and it had to be specific light bulbs or it would be a different process to take them apart. I came across large light bulb shaped glasses at hobby lobby. I decided to do a photo series containing plants, fish, and to tie the two together a water plant. The light bulbs came in multiple sizes so I decided to use large and medium sized ones. Another important part of the project was that I didn't want to hard the fish while created the piece. I gave the fish to my environmental teacher once the project was completed.

I wanted the meaning of the piece to be about how light and electricity is important in modern day society and how it is beneficial, I also wanted to include how nature was another important and beneficial aspect. I also wanted the message to be that both nature and electricity go together in benefitting society but also contrast.

Three Dimensional Forms: Sculpture

Process and Experimentation for Organic v. Industrial Project

The materials I decided to use for the project were goldfish, live plants, and water plants. I also needed to get betta rocks for the water plant to keep the plant down. All of the materials were relatively easy to acquire. A challenge that I had was deciding what plant to use for the live plant because they were all very large and were hard to put into the light bulb.

One problem that I experienced was that dirt was sticking to the glass. To fix this issue i used a toothbrush and tissues to wipe the edges. It was tricky due to the shape of the containers but overall it worked well.

When assembling the light bulb with the live plant, I used a funnel to put betta rocks into the bottom of the light bulb. I then filled the lightbulb with water almost to the top. I used chopsticks to help put the roots of the plant into the rocks. After the plants were in the lightbulb I put more rocks to cover the bottom of the plant. To put the live plant into the light bulb I first put dirt into the glass and then cut the plant down to size. I used the chopsticks again to make an indentation into the dirt to cover the plant and cover it up again.

Three Dimensional Forms: Sculpture

I put the fish into the light bulbs last because I didn't want them to sit in a glass container with no oxygen for a long time. The fish were fairly easy to put into the light bulbs. Firstly, I filled the light bulbs with fish tank water and slowly put the fish in one by one.

To photograph the project I used white project paper so the background couldn't be seen and the focus was on the project. I turned all of the lights off and used a desk lamp to get good lighting.

Process and Experimentation for Organic v. Industrial Project (Continued)

Three Dimensional Forms: Sculpture

Communication of Ideas & Intentions/Critical InvestigationArtist & Cultural Inspiration

Cultural Inspiration

When researching, I used google images to start to form ideas. At first I searched for organic v. industrial art , the images that it pulled up were mostly about organic food. I then started searching for organic v. man art and it started to show pieces similar to the ones shown in the demo for the project. I wanted to take nature as my organic object and contrast it with electricity and power because they're both very important things in today's world. I used two different artists for my artist inspiration on this project. The first piece used as artist inspiration was an installation done by Marco Evaristti where he put live goldfish in a blender. I like the idea of the project because it was mixing industrial with organic, one thing I did not like about the project was that he had visitors of the gallery turn the blenders on. Another artist used for inspiration was Kingyobu, who created an art installation by putting goldfish in a telephone booth. I liked both of these artists works because they put something organic (goldfish) into industrial things related to electronics and power. I wanted to involve this concept into my work. I did not want to use working light bulbs to hard the fish, especially if they are filled with water.

Artist Inspiration

"Telling Time Outdoor Clock." Sun hats and wellie boots. N.p., Nov. & dec. 2013. Web. 7 Feb. 2017.

"Blender of the day." We Make Money Not Art. N.p., 23 Apr. 2007. Web. 13 Feb. 2017. "Aquarium phone booth." Vuingcom. N.p., n.d. Web.

13 Feb. 2017.

Three Dimensional Forms: Sculpture

Communication of Ideas & Intentions/Critical Investigation

The inspiration used in this project is clearly reflecting in my artwork because I took goldfish (organic object/nature) and contrasted it with the idea of technology and electricity (industrial) as did the inspiration artworks. One different between my work and the artists work is that my piece was just photographed and then taken apart whereas the inspiration artists let their pieces be seen in public as live installations. The point of view that Kingyobu had when putting the fish in the telephone booth is that he wanted show the significance of goldfish in the Chinese culture. Kingyobu wanted to wish people walking around a festival good luck. Some generalizations that I can conclude after researching is that many people have different values based on their cultures. Kingyobu created his installation using goldfish to show the sacred value and meaning of the fish in Chinese culture. Contrasting Kingyobu, Marco Evaristti asked people to start the blenders, killing the fish. The two artists ideas are very different based on their own morals and values. The image above is another example of a live

installation which is similar to the project I did. Even the image is strong without having to be at the installation in person. The image let’s you explore how you might react if you were witnessing it as well as others.

“NYC Gallery Installation Features Live Horses.” HORSE NATION, www.horsenation.com/2015/06/26/nyc-gallery-installation-features-live-horses/.

Three Dimensional Forms: SculptureCommunication of Ideas & Intentions/Critical Investigation (Continued)

Marco Evaristti put live goldfish in ten blenders and asked visitors of the gallery to turn the blenders on. The point of his piece was to 'test' the visitors' sense of right and wrong, life or death. I think that the piece could have been completed differently without harming the fish, like having them in the blenders but not actually having them on.

I can inference that there are many different takes on the idea of 'organic v. industrial' and it's based around one's morals and values. I can also infer that art is inspired closely around a person's culture and surroundings.

I chose to include this piece in my final Exhibition. I wanted to include this piece because I feel that it diversifies my portfolio by including a sculpture piece. I also feel that this piece helped me improve as an artist. Throughout the process of creating this piece I got to explore the audience’s emotions and reactions with the piece. I had to think about how my actions would influence the audience and how the message of the piece would be perceived. I feel that photographing this piece helps the audience experience the message rather than just looking at a fish.

Three Dimensional Forms: Sculpture

Reviewing Refining and Reflecting: Organic v. Industrial

Overall, I'm very happy with how my final piece came out. I think that it worked well using a water plant rather than using a flower which was my initial idea. If I used a flower I feel like the light bulbs wouldn't have looked right together and the fish would've look out of place. I'm also happy that I decided to use project paper when photographing the piece because it really drew emphasis to the actual project rather than having the background be a distraction. I also think that the message is clear within the piece. If I were to do this project again I would try different types of fish and plants and research into how certain types of nature influence modern culture to closely relate it to the meaning of the piece.

Lens Based: Lens Media

Skills, Techniques, Process for ‘Urbex’This project is a 10 image series of photographs that I have taken over the time span of a year. The images feature many abandoned places that have decayed over the years found in places such as Milwaukee, Wi and Chicago, Il as well as many other locations. Urbex is also known as Urban Exploring which is going out and exploring decayed and abandoned landscapes. I chose to complete this project because I felt that these places are viewed upon as dangerous and disgusting. Many people view these locations as dangerous and disgusting because some buildings have been previously burned, chemicals spread, floors in buildings and roofs collapsed, etc. I wanted to shed light on these locations and show how interesting they are and how they have a history and a story behind them.

I wanted the pictures to not only show the ‘cool’ parts such as murals and graffiti but also show the decay of the location and how they have deteriorated over the years. I wanted to show how the locations have personality to them and how they have a story and a history that is now unknown and won’t be explored because they’re labeled and abandoned and dangerous.

Lens Based: Lens Media

Communication of Ideas & Intentions/Critical InvestigationWhen starting the project I decided I would just start by photographing EVERYTHING. This technique was helpful because I could then go back and later look at the images to learn thing from them. I got to see the location as a whole so I got to learn the things that I would later want to photograph. I learned about different angles as well as the importance of lighting.

I later started taking photos of different scenes and locations that I felt were important to capture to fit the meaning of this project. I experimented at these scenes and locations by taking different angle shots and adjusting the lighting setting on the camera being used.

I would take close up pictures as well as pictures standing far away. I would also take pictures from each side and angle to get different shots which can be seen in the pictures.

An important aspect of this project was to explore! I had to explore the different ways a picture could be taken as well as the different ways the pictures could be edited. While editing the pictures I wanted to keep them as real and natural as they could get. I adjusted the saturation and the brightness while editing as well as cropping the images.

Lens Based: Lens MediaCommunication of Ideas & Intentions/Critical Investigation

Artist and Cultural Inspiration

Seph Lawless is an American Photographer that greatly influenced my work. Many of his pieces were taken at the same locations my pieces were taken. I used his photos as inspiration as how to connect the meaning the the scenes the photographs were taken. Many of his pieces tell a story and they relate the the location and its history. I wanted to incorporate this concept into my photographs.

Seph Lawless utilizes his space and often takes pictures from farther back to show the scene as a whole. Deferring from Lawless’ works my pieces include both close up shots and shots that are shown far away. I wanted to include a variety of different shots and angles within this series because I wanted to explore the different aspects of taking and editing photographs.

Lawless, Seph. “Seph Lawless.” Seph Lawless, sephlawless.com/.

Lawless takes the history of the locations and incorporates them into the story of the photographs. One common thing that Lawless’ and I both incorporate into the photos is the story aspect. I include aspects that show the history of the location by using things such as landscape and objects that originate from the location- utilizing old chairs, books, etc.

Lens Based: Lens Media

Reviewing Refining and Reflecting: Organic v. Industrial

I am happy that I chose to complete this piece and to include it in my portfolio. Choosing to do a photography piece has helped me expand my limits as an artist. I learned the different lightings, angles, etc that help make up a photo as a whole. I also got to explore local land that has been abandoned and I got to research the reasons for the abandonment of the locations. This piece has helped me grow as an artist and experience a new medium.

I chose to incorporate this photo series in my final Exhibition because I wanted to show how diverse my profile is. This piece has helped me expand and grow as an artist which is why I feel that it is important within my portfolio. This piece has helped me experience new things that are important in being an artist. I learned new mediums, new artists, new techniques.

Use of Elements and Principles of Design

“Elements & Principles of Art & Design.” DELVIEW MEDIA ARTS, delviewmedia.weebly.com/elements--principles-of-art--design.html.

Through the use of the elements and principles of design I have learned a variety of different tools and aspects that are helpful when creating, developing, and reflecting upon design projects. The use of line and shape help develop objects within the pieces. The variety of colors and values within a piece help to add dimension. The texture and perspective of a piece also needs to be taken into consideration while developing a piece. It’s also important to include movement and scale into pieces so the audience’s eyes don’t get stuck on one spot and so they can see the piece as a whole. Balance, unity, pattern, and emphasis are also important aspects to take in when planning an art piece to see how the piece would fit together as a whole including specific details. Knowing these elements and principles will help me in the future to create art pieces even after the IB Program because I can use them when planning a design for a new project. Using these specifics will help to organize the objects to flow together as a whole.

Exploration of New MediumsThroughout my years of art I found that I greatly enjoy creating paintings. Being in the IB Program has shown me that I needed to diversify my portfolio. While diversifying my portfolio I have gotten the chance to explore different mediums and try new techniques. While trying a new medium of photography I got to learn about cameras, lighting and angles. While learning the medium of digital painting I learned different tools and techniques as well as another way to use photoshop. Researching has been a huge help while learning a new medium. When researching I would find artists that use the same medium to see what aspects they use.

Example: While trying to diversify my portfolio I took an art course for graphic design at a local art college. During this class, I created identity logos for businesses as well as designing a book cover! The book cover design included taking pictures of three dimensional objects such as bullet shaped oatmeal then photoshopping it onto the book cover. This project also included using photoshop to show the book cover design on an actual book! Expanding my use of mediums has helped me find my passion for art specifically, graphic design. After trying out new mediums I found that I enjoy graphic works as well as digital painting which differs from my usual painting pieces!

Development as an Artist

Throughout my years in the IB Art program I have improved as an artist tremendously. Starting out as a freshman and sophomore I dreaded being in art, I did not see art in my future at all it was just a requirement. The IB program has helped me view art differently. Over the years my love for art grew. An IB art project is more than just an art piece- it’s research, inspiration, planning, experimentation, and reflecting. I found that experimentation is my favorite step in creating art pieces. Experimentation lets you try new things and find new techniques to make creating art more creative. Planning is one part of making art that i found very simple yet complication while being in art. Planning is simple because I ALWAYS get new art ideas in my head that I later want to carry out. Planning is also a challenge for me because it means I need to decide on aspects. I get so many ideas for a project that it makes it a challenger for which aspects I want to include and what aspects I don’t want to include. Research helps me decide on aspects and objects to include in the pieces. I have grown as an artist by exploring different mediums, artists, and techniques. After experiencing IB Art I have found that I want to include art in my future. Thanks to the art curriculum at my school I have decided to continue art by going to a private art college.