Coloring Candy

Currently we are all in the Halloween spirit, and what better of a thing to draw during the Halloween season than candy! For our current project, we must draw the candy jar that has been placed on our tables - without pictures!

This has turned out to be quite difficult. To introduce us to colored pencils, Mrs. Kick gave us worksheets and showed us how to make certain colors lighter or darker- by using different colors! I am very new to working with colored pencils, and the medium confuses me a great deal, but it’s always good to learn something new. After finishing the color scale worksheet, I was reluctant to simply 'jump in' and start shading right on my sketch after only practicing on a worksheet, so I started experimenting on a piece of tracing paper.

 This is the tracing paper:

Yesterday, after a week of pure anguish, I decided to finally 'jump in' and start on my real drawing. After being terrified, this is how far I've gotten:

Hopefully it all turns out ok!

Graphite and Colored Pencils - Oh My!

Over the past few months our art class has undertaken one project and began another. Our first project, drawing a bike (as seen below), went relatively well, with little personal agony on my side of things (ha-ha). This is due to the fact I have been drawing with graphite my entire life, and it is one of my favorite mediums. I personally like the way graphite handles, and how the finished products look as well. I find it amazing how, by using just one color, one can make a simple sketch come to life. With my drawing, I feel I could have made the highlights a little better, however I love how the final piece turned out. My drawing has many different tones and shades created by using several different graphite pencils, my favorite part being the middle of the wheel.

The second project, drawing a still life of a candy jar, has had a much different effect on me. Being that the only other time I've ever used colored pencils to do a detailed drawing was two years ago (In this same class), The medium took me a little by surprise. It is very different from graphite in the fact that it has one dark color, and you must blend other colors to achieve highlights and lowlights. This whole concept has boggled my mind and somewhat stressed me out - but I keep plugging along. To add to the confusion of drawing with colored pencils, Mrs. Kiick threw in having to draw a JAR of candy, which is a challenge in itself! However, I’m glad she gave us this challenge, as obviously, if I ever decided to go into the art field, I’m going to have to know how to use several different mediums, including colored pencils. (Sigh) On a different note, even though I keep pestering poor Mrs. Kiick with questions, I actually like my drawing a little bit. Its amazing the affects two different colors can have when blended.

Here are my two works. One is finished; the other is a work in project.

Bikes

For years I have seen peoples illustrations of bikes everywhere; paintings in coffee shops, restaurants, in museums, etc. However, I never realized how incredibly hard and complex a bike is to draw! For our first project of the year, Mrs. Kick surprised us with a bike in the middle of the room set up on a table.  As surprised as we were, she through us a curve ball as well, and told us to draw the bike while using composition. My first drawings looked like this:

Thankfully, we were able to redeem ourselves when she told us we would picking an angle of the bike we would like to draw, and I chose this one:

And then, the venture of shading began to take place. As graphite is my favorite and most practiced medium, I jumped right in. I love working with the different variations of pencils, especially when you have to apply different amounts of pressure to gain the desired effect. Here is a short journey of the bike drawings progress;

Honestly, as challenging and irritating the bike was at first, I actually ended up enjoying drawing it in the end. I absolutely love the way it turned out, and I’m glad I took on the challenge of including lots of spokes and a not-so-easy angle, it turned out pretty cool!

Here is the finished product;

Hello Again!

Hello,

After taking a year off, I have decided to return to Art again in my senior year. I have changed a lot since sophomore year, and sadly did not concentrate on art, but rather my studies, taking hard classes last year. This year, however, junior year is over, and I can now focus on art again :)!

This year I hope to build and extend my portfolio as I prepare for life outside of high school. Although I   have no idea what ill be doing for my career, having a portfolio is needed if I decide to pursue art.

Follow me through my journey during my second, and last, year in Mrs. Kiick's class!

End of The Year :(

Well, I don't know where to start really. I cannot believe a year has come and gone already - time really flies doesn't it? I have to say My art class with Mrs. Kiick this year was a blast. I actually put fourth the time and effort to create art, and great things came of it. I worked with metal for the first time (actually really cool), worked with pottery( long and drawn out but I loved the results), and created a book of all my sketches from this year - which I will probably be doing again.

I have to say I have never really experienced a class quite like Mrs. Kiick's. I always took the generic art classes in elementary school and middle school; but this class I actually wanted to be in. I am happy I took this art class - for I have improved an incredible amount over the period of just a year.

This year I learned how to actually color things in instead of just making outline sketches. Personally I absolutely love transferring. I found i am actually good at it - and the effect it gives to a paper is amazing. Most of my projects have some kind of transfer in them from this year. The other thing I found amazing to work with is watercolor. I love the faded/ pastel look the water color goes to things, as well as the blurry edge. I definitely will be using it over the summer on personal projects.

The end of this year is kind of bittersweet, as i will most likely not be returning to HTHS in the fall. I am transferring to a private school up more in Central Jersey. I will honestly miss Mrs. Kiick's class the most out of all my classes - mostly because I had so much fun in that class. Everything I learned I will take with me though - I am so glad i had the opportunity to take this class.

My favorites from this year!

Metal Work 

Midterm

Natural World Sketch

Pottery - Back 

SLIDESHOW

 picture slideshow\


This Years Art!

Ceramics

This unit we are working on a ceramic place setting to honor or tribute of someone. It includes a plate, bowl, and cup that we will eat out of when the project is completed.

The idea came from Judy Chicago's The Dinner Party, which is a giant triangle table holding a place for each of the monumental women; that made a difference in women's suffrage.

For this project I chose to honor my great - grandmother; a fashionista of the 1930's that meant a lot to me before her passing 9 years ago. Here is what I have so far:

 This little hat took me 3 days to do!