Midterm Portfolio

MIDTERM

These are the 5 pieces I believe to be my strongest up to now in Illustration, each of which dealt with a variety of subject, media, sizes, color and over all processes.

3 Image Montage

I chose this piece to become a member of the midterm portfolio club because it shows the progression of the any things I have learned thus far in illustration. First I had to chose subjects that were interesting and would compliment each other spatially. Initially I had to identify in preliminary sketches which of the 3 subjects would be the largest, which would be in the foreground and vice vera. Outside of the piece visually I also liked the process it took to get to the final product. In the third stage of the project I had to create a half size maker comp, which was one of the first times I used the marker technique correctly from light to dark to achieve a variety of values, shades, gradient blends, and vibrant colors. The background was also dealt with in the process to create a background that would compliment the subject in a colorful way but not taking to much attention away from them. Initially I didn't want a colored background but after trying a few I saw that it helped the composition of the piece far more than a plain gray background did. The red shades compliment the red nit he text of the red bull can and the small piece of the red button of the nintendo controller. The piece was done on gesso covered illustration board with gouache paint . Overall I spent way over 15 hours n this piece combining the many processes that it took to get approvals and experimentation with composition and color.

DMV Comic

I chose this piece for the portfolio because I enjoyed the entire process it took to crete it and it turned out successfully conveying the message it was meant to. This piece required numerous processes involving sketch after sketch that needed to get approved in order to move onto the next step, through pencil sketches, detailed pencil sketches, line drawing, , color experimentation and finally the computer process. I learned a little about the importance of line representation in cartoons to create shadows, texture and variety of values, which really helped toward the final processes of the project before it was taken into the computer for added color. In order to get the final product I had to san my cartoon in 2 parts: one with the background and the second with the chalk outline done as a pencil sketch. The latter of the two was later scanned into photoshop and inverted to create a more readable chalk outline, without relying on photoshop to create it for me through effects. The bright vibrant colors kind of reminds me of the Simpsons artistry style for some reason. Overall I spent about 12 hours on this piece through the numerous processes, and it was all worth it just to make someone with a sadistic humor laugh at the D.O/T.G.-- the death of the test giver.

Water Color large piece

I chose this piece for the portfolio because it is a piece that dealt well with a subject, and the background while not placing one over the other : man/nature. When I originally was drawing this piece while looking in the mirror I tried to compose it to resemble a Mona Lisa composition and expression. The background, majorly the sky, had a great gradient effect that was provided for me via nature, also the horizon low lights at the edge make it a hard transition from the grass to the sky, which is how it was. The highlights on my face and shirt seem almost abstract but the sun was brightly setting so I tried hard to portray that effect n my skin and hair tones... I think it worked out. The piece was done on large water color paper in water color. Overall I spent about 7 hours on this piece over the course of the weekend that it was assigned. And of curse I had a great subject to work with... ME ; )

Water color experiment. 10 same subject

This piece was chosen to be an exclusive member of the midterm portfolio club because I liked its simplicity in executing the form of the brick. This piece was done a little while after I started to become somewhat comfortable with watercolor and began to let go of controlling so much what the paint did as if it were a pencil. The 3 major shades of blue each successfully represent a seperate side of the brick showing how the light can affect color execution . I also appreciate the absent areas within the brick the corners of each side as highlights, bouncing lights off of them. The shadow and background also show a nice portrayal of the negative space, while not leaving the negative space empty. This piece was done on water color paper, in watercolor... of course. The painting was completed in a little more than an hour, excluding the other 9 paintings I did of the same subject matter but in different ways and different techniques. I went back in on the original piece that I blogged and added more low lights, and added texture to the background.

First Gouache Painting

I chose this piece to be a part of my midterm portfolio because I felt that it was a successful completed piece, that was one of the first times I actually painted something and was proud of the outcome, it was also when I discovered that I loved gouache paint. The folds and wrinkles of the hoodie looks almost identical to the picture it was referenced from, as well as my face... it actually looks like my face! Also the various shades of browns in the background make the ceiling believable as a ceiling, and the wall very readable as a wall. The painting was done in gouache paint on a gesso covered illustration board. SInce the day the piece was supposed to be done, I have gone back a little bit here and there and worked on the ceiling as well as highlights and lowlights of my hoodie... So overall I think this piece has taken me well over 10 hours, when I consider all the re-working I did.