Beginning the text self-portrait; there was so much promise...

Hello lovely people, and a very happy Monday to you.

 Text self-portrait final image; an unhappy end product.          

Today, I am posting images which include all of the projects I completed this semester in my Design Foundations course.  This course is originally intended for freshmen or sophomore students, but here I am, completing it my "super" senior year; Design Foundations never fit with my schedule before this semester, so I was frustrated to be in an introductory course in my fifth year of school (my double major, one of which is a BFA, is taking longer than anticipated).  I entered the class with a pretty bad attitude; I already learned this, I don't want to do that, complain, complain, complain.  But upon our second project I began to actually enjoy the class.  The course work was plentiful, that was certain, but I was learning something. 

Our first project was to draw a self-portrait using text as our drawing mark.  The phrase that I used to "draw" with was "you can never go down the drain."  This is a quote from my favorite Mr. Fred Rogers.  I went into the project having done many successful self-portraits and felt confident in a successful piece with minimal effort...this did not work out very well, if you cannot tell from the final product.  The first image of only my face was just the beginning, and it looked so promising!  The final product was rushed and got muddy.  Sad sauce.

Upon the Acidic Horizon, 13"x19" print, composed in Photoshop

The object of the next project was to create an environment using Photoshop and scanning in materials as the environment's building blocks.  I am not a Photoshop fan by any means; I'm still getting the hang of the endless (and at times frustrating) controls and possibilities.  I scanned in old fabric, some black and white photos, a couple of old matchbooks, birthday cards, post cards, and a funny old fishing advertisement as my source material.  All in all, my material had a very kitchy feel, and I used that to enhance the project into a completed environment.  As I was manipulating the images, I thought to myself, "What would I see on the horizon if I was hopped up on acid right now?"  And so, a masterpiece was born.  Well, not actually a masterpiece, but a funny little environment was created.  I am happy with the end product: silly, kitchy, but fitting.

Lemon Moon, 15"x15," India ink on paper

From here we went back into hard materials with an abstraction project.  The idea of this project was to bring in a fruit or vegetable and take pictures of it in as many different ways as possible.  I brought in a lemon, having been inspired by the "Lemongrabs" from my favorite animated TV show, Adventure Time.  I took pictures of the lemon as a whole, and then I began to peel it apart.  From there, we were to take these images, and draw several reproductions of the fruit or vegetable, using tracing paper, different drawing materials, and zooming in onto particularly interesting areas.  The final product is the black and white ink drawing of the hills or mountains with a big, white lemon moon.  At this point, this project was my very favorite.  Not only was I happy to be working with my hands instead of using Photoshop, but I created a piece using cross-hatching, a technique I had formerly dismissed because it didn't fit into my usual, expressive style.  The piece was also successful and was inspired by a LEMON.  I find this amusing, surprising, and inspirational toward future endeavors. 

After the black and white abstract image, it was time to play with color.  As a fiber artist, I work with color every day, all day.  My woven rugs are dependent upon a successful color pallet.  But yet again, to my surprise, I had learned something valuable.  I could never figure out how other students were able to achieve beautiful neutral tones or sophisticated colors; my colors seemed to dwell within the bright, clear colors, almost like paint out of a tube.  This project helped me develop a more complex color pallet. 

We had to take our abstract image and recreate it four times using four different color schemes: monochromatic, analogous, split complementary, and double complementary.  I created colors I never thought I would be able to achieve, and applied what I learned in the fibers' dye kitchen for my next woven piece; I am happy to report that the colors are going swell.

Monochromatic Moon, 10"x10," acrylic paint on wood

Analogous Moon, 10"x10," acrylic paint on wood

Split Complementary Moon, 10"x10," acrylic paint on wood

Double Complementary Moon, 10"x10," acrylic paint on wood

I entered Design Foundations not thinking that I would be able to learn anything; I had a pretty poor attitude, scribbling the words "BLAH" across my sketchbook cover in anticipation for boredom.  But, after I loosened up and put in the time and effort, my pieces reflected the things that I learned.  I am even applying these principals to other areas of study, as with my woven pieces.  I'm glad to have this course over and done as credits completed to cross of the BFA list, but I am pleased to say that after an entire semester, I learned a thing or two that I will carry with me for the rest of my career. 
And that my friends, will make me a stronger, more successful artist in the future.
 
As always, thanks for reading and have yourself a pleasant day.