Creating the Illusion of Surface and Texture

This artist created the illusion of shine using highlighting. They added white to the highlighted parts of the objects to make it look like the metal is shiny. They also added white to highlight the curves of the table cloth and created value between each curve of the table cloth.

Reflection on Studies in Smallness

On my three finished paintings, I struggled with making the fruit look 3-d because I had a difficult time shading. I felt successful about choosing the right colors because I adjusted to mixing colors. This was a difficult assignment for me because I did not take the intermediate drawing and painting class last year, so I did not know much of the basics of painting. However, I thought it was pretty successful because it was my first time painting.

White Objects Thumbnail Sketches

These are three sketches of the possible options for my white objects painting. I decided to choose the middle one because there is more going on.

Composition

Custard Cascade, by William Cotton, 2001

This painting seems to be the most interesting because there is so much going on in the painting. There are also a lot of bright colors and a variety of shapes used in the painting. Also, when I first saw this, I thought it was a photograph because the great use of depth and shadow in each of the objects. Because there is so much going on in the painting, a viewer might not notice a certain object before and later find a new one the next time they look at it. Also the biggest objects are not strictly in the middle, so it forces the viewers to look everywhere in the painting.

Studies in Smallness: Finished Paintings

These are my three finished paintings.

Studies in Smallness: Set-Ups

Color Mixing Chart

Morandi vs. Van Gogh: Color

Morandi focuses mainly on man-made objects, whereas Van Gogh's subjects consist of plants. Morandi also uses neutral colors which makes his paintings less full of life and not as "happy." However, Van Gogh uses bright colors which gives the idea that his paintings are full of life and excitement. His paintings give you feeling of happiness and brightness.

What I Know Now

The primary colors are... red, blue, and yellow

The secondary colors are... purple, green, and orange

You create secondary colors by... combining two primary colors

Complimentary colors are... opposite colors that make each color stand out. (Purple and yellow, blue and orange, red and green).

Two ways you can emphasize something in a painting... are making it bigger than everything else in the painting or adding high contrast between the subject and the background.

If I were trying to create a shadow on an object in a painting I would... take the color of the surface of where the shadow is and add black.

If I were painting an object and wanted to create the illusion of highlight I would... add white to the color of where the highlight is.

If I were trying to make an object look like it's far away I would... make the object closer bigger and the object further smaller.

These are the steps I would take to build a painting... I would first begin with a rough sketch of my idea(s). Then, I would build up the colors until I finished my painting.

A Painting I Remember

I don't really have a specific painting in my mind that I remember, but I do remember many paintings by Georgia O'Keefe. In elementary school, my art teacher taught us about Georgia O'Keefe and showed us many of her paintings. I remember her paintings of cow skulls and her many paintings of close-up flowers.

My Skills as an Artist

As an artist, I feel stronger and more comfortable sketching than painting since I have more experience with it. I have also done more sculpture work and photography. Throughout painting, I struggle with shading and making the objects in my artwork seem more realistic.

Why I'm Taking Oil Painting

I am taking this course because I wanted to learn how to paint using oil paints. I have never done it formally before, but I've always wanted to learn. I really like the textures the paint creates and I want to learn how to use them nicely. I also wanted to take an art course this year and thought that taking a new class would be fun. Since I have only taken sculpture and photography classes, I wanted to expand my horizons by taking this painting class.