Pastel Candles

This is a piece that I began at home. The candles that my mom had burning on the countertop were of interest to me, and I wanted to explore and flex pastels, so I decided to start a few pieces with them.

Watercolor Self-Portraits

With 1" brushes, we were given large sheets of watercolor brushes and a mirror to produce self portraits. This was round 2. In dark, autumn colors, we were trying to capture the high intensities of the lights and darks. I added an ink overlay to capture more detail in the image, and to give it more interest. I would like to work back into the shirt and the background of this piece, as I feel that it's weaker than the face and neck of the portrait.

Keyboard Sketch

This sketch is similar to a sketch I did earlier of someone being wrapped up by a cord, like a mummy. This one goes along with my concentration ideas, and represents how technology is more or less taking over us as people, maybe in a negative way. The mouth is replaced by a "typing" logo, symbolizing texting and how tech-savvy we all have become. The eyes are replaced by a keyboard, as it seems we are all typing or being involved with some form of tech. I'd like to paint this large scale, and possibly include graphic elements in Photoshop or Illustrator.

Parking Lot Mixed Media/Cut Paper

This is another mixed media piece that I have gotten into in the recent days. As of now, it doesn't look like much, but the sketch work underneath represents the view from outside of my art teacher's room into the parking lot. I am using bright colored magazine clippings to portray the grass, and trees of the landscape. Oranges, and reds are going to be used in the trees, as the beautiful leaves are changing colors.

Skyline

This is a piece that I'm really excited about. It is on a cabinet board that I began with last year, but didn't like the progress I was making. I started over, covering the wood in black and then taping off a section that was made to look like a city skyline. I want this piece to become a self portrait that represents me, and my search for the right college. On the opposite side of the skyline, there is supposed to be a house, representing the suburban area I live in now. I am hoping to portray the decision I have to make between large schools, small schools, city, and suburbs. This is all done with acrylic paint.

Tip-toes Mixed Media

This was a sketch that I started which turned into a more interesting mixed media piece afterwards. I began with the idea after having a girl tell me that she's never dated anyone under 6 foot, so this represents me, or other guys, trying to boost their height to impress girls. I taped off a portion of watercolor paper, used gesso and a light orange wash, then added cut paper over top of the integrated sketch. I like the process, and I like how this turned out. Cut paper was an interesting process to explore.

Italy Landscape/Seacape

I have been working on this piece for a long time now, with not nearly as much progress made as I would have liked. It is a painting that I'm doing for my mother of the Coast of Amalfi in Italy, where we visited two years ago. It's quite a large canvas, and at times it can be overwhelming, but I decided to start working more with it recently. I would like to finish it by Christmas, and be able to hang it in my mom's office. The entire piece has been done with brayer and palette knife, as the texture they provide are attractive to me. This will certainly be a candidate for my breadth section.