Project #6 Process

Project 6 has been both the longest and most fun project of my year so far. I find that I feel more connected and excited about work that I have spent longer on, which in turn makes me more inclined to continue to invest in the piece. I think that because I have spent so much time on the piece, two project periods to be exact, that it has now carved a special place in the art section of my heart and I am glad to present something that I care about and am proud of in critique. My goals for this project were to refine the faces I paint and to work on my craft. By allowing myself to take a process critique for project five, I feel that I have set myself up well to accomplish those goals in critique 6.

As my classmates and Coach Hall know, I rarely use reference photos in my work because I feel that sometimes reference pictures make a piece feel too fake and calculated. I like how my brain can sometimes create it's own details which makes the piece unique and interesting, something that I sometimes feel a reference photo would take away. Nevertheless, in this piece, I used a refrence photo to paint the face and so far I think it has helped me tap into my process more, rather than worrying about the actual facial structure. I have learned that it is easier to build up the values over time to create a more depthful, realistic face, rather than just try to create solid light and dark values in one sitting. I have been trying to figure out how I originally made the faces in my very first summer painting and I think this project has finally allowed my to figure it out.

One problem that I have noticed that I have discovered subtly creeps in in all of my work is that sometimes my darks can get too dark and my highlights too light, but only in some parts. This might happen because I paint each different color way one at a time, so a future goal for me to consider may be keeping a consistent value scale throughout the entire piece. Another idea may be mixing the two colors throughout the entire piece, rather than making them so outwardly contrasting.

Overall, painting this piece has felt really rewarding and I am excited to both finish it and see fully finished in critique.