Week Seven: All Done!

Words cannot describe how happy I am to have that TED Talk done. I have never liked speaking infront of crowds, and speaking on a stage did not make it any better. My painting on the stage however did break the ice for me. Before I was even ready everyone was laughing, and I was too which calmed me down. After that I was ready to go!

I feel like my TED Talk went smoothly even though the sound didn't work on my video. I was able to improvise for that. The prezi went well and everyone seemed to enjoy the painting and the video!

Grading:
Visual Component: I had a prezi for my presentation that had some words, pictures and a video but did not control my presentation. It was more of a reference for me to point to and to show examples with. The sound for the video did not work though.
Inspire Through Your Passion: I think that I showed the audience that giving up on something is never a good option because if I had given up on painting like I did when I was seven, I would have never known I like it.
Show Your Product: I had my final product on display and I also had a video of me completing it.
Explain Your Process: I explained how I talked to my art teacher and did research to figure out which type of painting I wanted to learn. Then I talked about the different techniques I learned and showed the different paintings I did to practice the techniques. I also explained the process of the final product.
Purpose: My purpose was to teach the audience how patience can help you find something you love and I believe that I got that across well.

The TED Commandments:
Dream Big: I honestly think this has been one of my best presentations that I have done. I was able to make the audience laugh while also being serious at the same time. I grabbed their attention before even beginning to speak which made my presentation even better.
Show the Real You: I talked about my past about being impatient and talked about my passion. What I said came from me but I had to reference to my note cards a few times.
Make the Complex Plain: I gave examples of my past and the process. It was easy to follow and pay attention to.
Connect With the People's Emotions: Before I even started talking I had the audience laughing!
Don't Flaunt Your Ego: I talked about the negatives along with the positives.
No Selling From the Stage!: Nothing was for sale during my presentation and I didn't ask for anything!
Comment on Others': I did not do this but maybe I could have to connect to the audience better.
Don't Read Your Talk: I did not read from my note cards but I did refer to them a couple of times to make sure I was staying on track and I did not miss anything important.
End Your Talk On Time: I did not go over onto anyone else's time I think...
Rehearse Your Talk: I did rehearse my talk but not infront of anyone other than myself. I usually don't because I have never been comfortable with giving presentations and speeches. I could have done some more rehearsing.

All together I would give myself a 28-28.5/30 because I could have done some more rehearsing and not have had my notecards. This would have shown that I know my topic well and I should because it is my passion. I think that reading from notecards makes speakers lose a connection with the audience which is a big part of presentations. Without this connection you lose interest and respect.

If we could do this project every year I would. I found this fun and made me relaxed because I got to do something that I now love to do. Even the presentation was fun to make because it was about something that I like and not something that I'm being forced to know. I am happy that we did this project and I hope we get to do one in the future and future gifted classes will get to do this as well!

Week Six: Voila!

It took a while but I finished my final product! The process required a lot of layers, paint and washing of brushes. Listening to music helped me concentrate while I was painting and drowned out what ever was going on around me. It took me about four-to-five hours to paint the piece, but in the end it was worth it because I am happy with my piece.





I have learned from this experience that patience is a key part to painting because of the different layers of colors that are needed to create depth. Before this, I didn't really have much patience which is why I gave up on paint-by-number when I was younger. After completing this I know that in the future I will be able to be more patient when I am working on projects or tasks.

While I was painting I would decide to go back to something that I had already worked on and redo it, or add to it because I did not like how it looked. This was easy with acrylic paints because of how quickly they dried. Sometimes this was a disadvantage because when I would want to blend shading I couldn't.

The book that I have mentioned in previous posts, Acrylic 1, was a huge help when I was painting the faces because it talked about and showed techniques about making the faces look realistic. The book also gave good tips about layering the different objects in the painting and the colors for individual parts.

This is the final piece!!

Outline Time!: Week Five

This week I decided to focus on the outline of my final painting. I did not spend my whole week doing that only a part. The other part of the week I began painting it but I want to just focus on the outline in this post.

 Before I could start drawing, I divided my canvas and a printed copy of the original American Gothic, into fourths. I only drew lines to divide them, I did not cut the actual canvas into pieces. I did this because I noticed in my original sketch that the different things in the picture were not proportional, and I did not want my final piece to be the same way.

I was able to sketch out everything but I saved the faces for last. I have never been that great at drawing faces because I can never get the mouths right. I decided to do some research and see if I could find any helpful resources on the internet. After only a few minutes of searching I was able to find two great sources! The first website I found is called The Proportions of the Head. This website taught me how the different features of the face line up inside a grid which allows artists to make faces proportional.

The second source that I found is called Learn How to Draw a Face with Confidence. This website used a similar technique as the first site, but instead of using a grid and drawing the outline of the face you start out with a circle and use dashed lines to line up the features of the face. I like this source more because when I have tried to draw faces before I have used something like this method and it was successful with figuring out where the features were and the shape of the face.

I used techniques from both sources to draw the faces on the canvas. They may not look recognizable yet, but that is because there is no detail like shading. I found both websites very helpful and they both furthered my progress in drawing faces and the project.

Vlog!!

Genius Project Vlog! from Donna Intintolo on Vimeo.

Practice, Practice, Practice, #2: Week Four

I was able to get an easel this week! It is much nicer than the first one I got, the only problem is that I keep tripping over it... I decided to take Annie's suggestion and practice my new techniques by painting another piece. First I used a monochromatic background like my first piece. This acted as my background. There are some white spaces, but that is because the surface was not primed before I began painting. I am going to use gusso, which primes canvas, on my final product because I have learned that will remove the white spaces.

The darker part of the background is a wall, and the lighter part is the surface that the focus of the painting will be sitting on. Next I added a plate with apples on top. This is known as a still life, which many artists use as subjects for their paintings. In the book that I bought, Acrylic 1 by Ken Goldman, Goldman suggests that using a still life as a focus is a good way to practice the different techniques because of the light reflections and shadows that must be present. 

To make the plate I started out with a white base, and then added yellow and black to the white to make the shadows. For the apples, I started out with four red blobs, as the base for the apples. Then I added a little black to make the shaded spots on the apples. For the lighter spots I only used white. Since the apples were both red and yellow in the photograph I used, I used a basic yellow for the yellow parts of the apples. 

One of the problems that I faced was the amount of spaces on my palette. I had to mix a lot of colors, and use different colors so at one point all of the spaces on my palette were filled, which meant I couldn't use anymore colors or else the colors might mix. I also could not wash the palette since there were colors that I still had to use, and I did not want to waste the paint. I learned from a website suggested by O'Neill, 10 Acrylic Painting Tips for Beginners, that I should only use a little bit of paint at a time so I do not waste any. I tend to use a lot because I think that I am going to use it all and most of the time I don't. I also learned that when I blend paint I need to work with it fast because of how fast acrylic paint dries. 

I have started to draw my final piece! It looks good so far but I have not gotten to the faces yet. I am nervous about starting those because I am not the best at drawing faces. Does anyone know any good sources to learn how to draw different facial features? Have a happy Monday and check back soon for a vlog and a look at the final outline of my final painting!

Boddy-Evans, Marion. "10 Acrylic Painting Tips For Beginners." About.com Painting. N.p.,  n.d. Web. 18 Mar. 2013. <http://painting.about.com/od/acrylicpainting/a/10tips_acrylics.htm>.

Goldman, Ken, and Ken Goldman. Acrylic/1: Learn the Basics of Acrylic Painting. Laguna Hills, CA: Walter Foster Pub., 2003. Print.

Practice, Practice, Practice: Week Three

First I just want to say that I returned the easel! I just need to go out and buy a new one. Second, you should never practice painting on top of the dining room table... unless you have newspapers, cardboard, or something that paint will have a hard time going through. Your parents will not be happy if you get paint on their good furniture! Luckily I was using a canvas so it was raised and I wasn't painting directly on the table. 

Through out the week I have been reading about different painting techniques and I have found that with different sized and shaped brushes, different textures and patterns can be achieved. I have also learned about how to start a painting. Sometimes artists choose to sketch out what their final piece is going to look like on their canvas, and other times they just wing-it and "draw" with their paintbrush making strokes as their lines and not caring about staying in the lines. 

One piece of information that has stood out to me the most is that it is good to start with a one color background but making the color dark or light in some areas to show the contrast between the different parts of your painting. This is known as monochromatic. Once this is done, you can start adding more details. This is one method that painters use instead of drawing their outline for their painting. I thought that I would give it a try and I enjoyed it. One thing that helps when doing something like that is a art palette. I find it better than a paper plate because on most palettes there are small round areas to put your paint. This separates the colors from each other and allows you to mix colors that you want to rather than accidentally mixing colors. With a paper plate, it is easy to mix colors. A palette also restricts how much paint you put in the round areas so you do not waste any paint. I got my palette from ACMOORE for $1. 

When I first started my practice piece decided to use a still life, but then I thought that I would find a photograph of nature, and try to paint it how I see it. I've always loved seeing reflections of trees and the sky in water so I picked a photograph that showed that. My first step was making the monochromatic background, and since the sky and water are both blue, I chose that as my color. In the picture below it looks like there is both blue and black, but the darkest shade is in fact blue. To get a darker shade of a color black is mixed with the color, and to get a lighter shade what is added. 

This became the base of my painting. As you can see there are different shades of blue from the center up that get darker, and the center down that get darker. After finishing this I added details like a moon and a small sunset. 

This is the finished piece! I am happy with this piece because I was able to use different techniques and textures to make it look like the sky was getting darker, the sun set was fading, and the moon was reflected in the water. I am going to start sketching out what my final product of my American Gothic piece will look like on a canvas through the following week and then begin painting. I can't wait to see how that turns out!

Check Out These Blogs!

Annie's Blog!
Ally's Blog!
Abby's Blog!
Alyssa's Blog!
Noah's Blog!
Eric's Blog!

Surprise!: Week Two

       As you can all see in the picture below I have decided to change the original American Gothic just a little bit. The faces of the husband and wife have been changed to Mr. Perlman and Mr. McDaniels. I call it, "The McPerlman Bromance" after their relationship in class. This sketch is a very rough sketch for my final product, I was not hoping or looking for perfection. There are multiple things that I need to change, fix, and add to it, so I will not have my final product for a while.

       As for my progress with the acrylic paints, I have been reading the book that I mentioned in my first post, Acrylic 1 by Ken Goldman. So far I have read about how to start a piece, and come up with an idea for one. Ken Goldman talks about how for some paintings, artists should use one color to create the background and add layers on top of it so there is no need to worry about details in the beginning.

       It is also mentioned that sketching what you are going to paint multiple times helps you know your painting more. This is why I decided to sketch what I am going to be painting, remember it is a very rough draft. I am going to sketch this multiple times until I have enough confidence that I will be able to paint it. 

       As for the actual painting, I have practiced my techniques during my art class, but I am still having trouble with them. It has come to my attention that I need to work on my patience skills, being when painting my final product, it is going to take time for the different layers to dry. There will also be small details I will have to paint, which means I will need patience to do that. When doing paint-by-number a couple years ago, I gave up on it because I did not have the patience to paint the smaller spaces. By choosing painting as my gifted project, I will hopefully be able to get past my patience problems, and enjoy painting as much as I enjoy drawing. 

       Last week I was able to get my supplies for my final product! If there was one thing that I recommend it would be to never ever get a cheap easel. I got one for $20 (which does not seem cheap) at ACMOORE, but it was CHEAP. Once I was able to put it together, with only the picture that showed the easel put together (no instructions) it was not sturdy and shook every time I tried to use it. It took me an hour to put it together, and two minutes to take it apart. I will never again get a $20 easel from ACMOORE.

       I was just wondering, does anyone happen to have any good websites or books for painting with acrylics? Thanks!!

   

The First Steps: Week 1

Ever since I was five I have loved to draw. The first thing I loved to draw was the cartoon character that portrayed Lizzie McGuire in Lizzie McGuire. I had a poster of it in my room and I would always look at the picture and just draw. Then when I was seven I went to Disney World for the first time. In Hollywood Studios we went to the Disney Animation Studios, where my family and I sat through a class where we learned how to draw Goofy. That was the moment I fell in love with drawing. That day I bought a how to draw book to learn how to draw Disney characters and my collection has grown ever since.
       In the past I have tried to do paint-by-numbers but I have never had the patience for them, having to go number by number finding every spot for a certain color. This drove me away from paints and I have only really done drawing. Now I have the chance to take the time to learn how to use paints, but specifically acrylic pants.        
        After doing some research, I have found two books that will teach me how to paint skin tones, and basic techniques. There are also two websites, where artists post information about different techniques, and about how to use acrylic paints.  My friend’s mom, Beth Adelsberger, is a professional artist and I have taken classes with her before. She knows how to use different mediums, and will be able to teach me how to use acrylic paints.       
       For the first two weeks I am going to read books and websites about acrylic painting, and practice the different techniques, while also sketching my final product. Then for the following two weeks I am going to outline my project. For the final weeks, and including the third and fourth weeks I am going to work on my final product.        
       My goal for this project is to be able to effectively use acrylic painting techniques. In order to do this I am going to recreate a famous painting, American Gothic by Grant Wood. With this painting I will be able to learn how to paint people, nature, and architecture. Repainting American Gothic will set a goal for myself instead of having to come up with something on my own. If that were the case then I would not be able to plan out what I am going to do as well, and I won’t have specific expectations for myself. While I am painting, I am going to record the process. At the end of the project I am going to fast-forward through the process, and make a 30 second to 1 minute clip. This will show my progression throughout the process, and how I came to my final product.       
       I have just found a book called Acrylic 1 by Ken Goldman, which teaches basic techniques for painting with acrylics. There is also a website I have found called artistnetwork.com where artists can post articles and videos that teach students, like me how to use different mediums like acrylics. 

Goldman, Ken, and Ken Goldman. Acrylic/1: Learn the Basics of Acrylic Painting. Laguna Hills, CA: Walter Foster Pub., 2003. Print.

"Artist's Network." Artists Network. F+W Media, Inc., n.d. Web. 21 Feb. 2013.