Final Reflection

I think that Ive made a lot of progress this term. I came into the class having a little painting experience behind me, but not too much, and I'm leaving the class with a new sense of capability and knowledge in oil painting that I definitely didn't come in with. I feel much more confident in my painting skills, and i even think that I'm enjoying painting much more than I was was before the class started. I learned about color, how to make any color I needed out of the 6 that we started with, I learned about how to make shadow and highlight colors to give objects a 3d effect, I learned how to mix color right on the canvas, and I learned this all from the very first painting.

In the second painting, I learned about making my own set up and choosing my own composition, and about whats important for me to show through my compositions. I learned that brush strokes can determine whether or not an object has a certain texture on its surface, if its bumpy or smooth or fuzzy or rough. I learned that to make glass, you need to not think of it as making "glass", you just need to paint exactly the color you see, the different whites and grays.

The third painting taught me how to crate the illusion of depth and place. One method we used to do this was to put more focus on shadows and light than is actually there. In my Sense of Place painting I chose to paint the window and trees outside it. I think it was really good for me to get the practice in texture from painting the trees outside and the old craggely windowsill and heater. I was able to create my sense of depth by making the shadows of the window panes much darker than they actually were which gave my painting a very "sunny day" look.

Overall, I loved this class, it was great to get so much experience and paint 3 paintings with you, Ms. Roberts, I'm definitely going to continue painting, thank you so much for a great term : )

Class Critique

The small group class critique was extremely helpful to me to learn about the things that I was good at doing, and the tings that I needed to improve on.
People told me that they liked my use of shadow and color to show actual shape of objects, that, especially in my white objects painting, I was able to create shape lines and a smooth texture, people thought that i used very interesting composition in my paintings.
The things I needed to work on included, in my surface and texture painting, making my objects appear more textured, especially the tree bark which looked a little too fuzzy. People noticed that i was much more comfortable working with lighter color than with darker colors. They said that I should pay more attention to my brush strokes, especially when I'm trying to fill in an area, because the broad strokes I tend to use are "mechanical".

This was probably one of the most helpful exercises that we had because it told me exactly what were my strengths and exactly what I need to work on.

White Objects Painting

I'm really excited about this painting, I really like how it turned out. I think that the final composition that I chose from my sketches was a good choice because one of the things I like most about it is the top-heavy composition. I would have definitely like to have worked on the fabric some more to really develop is as fabric, not just as a fabricish background. But overall, I like how it turned out.

Reflection On Studies In Smallness

I was really glad that we did a smaller project like these 3 paintings before we dove into actual paintings, that really helped me get warmed up and also used to the materials and tools. The paitnings themselves werent hard to do, but I did take longer on them than I should have.
Overall, they were really helpful and useful.

Where Am I At?

I'm really liking the course and all the painting that were doing, its really nice to be able to paint in the middle of the day: )

For me the most challenging part of the course so far has definitely been with timing and being able to work at a pace that makes it so that I am able to finish my work on time. This has been hard for me to do because I'm so used to working at my own pace that changing is tough, but I'm working on it, so hopefully ill be able to get a little faster.

I feel that I have progressed over all in my actual painting abilities. Ive been painting a lot before this class started, but I feel like since I have been in class, Ive gotten better at it. I'm understanding how to use colors better and all the different tools and techniques which is really great because these skills will stay with me and Ill be a better painter outside of class. I'm really excited about the class, and I hope that Ill continue to progress.

Looking at paintings throughout history affects us as painters today because it shows us all of the different things that the painters before us went through, all of their different experiences, and because of seeing this we learn from the things that they did, we try to improve on the good things that they did, and try not to make the mistakes that they made. It also affects us as painters today because we can see how various styles of painting developed and this helps us understand out medium and even personal style better.