Reflecting on my summer work I realize that most of it was just trial and error; nothing went according to plan, but I like the end result. I made one painting that was very much “my style” at the beginning of summer and then I got bored so decided to go in a completely opposite direction. I challenged myself to combine painting and tie dye-glue mixture into a piece that did not have too much going on at once.
My general theme was heads; I created a blind contour painting of a person’s face, a silhouette and a skull. My work was idea driven, I got a general idea that one cannot judge a book by its cover and that it was all three of my pieces represent. I also challenged myself to work more realistically with this piece rather than abstract which is my comfort zone.
I spent a majority of my summer brainstorming in my sketchbook about this, I did not want to disappoint. Since this was summer work and not a normal classroom assignment I had to get all the materials myself and had my father help me build a frame and cut the plexiglass down to the proper size. It was very important to me to get all of this done so I would not be stressing the weekend before school started.
Painting on plexiglass was challenging, the paint did not want to stick to the surface so I had to sand the surface so it would be easier for the paint to stick. After I completed the painting of the skull and brain it was very important to me to put the glue and tie dye mixture on it; I taped off the brain so that no color would get anywhere else. The color kept overflowing and going off the tap onto the glass surface and I had to constantly keep cleaning it off. When it dried it went all over the tape so some parts I had to use an exact-o knife to cut it away, which was a difficult and annoying process.
This project provided me with a few ideas for a new series on plexiglass, but I still plan on painting my blind contour painting. I think with the series on plexiglass I want to paint more realistically and challenge myself to always somehow incorporate tie dye and glue into them. I also want to find a better way to hang my work because of how thick the plexiglass is.
I would give myself a high B with this project, I feel like I could have done more with the silhouette to create a more interesting piece. I did challenge myself with this so I do take into consideration that this was a hit or miss situation because I did not know how any of the materials would react with one another. The meaning behind my work “don’t judge a book by its cover,” I think I create many other paintings with this general theme.
My general theme was heads; I created a blind contour painting of a person’s face, a silhouette and a skull. My work was idea driven, I got a general idea that one cannot judge a book by its cover and that it was all three of my pieces represent. I also challenged myself to work more realistically with this piece rather than abstract which is my comfort zone.
I spent a majority of my summer brainstorming in my sketchbook about this, I did not want to disappoint. Since this was summer work and not a normal classroom assignment I had to get all the materials myself and had my father help me build a frame and cut the plexiglass down to the proper size. It was very important to me to get all of this done so I would not be stressing the weekend before school started.
Painting on plexiglass was challenging, the paint did not want to stick to the surface so I had to sand the surface so it would be easier for the paint to stick. After I completed the painting of the skull and brain it was very important to me to put the glue and tie dye mixture on it; I taped off the brain so that no color would get anywhere else. The color kept overflowing and going off the tap onto the glass surface and I had to constantly keep cleaning it off. When it dried it went all over the tape so some parts I had to use an exact-o knife to cut it away, which was a difficult and annoying process.
This project provided me with a few ideas for a new series on plexiglass, but I still plan on painting my blind contour painting. I think with the series on plexiglass I want to paint more realistically and challenge myself to always somehow incorporate tie dye and glue into them. I also want to find a better way to hang my work because of how thick the plexiglass is.
I would give myself a high B with this project, I feel like I could have done more with the silhouette to create a more interesting piece. I did challenge myself with this so I do take into consideration that this was a hit or miss situation because I did not know how any of the materials would react with one another. The meaning behind my work “don’t judge a book by its cover,” I think I create many other paintings with this general theme.
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