Intro to Painting Course
Learning to paint with acrylics this semester was quite the adventure. I had only ever tried to paint with acrylics once in high school, a black and white self-portrait. So developing different techniques as well as an understanding of color was completely new and exciting for me!
The first in-depth project we worked on was an abstract study of an object and complementary colors. I chose a knife, blue and orange. The most fun I had during this project was creating the chromatic grays, I had never created color in that way before.
The next series we worked on was a study of fruit still lives. I was much more interested in this than the abstract nature of the prior project. There were quite a few moments where I felt like I had no idea what I was doing in terms of blending the paint and using brushstroke which was a little scary, but I pushed through any feelings of insecurity. I liked working from still life as I could try to match the colors I was seeing in the fruit to the colors of the paint. I felt myself grow so much during the series of three paintings, in both technical skill but more importantly in confidence. At the time of creating those paintings I was very proud of the final product, looking back now I am more critical. If I think I could do better now I should definitely try again at some point and see how it goes.
The next piece I worked on was a huge leap of faith into a completely different subject. I created a photoshop composition inspired by the works of Magritte and I painted based on many different source images. It was an interesting transition from complete realism to fantasy, but I think it set me up very well for my final project.
Prior to my final project, I wanted to work from real life again to try to experiment more with technique, which I did through my carousel painting. Painting can be both frustrating and miraculous, while I was working on this painting it seemed like it would never come together, but slowly and surely over time, the colors began to create depth in the image.
My final project was a huge breakthrough for me, mostly because I really enjoyed working on it. I loved creating the skin tones, depth, and shadows, it felt like carving more than painting. I have worked on many images involving the body being pierced by ribbons so it was natural to me to paint this image. I am also glad I added clouds, it brought the whole painting together. It reminds me of some of the photoshop work I did earlier in 2017.
Inspired by how much fun I had painting my face and body I did a study as well as another fanciful painting independent of my class.
I am so thankful that Jeffrey was my painting instructor. He was always very encouraging and pushed me in a positive way that was crucial to give me the confidence I needed to continue painting.
