Materials: India Ink, Oil Pastels, Chalk Pastels, Pastel Pencils, Watercolor, Charcoal Vine Charcoal
Size: 22×30 In.
Mixed Media Critique
I think the piece turned out well, but I think I could have done a little more. For the mixed media project I was more than a little nervous to use color. I am familiar with black and white materials because I find getting value out of those materials much easier than color. In the background I used India Ink for the background along with acrylic paint and pastel pencils to create the flowers. I used oil pastels, chalk pastels, charcoal stick, vine charcoal, India ink, and acrylic paint for my face and hair. The most successful parts of the piece would be the the middle two squares done in vine charcoal and the two left squares that capture the sides of my face.
I like how the chalk pastel and and the charcoal stick squares look, and I believe I was able to capture value with the chalk pastel. I also like the texture of my hair in two left squares. I am also a fan of the flowers in the background because I usually do not like painting at all and painting flowers was difficult, but in my opinion it turned out well. I like how the chalk pastel and and the charcoal stick squares look, and I believe I was able to capture value with the chalk pastel. I also like the texture of my hair in two left squares. I am also a fan of the flowers in the background because I usually do not like painting at all and painting flowers was difficult, but in my opinion it turned out well.
There is not a single element that I dislike, but I think the drawing as a whole could have been better. The squares fit nicely together and I think I did a good job of mixing the mediums and working with a nice medium in almost every square, but I wish I could have been more creative and free flowing with ideas and layout of the drawing. Looking at other portraits, I found that the parts that I liked most about their piece was the fact that they used did element to construct their face. For example using flowers for hair or words to build the image. While I feel like I did the assignment well, I also feel that I could have done a whole lot more and really just let go of the plans I had and be more open to discovery. Towards the end I realized this and layered on newspaper in a triangle to try to fill the space in a creative way, but even that I feel like I could have added some texture to it or did something more daring with it.
