MIDTERM: GOOD & the VERY VERY BAD!

For our midterm rather than creating a portfolio, we were asked to pick our best and our worst piece to show our progress. WOW....I sure have improved in this class!

THE BAD!

It was almost difficult to choose my worst piece due to the fact that there were so many bad ones. In regards to this so called 'abstract cityscape' I was going for, I ask my self, "What is this?" In my early development of watercolor, I was really afraid of detail. I didn't understand how to make watercolor detailed. I felt like all I could do was big masses of shapes. I also got stuck on the idea of doing nothing but washes and and cool runs. This is all I would do. I wouldn't really go back in and add any detail. At the time a did this 'bad' image, I thought you could totally tell that it was a city skyline! YA...you definitely can't. When I first began doing watercolor I really enjoyed the process of working with the paint and brushes. Once I was finished with a piece I would step back and look at it and wonder, 'What in the world just happend? I thought this one was actually good!" Also, early on for some reason I didn't believe in drawing a scene in pencil first or using photographic references. I just kind of winged it and made things up. I DON'T KNOW WHY I WAS SO DUMB!

THE GOOD!

Now for something a little more pleasant to look at! I chose this piece because I felt like it was my first watercolor that really clicked. I wanted to try something different and just went for it. I based this whole image around the fact that I wanted to create some type of watercolor splatter. I wanted it to actually portray how expressive watercolor can be. I also felt like my figure was rendered very successful. I like how the beard and mouth turned out. I think the composition is fun. This watercolor was loose but still had structure. This whole time I have been fighting to not be so anal and loosen up with my brush strokes. I feel like I am finally getting it! Also, looking back at my early work you can tell that I was really afraid of color and water. I have learned that when dealing with watercolor you shouldn't necessarily try to blend every color perfectly together. I love how in watercolor you can see the fuzzed edge from color to color but it visually blends together.