Lino Cutting

I was researching ideas when I came across elephant ideas. I really like the shape of elephants, also that you could do designs within them. I thought it would give me a chance to try many elements. I plan on doing an elephant and then shapes within it. I could also used different coloured paints, I think bright and tribal colours would look great. I could also expand on my project and add colour to the designs within.

Norval Morriseau

The power point mainly talked about how norval morrisseau paved the way for aboriginal artist' that focused on woodland art. He was also referred to as the Picasso of the north. His paintings had lines, colour, shapes, and spiritual meaning. It also showed his association to the group of seven and how he impacted them.

Morriseau was so important because he was the first traditional aboriginal artist. He also was the first to be so well known and reach that success. He faced the struggle of rejection and critics not understanding the spiritual meaning behind his paintings. He also struggled for providing for his family and often sold his paintings for food. He impacted Canadian art because he showed Canada new techniques, as well as a new out look and understanding of aboriginal art. 

Gothic cathedral

Our gothic cathedral did turn out successful because it included so many features . We also used the candy very creatively. If I were to do anything differently it would be to make it slightly bigger and 2 more towers. I did enjoy this project. I really liked the building and decorating process. 

Cathedral plans

Me and Hanna got inspiration from the Leon cathedral. We kept certain features such as the three arches in the front and back. We still included a rose window, two stain glass windows, four flying buttresses, and six pointed arches.

Calligraphy

I first started practicing calligraphy a week ago. It was very difficult at first but I used my time wisely and practiced. Keep your hand the right angle was hard for me and the detailed letters looked some what messy. I practiced different forms until I got comfortable. 

Once I was confident I decided to make a project out of it. I took a regular piece of blank white paper and dyed it using tea. 

You had to be careful to not rip the paper an be very delicate. 

I dried it using a hair blow dryer and crumpled it to make it look more aged. I still thought it could be darker so I dyed it once more to add to the effect. Once I was happy with the product I began to write using ink and a writing tool. I accidentally made two spelling mistakes and was unable to start over. I enjoy doing calligraphy because it makes me focus and have a lot of patience. I am very happy with the final product and this has been one of my more enjoyable projects.

Printmaking

I decided to do a small and simple project. I went with a snowflake to keep with the winter theme. I wanted to do a mixture of white and blue. However, it all mixed together and turned to a light blue which I was still happy with. I used black paper for a good contrast. I found printmaking quite easy and would like to learn more ways to do intricate designs. 

There was some smudges but for my first try I thought it went fairly well. 

Experimenting with printmaking

To first try out printmaking and practicing using the paint I rolled on white paint on a piece of glass. I did a thin layer and then using the tip of a pencil drew an eye. I found a contrasting piece of paper (black) and pushed it onto the paint. The eye came out somewhat smudged but it proved to be good practice. 

The eye before copied onto the paper:

The texture turned out very cool

Drawing

I have always enjoyed drawing, more specifically shading. I was excited to do my section of the portrait and chose one of the more difficult pieces to draw: the eyeball. I made a to-scale grid on my strip and the picture which made the proportions much easier to draw. I used Kleenex mostly to smudge and just a regular HB2 pencil. Sometimes it's easier to use simpler drawing tools. The pencil worked great as long as it was sharpened. Overall, I didn't find the task too challenging. I did find out it looked better and more realistic from greater distances. This project helped me realize what impact your perception of an art piece can have. 

Up close you can still see some grid lines, as much as I tried they were still visible.

From far away:

Final product of mosaics

To finish off my project I just had to remove the left over grout that had become stuck in the groves of some tiles. I found tools around the class room and worked on each tile individually. It was a very long process but worth it in the end showing huge differences. I also used a tooth brush to scrub and sand paper. I am very happy with the finish of my tree. I enjoyed doing mosaics very much. 

The before and after:

 The tools I used, they sometimes scratched the tile so you had to use the right amount of pressure.

The final product:

Grouting

Once I finished gluing it was time to move onto grouting so I did alittle tester one. I Glued a couple of left over pieces on scrap wood and the next did mixed a small amount of grout. I experimented with consistencies until I found one that worked the best. However, the grout looked a little crumby but I still moved on. I did the lower half first the grout came out the same as on my tester. I just did small portions at first learning as I went. By the time I reached the second half o my lower half I realized the grout dryed smoother if you let sit for about 10 minutes, no longer though or else it was too hard to scrape off. Even though you had to apply more pressure when removing the grout from on top of the tiles it looked much better and was worth it. I also found it was hard to remove the grout from tiles with texture and had yet to find a solution that would save me time . I re- grouted my first bumpy Half to make the whole lower section smooth. I re-grouted a lot of places even though it was time consuming two coats looked better in the long run.