Peggi Kroll Oil Pastel

From copying and examining the work of other artists, we can learn new techniques to use when we create art. From Peggi Kroll's art, I learned about mixing colors, mapping out my art piece, and painting in a painterly manner. Mapping is outlining the places for specific colors to be placed within art art piece. After this lesson, I learned that mapping is important in an art piece; that you should test mixed colors separately before placing them on your art work; that shadows don't have to be black; that highlights don't have to be white; and that painting doesn't have to be neat (it can be a bit sloppy). Mr. Gaudreau was trying to get us to understand the concept of a painterly art piece. He wanted us to see that art can be implied. In addition, he wanted us to understand how to mix colors. From Alla Prima Painting, I learned that an art subject can be implied. That colors should be mixed prior to painting, and that your paint strokes don't have to be smoothed out or covered. Line and shape were used in my art to map out my colors; mixed colors were used throughout the painting to bring it to life; space was used to create contrast with the subject and the background; texture was used throughout the whole subject matter to create a painterly art piece; and value was used for contrast within the subject. In a painting, painterly means painting an art piece without returning to the strokes to smooth them down. In a painterly painting, you should be able to count each brush stroke. While painting this oil pastel, I learned the importance of correctly mixing colors prior to applying color to your drawing. In addition, I learned that mapping within an art piece prior to painting can help you to correctly apply mixed colors within the painting.

Print

My goal in this art piece was to create a unique print in my own artistic style. I accomplished my goal through my inspiration of a linocut artist (who I am still trying to find the name of) I found while researching different linocut ideas. The most difficult challenge I had to overcome was drawing a simplistic version of my dog to cut for the print. I met this challenge by following the aforementioned artist's simplistic animal prints. I think that my print really works with the bold outline around Gracie. Through this project, I learned that great art doesn't have to be complicated. If I had a do-over I would fix how I cut out the eyes. It's barely noticeable, but I don't love that they are uneven. I feel like the background colors really made a great addition to what was originally going to be a black and white print and now the art really pops with the added contrast.