Concentration #6

Clearly this is one of my weaker pieces at the moment. I plan on continuing the pattern at the top throughout the piece to make it a little less distracting. I then plan to bring the black up more so that the patterning in the background fades into black so that the fern fronds in front stand out more. I realize this piece needs some work. I feel that is I take the time to sit down, play around, and experiment with this, I would finish with a really interesting work.

My plan was to design a realistic fern in the foreground of the piece and then have an abstract fern design that I repeated throughout the background. I used a combination of watercolors, water soluble crayons, and markers to create this piece.

Since I plan on continuing this piece, any advice would be helpful :)

Concentration #5

This piece is quite different than my other concentration pieces while still having a visual connection to the whole concentration. I wanted to create a piece with a stronger exaggeration on abstraction this time and chose to make the subjects pine cones. While studying a branch of real pine cones, I noticed the repetition of the shapes that make up the cone. I planned to focus on these shapes and try to break them apart while still hinting at the real object. With black acrylic paint I created the negative space around and woven inbetween the "petals" of the cones. From there, I used a combination of watercolor and Sharpie markers to fill in the white spaces with interesting designs and patterns. Continuing with the human element, I included images of the human body with my designs. The piece turned out very bold and almost hectic, but it gives the feel that nature is alive and pulsating. I'm unsure if I like the silver marks I created around the objects, so let me know what you think. :)

Concentration #4

Here is my fourth concentration piece. Continuing my theme of abstracting nature, I created this on water color paper with similar mixed media I have used for my past works. I started off with a watercolor base by using water soluble crayons, layered acrylic paint and went back in to redefine my shapes with colored Sharpies. There is a fairly large amount of contrast and a wide value range throughout. The mood gives an almost busy, fast paced feel, as if the water in the stream is rushing to get somewhere. The choppy surface of the water and the swaying water plants give it a sense of rhythm and movement while the similar shapes throughout the piece add a sense of repetition. The human figure that can be seen in the plants helps to abstract the work. The idea of reality is conveyed above the water, but below it seems a bit more dreamy and unreal. To further the differences between the air and water, I used warm, light coloring above the surface while beneath the surface I chose to use cool, deep colors. I would love to hear any comments or advice because I know this piece could be improved! In this upcoming week, I am going to try to redefine my concentration statement to make it more specific and clear to the viewer. Thanks :)