Letter Project Reflection

1)Describe your process when creating your letter project. How was the process helpful or not so helpful to you?

I started the project with twenty thumbnail sketches at which I chose two to draw on half a sheet of paper.  I then asked people of which on they like more and because my other design did not look like my letter, I chose the one I created for my final. For the final piece, I created a boarder and sketched a basic "P" shape on a piece of copy paper. I then put that piece of copy paper under the tagboard and placed it on a window so the light will allow me to trace the "P" as for the final piece. I started lightly sketching the scene on the tagboard because I did not want harsh outlines, I wanted the colors to create each part of the piece not the outlines. I especially did not want the the outline of the "P" to show because I wanted the scene to make up the "P." Afterwards, I used water color to color the piece and layers light background colors with darker colors. Lastly I used color pencils to add details to make the scene more vivid and erased the boarders to complete the piece. The overall process was helpful in that I worked my way toward the final piece and each step was done in order, for example, I made sure I sketch everything before painting and painted before I used color pencils. However, one particular part of the process that I did not find as helpful was drawing the twenty thumbnails. When I was thinking about this project I knew my concept and the basic ideas. But other than the two or three thumbnails I was sure I would choose from, I also had to think of thumbnails that I drew but knew I would not use which took up some time.
2) How did you arrive with your concept/idea for your letter? How did you represent this concept visually in your design? (Give 2 examples)
I thought of my letter before me concept because I felt that what I related to my letter was unique. I chose a "P" because it was the first letter in personality and I feel like I have a weird personality, and not in the good way. I'm not quirky or jolly all the time, rather I am an introvert. It takes me a long time to warm up to someone and when I am in an area of many people, I something just want peace and quiet. And what brought me peace and quiet was nature; I feel that nature is a part of the world taken for granted because it gives me a rush of peace. Although I have never sat on grass and looked out to a river or pond I, imagine that to be a great scene to enjoy some peace, away from the busy city. I chose the scene to be a night view because I feel night brings more relaxation to me that the morning. For the morning is bright and busy with life where at night, its cool and quiet all around. Even animals awake at that time seem more at peace. I represented this concept both through color and my use of watercolor. The colors I chose were all the cool colors like blue, green, and gray. There were no reds or yellows in my piece which helps convey the calm emotion which is part of my personality. I used watercolor because I feel like watercolor brings a softer color. the water can easily create a very soft color so that I can layer colors on top of it. Also I feel like it was because I used watercolor that when you stand far from my piece that you really see the entire scene and not each stroke of the paintbrush form up close.
3) What was the most challenging aspect of this project for you? Why?
I feel like the most challenging aspect of this project was using the watercolor. Although at the end I feel that I was able to create a decent piece with the watercolor and was able to create the piece imagined, I had difficulty controlling where each color would go. For example, when I added to much water, when it went on my paper, it did spread which I had to quickly soak up, I also has trouble filling in details with the watercolor. For example, it was difficult for me to fill in the lines between clouds to create the outlines of the clouds which I had to pay much attention to and later ended up creating some details with color pencils.
4) Are you satisfied with your project? Explain your answer.
I am satisfied with me overall project in that I successfully created a piece and am able to convey the calm and relaxing emotion that I wanted to convey. This is because I felt my use of color choices were was suitable for my conept. One thing I am not satisfied with is not being careful enough with the watercolor. As I answered for the last question, I found the watercolor hard to handle and therefore did make a mark on my paper, If I was more knowledgeable about watercolors and more careful with them , I would have had a piece with 100% clean borders.
5) If you can change anything about your design, what would you change or do differently?
If I were to do something differently next time, I would be more careful with the watercolors. I feel that in that way I would be able to paint a scene that has clean boarders and therefore a cleaner presentation. I would do this by make sure I do not try to rush and flick my brush my accident more use appropriate brushes for clearer and more vivid images.