In this assignment, I had to create a self-portrait. I wanted to use my style of nature related photos to communicate my need for tranquility, seeing that nature often symbolizes tranquility. In this piece, I created a collage using various magazine photos of nature along with a photo of myself that I printed, cut using an x-acto knife, and pasted in the lower part of my piece off center. I used multiple landscapes of nature to show a variety of value, texture, shape, and color from the way I cut and layered them while still relating the color scheme to the photo of myself. In addition, I desired to create some contrast within the piece, so I also added some magazine pieces of white values and didn't fill the whole paper with collage to not only balance the piece, but also to represent calmness in another way. I cut the photo of myself into several parts and pasted them equally separate to represent me currently being "apart" and not tranquil. Both the values in the photo of myself and the space I created between the different parts of myself brought emphasis to myself, the focal point. In addition, it developed more movement in the piece. Generally, I am satisfied with this piece and find it to be successful, although I wish the colors in the photo of myself did not come out as dull as they did. I also feel that my craftsmanship could be better. The process of creating this piece was a mixture of stressful but also fun! Although I tend to not really enjoy creating self-portraits, it was a new experience to create a collage that incorporated a printed photo that I cut. I believe that this assignment was quite challenging but also very rewarding for me to do. I definitely intend to include collage into more of my pieces in the future!

Artist Statement: The different aspects of nature have always been fascinating to me. Nature is often symbolic of tranquility and freedom. As a result, I wanted to represent myself by displaying not only my interest in nature, but also exhibiting my need for serenity and freedom at this time in my life.

In this assignment, I had to choose a phrase that describes one of my habits that I should try and change and convey it through a collage incorporating a photo or drawing that is printed on cloth as well as paper collage and embroidery. The phrase I chose to convey was "Living in our heads" because it was one of the things listed that I do the most. In this piece, there is a print of the photo I took on the cloth of the model, Kristyn, looking down, as if she is lost in her thoughts and unaware of "reality" off center. Above her, there is a paper collage, representing the "world" she has created in her head that she's thinking of. Keeping to my own personal style, I used more nature related photos, cutting them into various geometric shapes and sizes to create more variety of space, texture, and value in my composition and make one's eyes move around the piece without taking away emphasis from the focal point, Kristyn. Also, I wanted to display the different aspects of the "world" the model has created in her mind. There is a border of yellow embroidery, representing a "bright reality" and developing contrast between the border and both the blue cloth and paper collage. Despite having to re-shoot photos and having a somewhat difficult time with the embroidery, I am very satisfied with the end result. I feel that this piece is balanced and one of the strongest and most creative pieces I have made this year, although my craftsmanship could be better. While this wasn't my first time creating a mixed media piece, this was my first time doing embroidery and using the ink and cloth I did for my print. This was an extremely fun and helpful assignment that made me have new experiences and helped me become more comfortable with constructing mixed media pieces. I would definitely want to do an assignment similar to this or using the same materials in the future!

For these collages, I wanted to really show my own style of photos I enjoy taking the most, so I used photos of nature/landscapes, cities, and architecture. In my first monochromatic collage, I used a variation of greens to create more texture and space without making the collage seem too crowded. I used more toned down greens rather than bright greens, which helped develop a more calm and mysterious tone. In my second monochromatic collage, I focused on shape and value. I wanted to create a serene mood, and bring more attention to the darker blues. In my third monochromatic collage, I focused on line, shape, and texture. This piece had a gloomy and modern vibe to it. I also used a lot of text. Out of these collages, I feel that my green monochromatic collage is the most successful because it feels the most balanced, using the rule of thirds and a good range of values. In my blue monochromatic collage, I think it could be a lot stronger if I didn't put some of the text in the piece because the text took attention away from my focal point. After seeing the piece completed, I realized that the texts "Modern on the Inside" and "interview" were somewhat unnecessary. In my gray monochromatic collage, I feel that it's too heavy in the top of the piece and needs less focused information. Using less text would make the piece more balanced or using the text in a different part of the piece could have also made it stronger. It's kind of difficult to distinguish the focal point. In my quilt collage, I used a larger range of colors but I feel that they balance each other out because some are more toned down while others are more bold. I also used text in this piece but I feel that it was just the right amount, and didn't take away from the other aspects of the collage. They created more contrast, texture, and made you look around the piece. Generally, I think this was a successful piece. These collages were really fun to do! I think it'd be great to do more collages and I feel that these exercises have really helped me learn a lot. 

For this assignment, I had to explore the theme of music. I wanted to convey how various genres of music can make people feel different emotions. To accomplish this, I used the studio and took photos of Lorena, the model in this photo, while Elisa played songs from different genres so I could capture Lorena's responses to the songs. I had never used the studio before and was kind of hesitant on doing it, but I really wanted to get out of my comfort zone with this project and have new experiences to create the results I desired. In this photo, there is the focal point, Lorena, and a few of her natural reactions to the songs she heard. You can see how she was really happy during a song and was very expressive while singing along to another song. She's not directly centered, following the rule of thirds. In this photo, there's a not a lot of space and a little bit of texture, but a large range of values due to changing the opacity and layering the photos, which is something I had never done before using Photoshop. Although it was quite challenging to edit the photo the way I wanted to, I'm pretty happy with the results. There's also a lot of shapes formed, making your eye travel around the image. The pattern in Lorena's shirt creates more contrast. I feel that this image is generally successful, although cropping the image differently may make the piece stronger.

For my bookmark, I wanted to create a simple composition using a limited color palette while still experimenting with multiple materials. First, I rolled on ink in the background to develop texture and have a larger range of values. I chose to use black ink because I also plan to incorporate black and white photographs into my book and I wanted to have a sense of unity between the bookmark and actual book. In addition, I added circles that vary in thickness to fill up the space and make your eye move around the piece. I drew a leaf using ink to relate to the photograph I took, below the leaf, of the lake, and to relate to the overall theme of my book which is looking at the relationship between nature and the city. The last thing I did to the background was add some watercolor drips to create more contrast and lead your eye to the focal point, my photograph. I positioned my photograph off center, over layers of thin paper that created more patterns and contrast to make the piece more interesting to look at and follow the rule of thirds. Overall, I'm satisfied with the result. To further relate to my book's theme, I believe that I could possibly add an image of the city I've taken.

In this assignment, I had to convey a phrase I say a lot through a picture. The phrase I chose to convey is "I'm exhausted." In this image, there's Jordan and Adrean off center on our school's campus. This photo was taken near the shade, which created more contrast as well as more emphasis on the focal point, Jordan, due to the large range of values the photo has. Having Jordan closer to the camera also helped to bring more emphasis to him, with the scale of him being bigger than his surroundings such as the trees and buildings, showing more space. It also adds a variety of shapes to the image and creates movement. Jordan actually looked tired without me telling him anything about the assignment. As a result, I took this photo with Adrean and Jordan in their natural state, caught off guard. Adrean looks more energetic and lively compared to Jordan, which somewhat helps to convey my message. In fact, they weren't aware that I took this photo until I told them. I think this photo has a strong message that you really have to think about. I think not having Adrean in this photo could strengthen my message and help to focus even more on my focal point. I also think that having a higher contrast would make the photo more interesting. Although I believe that this image is successful in some ways due to the range of values and high contrast, I believe it could be a lot stronger had I retaken the photo without Adrean in it.

This project involved using the elements and principles of design to create a piece inspired by Zeke Berman's work, using a black background as well as string. In this image, I used a water container with cucumbers in it as the focal point, placing it towards the left and not directly centered to have an interesting composition, creating more contrast, bringing more emphasis to it, and showing more variation in space by having cucumbers in the container. I also used cucumbers in the background, attaching them to the string, to create movement in the piece and show a variety of lines and shapes created between the lines as well as make the viewer think but not take away from the focal point. In addition, I used a tape roll in the piece to balance out the piece more and show a larger variety of shapes and forms. There is a good range of values in this piece and keeping the piece simpler helps to focus more on the feeling I was trying to convey of calmness and serenity as well as being open, playful, and free. The photograph has a somewhat strong message, although I believe it could be stronger. To strengthen my message, taking out the tape roll may help due to it possibly confusing the viewer or focusing more on the water container may help as well. Overall, I believe this image was successful for multiple reasons such as an interesting composition, large range of values, as well as simplicity of the piece.

My assignment was to roam around my neighborhood and capture moments that stand out to me or are unique, things that you don't see everywhere. I was in the car when I noticed that this home had a bunch of cacti planted next to a bush of flowers. I thought it was different. I'd never seen homes near me with cacti planted let alone homes with cacti and flowers around it. I always pass by this home on the way to school as well as on the way home, but had never noticed beforehand all the cacti. I was surprised when I saw the photograph because I was questioning myself as to how I didn't pay too much attention to all of my surroundings before. The piece is organized by including part of the home in the upper right hand corner as well as including the backyard around the middle of the photo, but not directly in the middle to create an interesting composition and show the various textures and values of the plants, ground, and fences. This photograph shows the contrast of the bush on the right to the bricks next to it as well as the home behind it, which helps with seeing the space and giving more emphasis to the focal point, the cacti and bush. The message I was trying to communicate was how there are so many things around us that are unique to us that we might see as we go along our days, although we tend not to pay attention to them that often because we are all busy or rushing, living our lives. Paying attention to the little things in our lives can make an impact on our day and change how we view the world and our surroundings, helping us appreciate them more. I believe this image was successful, especially with the range of values along with the contrast helping to make the photograph stronger, although zooming in on the bush and cacti or using a different angle could strengthen my message.