Nature Still Life (what a guy SHOULD draw in a class full of "girly girls")

This soft chalk drawing of a self made nature still life is a work in progress this year in 11th grade Art IV. It is a drawing of a work glove reaching out to a set of leaves resting on crumpled newspaper, surrounded by a pine cone and a smashed up water bottle. Some insight and comments would be helpful on this one. Not quite sure about the composition.

Triptych

This oil on canvas is actually my first. It was intro to oil painting in 10th grade Art III. This is a sea landscape (or seascape) with a focus on texture using value. All of them have in common the rocky surface and crashing waves, along with the greenish-blue color of the water. The top one of the triptych needs a bit of work. The rock could use a bit more of something. It doesn't quite look like a rock formation. The waves need a bit of work, as does the sky. The middle one is the one I enjoy the most. Could use a bit more work in the rocks and the water too. The last one is tricky too. It needs more work in the rocks but the water needs the most work. The sky in this one is neat.

Stringed Bass

This is a soft chalk still life drawing of a stringed bass with drapery from tenth grade Art III. The overall piece has a good composition and use of value/contrast in my opinion. The drapery has use of sharp contrast and smooth value changes too. The only part I'm not too fond of is the left side of the piece, in particular, the bottom where the drapery is at. There is not enough contrast in that part to make it look like drapery but I didn't know how to make it look like drapery while at the same time adding a bit of darkness to it. My favorite part would have to be the big curve in the drapery.

Azteca

This one is my first official collage from 9th grade Art II. I definitely like this one. With this one, I obviously used my Mexican culture and background as a center of focus and influence. It is an acrylic on masonite board. It is an Aztec temple surrounded by mountains in the background and taxi cabs in the front. I see that it needs a bit more work as well. The mountainous range in the back could use a more definite contrast. The top of the temple needs more color and value. I like how the repetition of the gray cutouts of an old building help to make the overall temple have some sort of value. The taxi cabs look cool in contrast to the gray behind them. The bottom was supposed to be grass but there are parts where the grass doesn't have enough contrast to make it look like grass. It looks flatter than it should be and seems to be under the whole piece.

Peaches

This one is the earliest I have from 9th grade Art II. It is an acrylic on canvas of peaches in a bowl. This one I would like to continue to work on because I know there are lots of things wrong with it. Composition wise, I think it is ok. The colors are good too. The value definitely needs a bit more work, especially at the bottom. I definitely like the background and foreground in this piece. The simple brownish color of the background is essential for the values of the foreground.

Okay so here is some of my artwork. These pieces range from the fields of drawing, painting, and mixed and as few as there may be, are some of my best projects. Also, they are chronologically listed from grade to grade, with the top being ninth grade and the bottom being the most recent, eleventh grade. I apologize in advance if the pictures aren't clear enough. :)

On the first day,...

I created this blog. Just a simple art blog so others can stop in and hopefully do some intense critiques of my work, helping me in setting up an awesome portfolio for next year. Will post pics soon. Thanks for visiting.