Final Portfolio: Exercises

Although I hated doing these at the time, I almost miss doing them (gasp!). I spent a good portion of my day yesterday re-doing several, and I had a really good day! I think they were a lot easier now that I have a better grasp on the techniques and feel more confident. But more on that later. Here are my 10 best from the semester:

No. 1: Line drawing. I was really pleased with the way the bridge turned out in this one!

No. 2: Digital painting. I've recently discovered a love for architectural elements. Maybe that's why I liked this one so much. The close-up of details on the Eiffel Tower look really nice against a pretty blue sky. This was as good as any of my digital painting ever got.

No. 3: Watercolor/line. This exercise was more of an experiment as I was running out of ideas of things to illustrate! I think this more stylized effect works well though! It's fun.

No. 4: Watercolor/painted line. I think this was my breakthrough piece. My "ah-ha!" moment. That isn't to say that I had everything figured out at this point. That was not at all the case! But this was a definite confidence boost. The monochromatic color palette really helped out I think, as well as the bigger original size. That let me stress about details without getting overworked or messy. But they look good at a reduced size too!

No. 5: Watercolor/line. I figured that since my first illustration with shoes was successful, I would try again! This time at a smaller scale, though. I also used a micron for my line work this time, just to punch it up a bit more. I was less concerned with details as well.

Half way there! (*deep breath*)

No. 6: Traditional watercolor/digital painting. This was was an interesting experiment. I started out with a traditional watercolor of a Christmas light display (I was in a festive mood). I painted all the lights first. But when I tried to add a glaze for a hint of darkness in the background....it was a miserable failed attempt. So, I threw it into Photoshop, with the initial thought being to just get rid of the wash. That just made it look even worse. So I decided to go all out and create a night scene behind the lights and make the lights glow a little more with some Photoshop magic. Voila!
No. 7: Watercolor/line: Look familiar? Yep, I also used this candle in my gouache montage. This time it has a different color scheme and technique though. I think this one turned out a lot better, too. The washes and lines are a lot looser, making it more effective, I think.

No. 8: Watercolor: I started running out of ideas, and needed something else to illustrate, so I started looking around me...what did I see?? Paintbrushes of course! I really like the handle on the brush...it even looks shiny in the right places! And of course, paint splotches were necessary for added effect.

No. 9: Watercolor/line. I thought this carpet pattern was really pretty, so of course, I snapped a picture of it. And of course, then, illustrated it. I was tempted to get really concerned with the details in all the intricate designs, but I think I did a good job at refraining and capturing the essence of them instead. And I love these colors! I stopped worrying about matching the colors from my photo references to the colors in my illustrations, so I started having a lot more fun with it.

No. 10: Watercolor/line. My parents were both country farm kids, so I have this love for the countryside and the interesting elements I see at my grandparents' houses that I don't see at home in the big city. This water pump was inspired by one of the hundreds of pictures I have from the country. I think this turned out really well. Though I didn't use line a lot in this illustration, I think it really helped to kick it up and add a little extra definition. And the water droplets are just fun!