AP Studio Art Concentration

So, to start off this blog, I thought I'd post my AP Studio Art Concentration. They're all self-portraits (so it's a good way to introduce myself) and they explore surface manipulation with several different types of media.

On my first one, I was just getting the hang of my concentration so it's not the best

My first palette knife portrait, and I loved it! 

My favorite out of all of them

First collage of paper with charcoal. You'll see the progress I made later in this post

My first pen and ink portrait. I love this media because of all the details you can do.

Second palette knife portrait

The "Fast-and-furious" piece, not my favorite.

This used the same reference as the previous piece but with a different take.

Colored pencil portrait. This one is not one of my favorites since I cut it, but I think it still looks nice. 

The last palette knife piece in this concentration.

Pastel over collaged newspaper.

My absolute least favorite. This was thankfully not included in my concentration to send.

Pastel on collaged charcoal paper. I tried to do something a little different this time.

A less traditional and more engaging portrait than usual. This was very fun to do.

And my last piece. I used watercolor, colored pencil, and acrylic paint (whew!)

I really loved finding new ideas for my concentration, even when I hit a wall at some points (like during the last half of my concentration). It was a great exploration for me as well. Generally, I love drawing and painting portraits and people but I didn't like exploring media as much. Because of my exploration, surface manipulation, I forced myself to used media in untraditional, unexpected ways. Even if the piece didn't come out like I wanted, I still learned about what did and didn't work. This exploration opened my eyes I guess; I'm less inclined to stay in my "comfort-zone" and more likely to branch out and do something different. It was a fun process and I would definitely do it again with another subject besides myself (I promise, I'm not vain!)

~~Kira