Illustrator

I recently had the opportunity to try Adobe Illustrator for my ART 101 class. Our assignment was to create a watercolor portrait from a photograph that showed depth and detail. 

We used this online tutorial as our guide: Illustrator Watercolor Tutorial. 

At first I had a very difficult time learning all the tools Illustrator had to offer, but once I got the hang of it I really enjoyed creating this piece. I am very please with the way my final piece turned out, what do you think? 

Photoshop

I recently had my first encounter with Photoshop and a lot of its features. I had never used it before besides the simple editing options such as to boost the contrast of a photo or apply a filter. I had never played around with the layers in conjunction with these options, so I was intrigued to try. My assignment was to create a self portrait which contained: 

-one scanned part of physical self

-one hand drawn element

-three objects

This is my final piece, can you tell which objects I used, which part of my physical self is present, and which element I drew?

Just Keep Swimming

Over the weekend, I visited the National Aquarium of Baltimore downtown. It is one of my all-time favorite places to go! This time I was lucky enough to take some high-quality images of the fish and other creatures. Needless to say, the brightly colored fish are the most appealing to me. I know I want to do something with these photos, but I'm not sure what yet! Even using them as inspiration for an art project of some sort. Which ones are you favorites?  

Cardboard and Craft Paper Relief

In my 3D Processes class, our first major project was to create a relief sculpture out of cardboard and craft paper. The requirements of this project were the following:

- a combination of high, middle, and low relief

- 8 1/2 x 11 base

- 4in. at its highest point

- cardboard and glue only

- covered in craft paper

I wanted to create something that reflected my personality! (very feminine and girly :)) I put a great deal of time and energy into this project, what do you think?!

Flower Arrangements

 As a continuation of my obsession with flowers, here are a few of my favorite flower arrangements that I have created. I love adding unexpected things such as the avocados and the dried unknown honeycomb looking things. The first pink and green one is my most recent and my current favorite! It was a gift for a little boutique where I live. The green vase was a great find at TJ Maxx and I think the combination of pink hydrangea, peonies, dogwood, and tropical flowers make it a fun and girly piece! 

Longwood Gardens

At the begining of August on my 21st birthday, I took a trip to Longwood Gardens up in Pennsylvania. And even though the heat was unbearable, the flowers made it worth it! I was able to snatch a shot of another cute little bumble bee. I love photographing insects; I find them fascinating. Has anyone ever been to the gardens there before? The greenhouses that house the orchids and other tropical flowers are definitely worth the drive!

Simply Sunflowers

At the end of summer for the past few years, there have been an abundance of sunflower fields covering the countrysides of Maryland. I can never help myself but to stop and photograph these striking landscapes. This is one of my favorite shots of a cute little bee stopping to smell the roses, or sunflowers for that matter. Isn't it amazing how beautiful these flowers are? And their seeds are pretty yummy too!