Long board Final ReviewProcess
After practicing my design, and analyzing it at several angles I finally came to the conclusion of choosing this design as my finished product. The way I constructed this design was by first cutting out the outline of the owl. After that I made a cut out of the lines that I would later want to be black on the owl to emphasize the movement and feathers on the owl. It took 4 pieces of small acetate paper, and 1 large piece of acetate paper to completely finish the cut outs of my owl. The equipment used were small exact o knives that were easily handled in small spaces. After all the stenciling had been done I decided to start my first practice design, using the somewhat natural colours of a real owl. I proceeded to redo my owl with a different colour palette every time, and had amazing discoveries. I would start by placing the colours and value of the owl in the large cut out, then use the small cutouts to create the black lines. Once i had finished my 3 designs of the owl I decided to choose the blue one. I then painted the owl onto my actual board with ease knowing that I've painted it several times.
Changes
My final design was a lot different from what I intended my design to actually look like on the board. In my head I saw myself using the natural colours on my board, but after doing my second design and experimenting with some outrageous colours I came across the perfect design. I decided to bring in the red eyes from design one into design 2 because i liked the look of red eyes on the owl. Overall it was nothing like what I expected ,but it was a good surprise rather than a sad one. Colour was the major influence of my decisions when choosing a design.
Elements and Principles of Design
The principle of design that i struggled with the most during this design process was balance. It was very hard to fit the owl in the small narrow space and it required a lot of shifting of the acetate paper. The element of design that was a hassle to deal with was space. I left a bit of wood, but at some times it felt like it was a bad choice. Then after a few minutes I would look at my board again and think it was a good choice, it was a hard one to deal with, but in the end I got used to it and decided to leave some empty space. Colour obviously played a big role in my design, and so did value. I wanted to focus on those 2 the most because it captures my eyes when I see designs that are rich in colour. The black lines I placed personally created some movement in the piece. It made the design feel like it wasn't just taped to the board but rather be shifting a bit.
Equipment
Equipment used during this design process made things at times strenuous, but the stress subsided after a while. It just took a lot of practice to get used to the equipment . Using stencils to design the owl made the lines very sharp, but curvy at some parts if not done right. The sponge created a large surface area of paint and to get into the small areas it required patience and focus. The materials used to do this design job took a while, but in the end they produced positive results and I am happy to learn new ways to create art.
Conclusion
In conclusion I enjoyed this unit and I enjoyed the change of ideas from my original design. I appreciated learning the new ways of painting, and the chance to maybe ride my own board that I made myself one day. This is arguably one of my most favourite art units of all time and I wish I could do it again.
