Obsese Chipmunk

 

This projects assignment was to create a sculpture of a fat animal out of white clay. Loving the naturally chubby cheeks of the chipmunk, I was humored by the idea of exaggerating the fatness of the chipmunk. It took many tries to form the hollow body of the chipmunk. At first, I tried in vain to create two pinch pots and stack them one on top of the other; this failed due to the inconsistency in thickness of the clay walls. Next, I tried to use a small bowl as a mold, however the bowl turned out to be too big. Finally, based upon Mrs. Rossi's suggestion, I took a big ball of clay and simply began to carve in the shape; using carving tools, I hollowed out the chipmunk after I was finished. In the chipmunk's mouth is a nut. The largeness in the belly and arms are greatly exaggerated, which foil the tiny feet and tail. I used an exacto knife to create the texture of the fur. After drying and firing the chipmunk, I painted it using acrylic paint and a clear glaze over top in order to create the shine. I decided to use acrylic paint to be able to have more specific colors; glaze is harder control exact colors. The acrylic was irritating to use at first because colors I didn't intend on blending would blend. This project was a success mainly because it did not explode in the kiln, which was my biggest fear. Also the I was able to portray the chipmunk with more fat than the average chipmunk. If I were to do this project again, I would make the nose smaller and would center the stripes on the chipmunk's back more accurately.

Distortion Project

The project assignment was distortion. Building off of my swimming background, I was intrigued with the idea of breaking an old pair of goggles and taking a picture through them. The top left picture is the picture I took at my swimming pool, TAC. Assuming that breaking a pair of goggles would be easy, I lightly hit the goggle with a hammer. For those of you how have never had the pleasure to experience breaking a pair of goggles with a hammer, let me inform you, it is hard. I ended up having to slam the hammer down onto the goggles, outside on the pavement. Of course goggles have two eye pieces, however the second eye piece's plastic did not break as neatly as the first. This being my first time using PrismaColors, I was slightly apprehensive. I learned quickly that you had to press down hard, and blend as many colors as you can. In my draft, the picture on the top right, I darkened the goggle too quickly, and wasn't able to lighten it again. Learning from my mistake, on my final piece I started out with a very light blue, and then gradually darkened areas. Another area of the draft piece that i needed to improve on was the girl in the foreground. Improving the shape in the final piece, I was able to successfully create the illusion that she was partly on her side under water. After finishing all of the blending of the colors, I went through with a white gel pen to highlight all of the bright whites.

There is a deeper meaning behind the broken goggle. For any young swimmer, the golden dream is to become an Olympic swimmer; as swimmers mature throughout their swimming careers, reality kicks in that though hard work plays an important role, there are physical factors that factor in such as height and wing span. Though these young, high goals are awesome and motivating to young swimmers, there is the backlash of reality once you reach the age around 13-16. The broken goggle symbolizes the shattering of the illusion that if you work hard enough, you will make it to the Olympics. In the background, there are young swimmers, though that just happened to be a happy accident. The goggle is very clear and detailed, contrasting with the less detailed background, drawing attention to the goggle. I think this piece was a success. I like how the goggle in the foreground is brighter than the rest of the piece so that it popped. Also, I think I did a good job at creating the shape of the background. If I were to do this piece over again, I would have taken more time on the background, especially the side of the pool deck, and the light refection on the pool deck from the water. I really enjoyed working with PrismaColors, and how smoothly the colors blend together. For a beginner working with PrismaColors I would recommend that you start off with lighter colors. It is easier to go from light to dark, than dark to light.