When we began the park illustration unit, we watched a video which showed a man starting from scratch, then drawing with a pencil, using water colours, and then using coloured pencils. This gave us an idea of what water colour painting is like.
In the second class we tested 10 different water colour techniques, I improved well in the area because I got to practice precision with the brush, and painting styles. In the next class, we got our art books and black sharpies, went out to the park, chose a spot to draw, and we drew. By the end of that class, I was almost done with most of the outlines. I improved a lot in realistic drawing because this was one of my best drawings in terms of realism, and clarity. The next class we did the same, just drew. But the class after that, we had to start drawing in with colour pencils. For me, it was quite a lot easier to draw in, than to outline the shapes and such. I don’t think I improved much in the aspect of colouring in with colour pencils. In the last class, we placed a border around the painting with masking tape, we put 4 different painting styles around the 4 sides, and we added a little bit of something to our paintings. This, once again helped me with my precision because the borders were pretty tight, and it gave me a chance to use some techniques we learn’t about.
Well, one of my partners told me that the painting was not as clear as it could be. So I tried to draw in more clearly in some areas. Bold out important parts, like the large lamp at the right centre, and I also tried to make the ground less, squiggly. My teacher told me that the rocks that I drew, had good outline, and she could tell that they were rocks, even if drawn only with sharpie. I built upon that by trying to draw in the rock with a little bit of shading, and the closest colour pencil colour there was.
If I were to make this painting again, I guess I would try using water colour first, before colour pencil. I think this would help me in many ways. 1: If you try to use water colour on top of colour pencil, then due to the fact that coloured pencil is kind of waxy, the water colour will just float there in blobs. 2: I could have easily drawn the colours first, then draw in the texture with the coloured pencils. 3: I could have used some more water colour techniques on the painting, like splatter for an area that had small stains splattered everywhere. 4: It would be more visually aesthetic, and possibly more interesting.