Mexican American
1. Define which techniques you tried and mastered? Struggled?
I used Acrylic for my medium for this project, the one thing I somewhat struggled with was layering the colors. The colors went on very sheer and so I had to layer some of them quite a bit to get a good intensity. The main thing I struggled with would have to be doing the stars and sketching the eagle, they were hard for me because I can't really draw a good start shape without it being lopsided so when I painted them on they were a little unprecised. The eagle was definitely that hardest thing of the whole painting due to its shape and shadows, drawing it to where it wasn't crammed was really difficult because the canvas in itself was small to begin with so drawing it to have enough space was something I tried really working on, but I managed to get a good amount of space for the eagle and got it to look somewhat like it does on the flag.
2. How did you draw inspiration from other artists techniques or aesthetics in your work? In what ways did you derive meaning or gain historical perspectives from their work? Why these artists?
I didn't really derive any inspiration from artist on this piece.
3. Describe the evolution of your piece. Decisions made. Compositional elements.
My piece originally started as a blank canvas, I originally thought of just painting the Mexican Flag but then got the idea of doing it Half Mexican And Half American because it would something that related more to my theme than the other one would. I started of by drawing a line to split the middle, I decided I would do the Mexican Flag first because I identify as Mexican more than American; I then drew another line in the middle of the left section, I began to sketch out the eagle in the middle section. I tried matching the curves, lines and textures of it but it was a little difficult because there wasn't much space to work with, I then moved on to the American Flag side and began to draw the box for the stars and the lines for the red and white stripes. After that was done I decided to pain them, I started painting the stripes first, so I went from the green stripe to the red and white stripes; I ended the painting with painting the eagle and cactus and then a dark line to split both up.
4. If you could consider doing something over, explain why you would do this and what you would do next time?
If I could do something over again I would maybe change the medium so the colors look more intense or change the brands I have for the acrylic paint, and change the size of the canvas. I would change the size because I would like to try to sketch the eagle again and have it actually look like the eagle on the flag.
5. Elaborate on how this piece links with your other pieces? What is the common thread?
This piece links to my other pieces because its a piece that links with my culture which happens to be my common thread. I somewhat wanted this piece to be like the dreamers piece only not have the problematic aspect of it, I wanted this to represent what most of my people identify as while being the United States.
I used Acrylic for my medium for this project, the one thing I somewhat struggled with was layering the colors. The colors went on very sheer and so I had to layer some of them quite a bit to get a good intensity. The main thing I struggled with would have to be doing the stars and sketching the eagle, they were hard for me because I can't really draw a good start shape without it being lopsided so when I painted them on they were a little unprecised. The eagle was definitely that hardest thing of the whole painting due to its shape and shadows, drawing it to where it wasn't crammed was really difficult because the canvas in itself was small to begin with so drawing it to have enough space was something I tried really working on, but I managed to get a good amount of space for the eagle and got it to look somewhat like it does on the flag.
2. How did you draw inspiration from other artists techniques or aesthetics in your work? In what ways did you derive meaning or gain historical perspectives from their work? Why these artists?
I didn't really derive any inspiration from artist on this piece.
3. Describe the evolution of your piece. Decisions made. Compositional elements.
My piece originally started as a blank canvas, I originally thought of just painting the Mexican Flag but then got the idea of doing it Half Mexican And Half American because it would something that related more to my theme than the other one would. I started of by drawing a line to split the middle, I decided I would do the Mexican Flag first because I identify as Mexican more than American; I then drew another line in the middle of the left section, I began to sketch out the eagle in the middle section. I tried matching the curves, lines and textures of it but it was a little difficult because there wasn't much space to work with, I then moved on to the American Flag side and began to draw the box for the stars and the lines for the red and white stripes. After that was done I decided to pain them, I started painting the stripes first, so I went from the green stripe to the red and white stripes; I ended the painting with painting the eagle and cactus and then a dark line to split both up.
4. If you could consider doing something over, explain why you would do this and what you would do next time?
If I could do something over again I would maybe change the medium so the colors look more intense or change the brands I have for the acrylic paint, and change the size of the canvas. I would change the size because I would like to try to sketch the eagle again and have it actually look like the eagle on the flag.
5. Elaborate on how this piece links with your other pieces? What is the common thread?
This piece links to my other pieces because its a piece that links with my culture which happens to be my common thread. I somewhat wanted this piece to be like the dreamers piece only not have the problematic aspect of it, I wanted this to represent what most of my people identify as while being the United States.