Minimalist Fashion

 Grunge Fashion

 Flapper Fashion

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These are my 6th, 7th, and 8th concentration pieces representing Minimalist, Grunge, and Flapper (1920s) fashion. At this point I think that I have improved in my ability to create simplistic and successful designs. Especially with the Flapper piece, I think that my use of detail looked more intentional than it did in previous pieces, and overall I think that I am in a good place for moving forward and finishing my concentration.

 Victorian Fashion

 Disco Fashion

Old Hollywood Fashion

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These are my 3rd, 4th, and 5th concentration pieces representing the Victorian, Disco, and Old Hollywood fashion. I have changed from my original ideas in that I have started trying to simplify my designs. My focus is now more on the visual elements that represent the trend rather than the clothes themselves. I will carry forward the mindset that less is more, and I don't need to include every element that comes to mind in my future pieces.

Punk Fashion

Mod Fashion

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These are my first 2 concentration pieces and overall, I am happy with the way they turned out. I originally thought that I would be using traditional fashion figures in most of my pieces, but I realized that in order to make more successful pieces, I should adapt the way I display the fashions to fit with the trend of each individual piece. For example, with the Mod piece, I used a pop art style representative of the 1960s, when this trend was present, and a simplified black and white color palette so as not to become too busy with the colorful, pattern filled background. Going forward, I will continue experimenting with different materials, like how I used actual fabric in the Punk piece, and doing research to find out what way of portraying the fashion will be best for each piece.

This project was challenging because the objects in our compositions changed slightly from day to day. This forced me to be flexible and think of different ways to use the materials to show movement. I liked incorporating dry materials such as charcoal on top of the acrylic paint; it contrasted nicely with the paint and acted as a good tool for showing transparent objects and adding shadows and highlights to solid objects. Overall, while this project was difficult and sometimes frustrating, I think it allowed for an interesting composition and made me think about application of materials in a different way.

By having such strong lighting in this project, it allowed me to emphasize contrast and create a range of values. The lighting made me pay close attention to the relationship between objects and what happened to the light when it hit different objects from different angles or from closer or farther away. It enabled me to show perspective and draw attention to the places where light was coming into the box and where it was touching the objects inside of the box. In a concentration, I could use variations in light to add variety to the pieces, for example, different pieces could have lighting that highlighted different things in the piece.

If I were to continue this project as a concentration, I would consider a change in materials for the next pieces. I think this piece would look interesting done in a mixed media or collage format, using different materials to represent the different textures present in the actual structure. I would also approach the composition differently by focusing on specific areas rather that the piece as a whole. I would make the piece extend to the edges of the page, allowing me to go into more detail with the parts I was focusing on.

Card Project

Working on this project quickly and with a firm deadline has helped me with how I will be working on my concentration. I will be needing to get a lot of pieces done by a specific date, so budgeting my time and making sure each piece gets finished will be very important. Since I will be making a bunch of pieces for my concentration, I will likely need to work back and forth between pieces, as I did with this project, to make sure that all of the pieces are completed on time and are as strong as possible.