Graph Paper Drawings:
What I do is take a piece of graph paper and use 24 squares across and 18 squares down and try to come up with as many designs as possible. I do not start at the same spot each time. I try from different angles and shade from white to black. Black being deep in the drawing and white being the surface. Trying to do a 2D picture on a 1D surface. The more symmetrical the idea, the harder it becomes to space it evenly in the square.
Mazes:
What I am trying to create is a maze for a game with different directions and possibilities. I am currently trying to make a practical maze for a 2D game my uncle wants to make(video game). It is actually a hard concept to do. I have already attempted and made 4 different mazes. They were, however, to predictable of a maze. I did many split offs from the main path but found even with the complexity of that, it was to predictable and my uncle could solve it within 5min. I use one side of graph paper for each maze due to my need for things to be both symmetrical and neat.
Pastels(chalk):
With chalk pastels I like to create these nature settings with the sun or moon in the background with maybe a stream or a tree. I like chalk pastels because with oil pastels I can not blend the colors as well and I appreciate a good blending of the colors. For each picture I create the back drop first. For example: In the sun picture I first made a yellow circle covering the whole page and so on with the colors leading up to the blue in the corner. I then blended it all as I switched from color to color to make a semi-flawless picture. You always start with the lightest color going to the darkest like you would in block printing.
Painting:
(Oil)
I love paint. Paint is a perfect consistency to blend at will and create what you want. I first chose a picture and then drew it on the mailbox. After drawing the picture I, like with the pastels, started with the lightest color which would be the mountain. The good thing about paint is that you don't need to copy the picture exactly. You can use any picture as an outline and then create your own design based on what you feel would look better. The only thing I did not find out until after I was completely done was that you need to let the oil paint completely air dry before you put the clear slack on, which helps waterproof it better.
(Acrylic)
What I did with the acrylic is use 2 walls in a bedroom and picked 2 pictures. One of the pictures was a sunset and the other was a sunrise. I chose the walls by which wall the sunset would be on and which the sunrise would be on. I used the same techniques with doing the lighter color first only I had to blend the colors on the side and while the primary color was wet, I apply the mixed color to complete the effects which you see. These 2 walls are the only walls I have ever done and I can list many things that turned out not as planned but for a first try I really enjoy how they turned out and how close to the picture they were. For the blue one, I should have done the opposite because the clouds should have been lighter than the sky.
Pottery:
(Wheel Thrown)
This technique would have to be my favorite one. Before you can even think about putting a wad of clay on the wheel, you need to wedge it. wedging is the process of squishing the clay to get all the air bubbles out. Air bubbles in the clay is what would cause the pot or what you decided to make, explode. The foot of the pot is made after the clay gets leather hard. Leather hard means you can pick it up safely without it becoming Jello. When creating the foot you need to have it slightly indented which helps keep the glaze from sliding down and fusing it to the kiln shelves. The foot doesn't guarantee the glaze won't slide down and fuse to the shelf, it just helps slim the odds of it happening.
(Hand Built)
Hand built pots are quite difficult for me because it is very hard to get them symmetrical. What I like about hand building is that you can do mostly any where you are. The trick to making anything with clay is that it can't be to thick or it will not fire correctly or explode from the weight(correct me if I am wrong).
(Combination Of Both Techniques)
What I did with this tea pot is that the base(which hold the liquid) is wheel thrown. I fused the 3 feet to the bottom of the pot. The reason there are 3 feet instead of 4 is that 3 is a more balanced number of feet. I then created the spout and handle separately and then fused them on. I then made a flat circle and hollow dome which turned into the lid. I made a tube and the upside down "V" as the handle for the lid. My mistake with this tea pot is I put it on a shelf where the clearance was shorter than the lid. I forgot that one little fact and when I pulled it out, it broke off. All that is left of the lid is the hat shape, no handle for the lid. It was a perfect break but since it was already dry I could not make a new one.
Chinese Brush Painting:
I am very new with this style of painting. What you do is fill the tip of the brush with a lot of ink and water. When you start painting you don't brush it across, you have to slide just the very tip of the brush while barely touching the brush to the paper. I have not yet figured out how to barely touch the paper while creating a picture. This is currently my project I am unsure of.
