Yes, my object does present some personal choice. I loved the 7-Up bottle. It was so bright and lively in color, but doesn't give a full view as to what is on the opposing side of the bottle. Everything is just a blur. In my choice, I think that I'm saying I am also bright and lively, but harder to tell what's really going on on the other side. If I had to do this over, I would try not to let it lean so much, even though it gives it that Italian look. ;) I think my best part was the surface of the water and top of the bottle.

My goal was to make it look as painterly as possible, as well as keep it somewhat lifelike. I accomplished them by using different shades of the colors and adding a reflective surface look. The biggest pain with the 7-p bottle was getting the shades of the colors right. I took my time and made sure I looked at the all of the different shades. Craig Stephens was definitely my mentor for this painting, because of the way he did his paintings and how they seemed so lifelike, but comical at the same time.

Cutout of Bruno

This is of my dog, Bruno. He got his name when we first adopted him from the SPCA. Before we adopted him, Bruno's name was Boscov, which we really didn't like but decided to keep the name similar so that he would understand what we were calling him.

Bruno is a total goofball with an extremely loud mouth! He likes to bark at every single person that walks by the house, no matter if he knows them or doesn't. Bruno loves to play with our puppy, Krimpet, and run around the house like a wild man.
Our relationship is good, but it depends on the day and whether or not he wants me to pet him or play with him. I love that dog so much, and he's my baby whether he likes it or not (;

Black and White Self Portrait

My goal for this self portrait was to make it look as close to reality as possible. I accomplished my goal by being patient with the picture and going back to it time after time to fix my mistakes and imperfections. My painting is about a big dramatic shadow and then a bright light. It shows how the shadow really swallows up that part of my face. The most difficult challenge was getting my nose to the right or close to the right size. I met the challenge again by being patient and working at it, by looking through pictures I took, and altering the picture little at a time. I have learned that shadows are a big deal, and I have learned more about how to properly proportion the face. I think Jen Kelly was someone I learned from because she went all black and made her shadows super dark, which made me think about mine. If I could do over I would make my eyes a little smaller just so that they didn't look so deerish, even though they were supposed to look like I was interested in something. I feel that my best part of the work was my nose or my lips, because they took forever to get right.

Black on Black

Black on Black Reflection

I really did not like using the pallet knife to be honest. It was not something that I enjoyed to use because I have not used oil paints many times to get used to the way oil paint lays, but it was a different experience that I would like to try again at some other point. What surprised me was how trying it was to keep the colors from mixing or getting the details I could add correct. It frustrated me that the picture had so little detail compared to my others, but it was a stimulating experience, because it was so totally different from the art I have previously done. To overcome this frustration, I switched my perspective of what I was actually doing, and instead of saying I was using less details, I was trying a different point of view. I learned that switching one's point of view could really help with overcoming the frustration of doing something that you wouldn't normally want to do under any circumstances.

Silence in Motion

This would describe silence in motion in a way that people would not really see, but is also very obvious. While doing the hand stands, we were both very quiet, but the scenery was as well. There weren't any pops of color in the scenery besides Melissa and I. We were in motion while the scenery stayed the same.

Another point would be the stances in the hand stands. I was still and motionless at the climax of the position, while Melissa was already moving on her way back down to land on her feet. It isn't extremely noticeable, but Melissa(in the shorts)'s right leg is lower than the other, which would show movement within the silence.