"Mrs. Obama"
Portrait Sculpture
Mrs. Obama Quotes
"If my future were determined just by my performance on a standardized test, I wouldn't be here. I guarantee you that."
"Whether you come from a council estate or a country estate, your success will be determined by your own confidence and fortitude"
"The problem is when that fun stuff becomes the habit. And I think that's what's happened in our culture. Fast food has become the everyday meal."
There are still many causes worth sacrificing for, so much history yet to be made.
I never cut class. I loved getting A’s, I liked being smart. I liked being on time. I thought being smart is cooler than anything in the world.
- Medium: Clay and Underglaze
- Year: 2016
- Size: 11”x 8”
Techique
I first started by kneading the clay. Then I used a machine roller to make the slab about half an inch thick. Scoring and slipping is an important method I used on the slab to attach one piece of clay to the next so that it stays together in the kiln and doesn't break off. I added clay to the cheekbones, nose, forehead, chin, spaghetti straps earring and hair by using the slipping and scoring method to ensure it was attached properly. Afterward, I used water and my fingertips to smooth out the clay. To make eyes I created sockets by scraping out a circle of clay, then rolling a small ball to put in the socket and adding two small strips of rolled clay to complete the eyelids. I used different tools to add texture to the hair. The sculpture dried and was put on a stand for a week and put in the kiln to be bisque fire. After it cooled down I used underglaze to paint the sculpture. I used at least two coats of paint and added shading to the darker parts to create shadows and highlights but this was difficult as the underglaze died lighter than what I painted. Then painted the glaze on the sculpture and it was bisque fired.
Meaning
I chose to do Michelle Obama as my powerful person because I'm inspired by many of the things she has accomplished. She is one of my many role models. She's an independent and beautiful lady. She was a successful lawyer and writer before she became the first lady. Being the first Lady of the United States has given her many opportunities to change the world and over many years, she has become a fashion icon, a role model for women and is an advocate for poverty awareness, nutrition, physical activity and healthy eating. She is also a loving wife and caring mother of two children. I want to be just like her when I find a career path that I love. I want to be able to raise my kids and have a nice family because for many years of my life I grew with dysfunctional family and had to witness domestic abuse and child abuse. Having a supportive and loving family is one of the simple things in life but many people still don’t have that blessing and face difficult challenges.
“Love You to the Moon and Back"
Assemblage
- Medium: Acrylic paint on pine wood
- Year: 2015
- Size:22”x33”
Technique
First I randomly chose four pieces of wood. I had a gigantic triangle, two circular pieces one bigger than the other, and an oddly shaped piece. I positioned the large triangle at the very bottom of my assemblage, the circles on top of it, and the odd piece on top of the circles. After I came up with the ideal position I drilled and nailed the pieces into place so that they wouldn’t move. I thought about the solar system because I had two circular pieces and I decided to make my assemblage an outer space theme. I decided that the moon would my smaller circle, the earth would be my larger circle, and the triangle would be my solar system. I didn’t know what the oddly shaped piece was going to be but I started painting anyway. I took reference pictures from google for the Earth and moon and tried to mix the acrylic paint to match those colors as best as possible. I painted the earth with dark o green for the continents and dark blue for water. Since the image had white swirls on top of the earth I tried to copy the same look over the continents and water. Painting the earth and the moon wasn’t a challenge because I didn’t have to add much detail. Afterward, I started painting the triangle into a pink and blue galaxy that caught my eye on Google. I added some baby blue n peach colors to achieve the look I saw. For the galaxy,I mixed a lot of black for the background. Then I added tiny white dots on top to look like stars. I when I finished the galaxy on the triangle I continued the same colors and dots on the oddly shaped piece. When I finished painting every inch of wood my assemblage, it still wasn’t complete. My last addition to my piece was adding paper astronauts and a spaceship. I looked up two astronauts and spaceship off of Google and put it onto Photoshop resized it and gave it a filter to look like I painted it myself. After I got it to look like I wanted in Photoshop I printed it in color and cut out the astronauts and spaceship. Then out and positioned them to the place and put cardboard underneath as a surface to put the hot glue on.
Meaning
At first, it was just some scrap wood from the wood shop room. After I took 4 random pieces and painted it into an outer space atmosphere. It was no longer scrap wood it was art. It represents my grandma’s bond with me. I love her unconditionally and I would do anything to put a smile on her face. The spacemen represent me and her and how much I love her using the expression “I love you to the moon and back”.
“Mother Nature Queen”ft.debora Oresajo
- Medium: Digital Photograpghy
- Year: 2015
- Size:11”x14”inches
Technique
The original image of my friend Debora was taken by me using a canon camera provided by my Photography teacher. After taking a few shots I loaded them onto the computer to edit Photoshop. Since she had her hair raped and one piece stuck out I duplicated it and added it to the other side. It looked like the shadow of a basket and that gave me the idea of doing something environment related to the portrait! I started using different tools such as the smudging, blurring tool to take away the blemishes on her face. Afterward, I proceeded to use different brush sizes and paints to paint her face as if I were doing her makeup. I used the sampler tool to take her skin tone color up and made it a paint color and did her “foundation” with paint. Then I picked up a lighter color with the same tool from her face and used the paint tool to highlight underneath her eyes, forehead, bridge of her nose, widows peak and her chin.After, I took the blurring tool to blend it evenly. I also took a darker shade from her neck with the eyedropper tool and used it as paint to contour her cheekbones. For the eye makeup, I made did wing liner on her eye and used orange and purple colors and decrease the intensity to make it look like natural eye shadow. I wanted to add lashes as well but I couldn’t find the right brush to make natural eyelashes. I researched how to add fake lashes in Photoshop on youtube and followed their instructions. I after doing her makeup I added and duplicated flowers to go on her head rape. I made them small and large and rotated them to my liking. Then I took some monarch butterflies and did the same thing I did with the flowers. As for the shirt, I took off the buttons with the eraser tool and painted it the color of the rest of the shirt and then I put leaves that I shot in the camera and put them inside the shirt using the setting multiply. That’s how I made the “Mother Nature Queen”.
That video help me learn how to apply lashes in Photoshop
Meaning
My friend Debora the person in the image really liked flowers and anything to do with the environment since the image I used was of her, I wanted to incorporate something that she liked when I was editing (ie. leaves, flowers, butterflies, and makeup). Although this was an assignment I wanted her to have the final product to keep afterward. Since she was into nature and everything I added different elements of nature and I titled it“ Mother Nature Queen”
"Branching Off" ft. Selina Barker
- Medium: Digital Photography
- Year: 2015
- Size: 11”x17”inches
Techique
I took an image that I shot and uploaded it on to Photoshop. Then I adjusted the size by cropping it and making the lighting brighter and contrast deeper. Afterward, I used the magic want to select Selina without her background. I then took some leaves I shot and put it behind her on another layer. I proceed to make the double exposure more interesting by adding things in her shirt. I liked the texture of her original sweater she had on but it had to go. I took the magic wand and carefully selected her sweater and erased it. Then I added some branches in the outline of her shirt. To make the branches more attractive I adjusted the contrast for some and left some of them darker. Then I use the multiply feature to merge all the images.
Meaning
I titled the portrait "Branching Off" because Selina and I were friends and within a few more weeks of school we would be separated because we wouldn’t have a reason to see each other every day at school. When we graduated she would also be going to a different university as well. We were both going down two separate paths with different goals. We were “Branching Off”.
“Alkaline "
Plaster Mask
- Medium: Plaster and multi-media
- Year: 2014
- Size: 11”x9”inches
Technique
I used a plastic mold of a standard face and cut up strips of plaster sheets provided by my teacher. I wet them and stuck them onto the mold and smooth it out. I repeated this method until I had eight to ten layers of plaster on the mold. I excluded the eye area when doing this because I wanted to see when I put on the mask. When it dried I cut the excess plaster off with scissors. I then proceeded to sanding it down with sand paper to make it as smooth as possible. I painted it white and then decorated it with whatever I found in the art room. I used a glue gun to secure a piece of black lace onto it. Then I used different items to add my own touch of cool designs. Using a variety of things I was able to create different lines and textures to bring my mask to life.
Meaning
I named it "Alkaline" because that is my favorite Dancehall artist. The mask has an innocent looking side and an evil side and every time I look at it, it reminds me of him and the positive and negative things he sings about in his songs (ie. having true friends and having his friend pass away).
“Floating through Paradise”
- Medium: Paper cutting
- Year: 2016
- Size:8.5”x11” inches
Technique
I took an image from Google that captured my eye. It was a man on a raft. I fell in love with it and altered it in Photoshop using the stamp filter. Also, I change the resolution and contrast. When I got my ideal image I printed it out and traced all the shapes created by negative space on a different sheet of paper. Afterward, I got it photocopied so that I wouldn’t have to worry about pencil marks smudging my paper and getting it dirty. Then I carefully cut out all the shapes I traced with an Exacto knife
Meaning
My art piece signifies the beautiful paradise of my home Jamaica. The man on the raft made of bamboo drifting through the water with a bamboo stick shows the relaxing activity that can connect a man with nature. Rafting always sets my mind free when I go home and I like doing it because it's very calming.My inspiration for making this piece was Jamaica’s well known reggae king Bob Marley. Right away seeing the guy drifting through the water reminded me of how Bob Marley try to promote peace through his songs. “ Don't worry about a thing, cause every little thing is gonna be all right”. That's why I chose that image to cut out. I also wanted room decor that I could put in my room and be able to relate to.
Credits:
Created with images by coffeebeanworks - "web design website design web mockup" • PIRO4D - "astronaut astronomy satellite" • Pexels - "galaxy infinity milky way" • PinkMoose - "galaxy" • skeeze - "endeavor space shuttle rollout launch pad" • skeeze - "spiral planetary nebula nebula universe" • fortmyersfl - "#earth" • GuillaumePreat - "space moon planet"