Final polygon portrait.

This is my polygon project.
     The strongest part of this piece is the line structure. The way my face is divided into small triangles at my lips nose chin and eyes then my facial structure being large triangle gives off  a more 3-D and shadowy realistic appearance. The way i colored is in could use some work i wish I didn't leave so much white especially at the very top right of my forehead.
     To create this project I started off outlining a picture of myself with the pen tool. From here I used the fill tool I decided not to use any gradients because I wanted a darker mood to it and I felt that dull flat colors would make that happen. The easiest part of making this was doing the fills, all I needed o do was click the area I wanted to have color and illustrator filled it in with the most noticeable and common color in that area. The hardest part was making the outlines and having all closed shapes. When it came time to color in my outline I was completely stumped because not all my lines were closed so colors were going where I did not want them.
     If I could do this assignment again I would not leave as much white. I chose to do that because I did not want it to look like a living person I wanted to give off the look of a mask even, and like I had previously said  I wanted some color to give it a duller mood. I believe my effort on this project is about an 8 out of 10. I don't want to say 10 because I feel like there is always a little more I could do but definitely at least an 8 because i really did not know what I was doing but I did not give up on it and I did try a lot of things with it before i came up with the final result.

     The strongest part of this piece is my line work in my hair, I think this because I added extra lines showing how my  hair flows and purposely hid some behind my back and brought some in front of my left shoulder.  I could have improved a lot on the color of my hair I don't think it looks as natural as I waned it to be. I could improve this by adding highlights and playing more with the color options  and pick something less vibrant next time.
     To create this piece I used the doge and burn tool, pen tool, eyedropper, and bucket of paint. The doge and burn tool I used to make the piece more realistic. I added shadows and highlights where they were needed.
     The easiest part of this project was coloring it in, I found it to be extremely easy to fill this in. The hard part was outlining it. I was not so great at the pen tool so some of my lines arent as curved or as straight as I had wished like my hands are looking pretty funky. If I could do this assignment again I would choose better colors and use more of the doge and burn tool. I think I put 8/10 effort on this and I say this because I think I couldve done more experimenting with all the tools provided but I took the easy way out and used only what I knew how to.

curves and corners worksheets

    I think the strongest part of my finished part piece is the zen tangle flower that looks like it was burned into the table on the top right. I say this because immediately my eye is drawn to this and it gives it an earthy rustic feel. A part of the art piece that could be improved on is the quote and notebook on the bottom right. I feel this way because the quote is rather small and harder to read than I would want it to be. Although I think the quote is great for the pictures and feel I was going for it is not big enough to show off and almost force people to read while looking at it which in my opinion it should be. This can be improved by making the notebook and text size larger and maybe in an easier font and spot on the frame entirely.
     The tools I used while creating this included the hue/saturation adjustment layers as well as the color balances. I also used the blending layers to give different look to the flower as I duplicated them and placed them in different positions around the piece. The easiest part of this assignment was deciding on what the theme/topic of the piece would be. I love being outside I love exploring and hiking and trying new things so right away I decided I wanted to express something I love and thought okay lets make it about adventure. Life is one big adventure hints why I chose the quote. On the other end of it all some difficulties included filling up the empty space but that was easily solved when I started duplicating layers and moving things around.
     I hit all of the goals of this project by using a mixed media piece that was my own drawing, and then a quote by Helen Keller saying "Life is either a great adventure or nothing". I chose this quote because it describes exactly what I wanted to get across, unless you are learning new things, seeing and experiencing more then you really are not living at all. I also used a personal picture of a wooden desk and used 8 polaroids which was within the amount required. If I did this project over again I would put more variety into it. Although I am pleased with the end result I wish I had more places for the eye to wander. On a scale from 1-10 effort wise I would give myself about an 8, I wish I put more time into it and like I had said, added a little more to allow the eye to wander more.