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Just Keep Swimming
Danielle DuBois
Watercolor, 2023
This watercolor work of art is based on the beautiful koi fish. My theme is H2O. The early Japanese koi fish date back to the early 19th century Japan. These fish represent luck, prosperity, and good fortune. In 19th century Japan, koi fish were mostly kept by rice farmers who were hoping the luck of the fish would bring their crops good luck and be prosperous. I used watercolor pencils and ink to capture the look of these majestic fish. The water, lily pads, and koi fish are all painted with watercolor. I used ink to draw on the scales of the fish to make them look more realistic.
Just Keep Swimming pt 2
Danielle DuBois
Watercolor, 2024
This watercolor work of art is based on the beautiful koi fish as well. This piece goes with my other artwork called “Just Keep Swimming. Both these pieces were painted with watercolor and accented with ink. The elements used in this piece were line and value. I tried to capture the different colors of the lily pads using the element value. Using different shades of green I made the lily pads look as realistic as possible. Using the element of line I drew the scales and the marks on the lily pads to capture the look of real fish and water plants.
The principles I used were movement and pattern. The scales were drawn on the fish the same way every time. I also used the principle of movement to make it look like the fish were moving. I painted them at an angle so they would look like they are swimming in the pond.
Tropical Chicken
Acrylic, 2024
Danielle DuBois
Tropical Chicken is a piece of art is in the medium acrylic. Acrylic paintings were first developed in 1934, used in 1940s and widely used by artists in the 1960s. The first few artists to use acrylic were Diego Rivera, David Alfaro Siqueiros, and José Clemente Orozco. Acrylic is one of the hardest paints to master. It takes practice and a lot of penitence. When I was painting this piece I had to make sure I was blending everything before it dried.
One element I used was texture. I used textured paint that felt like sand to mix in with the colors of the sand and give it a real life feeling. Another element I used was value. I used light and dark colors to make the water look like it is moving. A principle I used was movement. I wanted to make the water look like it was moving towards the chicken and splashing on the shore. The last principle I used was contrast. I made the chicken in the middle to catch the eye of people.
Solitary Voyage
Danielle DuBois
Oil, 2024
Solitary Voyage is in the medium Oil. In this painting, the viewer is drawn into a serene and introspective journey across a body of water. A lone figure, silhouetted against the moon, navigates a small boat with gentle determination. The water, painted with delicate strokes, reflects the moon's beams. This painting not only captures the beauty of the natural world but also evokes a sense of solitude and reflection. I painted this to capture the beauty of being alone. Sometimes people surround themselves with people but they can't forget that being alone is healing and peaceful.
Sinking Love
Danielle DuBois
Prisma Color, 2023
This piece of art captures a heart that appears to be taken over by sea creatures and aquatic plants. Hearts are a very complex organ in the human body. They keep you alive. The heart pumps blood throughout your body. A heart is also seen as something romantic, or that the heart is where you feel love. Hearts are a symbol of love, romance, and intimacy. Sometimes when your heart “breaks” it can feel like you are drowning in your pain/sorrows. I wanted to capture this in one piece of art and to show what people mean when they say they feel like they are drowning.
Myrtle the Turtle
Danielle DuBois
Ceramics, 2024
This piece is called Myrtle the Turtle in the median ceramics. Ceramics have been a form of art since 24,000 B.C. Archieogolisty have discovered human made ceramics in Czechoslovakia and were in the form of animal and human figurines, slabs, and balls. In the Xianrendong cave in China, fragments of pots dated to 18,000-17,000 BCE have been found. It is believed that from China the use of pottery successively spread to Japan and the Russian Far East region where archeologists have found shards of ceramic artifacts dating to 14,000 BCE.
I decided to sculpt this piece of pottery because I love turtles. Turtles are very unique sea animals. There seven different species of sea turtles. I tried to sculpt the Keemps ridley sea turtle. This turtle has a unique pattern on its shell. The shell protects the turtle from danger. I used the element of Form to create the body of the turtle.