Joseph Cornell Box - Critical Analysis

            I found many discoveries and techniques helpful throughtout the process. I found lots of my painting brush techniques useful while making my backround (ocean) of my box. For example, I used the wet brush technique to make the ocean look more like water. I used the dry brush technique to create waves in the ocean. I used the shading technique for my middle ground (shark). The shading technique helped me to create shadow on the shark and make the shark look more realistic. I found the pencil crayons techniques useful while creating my foreground (fish). I was reqired to implement the pencil crayon technique into my box, so I decided to draw my fish in pencil crayon. I did this because I would be able to use this technique to make my fish look more life like and the pencil crayons would allow the fish to be the first thing that caught your eye. I discovered that the sand at the bottom of my box would add more of an ocean feeling to the box. I also found that the placement of the objects in your box can create more of a sense of depth within the box.

            I learnt a couple skills while created my box. I learnt how to create movement of the ocean waves through brushstrokes. I was able to use the wet brush technique while painting in a wave motion. I also learnt how to create a foreground, middleground and backround in my art piece. I did this using colour, depth and positioning of the object in the box. The bright colours stand out, whereas the darker colours blend in with my backround. Depth helps to destinguish between the foreground, middle ground and background. The foreground is positioned closer to the front of the box than the middle ground, which is ahead of the even farther back background.
            I improved my cutting skills during the duration of the project. I was forced to cut the fish, shark and espically the coral very precisely. For the fish and shark, I had to cut around the fins of the animal, but make sure that I only cut out the fish and shark (not white around it). For the coral, I had to cut extremely close to the coral because many of the picture had a black backround colour. For some picture of the coral, I had to cut inside the coral (not only the outline) so that the background can't be seen.

            I have created a sense of depth and movement using many elements. Colour was a big way that I created depth between my middle ground and foreground. The shark (middle ground) is a dark gray colour, whereas the fish (foreground) are bright colours that attract the viewers eyes. Colour also helped to create depth between the fish because they are different colours. Line help me to create movement in the box. I used line in the ocean (backround) to made waves in the water. Value help to create depth with my fish and shark. I used shadow to make these animals more realistic. Value also help to create movement and depth in the ocean. I made the top of the ocean lighter in colour than the ocean floor. I used scale to create depth between the shark and fish. I made the shark bigger than the fish because that the way it's in real life. I also made the fish different sizes to create more depth between them.

            The overall process of creating my box was very long. Originally, I had to decided whether to doing an underwater or space box. I decided to do an underwater box. I thought that I would take blue clips from pictures in magazines and layer them to create the ocean. But, I decide to paint the ocean so that it would look more realistic. I made the top of the ocean lighter and as it descended on the page made it darker. I painted two pages like an ocean (one was the front backround and the other page was cut for the sides). I decide to made a few bends and folds in the ocean while glueing it because it created texture and waves. I then found, cut and glue on images of coral to the ocean. I decide to put sand at the ocean floor. I thought that wetting the sand would make it look darker, but when the sand dried it became light again. I glued the sand on the bottom of the box. Then, I found a picture of a shark (in reference photos below). I sketched the shark and I decided to shade the shark to create a three-dimensional animal. I shaded it because it was gray and we had previously using shading in the hand drawing project. After creating the shark, I found three pictures of fish (also in reference photos below). We were required to use the pencil crayon technique, which we had just learnt when drawing the tree, as a part of our box. I decide to use this technique for the fish so that I could use bright colours to attract attention to the foreground. I cut out the shark and the fish. I attached the animals with fisherman's wire to the box. I painted the wire blue so that it would camoflauge with the ocean background. After that, I attached the wire to the top of the box and the animals. I placed the fish closer to the front of the box because they are the foreground. I decided not to do anything with the outside of the box because the ocean in so vast and I wanted the viewers eyes to be attracted to the scene I selected.

Reference Photos:



Process Photos:



Final Photo: