My evaluation of micro-exam practice




My initial plan for my exam was to use PVA glue with ready mixed paint and acrylic paint, then left to dry on a plastic wallet in order to be able to peel it off when it's dry.
Once this was complete I planned to cut it out so that it fit perfectly on the photograph of the my model that I had taken myself. I think that for the short period of time that I had, I did very well and the work I completed was very successful although I need think more about preparing myself for the exam, for example, doing pieces of work that involve wet mediums before hand because when I used the paint and PVA glue it wasn't dry before the end of the exam so I wasn't able to complete my piece of work that involve wet mediums beforehand because when I used the paint and PVA glue it wasn't dry before the end of the exam so I wasn't able to complete my piece of work which if it happened in the real exam I would have be marked down massively.


Another thing I need to do much better I gather a lot more pictures of my model rather than just having one because during this practice I only had one and it went wrong due to me being too eager and trying to stick it on to a paint wash background that was still wet. As well as this I have also decided that when I print the pictures off of my model again that they are going to be black and white rather than colour because I think it will make the sheet of colour that I’m putting over the top stand out a lot more. To add this as well I’m also going to do a really light grey wash on the background. It’s really important that the colour sheet I am placing over the top of the image stands out because it is the part of my work that is most relevant to my artist as I have used his techniques to create it, like I have used a knife and sponge instead of just a paint brush. Another way that I used reference of my artists work was also by using a photograph similar to how he does in his photo-paintings which are some of his most famous pieces. The only way I could do my work anymore like my own artist is by using oil paint rather than ready-mixed and acrylic with water, although I don’t feel the need to because I think these materials work well enough for what I am trying to create.


Although I liked the grey wash on the back ground, I think I should try and use a different tool to apply it rather than a sponge because the texture wasn’t right and I need a smoother background so that it doesn’t look too crowded.

I found that my practice piece worked extremely well and I was very impressed with the way it turned out because it was very similar to one of my artist pieces that I was attempting to replicate, like shown in the research in my sketch book.

The colours in the piece were perfect and the contrast was exactly what I had in mind, although a large amount of it was only PVA glue, therefore it dried transparent when it should've either been colour or white. To improve this I'm going to ensure all areas of PVA and covered in a later of white paint. Also I realised my cutting skills weren't very delicate so I am going to ensure I use a cutting knife in my real micro exam so that I can cut out each individual hair in attempt to make it look realistic as well as using a lighter coloured back ground towards the top of the black hair to make it stand out more.