In to the Woods Reflection

1. In this flat, we hoped to communicate the coziness and warmth of a bakery. We also tried to show that although they were poor, they are trying to promote their business. Because of this, we tried to express a facade of happiness and warmth, while in reality there were deep unhappinesses that the baker has. My strengths do not include painting, however, so I focused more on the sketching phases and the perspective. I do feel that after this project I have improved the freedom of my painting, giving up the rigid control I expect from the pencil.

2. I personally enjoy the individual projects more than the group ones. As I said before, in art, it is important for me to be in complete control in order to accurately express myself. I had to give up control in this project a little bit - oftentimes when other people had different opinions, I had to give in a little bit and let my group-mates take control. I thought that this was a really arduous but rewarding process for me, being able to bend and collaborate with the people in my group.

3. The process for me was extremely rewarding, as it allowed me to give up a bit of control over the art and leave the success or failure to other people or the medium itself. Sometimes, when the lack of control was successful, I was able to look at the success of my peers and learn from their craft. When the change was unsuccessful, I had to talk with my classmates and find a solution, or figure out how to fix the problematic area myself. The large flat also allowed for me to loosen up my paint strokes, and focus on the larger picture, not the unnecessary details.

Pictures for previous post

Learning to see Final Reflection

1. I feel like my intentions at the moment, and of course this will change, are to study an object and be able to portray it, to find a connection with it. In all three of my pieces I focused a lot on formal elements, using topography to convey form on the horse skull; shading to define value for my landscape, and on my most-time consuming picture - the pinecone - I feel I used many formal elements to create a realistic piece.

2. I learned that my artist voice focuses on the emotion and formal elements of the subject, but not of me as the artist. I think that when I draw the pinecone or the landscape or the skull, I try and assess the feeling the subject has or conveys - the landscape was moody, so I expressed it moodily, but I was not feeling moody that day. The use of formal elements are only tools to portray the reality of the subject. I used harsher outlines for what I thought was a menacing skull, softer shading for the fantasy-esque landscape, and a multitude of lines to convey the realism of the pinecone. I think my process is great at what it intends to do - express things for how they are. But there is a flip side, where I am sometimes just the observer taking artistic notes. I would like to experiment with taking a similar subject and make different emotional representations, and also with mediums not focused on realism, but the extremes of line and value that make them more expressive.

3. My group was very kind, giving me lots of praise similar to what I said earlier for what works well about my process. They emphasized the realism and formal elements - value, form, line, etc. They did say, which I also said earlier, that I should inject some more emotion into my pieces in the form of color and different mediums rather than pencil. I 100% agree - hopefully during the play set project I will be able to let go of detail and focus on the larger piece and be more expressive, and further refine my process.

Art Class Feelings

How does coming to this visual arts class help you as a student?

For me, although art itself is a crucial part of being a student, the habits of mind that have helped me immensely include concentration/focus, as well as expression and creativity. When I concentrate on a piece of art, I have grown to be able to focus solely on the task at hand, with no regard for distractions. I feel I use this during tests or while doing homework. The creative expression that I have cultivated has allowed for me to put my unique touch on essays and other projects.

What are you excited about?

Over the summer, it was fun for me to mess around with the applications of drawing beyond creative expression, which of course is still an important part of art. I am excited to improve as an artist but also take my drawing skills in directions that I did not know about before.

What do I need to know about you to support you this year?

That I have trouble negatively critiquing the work of others, but am often really constructively-critical on myself - I keep my own work to a high standard. It would be great if you could help me realize how to fix the things that just 'seem wrong' or that 'I don't like'. Often I realize I don't like my art but cannot specifically pinpoint how to improve.

Learning to See

I think that in the future, I need to add more color to my drawings to bring them more fully to life. I think I also need to keep doing what works, which is one of two things; expressive and elegance for ink, and use of texture and value in drawings. I feel like this approach utilizes the strengths of both mediums. I plan to add more color as well as stick with what I think works. 

FINAL REFLECTION

one. looking back over the course of the year, and your blog posts, which project or projects were the most engaging for you? Where did you fully own your process as an artist? where did you get lost in the material or the making of work?

I really liked all of the projects, but if I had to pick one, it would be the charcoal. In the charcoal piece, I feel like I developed the most and had the most fun in the process. Being able to explore value was extremely exciting at that time, and being able to experiment with the value really was able to give unique life to the drawing. During the process of this drawing, it was nice to lose myself in the art, because I had already figured out what I wanted to convey in the piece. In the lantern piece especially, I was able to have my own creative take on the art, which was fun and new, not only drawing what I saw, but experimenting with the light source being inside the object. Overall, I thought it was the piece wherein I was able to have the most fun by develop and explore the most as well. 

two. you have had a year of tremendous artistic growth. where do you see that you have grown the most? think about the studio habits as you answer and explain--observe, stretch and explore, craft, express, understanding the art world, reflect. which of these areas do you feel the most comfortable with? how do you see that comfort showing up in your creative practice?

I feel that I have always been a pretty good observer and crafter, and although I think I did develop these areas, not to the extent of the other areas mentioned. Stretching and exploring was important for me, especially in the area of drawing and painting. For me, the main piece of wisdom I learned was that art is not meant to be perfectly realistic - we have photos for that. Thus, I think I developed the most in the areas of stretch/explore/express. The reason we draw (for me at least) is to express ideas and expand upon that which we see. As mentioned above, I think I did this well in the charcoal piece, and I think my woodblock print was a great way for me to not just copy a photograph, but to imagine something I thought might be cool and see it realized. Also, I have gained some knowledge on the art world, and also engaged in the reflection process for my art, something I have never done. The reflections prompted me to self reflect while doing my artwork, which was a great way to improve my process.

three. think about the things we've studied this year--line, form, shape, color, pattern, texture, positive & negative space. discuss a few of these terms that are the most engaging for you. what have you learned about them? how do you have a better understanding of them?

The most engaging art ideas for me were texture, form, and color. Texture was interesting for me primarily in my clay sculpture. Because of the malleability of the clay, I was able to experiment with different textures, initially going for a smooth texture, then a ridged one. This experimentation cultivated a new arsenal of tools at my disposal, as I had more experience with the concept. Form was explored in both 2d and 3d space through the clay and the charcoal drawings. The main thing I learned from this was that form can be expressed in different ways, but it has an important relationship with value, texture, and color. The deeper understanding of how these things connect is the main thing I learned as a growing artist. The relationship between colors was important for me because it was something I had not previously talked about, and a very intriguing subject.

four. course evaluation. which assignments were the most successful? Which assignments were the most frustrating? What are one or two things that Mr. O/Ms. Seal do really well? What is one important piece of advice that you would offer your teacher so that they could make this class better?

The most successful projects for me were the drawing and painting ones, because I am already decent at this art form, but most successful in terms of growth as an artist would have to be the woodblock prints or the photographs, as these were explored topics to me. For me, the texture blocks and the plaster were really frustrating. Personally, if I have an artistic idea, I want to express it clearly and quickly, and the plaster did not allow for speed or clarity, and neither did the woodblocks. I think one thing that is really cool that you guys do is always make sure we are doing are own art and making our own artistic choices. I know that if I were an art teacher, I would love to just tell the kids how to do it right, even do it for them. But I think that you made us become our own artists, which is really awesome, and I really thank you for letting us grow independently, only helping us on the path we want to go down, but not changing the path.This is my personal opinion, and of course probably this would be more advanced, but I think it would be really cool - maybe as a senior - to have a digital art class for the more practical applications of drawing and painting that are used all the time in comics, special effects, concept design, website/graphic design etc. Just would be a cool thing to consider, as lots of art is going digital (and photoshop is already acquired). This class though, did exactly what I expected of it, quite honestly. It gave me an in-depth view of the different ways art can be created, and I grew in the process. It was really fun for me, and thanks so much for a meaningful and engaging year of art. 

Print block reflection

Document your image/final presentation and any "folio" elements (sketches, proofs, experiments, etc)  you feel are important to exemplifying your growth through this project.     

Post a few images to your blog and Complete a reflective blog post referring to the following prompts:

1.  Explain how you arrived at your image and how that concept exemplifies who you are as an artist.

I actually did not use an image, I chose to sketch out my own idea. I was trying to think of something that would tell a story, and also had high contrast, which works with the print block style. I think I am an artist that tries to tell a story, not just represent a moment in time, and through this image, I think I was able to exemplify that a picture is worth a thousand words. I think the sunrise shows that the guy was presumably up all night, and the fact he is in a state of forlorn waiting maybe suggests he was waiting for the train. 

2.  Discuss the process of printmaking and your connection to it as an art form.  Do you find the process exciting and inspiring?  Is the process too mechanical?  Do you find the idea of printing multiple images in such a traditional manner enticing?  Include your sense of your technical growth, and or opportunities for "discovery" offered by the process.

I like printmaking, sort of ish. I think contrast is a great way to express emotion, and I think it works great for specific types of images. Printmaking encourages emotion and exploration, and also pulls at the idea of negative space. While doing this process, I realized that at the lines needed to serve a purpose. It was difficult for me to curve the negative space and think in this way, but it was a good experience for me to make each part intentional and fully understand the image inside and out. I think the process of being able to replicate images easily is also very enticing, as it allows for the experimentation of emotion through color. 

3.  Explain your choice for final presentation and your group discussion surrounding the idea. 

For my final presentation, I chose to use the red one and the white one. I thought the white and black one was high contrast, and the dark red evokes emotion as well. I chose these two because in addition to being good prints, they displayed different emotions. Rich said "I like your attention to detail. It is intricately carved." Others agreed. I personally think all the details made it more cohesive as a whole. 

Complete the Self Assessment Rubric and turn it in!