Collaborative Drawings

Having other people work on my drawing opened it up to new ideas.  The changes were not major although it was clear that someone had been there.  Someone changed the gorilla into a snail by blacking out the details and only using its basic shape.  I thought this was very creative and I would not have thought to do something like that before.  I thought that the end result to my drawing was much more imaginative then what I had visioned.  I had originally pictured a night setting, where the clouds and sky could be shaded.  Although because of the others it ended up as a rain storm and an owl parachuting.

Glass Half Full Project

Picture Coming Soon....

Term 1 Reflection

This term I felt went pretty well.  I was able to complete almost on of my project on time.  I really enjoyed this class especially because before this I have never really been in an art class.  I feel like I have been able to learn and progress from the things we've done within the term.

My strength in art is my drawing but sometimes I feel it is also my weakness.  I spend about 1-3 hours on a drawing in my sketchbook which I should probably be using to study for a test or something else.  I need to be more open to what goes on within my sketchbook.  For example when the ink poured all over it.  That made me realize how attracted I was.  Now I am not as upset with what happened but I still wish it didn't....

Besides my sketchbook I fell that my projects that I handed in were decent.  The amount to effort put into my project are most of the time higher then others.

The found objects sculpture was an interesting way for me to try and think outside that box and turn something that may be seen as ugly and put it with something else to make it look like art.  The found image collage was also an interesting project. I was surprised that it only took me two classes to finish because I usually spend a lot of time on something.

I enjoy when we draw on tuesdays I fell like its a good balance between the projects and the drawings.  Also I like to be challenged to draw something detailed or shaded.  Although sometimes it takes me longer then others but I feel if I had more time I could finish.

I look forward to what term 2 will be like.

Collage:Camp Isn't Always Fun....

This is collage of me at camp in 2008 when I was sailing and the boat tipped over.

Chair with Coat

HOW did you find today's still life more or less complicated to draw than the still lives over the past few weeks (white paper, sticks, fabric)? Be specific.

HOW did you use some of the skills we've developed over the past three weeks drawing more complicated still lives to draw the chair with coat today? What are these skills?

I found today's sketch harder to shade then other drawings we've done.  Although I liked that there were less things in the scene then we normally have.

Today I used general shapes and then made them more details later.  The coat was the same as the hanging fabric.  Instead of drawing the lines you shade to make the lines.  I didn't get to the coat yet but when I do that will be the approach I take.

Fabric Drawing

How did today's drawing feel different than last week's drawing of the sticks?

Today you drew some fabric hanging in the middle of the room.
You were asked to think about creating the feeling of the fabric's weight and behavior in your drawing.
You were asked to build the drawing from the general to the specific.

How did it go?
How did it feel to try to recreate the fabric you saw?

I thought today's drawing went well.  It was definitely easier for me to draw todays scene then it was to draw the sticks.  The fabric had a very flowly effect so it was easy for me to do as opposed to drawing the sticks' shapes.  Overall I think today's drawing was pretty easy.  I would definitely like to try and finish this drawing some time soon.

Principles of Design Research

In a post on your blog note what the work of art was that you looked at and who made it. 
Then, answer the following question: 
In what ways did the artist's use of The Principles of Design support the story or message of the work?


the work of art that I looked at today called called Nighthawks and was by Edward Hopper.  Hopper use proportion, leading lines, shadows, exaggeration, repetition.


The leading lines were used in the road behind the diner to lead the viewer's eye to the background buildings.


Proportion was used in size of the diner.  Because it was the biggest thing in the painting your attention is immediately drawn to it.


Exaggeration was used using contrast.  The background was very dark and dull while the diner was very bright and had a glow to it.


Repetition was used showing the many windows on buildings, the stools in the diner and what looked to be coffee jugs of some sort in the diner. 


The shadows are similar to the contrast when it uses the lightning of the painting.  If something is shadowed or darker the viewer is most likely not going to look at it first (at least in this painting).

Found Object Sculpture Feedback

Today people told me that my sculpture was well put together.  I got specific complements on the hat, scarf and mustache of my french person.  My group thought it was interesting that I used wire to create my head instead of a round shaped object.

I liked Alexandra's sculpture.  This is because of her choice of colors and putting thing together that made it look like a collage of red, oranges, and yellows.  I was first confused on what exactly it was supposed to be but when I was told I could see it.

Found Image Collage

My found images were pictures of a mirror like ball showing an imagine within another image and a hand holding the ball.  The other images I found were pictures from a art museum that were splatter paint.  The colors of the paint somehow reminded me of space and the galaxy.

From these photos I came up with the idea of two hands holding up a ball imagine with a earth, space and galaxy image.  The idea of this project to me was the symbolize the idea that many of us have that one day everyone will live in peace and be equal.  I did this by making the hands holding up the earth/space/galaxy out of different skin tones.  The background to this was holder for me to think of but I used Earth like water colors.

Feedback: Extending Our Findings From the Pour Paintings

When coming up with ideas for my extended pour painting project instantly I thought of the crab and sunset from my original painting.  This gave me the idea of a sunset on the beach.  The two faces I found in the original gave me the idea of the couple looking at each other in the new project

Pour Paintings

When trying to find things in my pour painting I started by focusing on the shapes towards the outside of the paint "blob".  This was because I thought that the shapes were interesting and immediately caught my attention.  After looking at Ms Roberts painting with the profile that is what I started thinking about.  After looking at the painting I too found a profile.  But after looking around the profile I realized that there were two lines that curved toward each other.  To me the =y resembled

Pile of Sticks

Today's drawing was hard to get used to.  At first I wasn't able to be open minded enough to just draw lines.  Instead I had to try to make everything perfect.   Eventually I started to get the hang of it although by that time the class was almost over.  Although it was very challenging I thought it was a very good exercise.  I would like to spend more time on things like this in the future.  Looking at others drawings was interesting.  Some people like to make their lines thicker and some thinner.  When comparing them to mine the other drawings looked as if the person was more laid back about the sticks then I was.  I am happy with my unfinished drawing's turn out.

Mid Term Reflection

At this point of the year I feel pretty confident in my work.  Although I fell like my finished projects (that we work on in class) that I hand in that I don't put as much effort in them as I do my sketchbook.  I think it is because drawing is what I like to do the mist so I am more involved in it then I would be in a painting or a sculpture.  I am not able to create 2 new drawings every week.  This is mostly because I spend so much time on detail but also because of the other work that I have to do during the week.  My new goal for the second half of the term is to experiment more with color.

The Changing Still Life

at least 3 things you had to do to accomplish this goal

or

what would you do differently knowing what you know now

if i knew exactly what we were going to do today i would have drawn the image lighter, maybe have drawn the top of the table a little bigger and spend less time on the shading of the objects.  it was hard for me to keep up with the fast changes ms roberts made every few minutes.  when she put the bottle on the table i realized that my table was too small to fit everything.

Found Image Collage: Feedback

When sharing my idea with Henry, Kate and Sammy they told me that my concept of representing equality was very original.  I was told to keep the background of the main picture (which is the hands holding the ball with the universe) simple to not take attention away from it.  I was told that using different skin tones was a good way to get more into the collage part of this project.

3 forms drawing

Today when drawing I was not too worried about although what I was worried about was drawing the pine-cone.  I had a little trouble with blending the black and white pencils although I was eventually able to do so.  When I look at the other drawings by my classmates I realize in comparison to them that my drawing or shading is not as dark.  By the end of the year  would like to get more comfortable with using the pencils and more comfortable with shading.

New art from pour painting

I got my idea for my new art piece from looking at the shapes and ideas that I found in the pour painting.  I tried to create a story combining everything that I found.  I had found a crab, two people looking at each other and the color of the painting reminds me of sunset.  My result was to create a sunset landscape  scene on the beach with the silhouette of a couple looking at each other.  To get the shading right I decided to use oil pastels.  Another reason why I decided to use oil pastels was because I have never really used them before.

Pour Paintings

When trying to find things in my pour painting I started by focusing on the shapes towards the outside of the paint "blob".  This was because I thought that the shapes were interesting and immediately caught my attention.  After looking at Ms Roberts painting with the profile that is what I started thinking about.  After looking at the painting I too found a profile.  But after looking around the profile I realized that there were two lines that curved toward each other.  To me they resembled a crab's claws.  When looking at my painting again today I will try to focus my attention towards the circles in the paint and possibly shapes with shapes that I've already seen something in.

Talk and Draw

Drawing without knowing exactly what to draw is a challenge, but being able to see what the other person was supposed to draw and telling them size, color and shape was harder.  I found it hardest to explain to my partner the shape of an object.  When describing the cookie-cutter in the shape of a heart I had trouble communicating what way it was lying on the table and which was it was facing.  Being the one to draw means that you are relying only on your partner's ability to describe everything that was on the table.  Without my partner being able to tell me if something was a vase or a piece of wood she instead tried to describe whatever it was by saying what it is found in or used for.

Thinking About the Artist

An artist is a person that is able to express themselves visually, musically, in photography or even in writing.  To be creative an artist needs some sort of inspiration.  That inspiration can come from anything, life experiences, emotions, the environment around you, reality, fantasy etc.  The creative part of these things comes from the artist's view point, this makes their work original.  To be productive, an artist needs an open mind.  An open mind allows someone to see something interesting in something that another might overlook and see as average.  Seeing that opens that artist's perspective to express what they have seen.

Reflecting on Picasso Quote

Everyone starts out as an artist.  A child is thought of as an artist because he/she is able to express themselves in what they do without the pressure of what others think.  As the child matures he/she begins to consider the thoughts that others might have concerning their work.  Being an artist requires courage and belief in yourself.  Art expresses one's emotions and views.  This means that there is no classification of a "good" or "bad" artist because in reality the only opinion that should concern the artist is their own.