Symbolic Portrait

For my portrait I have decided to use my aunt as the subject of my work.  I decided on her because throughout her life she his struggled with physical disabilities such as back surgery and MS. At a young age when she told me about her MS I remember crying when she told me about it.  She told me that her hair that I had identified her with wasn't really hers, it was a wig.  She taught me to be strong and never stop believing in yourself no matter if someone tells you that its impossible.

In my portrait to tie all of my symbols together I will make her profile in the corner with her real hair.  There are many childhood stories that she and my mom have told me about her struggle such as stories in the hospital, thing that the doctor's told her, what it was like to be told such horrible things about her physical condition etc.  I wold like to try and make it so that it goes from her past to the present.  Most importantly I would like to try and include many memories I have had with her.

Hamlett Dobbins

I chose this piece as my favorite because of Hamlett's use of words and filling the full two pages.  The dragon has very careful detail and has many colors to shade it.  The pilot steering the dragon is also very detailed.  I think what drew my attention to this piece most was the words.  The words I don't fully understand but I think would have been thought out.  Irony means words that are the opposite of the literal meaning of something else.  So this leads me to believe that "to be whipped without a hint of irony) means that there is no opposition to it.

A question that I would like to ask Hamlett is when a person is looking at his work what kind of mesage does he want to send to his viewers and why.

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.