Reflecting on group work

     Working with other people in the mural project is hard: we have to compromise on one idea, and when we don't we have to start our process all over again. It can get some-what frustrating. Also when you think someone is doing something wrong it is hard to complain to them because then you seem selfish. We have fun though and are trying our best not to get each other angry and that's what counts!

Fishing Memories

End of Term 1 Reflection

      This term was very different from what I was used to in my old school. It was fun and I learned things that are very helpful for being an artist like special art rules: ways to project your thought in your art, and ways to highlight what was most important. My way and thoughts of drawing have changed for the better during this term. Before this term whenever I drew I was not thinking of some key things like shadowing, lighting/contrast, the principles of design, and using different materials for making art better.
     This term I also realized that I could do more than just draw. Some of the successes that I have done this term would have to be the wave drawing that I made in my sketchbook and the pastel heart that I made in the beginning of the term. It was hard for me to do shadowing, as I said in one of my posts but I ended up getting used to it.
      This term I had a lot of fun and I can't wait till next term! Some advise I would give to myself is keeping my blog really organized so I won't have to look around for everything next term. Overall I thought this term turned out great!

Glass Half Full

      What I tried to represent here was traveling.  At first it is really boring traveling and being cooped up in a plane for a long time .(First drawing, negative). But once you get to your destination it is fun and relaxing! (Second drawing positive). It was a bit challenging having to make a lot of people and I kind of got paranoid about it but it ended up well.
     The rules that we had to use about shading and lighting and stuff like that was actually very helpful. Some of the feedback that I got was to shade the people that I didn't want the focus to be on and that really helped me!

Principles of Design Research

Today we looked at "Nighthawks" by

Chair With Coat

      Today's drawing I found harder than other days because it kind of combined every reflection drawing we have ever done. It was hard for me to draw the sizes of everything: the arm chair, the cushion, and the coat. 
       Some skills I used were shading, drawing the cloth, and placement. It was very hard for me to do placement. Shading has gotten easier for me but for some reason I found this reflection drawing very difficult.

Principles of Design Research

Principles of Design Research

     Today we looked at a painting called the "Nighthawks" by Edward Hopper. We looked at how he wanted the viewer to look at the painting and what he wanted us to think about it.
These are some of the things he wanted us to notice:
He didn't use symmetry in the painting but he used placement/grouping. He placed the people in a lighted area to show them clearly, and what he wanted them to represent. Surrounding the bar he put darkness to show it was a lonely night. This is the contrast between light and dark. The light made leading lines on the pavement out side the bar and also he made the light creeping into the buildings on the opposite side of the bar. There was implied movement in the painting to: the bar tender bending down. The painting had some proportion, more light then dark. He mostly used all of the principles of design to show what he wanted us to think of his painting.

Fabric Drawings

      Last time when we had to draw the sticks it was a bit easier because you couldn't really mess up. This time there were more colors, shadowing, and you could mess up. You could mess up with where you put the fabrics. It was fun drawing the fabrics but a little bit difficult.

Found Object Sculpture Reflection Discussions

        The feedback I got from my group was helpful, they said that there was a lot going on and that maybe I should get rid of the "keyboard" that I used for a rug because you can't really tell what it is meant for. They also said that you could really tell that my Gameboy screen was a TV.
        A sculpture that I think really went well in our group was Joe's. He made a gun from a printer scanner, a coat hanger, and some other part of a printer. It looked as if it was made from just on piece. He also made a cigarette with ashes. The cigarette was made out of wire and paper and the ashes was made out of crunch black charcoal.

My Art Work

Pile of Sticks

     At first when I looked at the pile of stick I thought that it would be impossible to draw anything that detailed. But As we started and as I got into the drawing, it was easier that I thought it would be. It felt natural to me once I got into the rhythm. The drawing is not fully done yet but I think it looks good so far.

My Art Work

Mid-term Reflection

1. Engagement:
Getting enough sleep: I don't think I ever get enough rest, even though I try to.
Bringing supplies to class: Bringing supplies to class is easy and I always do so.
Completing work: I have completed all the work that I have started.
Giving projects a good attitude: I give my projects my best attitude and my hardest try.

2. In-class projects: the works of art you've finished up to this point.
        I have finished all of the projects I have started. The Pour Paintings, The Extended Finding of The Pour Paintings, and I have brought in my drawings in my sketch book on time.

3. Sketchbook: the work you're doing outside of class.
        The work the I have done in my sketch book for assignments and other projects have been brought in on time. I am almost done will all the assignment that we had to do in the sketch book.

4. Drop everything and draw: drawing from observation on Tuesdays.
         The drop everything and draw projects on Tuesdays are fun but sometimes challenging. It is good practice though and I am happy when I start getting into it.

The Changing Still Life

          It was a bit annoying having to draw all the objects then having to erase it all. The process was a little tricky especially when you can't really erase the objects. When my picture was done it looked like a giant smudge. It was difficult to get all the object into the picture also it was hard making the project what I wanted it to be in the first place.

Found Images Collage

       The feed back that I got on my collage was helpful. They told me that they like my idea of humans V.S. nature but I should add more color to the background.  Also to add more pictures to both sides and make my idea clear.

Three Forms Drawing

      Whenever I draw I never really pay much attention to shadowing, I just completely ignore it. I like drawing more details then anything else. It was very hard for me to draw the objects, ignoring details, and to focus mostly on shadowing. I hope to get better in shadowing it would make me a better drawer.

Extending our findings from The Pour Paintings

       The object that I chose from my pour painting was a heart. The heart in the pour painting was dark and very creepy. I wanted to make the extended painting look more bright. The best thing about the pour painting was the way the colors swirled and I wanted to add that aspect to the heart in the extended drawing.
      One idea that someone gave me was using pastels and mixing the colors into different shades.

Pour Paintings

       Crating the pour painting was much different from other art projects. Usually you have a image in your head that you think you are going to create but this project was different because you let the paint create the art for you. You don't really know what shape the paint will take.
       At first the paint was taking a shape of a heart and it looked great with the colors all swirled. The next day though the painting looked liked it had been moved because the paint had splattered. It was hard to work with because there wasn't really anything that I could do that would made the painting look  good.

Talk and Draw

       When doing this assignment the thing I found hardest to do was to describe intricate shapes and what position they were in. It was also very hard not to tell the other person what the object was. 
      When it was my turn to draw I wanted to turn around so badly and see what in the world she was trying to describe.

Collaborative Drawings

How did having someone else work on your drawing add to or take away from the final result?
How did it FEEL to return to your drawing and see other people's marks on it?

    Having someone else working on my drawing made me feel distraught, uncomfortable, agitated, and annoyed. I had no idea what they were doing to the picture and I was thinking if I ever wanted to go back to the picture again.
    Coming back to my drawing was depressing, my picture looked like it when through a blender. My hope for what I wanted the picture to be melted.

Who is an artist? What does an artist need to be productive and creative?

An artist in someone who loves to create and takes joy in what they are doing. A true artist does not so much care if other people don’t like their artwork, as long as they like it themselves. That is why there is a difference between being creative and being commercial. Being creative can be anything an artist comes up with that they used their imagination for. Their art should show originality. Being commercial, however, often means creating artwork that lacks originality and good quality, but sells well.
   
    Being productive is having to create art efficiently, getting things accomplished in a small amount of time, having the space to create your art in, and the tools that you need to do so. If you do not have any of these, the quality of your art might be lowered.
   
    It is very hard for someone to find the time and maybe to have the imagination and originality to create art. Great artists, though, demonstrate both creativity and productivity. That is why people like Picasso or Leonardo da Vinci are such famous artists. They were very productive because they worked hard, and they had originality, imagination, and good quality. Having the time, imagination, originality, quality is what will make a great artist out of you.

Picasso Quote

“All children are artists. The problem is how to remain an artist once he grows up.”

-Pablo Picasso

Picasso’s quote reminds me of a Robert Frost Poem that I read “Nothing Gold Can Stay”

“Nature's first green is gold,
Her hardest hue to hold.
Her early leaf's a flower;
But only so an hour.
Then leaf subsides to leaf.
So Eden sank to grief,
So dawn goes down to day.
Nothing gold can stay.”

    These quotes and poems say to me that when you are young you have so much imagination and creativity, nothing can stop you. Kids can think up something that no one else can and your creativity can change you. But as you get older you change and all that creativity and imagination slips away. Your best time of life is behind you and nothing could make things change such as your own creativity. Your creativity couldn’t change you as it could when you were a child. It seems that there is no use for art and imagination any more.
   
    I learned about how creativity could change your life when I took a class in my old school. It was about entrepreneurs and how to become one. What we learned that most of the famous entrepreneurs had all their wonderful ideas as children my age. They had creativity and made use of it.
    What I think though is that you can use art, creativity, and imagination as you get older as well. You just need to find a way how art can help you in life.