Reflecting on group work

This week the mural project has been a challenging one. My group decided at first to go with a concept that was putting all of our ideas into one. We worked on that for a while but in the end it didn't work out well. It started getting very messy and many of us worried about if people would understand what we tried to put on the mural or if there was any message getting across to everyone.  It has been difficult because at first when we tried to please everyone we ended up having an idea that may not please the people who have to look at it everyday. A challenging part has been deciding on what we are going to do. Once we decided to work on a new mural idea we had to decided what it was going to be about and what it was going to look like.  Four people our of the five in our group decided on something that had to do with Boston.  Even though we all agreed on it we still had problems coming up with what parts of Boston we wanted or what types of things we wanted to show. Today we finally picked a concept we want to do, but the only problem is that two people from our fiver person group didn't come to school today. I like the whole group as a whole can accomplish a lot when we agree on things, but when we don't then it becomes harder. I think that if we all try to work on one concept and we put our minds together on one thing then we will have a great mural in the end. We have some very talented people who all have different skills that may be good for our mural. We all just need to lean to balance all of our skills and make it into a mural that people will enjoy seeing.

Collage: A Wish Come True

PICTURE COMING SOON!

Found Object Sculpture Reflection

For found object sculpture the concept of my work was to make little kids reading a book. I  got the idea from the little book I found in one of the piles of junk. The process of making my sculpture consisted of me drawing my ideas down and then finding things that I could use to help me make my ideas come to life. Some things I struggled with was finding the proper things to make hands and feet. I wanted my sculpture of the children to look more human and less robotic. I discovered different things like little toy parts that made great hands and feet, even though it looked extremely robotic it worked well with my sculpture. I think the aspect of my work that was the most successful was my idea process and how I ended up creating the end product. Even though at times things didn't work out the way I wanted it to I ended up make a sculpture that I enjoyed and went well with how I imagined it would look.

Hot Air Balloons

For my glass half full project I decided to do the pros and cons of going up in a hot air balloon. The concept of my work was to show that hot air balloons can be something that is unsafe, while being something that is fun and enjoyable. The process of making this piece consisted of me drawing landscapes and a hot air balloon as the main focus point. One problem I faced was the fact that I wanted to use colored pencils but I kept on smudging them pencil with my arm to a point that it looked chalky. I also was having problems with my balloon and making it look like a well balanced circle shape. I discovered that sometime it will be hard to have something turn out exactly the way I want, but in the end it may look better then I thought it might. I got feedback from Lili, who pointed out things like the colored pencil and helped me with some proportion problems I was having. I think that aspects of my work that are the most successful have been the colors that I have used. Even though the colored pencil smudged a lot, the colors that I used look realistic and worked well with my project.

End of Term 1 Reflection

This term in Art Principles has been a great experience. I have enjoyed the projects we have done and the work I have accomplished. I have learned a lot about myself as an artist throughout my time in the class. I learned that I am not good with shading in drawings, which made some of my D.E.A.D pictures not turn out the way I had wanted them to. I think I have grown as an artist because I have learned things like your painting doesn’t have to be perfect right when you start drawing, it changes over time as you go along with the process. I tried to put lots of effort and time into my drawings and projects, while adding my own ideas to them as well. The thing that has surprised me the most is the fact that I don’t shade. When I am drawing I normally don’t notice if I am shading enough in a place, but when I come back and look at my drawings I can tell if I should have shaded something or made something darker then something else. I think my biggest successes has been my growth with my observation drawings. I used to hate observation drawings because I never thought I was good at them, but once I started to learn some simple tricks to drawing from observation, it became a whole lot easier to draw from observation. My biggest challenge this fair has been finishing projects. I work hard on my projects but I never finish what I started. I would like to finish more projects on time, since I don’t know if in the future it will matter more about getting the work done on time. If I could give myself some advice it would be to work more on shading and finishing the work I start. One thing I think I should continue to work on is finishing work/ making my projects look good and are done to the best of my ability, and shading places that need to be shaded in a drawing.

Chair With Coat

Today's D.E.A.D was more difficult then the ones we have done in the past. The chair with the coat was harder to draw because everything in the picture had its place. If a person came up to me and looked at my drawing they would know if I did the chair arm wrong, while with the sticks and fabric people would not be able to tell if I messed up on my work. Today I tried to do more shading in my drawing then I normally do. In this setup shading was important because without it you wouldn't be able to tell the coat apart from the chair, or the black vinyl cushion on the chair to the wooden arm rests. All of the shading was important, just like the proportions of everything. One thing that I had to look out for was proportions. I had to make sure that I mad the chair look like it was bigger then the coat, I had to make sure the legs on the chair looked the same side. This D.E.A.D was harder the the last two because I was trying to make sure I had everything placed in the correct spots. I also had to look for the little details, which made the picture look accurate and where important. I tried to make sure I had everything I needed, but it was hard. I enjoyed this weeks dead, but it was one of the hardest ones that we have done in a while.

Fabric Drawings

Today drawing the fabric went pretty well. I just had to make sure that I remembered to shade different fabrics and try to make them all look different. I struggle with shading most of the time, so I needed to work shading and adding some more details to different fabrics. I enjoyed drawing some pieces of fabric because I felt like I put more time and detail into the piece.

While I was attempting to recreate the fabric I thought that it was extremely challenging at some points. I wanted to add many details to the fabric and I started to give up at some points, but I kept with it and made sure I tried to get it done and make it look nice. I felt okay trying to recreate the fabric, but some fabrics where harder to draw then others that had lest detail.

Todays drawing felt different then the sticks because I felt like everything had its place, while in the sticks I felt like if I moved something by accident no one would notice it. I enjoyed the stick drawing more because I had more freedom while I was doing it. On the other hand I forgot to put light and dark on the stick picture and on the fabric picture I felt like I attempted to add that more. Overall I enjoyed todays D.E.A.D.

Principles of Design Research

 The work of art that I looked at was Self-Portrait on the Border Line Between Mexico and the Untied States by Frida Kahlo. The art piece was created in 1932. Frida Kahlo used the principles of design because she made sure that she used things like lights and dark to have her audience look at the most  important parts of the work. On the boarder line, between Mexico and the US, Kahlo created a self-portrait of herself. In this part of the work Kahlo had good use of proportion in her painting, by making sure the people looking at her piece first looked at the self-portrait of her, which was larger then the rest of the work. Frida Kahlo used contrasting things, like factories in the United States vs. old places that the Mesoamericans had in Mexico. The art work had good approximate symmetry with her in the middle of the picture and other aspects around her.  I enjoyed the work because she made sure it was from her view point of the two different places. She also used depth of field because she had a few things which were keys to the painting, like the factory building, which used leading lines along the page. She used a little bit of grouping when she had things that she put in clusters or drew them more then once. Overall the art piece was extremely good and she did a great job on getting a point her point about how Mexico and the United States are two different places, as well as her uses of the principles of design in many important parts throughout her work. 

Found Object Sculpture Reflection Discussions

For my found objects sculpture I have decided to make little kids reading a book. I am currently not finished with my project and I have to add some more things to it as well. I got the feedback to add arms and maybe some more hair to my people/ person. One sculpture that I thought was successful was Alexandra's project, which was fire/ flower. She did a great job, and got the feedback to make it bigger and more wild so that it looks like fire.



 

Found Images Collage Reflection

 A wedding in India

In the process of making my collage a friend gave me the idea to make the shape of India for my paper, since I decided to make an  Indian wedding. I got the idea for a wedding because my table had a lot of wedding magazines and I got the idea for India because the magazines had lots of colors such as reds, oranges, yellows, and pinks. When I started making my collage I started ripping the different colors out and gluing them onto the paper in the shape of India. One struggle I encountered was that it was hard to cut out the shape of India, since there are small little parts to it. I eventually got the hang of it, but that was after I messed up a bunch of times.  I think some aspects of my work that were successful was the way I put my piece together. I thought that everything fit well. I made sure that the wedding dresses looked good in the places I put them, and I also used wedding dresses of different sizes. I Also put different streamers that said I love you, and I had an elephant as well. I really enjoyed this project because I got to do something the ended up really great. I hope we do something like this again some time.

 

Pile of Sticks

Today in "D.E.A.D" we had to draw a pile of sticks. At first when I was starting to add the details to my drawing I was really looking for the little things on the edges, I wasn't paying attention to the middle of my piece. My teacher told me to look at how the sticks come together in the middle and I started trying to do that. After a while I started getting the hang of it, I was going to draw everything first and then put the details on, not the other way around. I felt like at the end my drawing was okay, the one thing that I wish I added more of was light and dark. Most of the time I light drawings not dark, this is something I need to work on.

Mid-term Reflection

 Art this term has been a great experience. have enjoyed many of the projects we have done and the topics we have talked about in class. I believe that some of my work was done to my best quality.  Some of my strengths consist of working hard on my work, even when I don't finish it sometimes.  I think one thing I need to work on is finishing more projects, that is my goal. I have never had to use the "I'm doooonnnneeee" worksheet, because I always have a project I need to finish.
My engagement in class is very good. I make sure I listen to what the teacher is saying and I work hard on the assignment given. There have been times when I didn't enjoy the "D.E.A.D" but I still did my best and tried to put 100% into the work.
In class so far I have finished one big project, the collage that we worked on. I am not really good at finishing many of the projects on time, but I do get them done at one point or another.
In my Sketchbook I have made sure that I do the two spreads a week. The only problem with my sketchbook is that I do work, but I normally don't finish it. This has become a pattern of mine, start work, don't finish. I am going to work this week on finishing work that I start in my sketchbook and so on.
On Tuesdays we drop everything and draw, also known as D.E.A.D. I have enjoyed some projects we have done on Tuesdays from drawing from observation, but other times I don't like it. drawing from observation is normally so exact with what you draw that I find it harder then other types of drawing. I enjoy all of the projects we have done in Art term one, but drawing from observation hasn't been the best.
Art has been great this term, and I hope in stays one of my favorite classes.

The Changing Still Life

Today in class we had to make sure that we kept up with the changes that Ms. Roberts was making to the still life setup that we were using. In order to accomplish the goal of going along with the directions I had to make sure that I changed what was on my picture to match with what Ms. Roberts was changing. This tended to be difficult sometimes because I would have to erase things and add things all at the same time. It is very difficult and almost impossible to erase charcoal from a drawing. Another thing I had to do in order to accomplish my goal was make sure that I had everything on the picture from my point of view. The last thing that I needed to do was make sure I could see the set up with out moving my whole body. Once we started making sure that I didn't move my whole body didn't feel really important, but keeping up with the directions was a key point. One thing that I would do differently would be to us different a different material to draw my picture with, since the charcoal was easy to erase.

Found Images Collage

 For my collage I have decided to make an Indian wedding theme. At my table we got a bunch of wedding magazines that had lots of bright colors like orange, pink, yellow, and red.  My group gave me the idea to cut my paper into the shape of India and put my collage on that. They also told me that I should have two people on top of the Elephant that I found a picture of. Scarlett told me that I should put a bindi on the head of the women I am using in my collage. I might try to find a picture of a women in India in a wedding that might be better for my picture.

Three Forms Drawing

Today in our class we did an art event called D.E.A.D( Drop everything and draw). Normally I do not like observation drawing, but I liked it today because we got to choose how we wanted our drawing to look. We only had three objects, a cup, pine-cone, and a block. I liked the activity because we got to practice shading and finding the details in the object. If we did this project again I would be okay with it, since I was fine with it today. One thing that I need to work on more is some of the shading. Once we hung up our drawings I noticed that I didn't have shading in some places, so the object I was trying to draw didn't look as realistic as it could have been.  One thing that I need to work on is trying to get  details in things like the pine-cone, I never got to drawing it but I think if I did I would have tried to add the extra details. I felt fine doing the project since I enjoyed it, but also having the little demo before helped me realize that I didn't have to make it look realistic on the first try, it helped me realize that my drawing would progress as I worked on it.  One thing that I do not like in drawing for observation is when we have to draw something that is already set up and then we have to draw it the way it is, I liked being giving the choice to decide were I wanted to put something on my page.

Extending our findings from The Pour Paintings

My idea for my new art project involving the pour paintings was to look at the colors that are in my painting. My pour painting had a lots of colors like blues, greens, pinks, reds, and browns. I decided to go with the brown, blue and green colors by drawing a peacock feather that had all of the different colors. I am going to use water colors and colored pencils in my project.

Riley helped me with my project by giving me an idea to use the whole page and not just a section of it. I think that the whole page made my  project look better because I was able to put more of the details in my work. When I am done my project will look beautiful in the end with all of the colors and details I will put of the feather.

Pour Paintings

When we first started making the pour painting I enjoyed the abstract way it looked on the paper. I thought that the project was different in a way that made it enjoyable. When the paint was wet it was hard for me to see anything in the shapes that is made on the page. I didn't really see anything besides a splash of wet paint in the middle of the page. It was fun just putting the paint on the page and seeing the shapes that it took in the end.

The next day the pour painting was dry and it just looked like a splash of paint on the page. When I looked more closely at it one of the first things I saw was a bumble bee. As I looked around more closely I started seeing animals and bugs in the painting. I am still working on the pour painting and as I go along I am starting to see more sea animals and bugs. The pour painting project has been a very enjoyable experience and I am looking forward to working on finishing my project.

Talk and Draw

One of the challenges from today's talk and draw experience was that we could not say what the object was, we had to describe it in detail. For me the drawing part was easier because I would listen to what my partner was saying and I would draw it. The part the was more challenging was the describing to my partner what she had to draw. I didn't always know what to say or what words to use to describe something that was shaped like a candle stick, which was more complicated to describe. If I had to do this activity again I wouldn't really do anything differently since the directions were very clear. I enjoyed the activity in the end, but the talking part was the harder to do then the drawing for me.

Thinking about the Artist

An artist is a person who is not afraid of showing their creativity in different ways. An artist is someone who will try new things and add their own flair to whatever they are working on.

Being creative means that you will use your imagination to make your own thing, something that could be different from other peoples art. Being creative does not always have to be what you thing about when you are making a piece of art, it can also be what you add or do when you are making art. You don't always have to think about what that thing is in you piece or how it should be, just making something, anything that adds something that is different.

In order to be creative and productive an artist needs to think positively in order to make a good piece that they will enjoy. They need to slow down and just do what they want, don't always think, just do what pops in your head. The last thing that I think an artist should do is always be open to different ideas from people or yourself, never be afraid of mixing something new or putting to different mediums together, just try it, and if it doesn't come out right the first time you can always try again.

Collaborative Drawings

Today in art class we had to work on an art project and have other people add their own ideas to our art piece. At first when we had someone else work on our project I was a little upset, because I had worked on it and put genuine ideas into it, but then it the end I felt better because other people also felt the same thing that I did. Of course I was going to be a little upset, it was my art and I don't think anyone wants someone messing with their work. When I got my drawing back it was a little weird to see how every one who worked on my piece has different ideas. One person made my trees and house a cartoon and added little captions to it was well. At first when I saw it I couldn't believe all of the different things that someone had put on it. I looked at it for a while and realized that we all had different ideas and that was okay. In the end I was fine with all the different things, because some how it all fit together pretty well. I realized that the two other people who worked on my piece put there own imagination and creativity into it.

Reflecting on Picasso quote:

"Every child is an artist. The problem is how to remain an artist once we grow up."

-Pablo Picasso

I think that when Pablo Picasso made this statement he meant that children are normally born with a curiosity for learning and a natural creativity. As children get older and become adults they may tend to forget to use there imagination or creativity in there work. Adults and children differ in the fact that many children love to pretend and use there imagination to create things, while some adults may take things like art to literal and forget to add there own flair to the thing. Everyone has their own creativity, their own imagination, but children may just be more able to express it more openly then adults.