End of Term Reflection

I believe that this term has gone very well for me. I think that I really got a chance to improve on my physical skills of drawing and painting but also on my skills of being about to come up with an idea that is relevant and makes sense with what we are doing. I have learned how to control my brush more while painting, shading correctly with paint, how to make shapes look 3-D with paint, how to draw people's faces so that they look more real and how to brainstorm ideas more efficiently. I think that I have grown both skill wise and idea wise as an artist this year. Last year I would need to have someone telling me that my ideas are good and that they would work well every step of the way, now I feel a bit more independent on my ideas and try to make them work regardless of what other people say. Something that surprised me was how much good looking work I could get done in a short-ish amount of time. Another thing was that my brainstorming process takes a very long time so I don't usually get started on projects until later, I was surprised at how long it really takes me to come up with an idea. Some of my biggest successes would have to be my finished work. I especially like my "what if project" and my "heros" project and how they look and are turning out. I would say one of my biggest challenges is many technical things that I struggle with (mostly making drawings or paintings look real) but also my lack of confidence in my art and the process. At the beginning of this term I would have advised myself to try and move through brainstorm a bit faster so I would have more time to work on the actual piece of artwork. I would say to continue growing as an artist I will have to work on my confidence in my art and also working on more realistic drawing and painting.

Clean It Up project (Untitled)

My goals for this project was to try and convey that today people are more concerned with partying and only caring for themselves, rather then thinking about the other people in the world who really need help. I tried to do this by taking song lyrics from too very influential artists (The Beatles and The Police) that were about having peace among people and poverty and how those bottles are large, full and unused by people. The third bottle is about having a good time and not caring (Miley Cryus) and it is used up because that is what people are choosing to use because that is what concerns them most.

What if everyone stopped caring?

I actually really like the way that this turned out. I think that at first no one really had any idea what I was talking about when I tried to explain this idea, but it really came together the way that I pictured it in my head. Some of the details that really helped bring it together for me was the silver paint on the newspaper to make it look more like metal and the water color on the little plant because it just made it look very fragile and small like I wanted it too.

Heroes.

Boston Globe Online when searched for "heroes" came up with articles about movie stars, broadway stars, athletes and very few politicians.

New York Times Online when searched for "heroes" came up with articles about greek mythes, normal people who work to rescue other people, mothers and athletes.

I think that there are different kinds of heros and that really any person can be a hero. There are the larger scale heros who change the world and effect everyone in some way and to be that kind of hero you just need to represent what is truly ethically correct, having no prejudice or hate involved. There are also smaller scale heros who are just heros in their own life. They are the people who are just strong enough to keep their chin up and keep being positive when nothing seems to be going right. The people who can still honestly smile when thing aren't the best in their life. I think these are both very important types of heros and that the world needs both of them to become a more tolerant and peaceful place.

Mid-term Reflection

So far this term I haven't really had too many completely finished projects. The only one that I have finished so far is the Text Project which didn't exactly come out the way that I wanted it to but it was still good.

Usually my process is just me working in my sketch book drawing and just trying to come up with ideas. I don't use very much source imagery to actually draw from it but sometimes I use it to get an idea or get a general sense of what something should look like. I don't do blogging to help me brainstorm. I like getting feedback while I'm working and I usually do from Ms. Roberts which is really good.

I feel like for almost every class I am engaged and working hard. I really enjoy art so its not very hard to be. I never typically look engaged because I don't like to talk much or really look at whoever is talking but most of the time I am listening and paying attention.

Relax

Claude Monet, French, 1840-1926

Andy Goldsworthy, British, born 1956