- Some of the activities that helped me improve the most were the observation activities, because by observing a picture you can always see where the light comes from and the part of the object that is closer to the light source will be less shaded than the other part that is farther and doesn't get as much light which makes it look darker. Another thing that also helps something look more realistic and changes your point of view is the shadow of the object, which is part of the value and composition.
I learned so many things and new techniques of how to draw in perspective while doing the hallway drawing. I learned that the vanishing point is the most important thing because the main lines on the perspective drawing connect to the vanishing point. But not all the lines on the drawing connect to the vanishing point, for example; drawing the floor of a hallway and making a lot of squares.The lines that are inclined vertically connect to the vanishing point but the other horizontal lines are examples of the lines that do not connect to the vanishing point, but even though the lines are not connected to the vanishing point they still need to be proportional. A way we learned to make those lines look proportional is to leave more space between each line to show that the lines are closer to you and to leave less space to how that they are farther from you and do the same with other details.
We also learned how to make original art work by copying.
I copy squid ward from SpongeBob, but I make it into my own creation by changing different features. First I changed the character gender and add different features like blonde hair and eyelashes. I also decided that I should also add a nice background like her house, but color it different and also add some other details that could show the change of squid ward's gender. I think that the background,physical features and clothing really change the character personality and since I came up with these ideas it makes it my own.
Some of the main projects that we did were, the two in one project, the character remix artwork, and the subject steal artwork, and for warm-ups we often watched videos.
My favorite project to do was the two in one project. For this project I decided to do the face of an old man and the stump of a tree. I started by sketching the face of the old man and then adding the stump on the back making it look like the stump had a face and tried to make it look more realistic by adding some shadows and value on the sides of the stump, I also tried to incorporate the face into the stump by drawing a human skin texture on the stump and by drawing the hair and the beard on the stump. On the background I drew more trees and some mountains to show the aspects of nature but at the same time showing the aspects of humanity with the old man face, which together reflects the good composition and the main purpose of the project which was to show two really different things in one.
Artists Solve Problems
Throughout the unit my thinking about solving problems as an artist changed, mainly because at the beginning of the unit I had a different perspective, I thought that artists were so talented that they were accurate when they do art and they could just make a perfect piece without really having any problems , but in this unit I actually experience what is it like to have challenges and limitations when doing art, and I learned that every artist at some point along their path will have challenges, limitations, and difficult decisions that could either affect their work in a positive or negative way.
Before this unit I had never really challenged myself by putting limitations when doing art. Throughout the unit the main strategy that I used was experimenting. I used experimenting when I did the cat sculpture with newspaper, and my final project which was a painting. I think that experimenting was the best strategy to use in this unit because that is a really effective way to find out if something could work before applying it to your final piece. I used experimenting when I made the cat by combining different pieces of newspaper together and trying different materials before making the final piece. I used experimenting when I did the painting with my fingers by trying and combining colors in paper before painting on the canvas, I also did some sketches in my sketchbook to see how I was going to arrange the colors in the final piece, I spent a while experimenting. To me this unit was all about experimenting and trying new materials.
I think that working with a limitation was a good experience throughout the unit because I could prove to myself that I could pull it off, even though a limitation was affecting my final result. I am really happy with the results, it was really hard because of the limitations especially because I couldn't use paint brushes when I did my painting. In general, time was another limitation, but at the end the results were pleasant.
Unit 4- Sculpture
How to work with clay- Introduction
- Wedging is an important step when working with clay, because it will evenly distribute the moisture in clay.
- After the clay has been thoroughly wedged, it may be formed by a variety of methods including slab,wheel, coil, and pinch.
- Slab clay-a method of making pottery in which thick, flat plate, or slice, of clay is cut into shapes which are joined to form an object.
- Wheel Clay- Making pottery by using a wheel, which is a machine used in shaping of round ceramic ware.
- Coil Clay- Making pottery by using long, snakelike ropes of clay.
- Pinch Clay-Pinching is a fundamental pottery technique. Making a pinch-pot is pressing the thumb into a ball of clay, and drawing the clay out into a pot by repeatedly squeezing the clay between the thumb and the fingers.
- Scoring is another important technique to know when working with clay. Scoring is important when you want to put two clay pieces together, you do it by making scratches in the pieces to be joined together.
- Storing- one of the most important parts of working with clay is storing. When you store your piece you have to make sure you do it the right way because if it dries out it will be hard to work with dried clay. In order to keep it moist when you store your piece you need to wrap it with damp paper towels, put it on a bag and tie it.
- Another thing you should know is that when you're working with clay you have to keep the clay moist and you can do that by spraying your hands with water, but be careful too wet or too dry can be bad for your clay, so it has to be just right.
- when you're done with your piece, you just expose it to the air and let it dry. When completely dried the next step is firing which is the process of baking and hardening pottery.
Slab clay
Wheel
Score
Teens Inspired
Choosing an art piece from the museum was a hard decision because I liked several pieces, from two different categories which were abstract art and sculpture. Some of the pieces that I really liked were Abstract from Horace Farlowe, Abstract from Theodor Werner, and Space in blue from Joe Cox. At the end I decided to an sculpture with sticks. I was inspired by "The Living Tree Houses" by Patrick Daugherty. Patrick Daugherty is best known for its sculptures that break down over time. His art work is built primarily from tree saplings woven together. Because the sculptures are made of organic matter they disintegrate, break down and fall apart, becoming part of the landscape once again. Patrick's inspiration is the beauty in nature. I chose his piece because I wanted to try using new materials for sculpting and because I knew it was going to be challenging but I knew it wan't going to be a problem. My inspiration I was the way Patrick uses nature and organic matter to create such beautiful pieces without harming vegetation. I found really interesting how he uses simple things like tree branches to make really high quality art in a professional way, instead of expensive art materials like other artists do.
Identity Project
Art ! Final Exam
Throughout the semester I have improved my art making skills. I have learned different techniques by experimenting in most of my projects. Most of the projects that I did at the beginning of the semester didn't include the basic elements of art. Throughout the semester I start including different values in my paintings and drawings, colors that could blend together, good composition, good proportion, and a good representation of the theme. When I compared my initial work to my recent pieces of art the improvement could be seen in the value, and proportion of the drawings.