Reflecting on Group Work

Working in a group on one artwork has been more difficult than I expected. I thought because everyone in my group is friends and we all have our own strengths it would be easier. We all have our own ideas and what we think would look good which makes it hard. When you make art on your own, you can do whatever you want to it and use all the ideas you have in your head. With a group, you have to be able to compromise and admit that some of other peoples ideas are good and better than your own. Even though it has been hard, there are many great things that have come up while working. Once my group stuck to a plan and idea of what to do, we knew we wanted to make it happen. We all agreed on a specific plan and had an idea of how to work with everyone's strengths and weaknesses. We were able to mix colors correctly to a shade everyone agreed on and work on one paper all at the same time without getting too frustrated. I feel like I have helped the group out with ideas. I am a very organized person, so when I knew something would not look right or would not look good I was able to say it. Once we started the mural everything came together and as of right now, I really like how the mural looks!

Start of a Long Lasting Ritual

End of Term 1 Reflection

At my previous school, art class was a joke. I didn't know what to expect coming to Beaver and knowing art was a major part of this school. I did not enjoy art as much as I do now before coming to Beaver. I believe that my skills have grown since the beginning of the term and I have learned what materials I am best at using. From all the projects we have done, I have learned many things. For example, I have experienced drawing from observation. I learned how to shade objects and try to make them look like their actual shape. Also,  after using all the different materials, I realized that I really enjoy using pastels. I like being able to smudge the colors into each other. Also, I was surprised to know that I like using charcoal and being able to use the white charcoal to shade the colors into each other. I didn't think I would like the charcoal because I am a perfectionist and using the charcoal means you are going to have smudges and marks on places where you don't want them to be. My biggest success and the piece of artwork that I like the most was the extending our findings from the pour paintings. I drew a flower out of pastels and had each of the petals different colors blended together. I have learned over the course of the term that I need to be able to let loose and go with the flow. I need to be able to say that it is okay if I do not like one of my artworks and be able to move on.

Overall, I have learned a lot about myself as an artist over the course of the term and am excited to see what the next term will teach me!

Chair with Coat

I found today's drop everything and draw less complicated compared to the last few weeks still life's we have had to draw. Even though the shape of the chair's headrest was not perfect, i was able to shade it to get the feeling that it was a headrest. The white paper, sticks, and fabric was much for difficult than drawing the chair because it the other still life's had many aspects to them. For example, in the past weeks, we have had to draw multiply sticks over lapping, whereas this week we only had to draw one simple object.

I used the skills of shading that I learned over the past. I also was able to make my drawing of the chair feel like a chair which i would not have been able to do a few weeks ago.

Change of Seasons

 For my glass half full project I drew the seasons winter and fall. The positive piece of the project is the fall part. It is a tree with colorful leaves on it with leaves started to fall off due to the wind. The background is a light blue so it does not take away the attention from the tree, which is also known as emphasis. I used symmetry throughout the drawing. Repetition was also used in my drawing. I repeated the shape of the leaves coming off the tree. The leaves falling off the tree used implied movement. For the negative part, I created a tree with no leaves on it and bare. Winter comes after fall and makes the trees look ugly. The trees become bare and it shows how bitter the season winter is. I used repeating lines by making the branches on the tree in the same shape. I also used a gray background so it would make an emphasis on the tree, but also have it show how bitter the winter is.

Found Object Sculpture Reflection

Sailing Away

The sculpture my partner and I made is suppose to be a sailboat on the water sailing away. When you move the gears, the sailboat moves back and forth. Whoever is viewing the artwork then gets the feeling of an actual sailboat sailing away on the water. The process of making this sculpture was fun! We had to find all the right shades of blue for the water, and find something to create the base of the boat out of. I loved having to search for the objects we needed, and being able to think of a way each object could be used. One struggle we encountered was the gears becoming lose and falling off. At one point during the process of making this sculpture, the gears to make the sailboat move fell of. We tried to glue it back on, but it took a gluing to make the gears stay back on and still work. The most successful aspect of the project was having the boat move. I believe that people enjoyed that part the most.

Principles of Design Research

The work of art I looked at and researched was Nighthawks by Edward Hopper. It was a painting that took place in New York City in an empty bar. The artist used The Principles of Design to support the story or message of the work. Edward Hopper uses balance in his artwork. Specifically, he used asymmetry to show the lonely streets of new york compared to the bar that had only four people in it. Another thing Edward Hopper uses is emphasis, particularly placement. He put brighter lights in the bar rather than on the streets. In the bar, there was implied movement with the bar tender.  He was bending down to get a cup or something in the bar. Edward Hopper also used proportion in his artwork. He made the bar a lot larger than the people to prove that the bar was lonely will few people in it.

Fabric Drawing

Today's activity was difficult. It was hard to recreate the fabric that was used. I had trouble creating the folds in the fabric and where things over lapped. It was different than last weeks drawing because last week, we only worked with one main shape, which was the sticks. This week, we had to work with all the different fabrics and designs. This week and last weeks drop everything and draw were the same when it came to overlapping and shading.

Found Object Sculpture Reflection Discussions

I was happy with the feedback i got on my project. I was not sure if people would like it and understand the moving sailboat, but the people in my group liked it. They told me advice of what to change, and what the good things about it were. They told me to add a base under the middle part so it would stand and be more sturdy. I was very scared that it would not look good because it is not very neat, but my group did not mind the messiness. They made me realize that it actually looked okay and is good the way it is.

Pile of Sticks

Today's drawing was difficult for me. We had to draw a pile of sticks and try to make it look like they were overlapping. We also had to look at the specific detail on the sticks surrounding the outside. In order to make it look like it wouldn't collapse if you moved one of the sticks, you had to shade and darken the area in the middle. It felt okay making the drawing because I knew that no one would judge it, but it definitely was one of the hardest for me. I am proud of the outcome because even though it was challenging, I did not give up and kept on drawing. It was not a GOOD drawing, but it was the best I could do. I did try to darken the middle area, which did work in some spots. Even though it was not my best, I liked the challenge and it made me come out of my comfort zone.

Mid-Term Reflections

So far this term, I have really enjoyed this class. I never really liked art until this year. I really like using all the different materials while drawing. All the projects we have done so far I have enjoyed. I did not like the idea of the sketchbook at first, but I have started to get into it. I have tried different things, such as using pencil to shade, using markers, and using pastels. The Tuesday class is the hardest for me. I do not like drawing from observation that much, I have started to get used to it. It is interesting to see all the different things we are told to draw each week. I have enjoyed this class a lot more than I expected to so far this term!

The Changing Still Life

One thing I needed to do to accomplish the goal of today's still life drawing was I had to be able to keep up. I needed to be able to add everything that Ms.Roberts was putting in, and take away the objects she took out. It was hard having to draw so fast because I like to take my time on things and make sure I did them correctly, which is something I could not do during today's lesson. I also had to look at the drawing and not just draw the objects, but see where they were placed, and what I could actually see. Another thing I had to do in order to accomplish the goal was not get frustrated. If I wanted to understand the purpose of this activity, I needed to focus and finish it.

Relaxing Scenery

In my project, there are many mountains overlapping, with water at the bottom of the page, and a sky with white, fluffy clouds. I got my inspiration from two photos in a National Geographic magazine. One of the pictures that caught my attention was a waterfall. One of the ideas I got from the picture was the blue water at the bottom of the mountains. The other picture that I liked was a picture of tall mountains with clouds covering the peek of the mountains. From that picture, I got the idea of creating mountains and having clouds at the top of the paper, but not overlapping with the mountains. I loved being able to play around with the different colors from the magazines, and cut parts out that would look good in my picture. Also, I enjoying having to look through different magazines to find the same color that I found in a totally different magazine. Overall, I liked this project and was proud of the outcome.

Found Image Collage

I was inspired by two pictures of nature. One was a picture of mountains, tall in the sky, with clouds around it. The other one was a water fall. On my collage, I am combining the two pictures and creating a landscape. I have a sky, with blue and clouds, that I cut out from random magazines. Then, I have mountains that are solid colors that I cut out. On the bottom of the page, I have blue covering. I am going to add white to the bottom to make it look like a waterfall. The feedback I got was really helpful. My group told me i should add birds to the sky, and put details on the mountains. I am going to add paint, or markers onto the mountains to add specific detailed.

Three Forms Drawing

Today's drawing was difficult, but fun. I do not love doing drawing from observation that much, but it was nice experimenting with the objects. The pine cone was the hardest object to draw out of the three things. I could not get figure out where to the light was reflecting. The cup was the easiest thing for me because it was obvious where the light was and where the shadow was. I like shading and blending black and white together, and seeing how much of each color you need in order to have then blend. I liked today's drawing from observation better than last weeks one. This one was more interesting not as difficult, but still gave me a challenge.

Extending our findings from The Pour Paintings

Looking at my pour painting and finding a specific detail I could use to create a new piece of art was challenging. I had way to many ideas going on in my head. I ended up combining two things, flowers and rainbows. I created one big flower and smudged rainbow pastel colors in the peddles. My classmates helped me pick out colors that would look good together, and taught me how to smudge it so it looks good.

Pour Painting

The pour painting activity was really interesting and fun. First, you mixed water and paint together to form "watery" paint. Then, you poured the paint onto a blank piece of paper. You could either have a little control over the placing of the paint, or you could randomly drop the paint. I did a little bit of splatter paint on my painting. I stood up, and poured the paint from a  higher level so i had no control over it. It was interesting to see what shapes the paint created and what direction they went in. Also, I liked being surprised in the shapes that I saw, because I had no idea what they would form like. I was surprised when I was the paints combine together and form a swirl between the two colors. I thought they would combine and create a different color.
When I came back to the pour painting the following day, I saw that the colors were changed, and it looked completely different from what it looked like the day before. I could see shapes and images in my head when I looked at it. For example, I was able to detect a sailboat in the middle of the painting, and the shape of a fish attached to the corner of the painting. My painting is not fully done, I could add more pictures to it.

Talk and Draw

Today's activity was difficult. I had an easier time being the "describer" and a harder time being the "drawer." I was able to describe what the objects looked like and where it was placed. I forgot to say a few details when I was describing to my partner because I got so involved in the little details, that I forgot the main and important ones. It was hard having to be the drawer because i\I am not a good artist, and I am used to being able to look at something then draw it. It was a difficult project to do, but it was also interesting.

Collaborative Drawings

Todays classwork was a little bit more on the tricky side. When we started working on our own painting, I had a picture in my head about what I waned it to look like. When we were told we had to work on someone elses art work, and a person had to work on our own, I was scared that i would ruin the other persons painting. I also thought the people working on mine would mess it up and make it worse. When i came back to my original painting, I saw a lot more detailed than I expected. I expected to see random drawing on it, and things that did not make sense. I was surprised to see that I actually liked my picture more after other people worked on it. The two people who worked on my painting added more detail to the mountain and blended the colors together to add more texture and to make it more detailed. It felt good to know that my classmates worked hard on it to make it better, and did not just do random designs that did not look good.

Thinking About the Aristist

Who is an artist? Every person is an artist in their own way. Whether you are an artist by drawing, sculpturing, painting, tie dying a shirt, or even finger painting, you are still an artist in your own way. Any form of creating something is an example of art. Being creative means to be able to come up with something original or coming up with something that no one else has done. An artist needs a few things in order to be productive. He or she needs to be able to find time and a place where they can focus and get art done. They also need to be inspired in order to create art. Maybe the artist gets inspired from being outdoors or in a quiet place. Wherever it is, they would most likely have to go to that place.

Pablo Picasso

What I think Pablo Picasso meant when he said, "Every child is an artist. The problem is how to remain an artist once we grow up," is that children can be more creative when they are older, and loose their sense of imagination as they grow up. Children tend to be able to think creatively, and use their imagination to come up with things to draw and just things to do. When people start to get older, they loose their artistic abilities and start thinking more literal because they start to realize what the world is like. Also, adults start to gain interest in other things that do not require your artistic ability.  As Pablo Picasso said, it is hard to keep your artistic ability when you grow up, but if you try to see things in a different way, and not how they literally are, then staying an artist would become easier.