End Of Term Reflection

This term, 2-D art has been very fun for me. Over time my focus on my work increased on my work and it showed through the art work itself. 2-D art started off as a bit of challenge after coming out of sculpture. It was hard to make a 2-D figure without wanting to make something pop out of it! My favorite project was drawing from observation- symbolic still life. I glued the lollipops to their wrappers so they unraveled perfectly against the white board they were mounted to. The crinkles in the wrapper was quite a challenge to draw and shade in. I was very proud of the still life lollipops that I drew. I spent days on one lollipop in order to perfect the shading, but it was hard to work with the sunlight that was always changing. The product came out just the way I wanted it to. I was very excited to execute my idea for the language project. I was going to collage a school bus out of magazines and put small text on the windows that symbolize youth. I was able to start the bus which was coming out very well. I enjoy collaging because it is usually something I can do pretty well, I discovered this this year in afternoon art. I'm looking forward to doing portfolio and senior studio next year with a new interest in mind.

Symbolic Still Life

I decided to draw three lollipops for my symbolic still life project. The dum-dum is in the process of unraveling itself as I sketch it. This symbolizes a child growth and coming out of their shell over time. A child is very protected and as they age they gain more freedom. I really enjoyed working with pencil and learning how to shade better, working with intense sun light in a shady room was a definite challenge for me, but in the end it was very successful. One of the other challenging aspects was getting the texture of the crinkled wrapper which took a lot of time, but I was able to pull it off in the end.

Images from images/tiny pictures

Statement of Purpose

On your blog write a statement of purpose for the term using the following questions as a guide:

I chose youth because of the themes that are attached to it. Maturing, growth, chaos, simplicity, as well as other aspects tie into youth. Things in our everyday life remind us of youth like candy, playgrounds, and laughter. As one matures the simple things that children are fascinated in become much more complex. Iphones, tv's, laptops and facebook replace something as simple as a teddy bear. I plan on taking the sounds, objects and feelings of youth and incorporating it into my art- candy wrappers, teddy bears, love, hate, and growth.

Planning for Opposites Project

My theme for my opposites project is youth. My plan is to create a child's bedroom using magazine pictures. I will print out a picture of a teddy bear- an object a child holds onto dearly-and paste it onto the bed. For my next picture i will print/cut out a picture of an iphone and use it as the center of my next image. Facebook logo, ipods, blackberrys, mac books etc will border the iphone and words that describe those images and the emotions behind them will be bordering that whole image.

Essential Questions

How do artists develop content and ideas for their work?

Artists develop content for their work by taking ideas and aspects in everyday life and transforming it into art. Content and ideas or inspiration can be found just about anywhere. Using one idea and stringing ideas to that, such as taking a general idea of "youth" and breaking it down to a "jungle gym" is what helps objectify work.

What kinds of techniques, behaviors, and habits allow artists to turn their ideas into meaningful works of art that engage the viewer?

Techniques and behaviors and habits such as creating questions within the art work engage the viewer more so than a straight forward painting. There are reasons for ever color and marking on the paper, which relates to the main idea as a whole. It is important to pay close detail to these things so the viewer can put their own story into art.