End-of-Term reflection

My first term of art this year with Mr. Brooks had a big influence with what I was able to take away from my two terms of art. Mr. Brooks taught me to be able to think more abstractly and not take the easy route through a project. Brainstorming I was always quick to think of an idea, but was my first idea always my best idea? I soon learned that it was not. I now am aware that to use my first idea to break off and think of more creative original ideas. I was able to broaden what I was used to creating as an artist. After my first term of abstract thinking, coming to 2D, I was told that I didn't always have to think so abstractly, and sometimes the more obvious approach was the better way to tackle a project. I was able to use both polar opposite ways of art in year and I was able to tell when to use one way of thinking opposed to the other. Through different projects that were presented to me I was able to move through hurtles that were a struggle for me, and learn from these experiences.

The biggest challenge this term was making the web the first week. I was unaware how much of an impact it

would have on laying out the rest of my term. It was hard to think of things that branch emotion . It seems easy because emotion covers such a wide range of topics, but it was hard to pin point certain things that I felt and felt connected too. But as I thought more in depth of how personally I connect to the words on my web, it was more simple than I thought it would be.

My creative process changed more with the objects and various mediums I decided to use this term. I was always used to the usual pencil, paint, or charcoal from past terms, but I decided to look beyond that and use water color and learned to show different shades through watering out the color. I also discovered human photo shop. I was able to express my creativity with topic of interests of mine. Using sports I was able to use magazine cut outs in a original way of taking one major part of the sport and replacing it with something that is different. Also from first term of art to second term of art, my mind set changed from more abstract thinking to more simple not as complex way of thinking.

Language

For this project I wanted to pick some kind of song lyrics that had personal meaning behind it. At camp my last summer my friends and I wrote a song that is themed around a ferris wheel. I wrote out the lyrics creating the shape of a ferris wheel on tracing paper. The reason I chose tracing paper was because i was able to paint colors behind it on drawing paper to let there be color in the work. Behind it I used water color to create the sky and the ground. I used a red paint marker to have the carts on the ferris wheel pop out.

Symbolic Still Life

When starting to plan the Symbolic Still Life I had to choose objects that had to do with emotion, and that connected to me personally in some way. The items I chose were a yankee hat, my teddy bear, an orange tie, and abox. These four objects all tie back to me over a certain time period in my life. I love the yankees and its something that my dad and I share in common. I was given the teddy bear when I was born so it has sentimental value to it. The orange tie is from my summer camp. Every Saturday when we watch plays that are put on my fellow cam jewlery pers we have to wear them. They are a tradition and are worn by every single camper. The jewelry box plays a song to beauty and the beast and was given to me by my parents. I set the objects up in a way that is creative and would let me show different shades of colors and show depth. I used paint markers, color pencil, water color, and paint. The water color allowed me to show faded color and shade very easily and the paint markers helped there be really sharp and bright color. The color pencil was to show a different part of the box without using the same material.

Planning for Opposites Project

To plan for my opposites project, I thought about my theme of emotion and how emotion plays into different peoples lives everyday. I wanted to use stereotypes in trying to show the emotion on paper. My way to do this was to take the typical "picture-perfect" family and then "roughing it family". And then I personally thought deeper into the pictures and that the perfect family would not survive a dramatic event and they would fall apart, unlike the not perfect family who depends on love and effection to push them through everyday. I then wanted to use magazine pictures and do sort of a human photo shop look. I played with the size also to have some effect of the differences in life style.

Images From Images Project

I am happy about the way the larger images turned out. I think that with the scrabble board I was successful with being original with my ideas, and I did a good job of using different types of media and color choices. I was able to be creative with the different projects.

Tiny Picture Project

Blog Post 2

What questions can you formulate about your theme (at least 4)?

What can cause an individuals emotion to change?

How can ones surroundings effect the emotion of the individual?

What causes anxiety?

How can one overcome a negative emotion?

How does your theme connect to your life?

There are many different emotions that I have. Depending on the week, the day, the hour, the minute, my mood is constintly changing. Part of being a teenager is feeling a bunch of different emotions, and sometimes being unable to deal with certain feelings. Being able to put emotions into art is a way to put many different emotions in one area at the same time.

How does your theme connect to the world around you?

The world around me is connected to my emotions because the world triggers these emotions and is the reason I feel the way I do most of the time.

What kinds of images come to mind when you think about your theme?

I think of the most simple and popular images. A heart, a smiley face, a sad face, and angry face (etc).

What kinds of art or visual information (advertising, tv, film) have you seen that relates to your theme?

You see commercials on the TV for depression medication a lot of the time and that has to do with a chemical imbalance inside your body. There is also visual information on tv shows.

Why did you choose this theme and how can you envision exploring it through works of art over the course of the term?

I chose this theme because I can personally relate to many different emotions and I can picture making a wide variety of different kinds of art from this theme. I can use personal feelings and experiences throughout the term.

Blog Post 1

How do artists develop content and ideas for their work?

Artists develop ideas for their work from either personal experiences or feelings/emotions. It is easiest to work off of these ideas because you are able to relate closely to your work if you have a connection with what you are creating. There is also time for brain storming your ideas so you can have a more concrete vision of what you want to.

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

Techniques of changing the textures in the piece, vibrant colors or opposite colors, and different medias make a piece more eye catching to make the viewer engaged. If the piece of work allows the viewers to connect with the piece, it is more likely that people will stop to take a second glance at the art if they feel a connection.