Final Reflection

"Landscapes", Landscape Book Project

One of my landscapes

My landscape book stands out to me because it was very different than what I've done before in art. I'd never used ink to draw before. I also thought that my landscape book was particularly successful because I took the time to pick out each image and I could be very selective about what I put in there because I had so many options to work with. Ink was somewhat hard to work with because it kind of had a mind of it's own and would sometimes run. It was also a lot harder to draw in details with ink than it is to draw details with pencil or paint. One of my favorite landscapes was the one I included with the pink and black tree. I really liked how the colors differentiated, I liked the quality of the line at the tree and the base, and I like how you can really see the darks and the lights with the leaves mixed colored leaves. I also liked the image I have on the cover of my book because it has a very interesting line quality and I think that it's really a reduction and just has the basic elements of a landscape.

"Witches Sundial", Texture Sculpture Project

I also like the abstract sculpture that I made for the texture project. This was the first time I'd ever made a sculpture out of many different materials and objects, and I'd really thought about how much work went in to picking out every detail and actually constructing a sculpture out of materials I already had. This was also the first time I'd really made an abstract sculpture and had to make something without really anything to try and recreate. I like how all the different geometric shapes work together, and I like how the rope adds texture to the smooth black skewers. I also think that the title I gave it "witches sundial" really gives you a specific way to look at it, and if the title were different I think It might be interpreted differently. This project went through many different stages and I remember when I first started making it, I thought it would turn out a lot differently than it did. I think as I developed the sculpture, a lot of the little details change, like the gold paint on the inside of the circles. Also the texture of the base changed as I developed the sculpture, I remember having a lot of different ideas for what I wanted to do for this project when I first started making it, but as time went on, slowing eliminating them until I had a clear picture of what I wanted it to look like

Wire Sculpture

I think my wire sculpture was my least successful work of the year. It really didn't turn out the way I wanted it to, it was very flat and one dimensional, and I just didn't know what I was doing with the wire when I made it. From this project, I learned that it's better to have a clear idea of what you want before you try and make it, that way you don't have to spend so much time going back and redoing it because you don't like what you have. If I were to do this project again, I would try and give the wire a more definite shape, that way it doesn't look as messy and frantic, I would also give my figure more dimensions, because I feel like it would look a lot better if it weren't as flat.

I think one of my strengths in art is that all my drawings have a very distinctive line quality. My style of drawing is kind of sketchy and messy and frantic but it gives my art work a very distinct energetic quality of line. I also think that I can express the shape of an object with very few lines. I'm also pretty good at digital photography and working with the settings on a digital camera, because I get to practice a lot with my own camera.

This year I think I put a lot of effort into developing photos in the dark room and focusing on detail in the value project drawing. My darkroom pictures didn't always turnout that well, but I always made sure I developed them properly, and I never gave up or got frustrated when my pictures kept coming out too dark. Also, on the value project drawing, I actually managed to spend a very long amount of time just sitting still and drawing, trying to get every detail and get the shading right. One thing that I think I need to work on is my patience, one reason why most of my drawings are very fast and sketchy looking is because most of the time I don't have the patience to spend a lot of time on a drawing and I tend to just get the basic outline and a few details before getting bored and moving on to something else. Sometimes, I also just need to slow down my drawing process also.

For my future artistic endeavors, I'm probably not going to continue taking visual arts classes at Branson because I'm going to take acting next year, but I have a digital camera and I know I'll continue to do photography in my free time. I also do drawings and sketches sometimes when I have spare time, so I will continue to do that, and I will continue to make art even though I won't be taking a visual arts class.

From art class, I learned a lot about composition and observing things in great detail. I also learned how to get the idea of an object with very few lines at all. I think that would be helpful with drawing. I also learned how to work with many different mediums of art, developing photos, ink, plaster, wood, wire, none of which I had ever worked with before. Art is also very relaxing and in the future I might use art to de-stress. Another thing I learned from just viewing art of famous artists is that there are many different ways to view something and that things can seem different to you based on your experiences and your point of view, I think that lesson will be helpful to me later in life.

Landscapes Reflection

In my book, the majority of my drawings were of trees, and the majority of my pictures were close-ups of flower or plants. Most of my works was just focused on a single part of a landscape scene, with a few details added in. My film pictures were all very high contrast, with a lot of difference between the darks and lights, I didn't have a lot of emphasis on light in my ink paintings, except for the one of the pink and black tree, I think that drawing has a lot of variants between darks and lights, with the black-pink base. aI also went over the leaves again with ink to give the drawing more shadows, I think the end result was pretty cool. All my drawings had the same kind of distinct fluid line quality, my lines were all very fluid and blended together. The leaves on my trees were also all similar because I used the same technique to paint them.My pictures were all very high contrast so they had a blend of lights and darks, unfortunately the bases of some of then are too dark for shadows to show up on, the shapes themselves did have some shadows though. My drawings all had the same kind of tree shape, that was skinny at the bottom, but very balanced at the top with the branches and a rounded shape where the leaves were. I think I used darks and lights, and also distance to give my drawings some 3-Dness.

Abstract Figurative Sculpture

Front View

Arial View

Side view

Detail

My work metamorphosed throughout the various drafts and versions of the s=gesture that I made. It changed in every step, from the drawing, to the tracing, to the clay sculpture, to the plaster sculpture, the shape and gesture of the work slowly shifted.

I realized that plaster is a lot easier to shape and carve than I thought it would be. Plaster is a lot softer than I had imagined, so I realized that I had to be gentler with the tools I used so that I wouldnt crack the plaster. I also realized that it's easier to apply pressure to the tools softly and gradually, rather than all at once.

The shape of my figure changed through out the process. My original design was a lot more balanced with the arms out at both sides and a head on the sculpture, however I decided that I wanted to direct the movement towards the right, so I made both arms go towards the right of the sculpture. I also got rid of the head because I didnt have room on the plaster for it.

In Process Reflection

My Sculpture in Process

My Clay Mockette

The title word that I chose for my piece was "Dancer". I want to give it a smooth texture and rounded edges to show the gracefulness of the figure. I chose to keep the frond and back kind of flat so that the movement is more directed toward the arms of the sides of the figure. I made the base rounded to make the figure seem stable and balanced, yet graceful and fluid at the same time, like a dancer. 

Gesture project artwork

Original Sketch

My tracing paper

Sketch back

Sketch Front

Clay Mockette

Gesture Project Reflection Questions

I think that my drawings were successful in capturing movement of my subjects. I feel like I did a good job of showing movement in my drawings through my lines.
I think I did ok in abstracting the drawings that I made. One area of trouble that I had was with the heads of figures. I always felt that I had to leave the head on my figures, to give it a sense of being human, and because it was a lot harder to draw the figure without a head. The head often provided me with a starting point, to sort of "ground" my figure and give me a point of reference, but now when I'm working with making the figure more abstract, the head ruins the abstractness and makes everything look too human.
My intentions have changed in this project because I originally thought I would leave the head on my sculpture and my mockette, but its proving too difficult to sculpt a head that will stay on the form that I created. I think removing the head will make the figure more abstract, but I also think that the head kinda completes the sculpture. Ill see If I can find away to attach the head, but Im also worried that it might be difficult to sculpt.
I think I want to use a tall, medium width container, because I think that it would fit the dimensions of my figure the best.

Value Project Reflection

A. By persisting and engaging in the process of drawing and developing photos, I was able to create a drawing and 4 photo prints. I was able to resolve the issue of there being too much plank space in my drawing by shading part of the background and cropping the photo down to a smaller size.
I Feel like I have gained a greater sense of how to shade and make objects look 3-D from this project. I also discovered that different qualities of line can be very helpful in the shading process. I discovered that it is helpful to step back and view your drawing from a distance to get a better idea of the picture as a whole. I also learned how to develop photos from a negative.
B. I felt more comfortable with drawing because it was more familiar to me
I felt that drawing allowed for more expression because it is easier to change your drawings than your photos.
I think that if we could experiment more with the settings in the darkroom, aperture and time, then I would feel more comfortable developing photos

Value project photos

Value Drawing Finished

Value Photography Work in Progress

1. I developed craft by taking pictures of different installations. It was hard because with the film cameras you couldn't see how the pictures turned out, and you had a limited number of pictures that you could take. I also learned how to use the enlarger to develop photos.
2. For this project, we used the film cameras and the enlargers as well as the chemical needed to develop photos.
3. As you can see, my second print was ruined because someone left their print on top of mine while it was drying. This made the paper tear a little, causing there to be a white spot in the middle of my print.
4. I'm going to have to reprint my photo because it was ruined.

Value Drawing Work in Progress

1. I developed craft in this project by observing my installation and drawing what I saw, paying attention to darks and lights.

2. I used mostly my 2B and my 6B pencils for drawing and shading in this project because they have a heavier line quality and make darker lines. I tried to use hatching following the shape of my objects in this project to give my work more dimensionality and bring out the shape of the objects.

3. I had some problems with the drawing part of this project because our installation and light source were moved around a lot so the objects weren't always in the positions that I had originally drawn them in.

4. I'm trying to solve this problem by marking where the object and the light source are on the table, but I still don't always get the same shadows every-time.

Texture Sculpture

Reflection Questions
1. My collection of texture could have been more varied. I had the texture of the rope, the cheese cloth, and the smooth texture of the wood.
2. I tried to create contrast on my sculpture, I contrasted the cheese cloth and the wood, and the skewers and the rope.
3. I think that making abstract pieces can be more interesting and also harder than recreating things that already exist because you have to come up with the design entirely with nothing to go off of/
4. My process folio shows my understanding of texture because I tired to find a lot of different textures to use in all my works.
5. I was always trying to find new ways to rework what I already have. I played around with different backgrounds for my sculpture and different ways of accenting the design with the skewers
6. I took inspiration from my final prints, but it tried to differentaite.
7. I wa involved in the reflection process.
8. I was able to communicate my acetic idea s pretty well

Sculpture in progress

Day 1

Day 2