Sketchbook Archaeology

This year the sketchbook has been an amazing way for me to experiment and create things that I will want to hold on to and look back on. In the beginning I had detailed drawings and as I progress through my sketchbook I realize that there is a significant amount of more color and just using new materials like wax.

Pencil drawings
Paint pens
Collage

INITIAL REFLECTION

It was funny looking through my blog. I forgot about some of the projects like the Pour Paintings, Found Image Collage, and just some of the D.E.A.Ds that we did. It was strange when I remembered everything because some of it seemed like it happened forever ago, but I feel like the year itself has flown by. I think that my artistic strengths may have been drawing even though it frustrated me at times and the biggest challenge for me I think was the time constraints. Art this year was a lot more fast pace that I would have thought and it was challenging because for me I like to take my time and thoroughly finish something before I move on to another project and so I found that really frustrating even though I was told that I would be able to finish them at later times I don't think that I ever got to finishing projects that I started beforehand. I'm really sad that I'm leaving art class because I found it relaxing though difficult times and I learned a lot of techniques that I found helpful and that I'm sure I'll use during art classes that I'm sure are to come in my future.

Art 21 Reflection #1

Florian Maier-Aichen, 
 Florian Maier-Aichen is a photographer who uses a computer to combine images and also to draw and add images. He says that he likes to take an end product and take it to an unfinished photo again. In one photo he used the tri color method by taking three black and white photos with different color filters and sandwiches  three photos together to make a colorful image of clouds. He doesn't like  photos that are too precise and he also believes that each photo needs to have it's own scale. I enjoyed watching this video because I enjoyed just seeing his and other photos because photography amazes me and has always interested me. The only thing that I didn't relate to was adding background that a viewer might not realize was painted or added in because I think it's kinda like cheating the viewer in a way?

Jeff Koons.
Jeff Koons art is all about themes with flowers and central images. He works with  information with different views of life and aspects. He usually creates his images on the computer with a bunch of different sources/pictures. He himself mostly works on the computer working on perfecting the image while others mix/actually paint the picture for him. Sometimes he works with wood. Wants to communicate strongly though art with power, and veral quality. Believes that others people's rights are the same as yours and that there is a moral responcibility with art and that part was meant for public interaction. I really enjoy his paints and the detail that he puts into his work. I noticed that a lot of his work reminds me of childhood memorys like animal baloons and broken easter egg shells which relates to me because in reality, I'm still a kid.


Mary Heilmann
Mary Heilmann started out doing ceramics in collage. A while after, she started to do abstract expressionest ceramic sculptures in large scales. In the beginning she did  art beautifully by herself then realized the most important thing was communication though the art. She wanted responces of antagonism causing trouble. Wanted to be on the edge and original. Later on, she decided to become a painter. Objects became pictures for her. Every piece of art has background stories and the titles are like, "three word poems" she says. Scale, relation of parts to whole pice give feels to the painting according to her. She likes different spaces which she got out of Asian artwork and has different shaped camvas. She says her "simple ideas become her addiction." I think I enjoyed watching this episode most because Heilmann was soothing in a way and when she told stores of her youthful day it sounds kind of similar to me. She likes to be be edgy and original like I do. Abstract paintings are my favorite because they hold significance for the artist though the viewer might not fully understand the image. Though I love abstract art and think it looks amazing, I don't know if I would be able to create a simple piece of art that holds a ton of significance like some arts do.

Clay Sculpture Planning

I've decided to do my clay sculpture on my friend Signe. If I had to choose an animal for Signe, it would have to be a cat. I choose to do a cat to represent Signe because she likes attention, is crazy and likes to do what ever she wants, sleeps a lot, likes to play games, and is always late to things. Signe would never be caught in a library because she does not enjoy reading despite being very creative and she also has HDHD and can't sit still enough to read for more then 20 minutes.

Brainstorming-Maya Angelou

I think I want to do Maya Angelou. At first I was considering myself, but had second thoughts on that idea. I'm not sure how I thought of Maya Angelou but she popped into my brain. Not only is she a poet but also a powerful speaker and an amazing woman who has gone though  rough times. She was born on April 4th, 1928, in St. Louis, Missouri but also was raised in Stamps, Arkansas where she faced discrimination due to her skin tone. Things that I can integrate into my symbolic portrait are dance and music. She worked as a waitress and cook to support her and her son after she finished high school. She toured Europe with a production of the opera Porgy and Bess so I could possibly look that up and find something to represent it. Worked with Malcome X. Martin Luther King was assassinated on her birthday.

Visiting artist: Hamlett Dobbins.

There are too many great works of art that Hamlett has created to choose just one. But one painting that stuck out to me is the, "untitled (the split)"I like this painting because I enjoy the choice of color that Hamlett chose to work with and it reminds me of somewhere warm and tropical. It seems as if there is a sandy beach and water and there seems to be a flower of some sort. Wheather or not this was to be intended, that is how I interpreted it.


My question is why he chose to work with the mamterials that he uses and what gives him inspiration the most (is he just inspired when he is moved or does inspiration hit him from nowhere and he crates for the pure joy of it?)...and what the meanings are behind the paintings...and why I can't click on all of the pictures...didn't understand Hamlett Dobbins' chronology...do you sketch, put it on the computer, then onto canvas?

Reflecting on group work.

Working in a group has been more challenging then I had expected. At first I thought that it would be a lot easier and more enjoyable because I would be with three good friends of mine who are also creative in art. However, we all contributed great ideas, but we didn't always agree (in fact, most of the time we didn't.) Though you may have more work to do, I think this is the reason why working individually is in a way, easier then with a group.  BUT, when we did figure out what we wanted to do, we got right into it and had a great outcome rough draft. Another good thing that we did as a group was reminding each other to think of the whole. As in, we reminded each other that this was going to be a public painting for anyone who goes into the cafeteria to see. All-in-all, I am anxious to see how the mural turns out. I am sure that it will look fabulous because I know that everyone in my group is trying their hardest and I'm sure that our hardest will be more then adequate.