Reflecting at the end of the course

When art first started i was very excited. I felt like i was a good artist and it was something i loved to do. In the beginning I only drew pictures using a pencil and just drawing as things came to mind. But over the course of the year i grew into an artist that planned art painted,sculpted and much more. This art class has not only taught me tricks in drawing but it has also opened my eyes to new and exciting ways in which to make art. During the year i had many ups and downs. I would say my biggest down was the final project which was lost. But also i need to work on my sculpting skills my painting skills and my skills in focusing in and getting the job done. But I also had many highlights as-well. The self portrait was my favorite highlight. It showed so much of who I am as a biracial and multicultural person. It showed the struggle my family has gone through and the things i hold dearest. It also is the most natural piece of art i've made all year. I am really proud of the outcome of it. Other accomplishments were the Found Object project, and the emotional lines project. During the middle of the year i became distracted but in the last term i have realized how important art is to me and how much i really love it. I will definitely continue with it in the future. Art is not only a pass time for me, it is also an emotional release and a passion that is deeper then a pen and paper. I will be sure to take advantage of the art options next year.

I am

I am Brazilian, Canadian. I am a son, brother, and friend. The story of y portrait is very complex. Its main goal is to tell a story of immigration of my family and the different branches of my family. It shows my mothers side of the family from Canada, my fathers from brazil and the combination of them in the USA. It also incorporates some of my hobies.

Reflecting on self-portrait progress

I shared myself portrait with my group and received lots of feedback. I told my group the story of my parents immigrating from Brazil and Canada to the USA. I shared with them that my favorite sport is soccer and that immigration is very important to my family. The feedback was to define my shapes and finish the globe. To finish I need to color in the rest of the globe and to finish the the body of my portrait.

The Book Project...progress and planning

My original plan for my first page was a scene where a father is walking into a war vehicle going of to war, while his wife and children watch from the distance. I have not finished my first page but sp far my plans have not changed. Everything is going well but I need to pick up the pace. 

Revisiting Observation/Description Activity

The parts of the painting that looked like the original were the one that described the layer and clearly stated the relativity to other objects in it. Describing what the general shape was and not the details worked very well. To many times the paintings were off because people focused on the details and not the key points. Describing size relative to the actual sheet of paper was also helpful. When people draw shapes inside shapes, and when people focused on detail the drawings became to confusing and it made the drawer feel disoriented in terms of shape and space in the drawing. If I were to do the activity again I would focus on color and general shapes in space more. 

Reflecting on The First Week

This week we did three activities, the collaborative drawings, the pour paintings, and the mapping the still life drawing. All of these three activities required us to be able to work out of our comfort zone, we had to cope with change and we had to work without control of the outcome. In the collaborative drawings we had to let other people draw in our drawing and let them take it in any direction. To do this assignment properly we had to work out of our comfort zone by having someone else do what ever they wanted to something we worked hard on, we had to cope with the changes our peers made and we had work knowing we had know control of the out come of what it would look like. In the pour paintings we had to work out of comfort zone because we had to give up control, we had to cope with change because the painting was constantly mixing and moving, and we had to somewhat work without having control of the outcome because of how the paint would hit the paper, how it would mix and how it would dry. In the mapping still life activity we had to utilize these three skills to the best of our ability. It was out of our comfort zone to have someone else controlling the change in our drawing and having to add and take away objects. For this same reason we also had to cope with change and be prepared to give up control of the outcome. 

Reflecting on Found Object Sculptures

I began my sculpture product by looking through objects i had found an grouping them according to how they looked and how they could be used. When I found the the black stringy tape from the tape recorder I knew I to use it. It inspired me to think about all the different things i could use it for. I finally decided that it could be best put to use as the fur of a animal. I began to look through my stuff again to try to find more objects. Now knowing what direction I was going in it was a little bit easier to zero in and filter out unusable objects, or objects that would not be practical for what I was creating. When I finally came upon a side to a black DvD player I was able to start building. The DvD player side had two walls that lifted it from the ground immediately standing out in my mind as a body. It was also black so it was color coordinated with the black tape. I came up with two ideas for animals, a zebra and a raccoon. I deiced that the zebra was not as good of a fit because the legs formed by the DvD player were two short and fat to be a zebra. This left me with only one choice the raccoon. I found more and more things helping me build my raccoon. I had completed the body when I realized that I what I had made resembled a panther more than a raccoon. When I looked for objects that could be made into a panther, I realized that they were all there. In the end I did end up completing my panther and it turned out better than I originally thought it would. The feedback I got back from my peers focused mainly on the lack of colors, but the variety in material and great use of material. Though I do appreciate colorful sculptures my sculpture was purposefully made to be unanimously colored black because of what I was building. 

Reflecting at Mid Term

This term I have made lots of progress. I have learned to see the potential in things I before viewed as  regular everyday objects. I have learned to pull ideas from everything in my surroundings and to be as creative as possible with my materials. I have learned to build off my ideas and to cope with change. I have also learned to do the best I can even when I feel like I don't have the materials, time or skills to complete a task. I have struggled at times to turn in work do to missed classes caused by soccer, sickness and dentist appointments but I have caught up and completed all of them. Though I am far from a perfect artist I do believe I have become a respectable artists and have learned a great deal from this class. It is always hard for me to get started but when I did I ended up completing pieces of art I was proud to call mine. I always try my hardest to produce artwork that i am proud of.