Art Journals

Artists Develop Art Making Skills...
In class we did a project on art journals and this was something new as well as exciting.  I liked how we were able to pick out slips of paper for a word or phrase to show what our topic was about in our art journal. It was easier to know what I was doing for my project instead of having this long thinking process in what I should do for my project.  The word I got was secret and the phrase I had was a best moment shared between me and my mother. It was a challenge to find a best moment shared between me and my mom because there has been so many and hardly any magazines I saw had a picture to explain a great moment. So instead I just decided to use the word "secret" for my art journal, which at first I didn't know what to do for my journal since a lot of things can be associated with secret and then after I had an idea. I did learn new skills in which was adding tissue paper as the background to my page with some glue that you put on the back, then place the paper on top, to then add more glue on that paper, and to have the glue dry clear. At first I was having a hard time with the glue and never adding another coat on top when later I knew what to do and my background was much better. Also during this project it was something different because usually we are always drawing or sketching out our pieces, but this time we were able to get pictures from magazines and then paste them to the page.
I did gain some skills with familiar materials such as pictures when I was pasting them on my journal page, I also learned more about glue and how it can help a lot with projects such as mine. This project helped me a lot gain new skills, and it was something new to try that I really liked.
Artists Collaborate...
When I first started this project secret was a good word to use, but like I said before there were a variety of options I could have done that involved secret. After thinking for a long time I asked one of my classmates on what I should do and she said that by me liking the show "Pretty little Liars" I should do that. Once my classmate told me that idea it really helped me out a lot and finally I could start working on my piece. Since pretty little liars is one of my favorite shows it was easy to elaborate on it and to get some ideas on what pictures I should have and how my journal should be formatted. The show pretty little liars is all about these 4 group of friends who are trying their best to keep a secret but the more they try to keep it the more danger they are in.  This is why I think this series matched perfectly for my art journal.
My classmate pushed me into the right direction on what I should do for secret which was a big help, also she inspired me a little. In my art journal there are some lyrics to a song in which my classmate told me would be a good idea to have on my page. This song is all about keeping secrets and also its the theme song to pretty little liars as well.  At first my project was challenging to me since I didn't know what to do, then after I had a little guidance which I believe made a good art journal.

Nature Art

Artists Take Risks...
In art class we decided to try something new for our project in which was nature art. This was my first time ever hearing about nature art, and when it was first introduced I thought this was going to be a very challenging project. After learning more about nature art it can be really easy and even the simplest things such as a print in the sand can be defined as nature art. I wasn't sure on what I was going to do for nature art, because there were many options but also I thought about my project's outcomes. At first I wasn't sure if I wanted to make my art out of sand because when drawing on sand it can be difficult sometimes, based on how deep you should go, if there is enough sand for a print to be made, etc.
I did pick out a new technique in which was going outside and working on sand, and usually while doing art projects I use pencils or colored pencils. But during this project I had used a different material to make my piece and this new material was just a plain old stick. When I first began this project it was really new to me because I never did a art project in the sand and I felt as if I was doing something wrong, even though I wasn't. When I was sketching out my details in the sand I noticed it was just like sketching something in my drawing pad, but instead I have a stick and its on sand. After that I did my drawing on the sand, and I think I did well on it and the stick helped me get the right details. At first it had been hard since the sand would blow away or cover my piece which meant I had to go over it but once I started going deeper and deeper in the sand my piece stayed where it needed to be.
Artists Communicate through their work...
My artwork was intended to say that art is unpredictable and doesn't have to always just be on paper it can be expressed in many ways. People express who they are and what they like in many ways it shows us who they are and can be shown in many different forms of art.
The issues I'm showing tells my audience to not be like everyone else, and to think outside the box. Its good to be unique that's what makes everyone special we are all different in a good way, and shouldn't be a follower but a leader.  its not good to always be plain its good to go out and try something different, like for example nature art.  Usually people just do art on paper, clay, walls, and more but its good to try doing more than that and to do something never before...like nature art. Its hard to believe art can be done in nature but its all around us and even though it stays and then goes its still something fun to do.
I never heard of nature art until this project, so after doing this project I learned how fun and exciting it was. This art expresses me because I am unique and instead of doing what everyone else was doing I went outside and started drawing on sand, which most people don't do. Also I like doing random designs on my drawing pad and on the ground so doing this project helped me learn more about what I like and also I think this is one of my favorite projects.

Sculpture

Artists Develop Art Making Skills...
When this sculpture project was first introduced to us, I had a hard time planning out my piece. At first I was thinking about making jewelry but I didn't know what to make for that. After that I decided to do a clay tile for my art work. It was very challenging at first when I started to do my clay tile, and it involved a lot of steps before actually doing anything to the tile. I first had to pick out a story in which I decided to do a scene from the movie tangled, then I had to draw that event on tracing paper, flatten my clay tile, trace the paper on top of the clay to get the outlines of my picture, and then I started to begin working more on the clay. This was very challenging for me and it was a lot harder then what I thought it to be. The new techniques I learned for the sculpture project was how to add on clay to bump up your image to have that 3d perspective. Adding clay to my image was easy for some parts but when it came to me putting more clay on the two characters I had a difficult time with that.  It was hard getting every detail on the face of the people so I had to get another slab of clay and make it more thinner to retrace the image of just the faces and then after my piece began looking more realistic.
I had done clay in the past, so I did have prior knowledge on what to do but there still were new methods I learned during this project. In some of my previous projects I did in art such as pop art I used carving tools, and when I had to use carving tools again for my clay piece it was much easier to work with.  At first my project was very challenging to me especially when I had to add more clay on but later I learned the techniques and soon start to get the hang of it and I think my project turned out really good.
Artists Collaborate
By this sculpture project being something new to me and I wasn't sure on how to first began my piece I did ask for some intake from some of my students as well as teacher. The main part I need help on was when I had to add more clay to the image to bump it up.  At first this process was really hard to me then after some of my classmates told me what to do which made everything more easier and I started to use more appropriate tools that made my piece easier to work with.
I did learn a lot of important information that helped me during this project and my piece turned out as a success. My main problem was bumping up the faces of my characters and after I learned how to get a new slab of clay and then to retrace the faces so I can get the details, helped me a lot and I'm glad I asked my classmates and teacher for feedback I never saw me doing a clay tile until I got some inspiration to try something different in which I enjoyed doing.

Shibori Dyeing

  The artist I felt was unique and had a really interesting technique is Michael Smith. Each of Michael's art work pieces are different in their own way. Instead of Michael just making art he has made art with a purpose. His art is wearable art which is very impressive and he has done this for over 25 year, which is a very long time. His technique isn't a traditional style and he has been working under three names which were three wishes, chaos, and Mystic Eye. I searched where Michael Smith is from and I couldn't find anything.
  While Michael uses a non traditional shibori technique he also combines discharge, immersion, and a variety of colors on fabric and does his own designs. He places his dye on white fabrics like silk or chiffon. Michael gets shirts that have white or black cotton shirt blanks, the fabric is folded between one and three times. When the t-shirt is soaking wet, it is manipulated with the artist's fingers such as Michael's and put through the Crinkleator to set the patterns. The shirts are stuck between stainless steel grids, and the fabric that is already done goes in a series of fiber dye solutions. Michael uses three separate color tools so his art can have more of a variety of color combinations. When Michael is done with the dye it goes in hot water to clear off some of the dye, after the shibori  fabric is sewn into garments.  I think Michael's art is more retail since its wearable and is more of a garment then a flat piece of work that can be in a gallery. I picked this artist because I like the way he does his style, instead of using one color he decided to make a bunch of colors.  Also unlike most artists I have learned about never have wearable art so I enjoyed how he has made a lot of garments, that some people wear.  His techniques are good and I hope to one day use those same techniques to make a dye shirt.

Perspective Project

Artists Communicate through their work...

While doing my project i did a lot of planning/thinking, and wondered what subject i could do for my perspective art piece.  After i picked the subject on what fuels me, and this really helped me plan out my piece even further. So my artwork is intended to show my audience what fuels me and that is a phone booth that we can find in the UK area.  This fuels me because its my dream to go to London and to explore the sites, and to make a phone call in a phone booth.

In my piece there isn't that much of issues i'm trying to indicate, but just that the littlest things can be inspiration to many people.  As for example me i picked a phone booth which is something small but that one small thing gives me dedication that dreams can come true and that one day i will be able to be in that phone booth in London a place I've always wanted to travel too. Traveling can he a hard thing to do because of money, flights, gas prices and cars, etc. Even when people can't travel to that one place now they are still trying to, and that shows that most people never give up on their dreams and the smallest things can be happiness to them.

This artwork shows who i am because i want to one day travel to London. My project just shows that one object, but that one object expresses many things about me. Like me wanting to go to London, i love the red color that phone booths have because red is one of my favorite colors and it makes the booths stand out and be unique, also i enjoy how phone booths have been here for many years.  Phone booths give off a old fashion style and styles like this interest me especially when they are still very popular in our present day.  

Artists Collaborate...

Perspective projects are very challenging to me, and during this project i did have some difficulties. While doing this project i never knew how to angle my booth so it looks perspective and the shapes and sizes were hard for me to show that my piece was suppose to be dimensional. I angled my squares further from one another while they were still connected so it looked more perspective and when i thought i was done i asked my teacher and classmates what they thought of my piece.  Each one said that the right side of my booth needed to be more parallel to one another.  At first i was having trouble making everything parallel but after i was done with the side of my booth my piece looked more perspective and it looked more like a photo booth.

When i was done communicating with my classmates and teacher i understood more about perspective and when the sides are more parallel that gives more of a dimensional shape

rather than changing the angles on each side.  I'm glad i asked the people around me for help or i wouldn't have understood perspective and my piece would be flat.

Art History

My group did the piece Frida Kahlo "Portrait" for our art history project, it was a challenge at first to see what piece we could represent. There was a large variety of different art works of Frida Kahlo, and after thinking about how we could do our picture and what props or material we needed; my group and I finally selected a picture to do. The movement for this piece was expressionism, in which expressionism in used in paintings, drawings, and sculpturing.  In which it forms from nature or exaggerated colors for emotive or expressive purposes. Frida Kahlo is a very well known piece created by the Mexican painter who is most popular from her self portraits Frida Kahlo. Everyone in my group had a job, most of the jobs were props, the power point for the presentation, and planning.  Hunter bought props and different materials to make our picture come more to life and look exactly like the portrait, such as getting the yarn for the hair.  I helped with the planning like what we should do in the video, what part we should have, and how we should use these different materials/props in the video. Caitlin helped with the props as well and while we were filming the video Caitlin was holding the sheet behind me as the background.  We all worked together and found information to help create our power point to present, and after all that we were done with the project. If we were do to the project again then I would probably want to add more detail, we had enough props for the video but I think we could have added a little more. As for example the blush on Frida's face in the portrait we could have done and instead of just the eye brows we could have drew some hair above my lips, like the picture.  if there were more details then the audience could easily see what we were indicating and it helps give our video more life and making the video look exactly like the picture.

Portrait

Artists Take Risks...
1.) In this project I wasn't sure if I should use pencil or colored pencils while doing my portrait. At first I was thinking about shading with my pencil because that seemed easier, and I had more practice with that; but the picture I was using had a lot of color and if I just used pencil my project would have been boring. So towards the end when I was done sketching my portrait I decided to use colored pencils instead. Also when I was picking the medium the main thing I was worried about was the shading of my grandmother's face, because in a portrait, details and shading are a very important feature that you need to make your project more realistic. But later in my project I made the shading work with my colored pencils and I feel that when I added this material it made my picture come more to life
2.) I picked colored pencils that was pretty different for me, because I usually use pencils for portraits and sketching faces and their details. Pencils are much easier for me to use and I mostly use them anyway for the last projects so I wasn't sure how colored pencils would work especially for the shading part, but my project turned out really well.  The one struggle I have is doing portraits because there are so many details and it takes time to get them right and to make them realistic, so I didn't know what to do about that and it took me some time to get it just right. But with some practice and time my portrait started looking more realistic, and I really like it.
Artists Reflect
1.) While I was doing my project there were many times I stepped back and stopped to look at it, like how the details were and to see if my portrait was similar to my picture. But the main time I stepped back and analyzed my drawing was when I stared shading in the skin tone and when I was doing lightness and darkness to the neck and face. The colored pencils were very challenging to work with while shading the face, and I never could notice the darkness to the lightness like shown in the actual picture of my grandma.  After I had some help from my class mates and teacher and learned more on how to shade the face, such as having the light spots like shapes so I wouldn't get confused between the dark spots on the face.
2.)One idea I thought about before doing my project was the mediums, like should I use colored pencils, paint, pencils, oil pastels, etc. But when I was thinking about my mediums I also put in consideration what would make my picture look more realistic, and how good are the mediums to help me shade and add very descriptive details.  After thinking about what would be good for my project I finally picked colored pencils and I think this medium was perfect for this project.

Survival (illustration Friday)

Ipad Drawing

A layer is of one thickness of something such as an art work piece that lies over something or between the other thicknesses, and is a flat covering between others. Layers go on top of one another making the piece more than 1 and layers also make the material become wide or thick.

I used different layers in my work today to help me with the colors on my monster. When I did use layers it made everything more easier and organized and if I didn't like one thing, I could have just deleted that one layer to help make my drawing more better.  What I did for the layers was that the first one was the color of body, then after I went to the eyes and mouth for the next layer, and kept on continuing the process like the hair and bow and it was easier to finish my piece. Also the layers help the monster get more details and look more realistic like mine does, so the layers really helped. In the Ipad there was also a category for the layers and it was easy to add as well as delete the layers so it wouldn't mess up my art work, and it also showed what I was doing on that layer so I wouldn't be confused as well. Layers have helped me on this project and I feel that I did good on my work piece.

Gif

 

This gif relates to me because I just love the game flappy bird.  This is one of the apps on my phone that I am constantly using every day.  Flappy bird is a real fun game and its very exciting and I just keep playing so I can beat my high score, its really funny how quickly this game became popular.  First no one knew about it and then soon it was all over social networks and later this game got everyone's attention, especially mine and I just enjoy playing this game and I hope you like it.

Print Making

Artists Communicate through their work...
1.)While doing this project i wanted to show pop art, which is art that when people look at that piece they automatically know what it is from it being popular in today's society.
2.)In this project i wanted to show how addicting games such as flappy bird can be, and sooner or later the word spreads about different games such as this one and more and more people start to play it.  As for me i never thought i could be interested in a game like this but after my friends were talking to me about it and i started to play it, i couldn't stop because it was fun and i wanted to beat my high score.  Later this game became more popular and people would talk about it on the social networks getting more people addicted and wanting to play so that's why i decided to do flappy bird because all of a sudden this game becomes popular in a flash.  Everyone loves technology and use their phones and the apps on their phones like flappy bird that's what mostly society is about now and we just keep on using it and using it and playing games over and over again and my print making of flappy bird shows how much games can affect people and how also technology can affect people, but its still fun and once people see my piece they automatically know what it is.
3.)I did this piece because i felt that it was pop art because this game was popular and it was all over social networks, and all the time i would hear people talking about it as well as play the game. I was also playing the game every single day and wouldn't stop because it was fun and a little addicting, so after that I knew i had to do flappy bird to show how many people constantly played it and automatically know what it was when they saw the picture.
Artists Take Risks...
1.)I wasn't sure what colors i should use for flappy bird because there were so many of them, like blue, orange, yellow, black, white, red, etc. It was especially hard for me because instead of the bird staying yellow it changed colors throughout the game so it was also a difficult decision to see what the official color should be for the bird. After knowing the colors i wanted, it was hard to make all the colors shown on the printmaking from so many layers, but light to dark helped me.

2.)I did have new materials in this project such as the ink involved, this was my first time using ink and I wasn't sure if the picture was going to turn out right.  But really my printmaking did turn out well and the colors popped out and it looks really good from the ink, so maybe one day I can use this material again.  It was also different for me when I kept on overlapping my picture, each time I used different colors.  I'm usually use to drawing a sketch that one time and I never repeated the same steps for my previous projects but for this one it was different.  I enjoyed this project and it was a new way for me to create art with just a block, ink, and rolling paint brush.

Meme Assignment

First definition of Art:  Art is how you create a piece of work, and the way you portray that piece.  Art isn't just a sheet of paper, it can be many materials its just on how you create that piece.  Its also how someone views the piece, it might not look like a piece of work to you, but someone else could think its a creative/unique design.
New Definition: Art can be anything as long and you put creativity into it and also its still the way someone views it, and everyone has their own opinion what art is.  As for example some people may think meme is art while others don't. But still art is a piece of work with paint, pictures, pencils, etc.

Origami Project

Colored Project

In Progress...

  The theme I have picked is explore, because this theme has gave me the opportunity to do something different.  I enjoy traveling and exploring a variety of places and that's why I also picked this theme as well, I've been to a lot of places with my family and friends.  But in this project I didn't want to draw a place I've already been to I wanted to incorporate a drawing that shows where I want to go in the future and this explore drawing also shows what type of area interest me.  That is why I am drawing the London tower bridge for my project, because my dream is to one day go to London and enjoy their scenery especially on top of the tower bridge.  During my project I wasn't sure if I should use colored pencils or oil pastels for my bridge, but after thinking I decided to use colored pencils as my medium.  I picked colored pencils as my medium because its easier to use them in the tight places that I drew for my tower.  Also the colored pencils can help my audience see every detail in the picture, unlike the oil pastels that would become very messy and very complicated to view my picture.  I knew that when I was picking this type of bridge it would take time and patience as well as some difficulties.  The difficulties I've been having is trying to get all the details and angles right that are shown in the tower.  There were so many details that I needed to focus on and I also wanted to have the London bridge pop out more from the sky, so to show more emphasis on the bridge I had to make sure I was using the right colors and to color in the right places to make the picture look more realistic and to have the right lighting in the sky, tower, and in the water below.

Finished...

  I think my finished piece was successful, I think I made the tower look a lot like the actual London tower bridge.  I drew all the details that were visible on the bridge and I think the background and the sky behind it looks very nice especially from my shading and different shades of colored pencils I used.  I  believe I drew straight lines and angles to make the bridge and I think the buildings behind the tower are successful as well.  In my project I like the background such as the buildings, sky, and water, but I am most proud of the tower bridge.  The Tower Bridge was the main thing that needed to be in the project and I think after I did well on that it made the rest of the drawings behind it fit and look really good.  At first I thought that maybe I couldn't draw the bridge but after putting my mind to it I think I did a really good job.  The details and color on it makes the picture come to life more and let the audience see more clearly what time of day it is and where its at.  If I had to change one thing about my project it would be the sky, because I feel like I did good on the sky, but I wish I added more shades of blue and filled in the tiny white spaces more to help emphasize the bridge.  Also I wish I added some black into the blue to show a more night sky than a clear blue sky in the morning.  In the project I learned that a place such as the London tower bridge has many details that you might not notice at first but when you stop to take a good look for a project that's when you see the project in a different way and get everything that catches your eye like the details and the background, also the more you add the more the place can look realistic.  Another thing I learned from the project is that there are many techniques to draw a project like one can be in pencil while the other can be colored by colored pencils.  I think I like this project more because we were able to use color, I learned that sometimes color can help a project catch the audiences eye but its also how you put that medium or material in it.  As for example I was able to have lighting and a pretty sky from the different shades of colored pencils and the bridge even looked more better with the colors in the background and the colors on the bridge.

Two In One Project

In Progress...
The two images I have decided to do for my two in one project is a monkey and a man.  It was very challenging at first to pick what I should do for this project then after when I started to plan and sketch I finally figured a man and a monkey would be perfect for this project.  This idea came to me because a man and a monkey each have similar expressions and features but are still different.  So to put there different and same features together I morphed the two together, one half is a monkey and the other half is a man.  the audience gets a better view about the comparisons and differences about a monkey and a man from my two in one project.  For this project I plan on using pencil or graphite, this seems like a better technique and also it helps me get every little detail and shape for the monkey and man.  I have made it to my final art work piece and the difficulties I am having is making the head for the half man and half monkey, I'm trying to get the perfect shape and want to have the right angles so when people look at my picture it can look more realistic.

(finished piece)

Finished...
I think my finished work was pretty successful, I feel like my art work turned out really good as well.  I'm proud on how I did the monkey's face and man's face together too show a true two in one piece. I feel like the picture looks more realistic then fake and I also think that was from the features such as the eyes, mouth, nose, etc. In the videos we watched for our warm ups on how to make eyes, noses, and mouth really did help me in this project.  Like for my one page sketch my eyes and noses were okay but not to realistic but that video guided me in making more accurate eyes, noses, and a mouth for the man and monkey. If there was one thing I would want to change in my piece of art it would be the monkey's body.  I feel as if I could have made more fur on the monkey to show more characteristics of this creature and maybe drew a chest on the monkey.  I have incorporated the two in one theme by picking two images and morphing them together, and my two images are a man and a monkey.  Instead of making two separate drawings on the same sheet of drawing I put the two together to make it become more like a two in one.  Also its easy to see that the two different images have came in together and I like it because the monkey and man's features are alike, and that helped me with the picture since there are many similarities.  This project has helped me become more creative and I learned that a drawing isn't always about one subject its about many of them coming together to create something new.  I enjoyed this project a lot and hope to be doing something like this again in the future.