Reflecting on group work

From the time I was placed with my group, I knew it was going to be "different" although I know all of the people in my group I also knew how different we all are and I thought it was going to be challenging to get every ones approval on the mural. After working on the idea aspect for a while, sketching rough drafts of our ideas we came to a point where we wanted to please every single person in the group and adding all the things that everyone wanted, and clearly the idea shifted from being detailed and with a purpose to cluttered and loosing focus. Working with groups always has its challenges, but I know that there are also advantages! You get the work done a lot quicker with more hands, and hopefully the bickering about what to do and not to do will simmer down. I personally just feel that we need to get a plan and stick with it, not everyone is going to be pleased but we can't always try to please people and I think that is something that working in groups has reminded me of. I personally think it is a good and I guess bad thing, Im just curious to see how our end result will come out! Wish us luck!

You are always there for me.

End of Term Reflection

This term was great to say the least. I loved every minute of experimenting with new things and new forms of making art work. I loved the atmosphere and the sincere feeling that no one was going to judge my work. Every time I pass by my work "Mi vida" I am reminded about that, although I know some people might say something I am reassured by the fact that its up there and I got my thought across and that always makes me feel accomplished. Art Class is one way where I can express myself freely and share it with my peers, unlike in more "structured" classes like History, or French, & math. I am being honest and truly genuine about how I feel about art. I am grateful to have the chance to put my opinion out there and I am most definitely not ashamed of it, I love who I am and I know my convictions. Art has helped me in many ways ranging from, blossoming my artistic talent, to thinking back on the things I love and treasure and being able to talk about them and make artwork about it. So lastly, I want to thank my teacher because I have had an amazing first term in Art, and I can't wait to continue in the Winter. The only thing I hate about art.....is leaving, so not having it last term is going to be a struggle but I'll still be in here, don't worry.



Here are a couple more works of art!

 Positive

Negative

Chair With Coat

HOW did you find today's still life more or less complicated to draw than the still lives over the past few weeks (white paper, sticks, fabric)? Be specific.

* Well

HOW did you use some of the skills we've developed over the past three weeks drawing more complicated still lives to draw the chair with coat today? What are these skills?

Fabric Drawings

Back to D.E.A.D.!!! It's Tuesday and its time to draw. We had to draw a tower thing of different fabrics and I guess I could have done better, I saw one piece of fabric that I really wanted to do and so I did and I loved the way it came out but the thing is that I spent too much time on it. I wish I could have gotten some more of the really big things but its always a learning process! So it was nice, trying to get the folds in their but I think it was different than the sticks, I kind of liked this better for some reason.


Here is my artwork!

Principles of Design Research

The painting that my group and I looked at was the one made by Frida Kahlo. She made a painting on the the border between Mexico and the U.S. She showed the viewers how industrial the U.S. is and how in Mexico there are more natural things, not as much a crazy city but more like the old days. She was showing how different the cultures are even though they are so close to each other. She shows principles of design by the placement of the objects, by the proportion of the objects and by the lighting that she has. It was a nice seeing what she thought about the two places that are so close in proximity.

Found Object Sculpture Reflection Discussions

While we met in groups today, and had some  constructive feedback I found out that all the materials I used were being portrayed in the right way. Good thing for me to hear! I feel good about my sculpture.

I liked John's I liked how from the moment I saw it I knew what it was! Great job with using materials.


Here is my little guy!

Pile of sticks

D.E.A.D. was today, so we came into the classroom and what do I see?
A pile of sticks. At the first sight of it I knew it was going to be a challenge. I looked at it and then we came together and talked about how to start and how we would be drawing from general to specific. We have been working on that skill for quite some time now and it was time to see how I could do it. I know that at first I was thinking to myself; "what? how do I even start? and I dont like the saying 'it has to be ugly before it gets better' I dont like it although it is true...." So I started looking at the pile and then just scribbling some lines on the paper, left to right up and down side to side. I feel okay I guess, it was definitely something new and a challenge but it was a good challenge I learned a way to make the illusion of things overlapping and it is a good skill to have so Im glad we learned how to.



Here is my work!

Mid-Term Reflection

At this point I really, really LOVE art. As I've said to my teacher before, Art is always the class that I look forward to coming to. I don't know what else to say because I really enjoy all the things we have experimented with. I really enjoy how my teacher is so helpful and how she is always happy and its just overall a great atmosphere. Im glad that I am lucky enough to be involved in this art class. Here are a few pictures of the work I've reflected on;

TITLE: MI VIDA; I made this because I am Christian, I am Mexican, and I love it. It is something that is so important to me. I love going to church, I love God and sharing that, this is why I chose to make this.

TITLE: Dancing Queen; I chose this theme after seeing a face in the accidental/purposely made object from one of our first projects. When I saw this I thought of it immediately and started acting on it. I saw the face of an Egyptian for some reason, like a queen or something and I loved it. Thats why I decided to make it.

This was one of my D.E.A.D drawings! I am satisfied with it and I love how it came out. I loved being able to experiment with shading and everything and it was just fun to get your hands a little dirty!

The Changing Still Life

Today during art we had a unusual experience. My teacher had a still life set up and had one object on it, she then asked us to draw it with charcoal and after a while she would start adding things on to the still life, sometimes dramatically changing the drawing or maybe just having to erase some lines. At the beginning I didn't really mind it at all but as we got towards the end it started getting more & more difficult to add and erase everything and keep up with the pace. Overall I can't say I hated it but I thought it was fallry difficult at times, but there is nothing better than a good challenge so although it was tough at times I did enjoy working with charcoal and seeing how easy it is to make mistakes with it and just even seeing how it can enhance a drawing like that. This was my Tuesday experience in D.E.A.D. Art class! 

Three Forms Drawing

Today in art class we had D.E.A.D. (drop everything and draw), because it is Tuesday. So we had different tools that we could use like charcoal, both white and black and then three different objects, a small paper cup, wood rectangle toy block, and a pine cone. Seeing the examples that she had placed on the board I was kind of not really sure of what to expect coming into the project. We gathered all of our supplies and I immediately started drawing. I tried really looking at key details so that my drawing would come out great. After getting started I am not going to lie I liked it, I liked it because I don't think of myself as the strongest drawer, but with the outcome I was pretty impressed with myself and the fact that asking for help really also helps. Overall I liked this drawing in comparison to the other one we did the other day with the still piece. I had fun exploring new things and that is why I mostly liked it. I got to know the inner drawer in me!

Pour Paintings

When we were introduced to the new project I was pretty excited to give it a try without splatter painting. It was a new thing that I was excited to try. Once we began it was just sort of experamenting a lot with making different colors and then putting them on the paper to see where it would lead my partner and I. Once we had done two of those types of painting things we were quite please with the result. We saw so many different objects in each of the pieces.

Collaborative Drawings

Today in Art our task was to make a piece with a couple of specific tools and see where our imagination would take us. Later on we hear the teacher say "STOP!" and we put our utensils down and wait for the announcement, she told us to move 4 spaces down and then that we would continue on another idea we would now have to come up with, while working on the unfinished piece in front of us. The piece I left behind was no longer mine and the person working on it had freedom to do whatever they would like to do to it! At first I didn't know what to expect or what to do but after I started getting used to the next piece she asked us once again to move down 4 spaces and make something new out of what was already there. Unfortunately once I saw how my piece was being destroyed, I am not going to lie I was dissapointed and a little annoyed. I felt this way because I thought my idea had a good little story and it made sense and it was cute! After I saw black basically ALL over "my old work" I was annoyed but then I got over myself and it actually helped me try not to be in control all the time. It helped me loosen up and not be too attached when I make something, it is such a hard thing to do but my teacher was right. I have to be able to let my work go, and I  have to be able to handle mistakes. That was my experience with the assignment "Collaborative Drawings."

Talk And Draw

Today in Art we had a fun activity, we had to sit on the inside of the desk and describe what we saw to our partners who could not turn around. I was the drawer first and I thought it was pretty easy. I thought that my partner had a pretty good idea of what she was describing and I just trusted what she would say and then try to draw it so that it would look that way. I love drawing even though I will admit I am not the best, that's why I thought it wasn't going to be so hard but after a while I was really tempted to just look, it made me feel unable to be in control and it kind of made me think a little more about how I was drawing what and how I was drawing it. The second task was the describer and that was just so hard for me! haha I thought I could do it but I realized I need to learn more words that describe what I see in my everyday life. Overall I liked the new experience of having to trust what my partner says and everything it was definitely different. Thumbs up from me Ms.Roberts!

First blog! from me....the blogger...

Who is an artist? What does an artist need to be productive and creative?

I really think that anyone can be an artist. I think of art as a wide variety of things and different talents, none quite the same. I love that no matter what your good at there is some type of art that you can relate to or even be great at. I think creativity can definitely be hard when our minds are blocked by every stressing thing out there these days, but when it comes down to it I think anyone can be productive and creative if they set their minds to it. Most importantly art should be something you can go to and you feel free and spontaneous and it's okay. There are no rules when it comes to art and that is one of the reasons I am sure that anyone can be an artist. From the moment when we are little, and try to imitate our older siblings masterpieces, from being an amazing painter in 11th grade we've all had the opportunity to be great at some form of art we just have to unlock the creative juices hidden within ourselves to truly discover that we are all artists.