3D Design

Final 3D Design Reflection

When I first started 3D design I wasn't sure that I was going to enjoy it because I usually only draw and paint. I struggled with the first project because I had no idea how to make a sculpture out of paper and it was a frustrating process. But after that I ended up really enjoying this class and pushing myself to think of creative ideas and use new materials. I found that a lot of my ideas took a very long time to make like the picture of my bunny that I did using tiny pieces of hay. The one that took the longest was the embroidery, but I think it was the one I enjoyed making the most because I had never done embroidery before and it was easy to transport and work on outside of class. I ended up turning in a few projects late because I wanted to make sure the more complicated projects were done well and that I was happy with the product.

The processes that I enjoyed the most were drawing designs in sgraffito and doing the embroidery. I really liked making the flower patterns on the cow because it was simple and fun to draw them and it turned out looking really cool. I liked doing the embroidery because I was able to apply my basic knowledge of sewing to learning embroidery and I liked the design that I chose. The embroidery did get tiring after spending a really long time on it though.

The processes that I struggled with were the clay sculptures and the paper sculpture. I had trouble with the paper sculpture because I couldn't figure out how to get the paper to be the shapes that I needed for my idea. I struggled with the clay sculptures mostly in the very beginning of making them when I was shaping the torso. I had only ever made simple bowls and cups out of clay so getting it to be the specific shape of a cow and trying to capture the slouched way the bear was sitting was difficult. The clay kept getting to thin and drying out and I had to start over a couple time before I got it right with each one. I am really happy with how the cow turned out, but the bear was more difficult and didn't turn out exactly the way I wanted it to. Also I had some pieces fall off after the clay dried which I had to glue on later. Once I got the torso right, I ended up liking working with clay.

The products that I am most proud of are the cow, the hand, and the embroidery. I really like the contrast of the flowers on the cow and how I kept it matte. I think the water flowing out of the hand makes it interesting to look at and connects it to the surface that it is on. I like the embroidery because I was able to keep it pretty close to my original design and I had never done embroidery before, but the final product looks exactly how I wanted it to.

I have learned and improved because with each project I tried a different material and slowly became more confident with making 3D sculptures. Every project had difficulties but I used problem solving to fix it and make a product that I was happy with. I found myself using clay and sculpey repeatedly because that was the main way I could think of to create sculptures at first, but later on I started exploring more materials like glass, cardboard, and embroidery. I also found myself including animals in my sculptures. I don't know why all of my ideas included animals but I don't usually draw animals so making sculptures of them was fun. I felt like drawing was easier during this class because I just used it to design my project and that was the simple part. It got harder when I had to use 3D materials to execute the ideas I had drawn. Art relates to my life because it is a great way for me to express my ideas and create some cool things.