Semester 1 Reflection

In this class I learned art skills and life skills in 2D design. I learned how to paint, before this class I didn’t know anything about painting and I was not good at it; I didn’t even bother to paint a single project and only did graphite or colored pencil. I learned how to make the appropriate strokes according to what I wanted to convey through my artwork. I also learned how to mix paint colors to make more intriguing shades rather than using just, red, blue, yellow and black. Another skill I learned was how to send messages through my artwork. For the inclusion project I sent a message about a different perspective on disability. Learning to have my artwork have meaning made it stronger and easier to relate to.

In 2D I learned how to manage my time and to keep on track with everything due. With every project there is the actual project, an artist statement, an idea generation paper and uploading to artsonia. Learning to keep up with all my work was useful in class and outside of this class. Sometimes I still slip up and writing my artist statement slips my mind, next year my goal is to do them all on time.

In this class I had some successes and some things to work on. One of my successes was my ability to persevere. I found a lot of the projects assigned difficult and I would do four or five drafts of each until I was happy with it. If I had given up and just turned in my first, mediocre draft I wouldn’t have been happy with it and it wouldn’t have been my best work.

In this class I needed to be better at trying new things. I wish I had been more adventurous with different mediums and compositions. I think I could’ve had more “out of the box” creative work. My work this class was pretty simple and not adventurous and I could work on that aspect of my artwork.

Moving forward, one of my artistic goals is to improve my technique. My technique could improve a lot with colored pencil and paint. I’d like to have cleaner and more well made pieces by using my mediums more tactfully and carefully. I’d like to learn how to paint realistically as well, which will take time. Hopefully next year I can improve these skills.