Engage and Persist

The Studio Habit of Mind that will be explored in this unit is Engage and Persist.

To engage with the art that we create as artists, we must pursue subject matter that is interesting and important to us. Often these subjects are of a personal nature, but are something that we wish to share with the world through our art and the meanings we create using visual symbolism and metaphor. Through the practice of making art we develop a focus in terms of the themes we create work around, the processes we use, and the tools and materials we choose to work with.

Creating art can often times be frustrating, and difficult. We can lose our focus. To persist we must find ways to move beyond the frustration and difficulties we may be having to keep working on our art.

What will I be making?

Fear Monster

Using traditional hand building techniques, you will be creating a monster made to personify a fear of yours.

You will learn the design process to come up with an idea that uses visual symbolism and then construct it out of clay techniques demonstrated in class. The final piece will be glazed in meaningful colors that connect with the visual symbols created in your piece.

Clay Monsters created by biggirlcompany.com

Meet the Artist!

Gretchen of Big Girl Company is a practicing ceramic artist who works out of her studio in Vermont. She went to college for Art - specifically ceramic sculpture - earning her BFA from Alfred University. She has worked different careers over the years, but dived into full time studio work in 2020. She enjoys being playful in her sculptural work and makes a variety of ceramic pieces, but is best known for her slab formed monsters whom she lovingly creates and names with distinct personalities.

What important artistic knowledge do I need to have to be successful?

Artistic Concept

A concept is an abstract idea. Artists use different concepts to take those ideas from abstraction to reality. The concepts being explored through the lens of the Studio Habit - Engage and Persist is Perseverance and Practice.

Perseverance lies in an artist's ability to find something that is important to them and/or important to a client or targeted audience to devote their attention, time, and creativity to. It lies in an artist's ability to develop and sustain focus on an artwork, process, and medium through trial, error, and repeated practice.

Practice lies in an artist's ability to keep trying at improving and learning more and more about a particular art form, technique, or medium over and over again with a growth mindset. Practice, especially when "stuck" or frustrated, can be difficult to sustain or focus on, but is necessary for artist's to grow, improve, and develop. Practice is a habit that needs to be developed over time to be able to "stick with it" through successes and failures to see a project through to completion.

Perseverance

Practice

Elements of Art & Design

The elements and principles of art and design are the foundation on which all art is created. They can be thought of like a recipe. There has to be ingredients in order to make a certain dish; no ingredients, no chocolate chip cookies. The elements of art are like the ingredients. Without the elements - line, shape, color, value, texture, space, and form - there is no art. That doesn't mean that all elements of art must be used in an individual artwork, but at least one must be present.

Engage and Persist will focus on the following element of art & design:

Form

Discover some interesting aspects of the element of art and design: form

Form Guide

Why is form important to know for a project made using clay?

Principles of Art & Design

If we think of the elements and principles of art & design like a recipe, with the ingredients being a metaphor for the elements, then the principles of art & design are the instructions. The way in which you put together the ingredients dictates how the recipe will turn out. Adding the ingredients in a certain order, using different methods to cook them, and doing things for the right length of time all change the outcome of the final dish. The principles of art and design are the way in which an artwork is arranged. They are the instructions for putting together an artwork. Does the work appear uneasy, or relaxed? How you put it together using the principles would determine that. Without the principles of design - pattern and repetition, contrast, movement, emphasis, balance, rhythm, and unity - an artwork would not have a unique look and personality to it. The principles of art and design are more subjective as well. This means that they can be viewed and interpreted by one person differently than they are viewed and interpreted by another.

Engage and Persist will focus on the following principles of art & design:

Balance

Discover interesting aspects of the principle of art & design: balance. Explore different ways to create balance and unbalance in a composition.

Balance Guide

Why is balance important to know in making a project using clay?

Composition in the Round Guide

Composition

Composition refers to the arrangement of the elements of art & design according to the principles of art & design in any given artwork.

Composition is the key to creating a strong, aesthetically pleasing artwork in any medium. The previous units explored some of the guidelines to creating strong compositions: rule of thirds, leading the eye, depth of field, and negative space, and focal point or emphasis. This video explores how the guidelines of creating a strong composition can be applied to 3D forms or objects to be viewed in the round.

**This video contains sculptures from early eras in Art History and shows unclothed figures**

What else could help me be successful?

Artistic Conventions

A convention is an accepted way in which something is done. It's a variety of things that artists do to create a piece of artwork. Artists use their knowledge of the numerous different artistic conventions with corresponding methods and techniques to portray meaning in an artwork.

Each Studio Habit of Mind will explore different artistic conventions. In this example, the artist is using the artistic conventions that this unit will explore - proportion and personal voice. Proportion can be seen in the different shapes used to construct the "monster." The arms need to be to scale with the body so that the character appears believable. Personal voice can be seen through the artist's choice of subject matter. Monsters appear to be something this artist enjoys creating works about and exploring more in depth.

biggirlcompany.com

Proportion

This convention refers to the artist's use of the elements of art & design to create an object, person, or thing that appears balanced when compared to another part of that object or the composition as a whole. Proportion should be adjusted as needed to create visual interest.

biggirlcompany.com

Personal Voice

This convention refers to the artist's unique and recognizable personality that is distinctly one's own and cultivated by individual experiences, beliefs, ideas, feelings, and personal meanings. . Inspiration, materials, techniques, and themes all work together in a way that reflects unique personalities.

Getting Started

Fear Monster

What is Visual Symbolism?

Great artists create pieces that speak to you as the viewer about a vast number of different things - from feelings, to experiences, to an intriguing story, to universal truths.

But as artists, we don't communicate with words like in books, or dialog like in movies; we communicate with visual symbols that stand for and express certain things.

Think about a famous artwork you've seen before. You might not know exactly what the artist was trying to say, but you can tell what the meaning of the piece could be by the shapes, colors, and imagery that you see.

Learn about symbol, subject matter and theme. How do these concepts connect to what we are making?

Fear Monster: Visual Symbolism - let's practice 1

Let's try an exercise to practice visual symbolism!

To begin, we will create our own visual symbols for some common ideas. Then we will discuss what we drew, their symbolic similarites and differences, and why we drew them with our peers.

After that, you will give meaning to the symbols that were given to you. We will once again discuss what you think they meant with your peers and talk about what was similar and different, as well as why you think that is.

Then we will move to a more difficult challenge. In this second stage, I want you to create visual symbols for more abstract ideas that may not have universal visual connections. We will discuss these symbols as well.

Fear Monster: Visual Symbols - let's practice 2

What do I fear?

Now the hard work starts of creating a monster that is a personification of one of our fears. What is a personification?

Personification means assigning human characteristics to non-human things.

Complete the "What do I fear?" worksheet to explore your fears and brainstorm ways to visually symbolize them. Begin by listing some of your fears. Don't be afraid of the more abstract fears you may have. For example - scary movies, spiders, death, losing memories, failure, etc.

Then pick 3 fears to move on with. Clearly define what these fears are to you. For example - scary movies = I don't like the feeling of being scared by things that will jump out at me; failure = never finding success in something that I'm passionate about; losing memories = what if when I'm old I can't remember all of the things I've done in my life; etc.

Finally, narrow your fears down to your top 2. Describe how you will show this fear visually. Dissect your fear down to its most basic pieces. What symbols could stand for that fear? How will your monster personify that? For example: scary movies = monster will have a screaming expression, popcorn all over its fur, bucket upside down on its horn, and arms up by its mouth holding a movie ticket; losing memories = monster will have a confused expression, will be holding symbols of each family member or special place, and ripped photographs scattered all over its fur.

“Fear Monsters”

Objectives

National Art Standards

Sketching:

Create 3 different thumbnail sketches of what your final "Fear Monster" will look like using the artistic conventions of proportion and personal voice. Consider the guidelines discussed in the project overview and the key points on creating a strong composition in the round that were learned earlier.

Monster "must haves!"

Learn about the many different options for your monster in terms of it's appearance, posing, expressions and - most importantly - how it can symbolize one of your fears!

Let's sketch!

Thumbnail Sketching

add thumbnail sketches here

Time to Create

As you are sketching there are several things to keep in mind:

your monster must be a clear visual symbol for your fear in every choice
form follows function - the sketch must be both aesthetically pleasing and represent a monster that is a personification of your fears
proportion - the relative scale of an element of art as compared to another in the composition
your monster must show a distinct personal voice
the guidelines to creating an interesting composition in the round
be creative

Working with Clay

Terms

Ceramics

Handbuilding

Throwing

Glazing

Greenware

Kiln

Firing

Bisque

Wedging

Pinching

Coiling

How To:

The Basics

Wedging

Clay basics: wedging the clay

Attaching: Slip and Score

Clay basics: attaching clay to clay - "slip and score"

Slab

Clay basics: rolling and cutting out slabs

Coils

Clay basics: rolling coils from wedged clay

Handles

Pulling Clay

Learn how to create a traditional "pulled" form that can have many uses in both functional and sculptural ceramic work. We will use this methond to create the arms for our monsters.

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