ADVANCED ART AND DESIGN
Final Reflection
This year I felt I made significant breakthroughs in my work, both in the subject matter I chose to draw, and my mentality regarding my art in general. I pushed my use of color back to where it was my freshman year (Welcome to Clarion, Texas) while expanding my technical ability with ballpoint and technical ink pens.
The sustained investigation I undertook involved exploring the shapes, colors and lines present in landscapes. I wanted to capture how landscapes made a viewer feel, from the crazy colors of desert, to playing with the presence of wind in investigation 8 and 12. In my colored pencil pieces I think I refined my process, beginning with highlights and working backwards into shadow while building up layers. This resulted in colored pencil works that felt more like finished pieces rather than heavy-handed sketches.
I think I came the furthest this year in terms of my mentality surrounding my artwork. I grew to no longer 'hate' works, but to understand that with every piece I was slowly getting better, that although I may be frustrated with my desire for perfection, the whole reason why I make art is in that search for beauty through expression. Whereas I used to torture myself about a piece I felt wasn't up to standard, I made sure to plan out my pieces extensively and enjoy the process, not just focus on the final product.
Going forward I want to push my skills compositionally and also pursue silkscreening and block printing as mediums. One area of my technical ability that needs expanding is my figure drawing skills and my ability to draw from observation. I plan to work on those over the summer as much as I can.
It was a joy to take this class this year, and I look forward to next year and the challenges of the 2-D portfolio will bring.
Semester 1 Reflection
This semester I think that I pushed myself artistically in a way I haven't before. This can be best seen in my first sustained investigation, titled In the Shade of the Saguaro where I took the time to stipple the entirety of the cactus, and add little detail throughout the sand in the foreground. I was more careful about considering my options when making artistic decision and it resulted in pieces that I am truly happy with. However, with every piece I have done since, I have felt further from that feeling I had with …Saguaro. As I push myself to include different materials I find that I am at the same time working on my artwork with less focus, precision, and care than I took with the first few Sustained Investigations. The pieces that I have made outside my Inquiry are similarly frustrating. With the exception of my extended blind contour drawings, I have struggled to love the pieces I have made. They lack that feeling of precision and neatness that I desire with my art, and yet I struggle to give myself the time to be careful enough to make art that feels neat and precise. I rush in the process of my artistic decision making as a result and that weakens my pieces.
Going into the second semester I have several goals. First, I want to spend more time on my entire artistic process, especially in the planning stage. I need to give myself the time to start, get bored, find inspiration, and then come back and complete the piece. I think that my excitement to make something gets in the way of me taking my time, so my goal is ensure that I can take breaks in order to prevent that from occurring. Secondly, I want to collect and document what inspires me, so that I can easily spark my imagination when I am feeling burnt out or too tired to make art. Inspiration typically revitalizes me, and helps me to refocus onto the task at hand. Finally, I want to explore how art can fit into my life in the future. I am going to be faced with many big choices in the coming years regarding my career path, and I know that I want to pursue some aspect of art, but I believe that having more information in this area can help to both better inform my decisions, but also inspire me to really pursue art professionally.
If I were to sum up this semester I would say that it was a frustrating one, although I believe that I made breakthroughs, particularly in my use of stippling. However, I am optimistic about this coming semester and excited to continue making art.