Advanced Studio Art

Mid-Term Review

What have I been most successful with?

This year was much different from past years; I focused on digital media rather than just pencil and paint. I really focused on developing my voice and skills with design and using different tools to create with. When I reflect on this semester, I noticed that I grew a lot through my work and tried many different techniques and ideas with my designs. While still staying around the idea of using logos to create images beyond what they were intended for. I started to shift this idea towards the end of the semester and focused on designing something that does not have logos made by other people but made by me. The brand that I came up with was AOAK, which stands for (Art of Another Kind). I plan to expand this idea and develop it further to create a brand that follows similar ideas to my prompt regarding logos. The most successful part of this year for me has been my investigations, and it really allowed me to figure out my voice and design things the way I wanted with little parameters or rules.

What have you struggled with?

I have mainly started designing outside of digital media, and I have started to get really good at drawing and creating digital media. This is a good thing, but I still struggle to create things the way I want to perfectly. I struggled with some early projects, mainly on just still not having amazing technique and sometimes biting off more than I can chew. For me, I think it really comes down to needing to practice my skills outside of technology so that I can create the images in my head better on paper.

What are your artistic goals moving forward?

To design more with pencil and paper and work in the real world rather than the digital and really expand upon my ideas with AOAK. I think focusing on designing things that are 100% by me is also something that I am striving for. I will be focusing on trying to build my voice as well as the medium I design on.

Final Review

How does your work show how you have improved?

My work has improved in many different ways; first, I think my skill with Illustrator has improved a lot. I have become a lot more comfortable working online with digital media, which has allowed me to get a lot better at making images. I also think my idea and planning were better in some respects, and I took more time on most of my works. I also believe that overall my portfolio has stuck to a general theme that I have represented pretty well. When looking at my art, I think you can see a general improvement in quality and composition, from the line work to the ability to have the skill to manipulate particular objects in my work.

In what ways does your work illustrate your strengths and weaknesses as a learner?

My work definitely highlights my strengths and weaknesses; you can see a clear distinction between work with a lot of time put into where I have maybe spent many hours on it. To work where I likely spent only a handful of hours. Working slowly has always been essential for me as an artist is to give myself time since that is when I do the best work. I have never been good when I am trying to do this body of work in a small amount of time over a day. This is very evident in my work, and I think sometimes I have great ideas that I do not execute to their fullest potential.

What was the most challenging and why?

The most challenging thing by far was the Donate to Life through the Duck Stamp. These projects through the years have always given me trouble, and I have a hard time laying out what I want to do thoroughly. I think this is cause they are not very flexible in what I can do rules-wise, which makes it so sometimes I don't put my best foot forward with them. I also struggle, for example, with things like the Duck Stamp since painting and drawing realistically is a struggle for me.

What are you most proud of and why?

I am most proud of the logo work I did this year, mainly with brands and the whole portfolio I built up with those kinds of brands. This is primarily cause I really feel like I improved and understand better what it takes to design certain things when relating to a brand and what they look for. This also involves understanding advertising and marketing within learning how to create and put a brand's message behind something. I am also overall proud of my digital media work as I feel it is improving and has improved a lot this year. Some of the fashion and shoe design stuff I did was also pretty good; I just needed to add more perspectives; however, I feel pretty happy with how some came out.

What are your artistic goals for the summer/future?

I am taking several design and media-related classes this summer, one at Harvard and Parson. I will also be returning to the New York Times School to take another course on fashion and the design process. I also plan to improve my work and clean it up a bunch since I will be having a portfolio review this year by a professor at Parsons and hopefully someone at Nike or Adidas. Then beyond that stuff, just creating more and understanding what I like making and maybe branching out more material-wise.