Foundations of Art.
Final Artist statement:
Foundations of Art this year was an amazing experience for me. It allowed me to grow as an artist and learn about art and myself.
As a learner, my strengths and weaknesses are illustrated clearly in my art. For example, the time capsule sketches we did at the beginning of the year. One of which, was a self-portrait. This self-portrait shows the original weakness I had with proportions and shadows. Proportion has always been tricky for me, and as a learner, I have recognized this. It is evident in this first sketch that I struggled with where the parts of the face resided. Many sketch lines show me trying to get the chin/jawline right so that I could figure out where the mouth would go. It shows the learning process just within a few minutes of my sketching. However, the Realistic Self-portrait project that we did later on showed how much I learned about shadows and drawing with graphite realistically. This became a strength for me and I learned to pay attention to principles of design like contrast. This is evident in the later portrait, especially when compared to my first one. You can see that I paid attention to shadows and highlights, to help with proportion, rather than just drawing sharp lines.
Furthermore, this piece of work shows my improvement drastically and how I evolved as an artist; taking in new techniques and working hard. My technique with graphite improved, as well as realistic drawing in general. I also improved my understanding of myself as an artist. All along, I thought I enjoyed creating more abstract, cartoon art. Turns out, I love realistic art, I just avoided it because of my lack of knowledge and weakness around proportions, techniques, and shadows. I have now overcome that and improved in these topics. For example, in the candy still life, I practiced using shadows and highlights on the wrappers of candy. In mixed media, I improved these skills with the highlights on my dog's hair and nose specifically. Lastly, the scratchboard is all about highlights and contrast, so my improvement is shown very well. I think you can see through the realistic projects how I have continued to improve through practice and patience throughout time.
The most challenging project for me was the wire sculpture. This came as a surprise to me, because I have worked with wire a bit in the past and am a hands-on person. The reason why I struggled was because of the fishhook technique. I had trouble figuring out how large to make the hook, and where to clamp it. My practice sculptures, like the cube, were attached, but loose, and the wire would move around and slide from where it was clamped. So, I struggled when it came time to sculpt a real object. I got a bit frustrated as I began to build up because the base would move around and everything was displaced. Then, after some help from Mrs. Medsker and some practicing, I realized that I had been making a mistake with how I clamped. I was clamping OVER the wire, making the connection loose. So, I made the diescidon to take apart my base and rebuild. This was very difficult - but worth it because I am happier with my final product. The fishhooks are stronger, but I still struggled with it and this was by far the most difficult project for me.
The project I am most proud of is the scratchboard of my dog. I chose a photo of my dog that I love, but at first, I was nervous about the angle and highlights. My dog is a black lab, and one side of her face didn’t have any highlights. I didn’t know how I would show that whole side of her face that the sun wasn’t on. However, I decided to persevere and trust the process. I loved the scratchboard process and I love how the final product turned out. I was able to capture her happy look and the direction of her hair and highlights. I ended up being grateful that I worked around the unhighlighted side because I learned that even the tiniest highlights make a difference. I am super happy and proud of this project.
For the future, my goal for art is to always have it be part of my life and in some aspect of my career. Whether that means selling or creating art on the side, or maybe part of my real job. I hope to always strive to get better at art and try new materials or techniques. This summer, I hope to do a good amount of art on my own. I hope to work with paints a bit more, such as oil and watercolor which I have at home. I will try some more realistic works as I have found that I love the process.
THANK YOU, MRS. MEDSKER!