Advanced Art & Design

Semester 1 Reflection:

Overall, my learning in this class has been great! I learn something new about myself and about art every year I take an art class. I have really enjoyed this class so far and see it as a break from all my other classes, which is much needed.

I think the thing I have been most successful with this semester is coming up with creative ideas for art projects. I think this is because I have been more open-minded about materials and experimentational with my creation process. Staying at home more often due to the pandemic has left me with a lot of time to think and create what I want to.

Even so, I have struggled with scheduling my time out to work on art and getting it turned in on time. Art often takes a back-burner to my time working on schoolwork and to life in general. In the new semester, I hope to change this because art can really be a calming thing for me and I also don't want my grades to suffer anymore.

My artistic goals for the second semester are to really be invested in what I am creating. I will schedule out my time wisely to work on art a little bit every day. That way I can have fun with my art and be efficient at the same time. I also plan to be more creative with my choices of materials and overall composition, for example, using materials I have never tried before or thought would be too difficult.

Final Reflection:

I think my work shows that I have improved because I was able to push through tough times when my brain was not cooperating to do the work and complete a lot of these assignments. I am proud of myself for being able to do that. Although I can see that these works show technical regression instead of improvement, I don't want to think that I have wasted my time. So instead, I am going to be proud of myself that I was able to do my best under the circumstances. If anything, I have learned that anxiety is debilitating and it is almost impossible to come back from it at times in order to do what I need to do. But I was able to do a lot, and that shows that I have improved because I am stronger for it.

My work illustrates my strengths and weaknesses as a learner because it shows that if not all of my attention is focused on it, my work can really suffer. I can see that these works aren't my best. As a learner, I need to now work on putting all of my focus and effort into my work even if it is difficult and I don't feel like I can do it. My work also shows my strengths as a learner because I was trying to complete something. The fact that I tried shows that I am not one to give up easily, especially when it comes to learning.

The most challenging for me during this semester, not only for this class, was focusing on the tasks at hand and not overthinking and debilitating myself to where I wasn't able to complete things well, or even on time. It was definitely a tough process, but I am honestly so glad I got through and made it to the end of the school year. I am also proud of myself for that; for just making it. Even though there were so many times where I felt anxious, hopeless, and depressed, I faced this challenge head-on, which was evidently the most challenging thing I had to do overall.

I think I have already written about this a lot, but to answer what I am most proud of is how I was able to push myself despite all of the problems I am having and make it to the end of the school year. I also tried my best and did what I could do in art and in all my other classes, which I am also significantly proud of. I think this class has been a testament to myself and to all that I have accomplished throughout my high school art career, and I am grateful for it. I am grateful to have had this experience in this class and realize that I have hit rock bottom so that all I have to do now is climb back up, even if it's only a little.

My artistic goals for the summer and for the future are that I don't have any goals. I know that sounds bad, but let me explain. I think when it comes to something to do with creativity like art, goals shouldn't need to be made. Goals can sometimes be stressful and make me feel sad if I don't complete them. So I will just say what I would like to do, and if I do it or if I don't do it, that's fine. No pressure. I would like to draw for fun over the summer, getting better at/proud of my drawing skills as I go. I would like to do little projects on all kinds of creatures as a therapy to help me destress. Next year, even though I will be taking photography, I would like to participate in the art competitions that I have always entered in throughout high school. I think it would be fun to make up for the duck stamp project I didn't do this year by doing it next year. I would also like to make artwork and give it to the library to hang up. I want to do this because I don't want to fully abandon my high school art career, and it would be nice to win something for an art competition again. I also want to leave my mark on the school in a lasting way, and I think creating art for the library would be a fun way to do that.

Lastly, thanks for an amazing three years of art class! I hope we can keep in touch next year.