2D Design

Mariah Sawyer

2D Design 8/9M

January 20, 2020

Semester 1 Reflections

My learning this semester has consisted of a lot of improvement on what I learned in foundations last year and elevating it from just the foundation of that lesson and possibly combining it with other techniques. This semester I really discovered how all the principles of design can create more in a project and its not only about the elements of art like color and line. I also learned about compositions of art and how they can bring a work to life and be much more thought provoking as the people looking at the art will be curious about what may not be showing in the visible parts of the composition. The learning in 2D was overall much different than that of foundations because we didn't take classes to have a lesson on something and then all do the same type of project, we took the learning we already knew and each works on a project with the same general guidelines. In the sustained investigations however, we thought of our own guidelines for our projects and created them according to those.

This year I have found the most success in my projects of animals I have found, particularly my chicken projects are my favorites. I also like my logo projects despite finding strictly design projects challenging I think once I get a good grip on my intentions with the design I am able to execute those projects well. My stars and stripes project is probably my overall favorite and I think that is because it includes the more design-like technique and it has an animal as the centerpiece. The project that I had the most fun creating was probably the "Elements and Principles of Design Diptych" because it had that simple and more scientific way to draw it. I have found, especially through taking residential architecture that I love creating very specific, measured out pieces so this was right up my ally.

On the other hand, I had the most struggles on my duck stamp project, I think this may have been because it was a very strict project that had to be super realistic. I found myself starting this project over again at least five times because I just couldn't figure out how to make good realistic water and I think my choice of using acrylic paint was not the most wise but I just love painting. I'm sure if I had chosen to make a duck stamp last year when we had a choice I could have improved on it a lot this year and seen a lot of grown because I would have figured out what worked for me before. I think just the pressure of knowing the duck had to turn out very realistic was hard for me and I ended up having to rush the final result and I didn't want to go back and work on it more because I really resented the idea at that point. In the end the project got done though and in order to feel accomplished and good about other projects you have to struggle on some.

Looking back on my projects even at the beginning of the semester though I see a lot of grown, I mean looking at my time capsule versus my sustained investigation #2 is pretty telling that I have had some improvement. Still, this leaves me considering my goals with art in the future and pondering what will encourage my improvement even more. I'm considering becoming a TA for a foundations class or 2D class next semester and if all pans out as I would like with next year I plan to take Advanced Studio Art (hopefully with Sara) and my senior year hopefully take AP Studio Art with Ms. Medskers permission when the time comes. Although in my far future I plan on majoring down the science route like Equine Science, art is definitely a huge interest of mine and 2D really sparked my interest in it again because at the beginning of the year I was actually planning on dropping it forever. Art has always been something that I loved especially as a kid, I had a whole area in my house for me making a mess with my art and I took classes for a short time and as a little kid. Art was all I did all day, definitely thinking I would love it forever and grow up to be a professional artist. Although I don't plan on becoming a professional artist in the future I hope it is something I can always have fun with and be creative with in my free time and continue to improve at.