Foundations of Art

I find art interesting because of its ability to reflect who you are as a learner and person. I have learned more about myself when creating and producing art this past year than any other year. I have had both strengths and weaknesses as a learner in this art class as shown in my pieces. I think a strength I have that is represented in most of my art is the amount of detail, precision, and patience that goes into a piece of work. This also goes along with the realistic quality I like to aim for in my art. One of my biggest weaknesses in art is knowing when to be done with a piece and being okay with it. This was a common issue with my assemblage sculpture, scratchboard piece, and most of the work I completed this year. I constantly want to keep adding or scratching details into my art and don’t know when to stop. I think an important part of art is realizing that it will never be perfect and being okay with that. 

Looking back on all the work I have made this year, I can see how I have improved as an artist. My color choice and combinations have grown and developed. By observing my Extended Blind Contour piece or the Zoomed Shoe project compared to the Surrealist painting collage and the Assemblage sculpture, I can notice the improvement I have made with color. The pieces I have made more recently have had more depth and vibrance, color-wise. I have also improved by developing my artistic skills and abilities with a variety of tools and mediums. I learned how to make pieces with scratchboard, sgraffito, linoleum, and annealed wire. In this class, I acquired the skill of working with linoleum and making linoleum prints. This included carving a block with a design, layering ink, and making copies on paper. When learning how to make art in various forms this year, I have improved and grown as an artist.

Over this year, I have had a mixture of challenging and easier projects. One of the more challenging projects in this class would be the wire sculpture. This sculpture, created from annealed wire, was very different from the other art projects we completed this year. We had to use different skills, techniques, and materials to create this piece. The difficult part of this project was connecting the wire and ensuring that it is securely attached. We had to make fish hooks to attach the wire. We used pliers to bend and connect the pieces of wire. This project was one of the most challenging because it was a different kind of art we did and it required different skills. Another reason for its challenge was being able to form the shape of my object. When connecting and fastening the wires, I had to keep in mind that I was making an overall shape that would become my object. Also, because the wire was not the most malleable, my hands got blisters after working with the material for a long time. 

After completing many pieces of art throughout this year, I have liked and disliked many of them. The project that I am most proud of is my scratchboard piece. The outcome of this project was close to my hopes of what it would become. I think I am happy about this product because of its realistic quality. When basing a piece of art on an image, you can more accurately create and produce something that closely resembles what you are going for. I think this is part of the reason why I like this piece; because I can tell if my art looks like my image and critique it on that aspect. I also like how I was able to recreate the dog's expression and the general mood of the image. Being able to capture and present a feeling in a piece of art is important, and I think this was able to accomplish that. While this project took me a while to complete, the process and overall outcome were enjoyable and worth the work. 

I had a lot of fun in this class and I learned many new art skills and techniques. I will take what I have learned with me and use it throughout the summer and beyond. Some artistic goals I have for the summer and future are just to keep making art and having fun with it. This might include going into more depth with a specific medium or expanding my artistic abilities and learning about different forms of art. In the summer I also hope to go out into nature and find art inspiration. This might include going on walks through forests or visiting the ocean.