Final Exam

Exam Questions:

Question 1: How have you grown as an artist? Reflect on what your portfolio (all work you created through the semester) may or may not reveal about the semester. Do you think the work in your portfolio accurately reflects your development in the class?  Discuss each piece (the one from the beginning and the project you picked) and how you grew in the following areas: application of materials, techniques, and skills, artistic vision, use of the principles and elements, creativity, intuition, and subject matter. DON'T FORGET TO ADD PHOTOS! (2 photos = 1 from the beginning and 1 from the end)

Answer 1: I think I developed my existing skills and learnt a lot of new skills this semester that I will be using in the future. I have become more accepting of different styles and experimenting more with my art. I do think the work in my portfolio reflects my development in the class but I have done a lot more work out of class so it doesn't capture the full picture. The first piece we did in class was the drawing unit/ graphite project, I think that was one of the easiest because I was familiar with the material but I do think that it pushed me out of my comfort zone with the size of the canvas because I typically don't work with that size. In pen and ink, I think I learnt how to experiment with different textures and lines and it helped me develop my skills. Water color was one of my favorite units because I enjoy using colors in my pieces, it helped me develop my ability to paint more nature. The acrylic unit helped me with color theory and helped me get better at mixing colors to get the ones I want. The print making unit was my least favourite one but it did help me develop my carving skills. The clay unit helped me with my sculpture skills and how to mold things. Mixed media was a very interesting one and the topic "surrealism" helped me dig deeper in my imagination and not think too much about what I want to draw. In my final I did pen and ink, I think I used all the skills I developed over the semester while working on it because I incorporated textures and techniques I learnt. I really like the anatomy of the character and the details I added in, somethings I don't like in my final is how busy it looks, if I could redo it I would change the wall and floor. 

Question 2: How do you describe your artistic style/perspective? How do you define success as an artist? What do you find most rewarding about being an artist? What are some of the most important skills you draw upon to create your work? What are some of the most significant things you've learned through artmaking? *DON'T FORGET TO ADD PHOTOS

Answer 2: My art style is more semi-realism and fantasy based, I take a lot of inspiration from things I used to see as a kid, like disney and animated movies/ shows in general and try to add my own thing to it. I don't think there's a right answer for success as an artist, it depends on each individual person and what they look for when they create art, for me it's to constantly be improving and drawing what makes me happy. One thing I find most rewarding about being an artist is having the ability to put my thoughts on paper without words. Some things that I think are important when drawing are composition and anatomy. The most significant thing I've learnt through artmaking is that art doesn't have to be perfect, if it was too perfect it wouldn't feel relatable/ nostalgic.

Question 3: Discuss one project where you felt you were the least successful. Explain why you felt this way. What would you do differently to change this piece?  Explain. 

*DON'T FORGET TO ADD PHOTOS

Answer 3: One project I felt was the most unsuccessful was the printmaking project. I picked a more challenging subject to draw and I was not happy with the way it turned out because it was messy and a bit incomplete, if I had the chance to redo this project I would invert it, I make the flower the white part and the background the inked part. 

Question 4: Regardless of whether a project was successful or not, describe the one which you learned, grew, or developed the most from.  Please explain. 

*DON'T FORGET TO ADD PHOTOS

Answer 4: The project that I feel was the most successful was the acrylics final project. I was never into acrylics because I thought it was challenging and just not my thing but this project helped me grow and develop my skills such as texturing, how much of paint to use, layering, composition and it really improved my color theory. This project was not perfect but it certainly helped me grow and develop my skills as an artist and I will be using these skills in the future. 

Question 5: Sketchbook: pick any sketchbook exercise that you found beneficial, interesting, or simply felt you handled well. Describe the activity and reason for selecting it above the others. *DON'T FORGET TO ADD PHOTOS

Answer 5: There were a few sketchbook activities that I found interesting and fun but two of them that really stuck out to me and taught me a lot about the material we were using in class were the test sketches in pen and ink and object drawing in watercolors. The test sketches improved my skills to make a piece with just two colors, black and white and helped me with the overall composition and transitions in the medium. The object drawing in watercolors really helped me with color theory, I would never have used purple or green while making an apple but while doing this sketchbook exercise I decided to experiment with more colors and although it's not my favourite, I did enjoy the process and I liked the end result.