AP Art 

I feel like my biggest accomplishment in this class would have to relate to the mediums I used. I had already established that one of my favorite mediums was acrylic paint, and that only grew during my sustained investigation. Although I knew I liked using acrylics and they felt very manageable to use, I still tried new things that I wasn’t as familiar with, like colored pencils, oil pastels, and watercolor. (Even though the quilt painting was a bit strenuous, it taught me a lot about trying new things and experimentation that I’m grateful for). Trying new materials was really fun and something I’m happy/proud that I did. I would say my biggest overall accomplishment would be finding my new favorite combination of mediums, being oil pastels on acrylic paint. I used it first with my first piece of my younger self, and then throughout with almost all of my other acrylic pieces. This was a combination I used during the duration of my portfolio and I’m very happy I was able to find a unique combination of materials I enjoyed using so much. 

Unfortunately, as it didn’t realistically fit into my schedule, I won’t be taking a formal art class next year. I really like taking art classes because it forces me to prioritize art more than I would. I know that I will always doodle and do simple watercolors when I need a break from time to time, but I really hope that next year I will save time to make final works of art. As I plan on pursuing arts (at least a little bit) in college, this course definitely helped me and will help me in knowing how to successfully plan and pursue/tackle starting and finishing a piece. I also think I learned how to help other people, not just by giving feedback, but by receiving it. I think that I can be a more productive “critique” of my own pieces because of that, as well. Overall, this has been a really amazing class that I feel I have immeasurably benefited from, not just in creating, but with the experiences from the class and people.