my visit to Stanford's an art affair

Contrast piece

Senior Studio Reflection

I LOVED! senior studio this term. I really went outside of my comfort zone as an artist. I tried using a lot of other mediums and strayed from my typical portrait box. I experimented a lot with spray paint. I absolutely love the effect it makes when you spray multiple layers of one color and spray an additional layer of another color after it dried. It kind of cracks so you can see the original layer of paint underneath. I really love my portrait (it is currently the background on my phone -- i am a loser I know). The space felt really authentic - i felt like a real artist. :) I wish that we could have had a day where class was ALL day. You are probably sick of me at this point since I have spent basically the entirety of my days this term in the studio.

A2d Reflection

I really enjoyed A2D this term. I particularly liked the still life activity where you kept making the picture more clear. Although it was annoying, it really sharpened my skills. I used the same technique when I drew my senior studio gallery piece. I also really liked my pictures from pictures project. It made me think out side of the box and helped spark my crazy trying new things phase in senior studio. Overall, I think I did really well this term in the class.

Planning for the symbolic still life project

I plan on drawing jewelry as part of my symbolic still life. I feel like each piece of jewelry has a story and it is all stuff that I have accumulated over my high school career. I am definitely planning on drawing my summer bracelets from the past two years.

See sketch book for thumbnail sketches.

I ended up drawing my keys, keychains and the tomato can I keep my pencils in. They represent the independence i felt when I got my license. I feel like that is an important moment that everyone remembers and it typically takes place in high school.

Planning for opposites project

I am planning on putting portraits on top of a cityscape. The back ground will be from s shanty town and from capetown. Photo: to be posted when I am done.

[still not done with this, but here is an update on what I am doing]

Pictures from Pictures

Tiny Pictures Project

Reading Response: Seven Days in the World

This week you're reading an excerpt Seven Days in the World. On your blog write a short personal response to what you've read. Any revelations? Surprises? Can you imagine yourself participating in a crit like the one described here?

I was really surprised to find how tense a crit can be. i was impressed that the artists were able to tell the crit group exactly what they were trying to represent and they were really the ones in charge of their own crit. the other artists really dont talk until they hear was the artist has to say about his/her work. thats awesome. this makes them understand the piece before completely judging it. i think that if we did crits like that, targeting specific questions, it would be more helpful. the only problem is, sometimes i dont really plan ahead and know the meaning of my own work. i feel like it just works itself out sometimes. i dont usually think, i just create and see where it takes me. I am not sure i can ever see myself participating in a crit like this. honestly, that kind of scares me. i would just be incredibly stressed out by it! plus, i dont see my work being at that level at all.

Critique : gallery piece

-could put pieces together in assorted order

- make all pieces different

-put portraits horizontal and vertical

- put in the shape of Africa

- dont put them all in a row

- dont structure it

-suspend them from fishing line - so u cant see the whole thing at one

- make wide enough for people to walk through them, or make an obstacle

make a box out of them

- make different shapes out of them

_____________________________

We met to critique again. I got feedback on my frame

- make pieces fall off of it

- have images be hanging from it

-make stuff come off of it so it looks more 3d

-off center portait in the middle

Alternative Exhibit Formats Response

I really like the way Lorna Simpson and Barry McGee exhibit their art work. I love the way Simpson doesn't put her pieces in a structured way. I want to mimic that style when I set up my work for the gallery. I also like how McGee layers his pieces. And how he uses the space (corners) to display his work. REALLY cool. For my gallery piece, I want pieces to be both flat on the wall and stick out of the wall. Maybe I will layer some like McGee does.

Reading Response: The Critique Handbook

In your opinion, what do you think the role of the critique, as it's described in this chapter, could be in a class like ours?
The role of a critique is described as a daunting judgement day for art students and subjective. I feel like in our art class it is more relaxed and is constantly happening. When I am stuck with my work or just finished something and want an opinion I look to my peers and teachers to advise me and critique my work. It is not scary, just helpful. And as an artist, you can have selective hearing, and can pick and choose what to use from the advice you receive. Don't loose yourself in a critique though. You need to keep the work your own. Don't completely change your vision if someone else tells you to move in the opposite direction. It's all about having a balance.

According to this chapter and your past experiences, how can you get the most out of a critique of your own work?
articulate where I want to go with my unfinished piece, what I was trying to do, and what I want to do. My artist intentions. This way my peers can understand and interpret my work from the angle I was trying to get at. Also write things down. makes everything so much easy to remember. When you are getting a critique, there is so much feedback that it can be hard to remember it all.

How can you be a helpful participant in your classmates' critiques?

Give them my ideas. Be honest without being harsh. just saying "that's good," doesn't help. GIVE FEEDBACK. or point out specific details that worked. be specific, not broad and ambiguous.

Old work from the beginning of the year

my creative process: my first big card portrait

Reading Response: Art & Fear

"The fear that you are only pretending to do art is the (readily predictable) consequence of doubting your own artistic credentials."

Sometimes when I do work that turns out good I think that it is just luck. It can be especially bad when the next piece of art I produce is not so good as the one that I did before. It can make me doubt my skill as an artist.

"If you think good work is synonymous with perfect work, you are headed for big trouble. Art is human; error is human; ergo, art is error."

I often struggle with art when I am just beginning a new project. I do a lot of portraits, and usually I start them with a gesture drawing that is just composed of a bunch of scribbles. I know that it is supposed to be a bunch of scribbles. I still find my self chucking the gesture and starting over. It needs to be perfect on the first try for me, I don't usually find my self completely reworking piece even though I should be. I would probably make better art that way.

"But while others' reactions need not cause problems for the artist, they usually do. The problems arise when we confuse others' priorities with our own."

I usually have an idea in my head of what I want to create, or I happily stumble upon it. Sometimes what other people think I should do interrupts that.

Paint, paper towels, and tracing paper

Playing with paint markers

one by one to 14 by 14

Part of a project from A2D with the notecards

More Notecards

Some of my notecards for A2D

Response to Tharp reading

The general problem that I can see myself facing during senior studio is being too structured instead of just going with the flow. Tharp talks about how artists sometimes focus on big ideas and how from there it can be hard to construct good creative ideas. I feel like this was becoming an issue for me as an artist as well. I came into the class with a picture of what I was going to do. Something like this can get an artist into "trouble" creatively. When I sat down to try and illustrate my big awesome idea, I became frustrated. It was too big of an idea and I did not know where to start. I wanted to create a big mural of my friends, my sports teams, my general high school experience. HOW DO YOU DO THAT? WHERE DO YOU BEGIN? I feel like using Tharp's method of scratching," digging through everything to find something," would work for me. I began to feel inspired, scratching through an excerpt of her self help book. Maybe if I broke high school down into mini events and big moments I could truly find my creative spark and get the ball rolling. I began this with my A2D art project where I unwillingly created 25 notecards branched off of the main theme of high school. From there I began to see what events and types of art I really wanted to throw myself into. Coming into the class with a huge structured image of what I wanted my art to be was not the right approach for me. Each person, as Tharp points out, gets there inspiration from different places and different things.

Back to the theme: High School

ME!!!!

- My life experiences

- Athletic teams (GVBB & GVFH)

- Trips and the impact of new cultures on me (Italy, South Africa, Costa Rica, China..... )

- Family --> support, relationships, bonds, family ties

- Media I like ( avatar, lost, house .....)

- my experience at beaver

COMMUNITY =)

- events the have impacted the school as a whole

- shows and culture that influence people in the surrounding community

- My grade's legacy

- ......

WORLD....

- high school stereotypes

- The cliques

- typical experiences that everyone has

Note Card Portraits

A2D Theme

What questions can you formulate about your theme (at least 4)?

- what moments stand out?

- What was going on around me while I was in high school?

- How can I create a personal image of a moment in my high school career that others can relate to.

- How do you illustrate emotions?

How does your theme connect to your life?

My theme directly connects to my high school experience at Beaver Country Day.

How does your theme connect to the world around you?

There are so many high school cliques and moments that everyone knows of. It is a pretty relatable subject.

What kinds of images come to mind when you think about your theme?

Stereotypes of high school cliques, the culture of high school, popular songs, movies, tv shows, my trips, my friends, stand out moments, trips I have taken.

What kinds of art or visual information (advertising, tv, film) have you seen that relates to your theme?

- Basically any popular TV show that has been broadcast in the past couple years ( in particular: Lost, OTH, Gossip Girl, big bang theory, House......)

- the perfect score, saved by the bell....

Why did you choose this theme and how can you envision exploring it through works of art over the course of the term?

I chose this theme because I wanted to reflect on my high school experiences as they come to an end. I plan on really focusing in on the details to represent a bigger whole. Definitely a lot of portraits =)

Studio Space

The artists' studios were all different. Most of them looked really cramped and had limited space. Most artists had books and inspiration on the walls. They also had their old work on the wall.

Usually, the bigger the canvas that the artist uses, the bigger the space. It also influences whether or not the artists uses a table, easel, or the floor to work.

As an artist, I like a lot of table space and like to spread out when I work. I also like to have a lot of materials and pictures around me when I work.

Essential Questions

How do artists develop content and ideas for their work?

A lot of art comes from self and personal experience. People create art of what they know and what they want to know, whether that is a feeling, an event, or a person. Personally, I like to take channel my emotions through my art.

What kinds of techniques, behaviors, and habits allow artists to turn their ideas into meaningful works of art that engage the viewer?

Webs, planning sketches, gesture drawings, the first layer of pencil in a drawing are important ways of testing ideas to see if they are appealing. Getting opinions from fellow artists is also helpful. Ultimately I feel like art is not really about engaging the viewer, but expressing yourself as an artist.