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.