Photoshop Designs

Geometric- monochromatic

Organic- analogous

Photoshop, name design

How I think about art

This art class has changed the way I think about art in many ways. First, now I really stop and think when I see art and think about how much time and hard work must have gone into the piece of art, whether it's a photograph, painting, drawing, sculpture, or whatever it may be. It also changed the way I think about art because I think I learned more about myself as an artist and what I like most about art. My favorite part of this semester was our photography unit. Although I don't build what is in the photograph that I am taking, how you set it up and what angle you hold the camera at is very important and that is how you make the photograph unique. This class really helped steer my art career in the right direction. This class has taught me what I like and don't like about art, and also my strengths and weaknesses in art. 

Project I am the most proud of

I am most proud of my self portrait. This piece of art took many steps and a lot of hard work. At times it was difficult to see where it was going, from when it was just a sketch to when it was on the canvas and half painted. This had an impact on my learning because I learned how to first of all have patience in art. Some things take longer than others to come together. I also learned how to make a face look more realistic by using different shades of a color to make different areas of your face appear darker than others. This project in a whole taught me, in my opinion, a lot about who I am as an artist. 

Personal Space Box

The purpose of this project was to look closely at the work of Winslow Homer so that I could better understand who he is as an artist as well as learn how to describe, interpret, and evaluate works of art. In response to looking at Homer’s work, I created a relief sculpture that is inspired by his work and concepts.

Artists Studied: Winslow Homer

The place in my box is a place that my family goes almost every year in Florida. This place is important to me because my family and I have been going there since before I can remember. The sun on the sides show that not only the night there is important. I spent many wonderful days there, even though day time isn't the main focus of this box. I chose a sand dollar because when I was younger, my mom and I used to look for sand dollars. I thought that just using a normal shell wouldn't represent as much as a sand dollar.

Sense of Place Planning

Make a list of ten (3) possibilities of places to which you hold strong connections: (past or present): you MUST have a connection and you MUST be able to find photos of your place.

1. Vacation spot in Florida

2. Saddleback

3. Madeleine Point

Of the 3 above on which one will be the BEST to create a scene that is meaningful to you:

#1

Make a list of the tangible connections to that place. Feelings. Smells. Sounds. Sights, etc. Include everything you can think of, even if it seems silly.

·      Feelings (such as happiness): Happiness

·      Smells (such as warm blueberries): The ocean

·      Sounds (such as crickets at night): The waves crashing on the shore

·      Sights (such as seagulls): The ocean, the bright blue sky

·      Tangible Objects (tickets, bracelet, shells): Shells

Winslow Homer, Gloucester Harbor 1873

Purpose:

To become familiar with Winslow Homer, a Maine artist;

To look at Homer’s work as a way to inform and inspire your own work;

Which artwork are you analyzing?  Insert a copy of the image below this line of type.

Title: Gloucester Harbor

Medium: Watercolor

Year of creation: 1873

Describe as much as you can about the artwork.  

What is happening?  It looks like there is a family canoeing across the water. There are other sailboats in the background.

How many people and/or animals are in it and what are they doing?  I see three people and a few birds.

Describe any buildings that you see.  I don't see any buildings in this painting.

What time of day is it?  It looks like it's late afternoon probably in the summer.

What colors are used? There is a mix of cool and warm colors. Mostly a redish pink and blue.

 

Point of interest/Composition – 

What attracts your eye first? The first thing that attracts my eye is the people in the canoe.

Where is it located? It looks like it is located somewhere on the coast, possibly in New England.

How does Homer draw your attention to this area?  (color contrasts, lines, location, changes in pattern, etc.) The difference in the pink and blue draws your attention to the painting. The changes in the pattern draw your attention to the painting as well. The water is more calm and there are more lines where as the sky has no lines.

Balance - Is there symmetrical or asymmetrical balance? Explain... It's asymmetrical because there is no symmetry.

Depth/Perspective- 

Is there a horizon line?  There is a horizon line.

What is in the foreground, middleground, and background?  In the foreground there is a canoe with a family in it and some water. In the middleground there is more water and sailboats. In the background there is the coast.

Is the background very deep and far away or is this painting shallow and close up? 

How do you know; describe it.

Mood – 
What are the feelings, emotions and/or mood you get when you look at this painting? The mood is calm yet alert at the same time. The story of the painting is calm, but the colors make it more alert.
How do the colors, lines, brushstrokes, composition, subject matter contribute to the mood? The color makes a calm painting into something more vibrant. The different brush strokes create contrast.

Interpret - Now that you have looked closely at the artwork and have read the title, describe the story of the painting. What do you think Homer was trying to communicate? I think he was trying to communicate that this family was trying to go on a nice canoe trip but then it turned into something more than they thought it would. I think that he used the color that he did to create an un calm feeling.

The Compositional Strategy

Background Simplified 

I think that this is one of the best photos that I took. It took me a very long time to figure out how to make the background not as clear as the bracelets. Having the background blurred makes the bracelets stand out. It also shows that the background isn't important to the picture. 

Oaxacan Animal Bowl

Purpose:

To gain a basic understanding of folk art and Oaxacan artistic culture and to create a ceramic bowl inspired by this culture’s style

To become acquainted with basic ceramic vocabulary

Art Culture Studied:

The Oaxacan Culture from Mexico

Three things that I learned while making this bowl was first how to make neat cuts out of clay. This helped my learning because now moving forward in art, if I decide to take something with clay, I will know how to make a neat cut instead of just ripping the clay. I also learned about the Oaxacan culture. The last thing that I learned is how to paint on clay without making it have a lot of lines in it. 

Photographers & Composition

Oaxaca Folk Art, History

Geography & Climate: The Oaxaca's are located in Mexico. In Mexico there is a lot of different types of wilderness, such as volcanos, fresh water springs, deserts and many more. There are eight mountain ranges that split up Mexico into eight different planes called the altiplanos. The state of Oaxaca is the fifth largest in Mexico. It has a very diverse landscape.

Turtles: There are many species of turtles in Oaxaca. Turtles normally lay their eggs on the beach which is where they were born as well. They lay 200 eggs at a time. They put the eggs into a hole and then afterwards the cover it. The olive-ridley turtle is the most un-endangered. Killing turtles was officially banned from Mexico in 1990, but illegal hunting of turtles still happens.

Animals:

Designs: 

Still Life Drawing

Purpose:

To create a still-life drawing that demonstrates understanding of angles & ellipses in perspective, along with using a variety of mark-making techniques to describe form and value;

To demonstrate quality craftsmanship and good composition skills in a drawing.

Henry Moore, John Whalley, & Vincent van Gogh

Vincent Van Gogh. I think that it did work well for me. I like how it made it look smooth. I think that the crosshatching would look more rough and messy. 

I learned first how to draw cylinders and cubes that look proportional. I also learned about shading and how to make shading make objects more realistic. The last thing I learned was how to draw shadows. They add reality to the drawing. 

Master Drawing Exercises

Purpose:

• To create a drawing that imitates the artists composition, mark-making, and style;
• To make connections between this exercise and the final still-life drawing, by using some of the techniques and marks that the master artists used.

5 Fabulous Faces

Value Self Portrait

Purpose:

• To determine where values change when light moves over an uneven surface by using a range of gray values to paint the different values in a realistic self-portrait;

• To become familiar with the structure of the face by painting a realistic self-portrait.
• To effectively communicate an image that looks like you through careful examination of the values of your face

Portrait Reflection:

I am most proud of my eyes. I think that they look very real. I like the fact that they are really dark and then the little white in my eye really pops. Another aspect of my portrait that I like was my choice of color. 

Hannah told me to add more layers of paint and also to add more shadows on my face. I added another shadow on my face and I think that it added more depth to my forehead. Adding more layers of paint was part of the process, but as you can tell from the difference between my midpoint painting and final painting, adding more layers of paint made a big difference.

Hanging Paper Collage

Purpose:

• To understand the difference between 2d art work, relief sculpture, and 3d art work;
• To create something flat into something not flat using the concepts of “positive & negative space”, along with “sculpture in the round”;
• To understand and use the principles of art: Repetition and Unity in your sculpture;

To look at and discuss the 2d & 3d works of art by Mia Pearlman as a means of inspiration.


The difference between 2d and 3d art is that something that is 3d has depth and volume. If something is just a flat piece of paper it doesn't have any depth or volume. 2d is usually just a painting or drawing, where as 3d art is a sculpture or something with more depth. I learned about cutting and where to cut and when. Also how to give just a sheet of paper a whole new look with more depth. The hanging paper sculpture started and just a blank piece of white paper, and we turned it into a piece of art.

Sketchbook, Notan: Positive & Negative Space Design

Purpose

• Use positive and negative space in an interesting way.

• Understand and use elements of art: shape & space (positive and negative).

• Understand and use principles of art: contrast & balance (symmetry and asymmetry).

Culture/Concept Studied: Japanese concept of Notan

I learned many things while doing to positive and negative space design assignment. I learned about how to use all of the space that is given to me. If you put all of the black paper (negative space) right in the middle of the page, it wouldn't look as good as if you spread it out all over the page. Something else I learned was how to use my imagination. In my final design, I tried to make my design look like a face of some sort. It was okay to make it just be abstract, but I decided that instead I would make mine look like something.

Color Collage

To become familiar with color meaning and associations;

To use color knowledge so that students will make purposeful choices when using color

I learned that there are many different shades of each color and that they all go together. If you just used one of the shades, it would be boring. I also learned how to make different things pop out on the page. The writing that had a white background popped out more than the writing that had some shade of purple as a background. The last thing I learned is how to balance the collage. If all you use is little pictures, then the collage would be too busy, but on the other hand, if all you used all big pictures that filled up most of the paper, it would be boring. These things are important because they are good things to know about art in general, not just in collages.

Hanging Paper Sculpture

Something that stood out to be about this one was that it wasn't just hanging straight down. It was like a black hole. It looks like it's never ending. Something that I liked was how it was placed. The light coming it at the end on the sculpture adds more depth. I wonder what Mia Pearlman was thinking when she hung it in that exact spot. I wonder if she knew that the light would shine through the way that it does. 

Art Fundamentals Day 1

Some of my hobbies would include skiing, softball, field hockey, running, and staying in shape. I would say I go to the gym 3 or 4 times a week. Since I can't drive, it's hard to go everyday, but when I get my license I will be at the gym everyday. I have been playing softball since I was in 4th grade, and to this day, I still love to play. Field hockey on the other hand, is something that I didn't start until 8th grade. I love field hockey, and I love our coaches. Lewis and Hutch are two of the best coaches, without them, the program wouldn't be as great as it is. My favorite class in school I would have to say so far this year is history with Mrs.Ruthman. She is very understanding and helpful in class. Oh another hobby that I have is texting. I don't think I could live without my phone. I know that's something a typical teenage girl would say, but I just thought you should know that I am a typical teenage girl.

When I think of art, I think of creativity. If I were to pick my favorite kind of art, I would say painting. I may not be very good at it, but I feel like it's a way to let your emotions and feelings come alive on a piece of paper. My grandmother paints and draws all of the time, so whenever I go up there she likes me to paint and draw with her, so that's how my art 'career' started. I wasn't planning on taking art this year, but I heard that it was worth it. I love photography and in order to take that, I know that I have to take art fundamentals, so that's why I'm taking it!

I think what motivates me the most is having somebody that tells me that I'm doing well, but still gives me tips and tries to make my work better. Also, I feel like in this class, something that would be helpful is getting enough time to do work since art seems like it takes a while to complete. Something else that could be helpful is if you were to regularly check on what we are working on, and tell us what you like about what we are doing, and what we could improve. I'm sure that is something that you be doing anyway but if not, that is something that would help me.