Year in Review

one. looking back over the course of the year, and your blog posts, which project or projects were the most engaging for you? Where did you fully own your process as an artist? where did you get lost in the material or the making of work? 

The most engaging project for me was the print project. When we were told to think of a piece of writing as our inspiration, I instantly knew I had the perfect book.  The book was A Fine Balance by Rohinton Mistry, and I read it during Natasha's Imagining India class. I have never felt more connected to characters in a book than in A Fine Balance, so I wanted to do the book justice.  I combined the themes from the book and created a print demonstrating what I had taken away from the book.  I was completely absorbed into this project, and was very proud of the end project.

two. you have had a year of tremendous artistic growth. where do you see that you have grown the most? think about the studio habits as you answer and explain--observe, stretch and explore, craft, express, understanding the art world, reflect. which of these areas do you feel the most comfortable with? how do you see that comfort showing up in your creative practice?

I think I have grown the most in regards to my artistic style.  At the beginning of the year, I was unsure of this class and what I could get out of it.  As time passed, I would look forward to going to art and exploring our current project.  As a junior, I feel like I was really able to reflect this year.  I had a lot of work in my other classes, and art was a great escape, and I was able to let go and just paint or draw. I loved being able to pour whatever emotions I was feeling into my creative practice.

three. think about the projects (learning to see, painting Impression/Expressionism, Printmaking Narrative, Artist Emulation, Biomimicry Experiments and Mural) discuss a few of these projects that are the most engaging for you. what have you learned about them? how do you have a better understanding of them?

My favorite projects were the Impressionism/Expressionism project and the Printmaking Narrative project.  From the Impressionism/Expressionism project, I feel like I was able to gain more confidence in my project.  I was skeptical of my abilities, but was proud of the end result.  From the Printmaking Narrative project, I was able to explore my passion for art.  I enjoyed every second of bringing the piece of writing together with my piece of art.

four. course evaluation. which assignments were the most successful? which assignments were the most frustrating? What are one or two things that Mr O does really well? What is one important peice of advice that you would offer him so that he could make this class better?

My most successful assignments were the Impressionism/Expressionism and Printmaking Narrative projects because I enjoyed myself while working on them.  Mr. O is good at speaking to all of the students about their projects and helping them dig deeper.  One piece of advice that I would offer him would be to make sure the projects are clear. I was a little confused when we got to the Biomimicry Experiments because there weren't exact guidelines.  For Intermediate Drawing and Painting, I think it is still important to have some sort of guidelines for the projects.  Thank you for a great year!!

Mural

1.  Discuss your insights relative to the overall final presentation of the mural - our final theme, formal attributes, stylistic decisions, attention to detail , etc.  

I was very satisfied with the final product of the mural.  I unfortunately was sick and had a few AP tests, so I missed the beginning of our discussions about the mural, so I will admit I was skeptical at first.  It was a ton of work to get done and involved many people working together.  However, after we created a plan, our class truly came together as a team to paint the mural.  It was incredible to see everyone involved in one way or another.  I loved our final theme because it was relatable.  The struggle between industrialization and the natural world is prominent today.  I personally love going out to watch the sunset.  The natural world is a beautiful place.  However, the industrial world is a rising realm.  Technology continues to serve a greater world in our society, and it has become necessary to be involved in the industrial sphere.  I love that everyone can create their own personal interpretation of our mural.

2.  Discuss your involvement/level of engagement in the process - what did you offer at each stage (initial planning, refining and compromising, culminating sketches, installation).  How well were you able to apply your own artistic voice and process to the larger collaborative process?

I was not here for much of the planning portion of the mural, but when we created the idea, I was always sure to play an active role in discussions regarding the theme and figures in the mural.  I used the artistic voice I had found in the previous painting project where I modeled my painting off of Frank Stella, who is known for using geometry in his paintings, to paint the geometric buildings on the side of the wall where the natural world was covering industrialization.

  

3.  Overarching review of the project as a whole - educational and artistic merits of working together in a class to create something larger than yourself for the benefit of the entire school community / environment?  Any insights into how EO could better facilitate this type of project in the future.

I thought it was great to be able to work together to create our mural because it is a very unique experience.  In the future, I think it could work better if we had leaders to oversee specific portions of the project.  It was difficult when we had about 15 students who are virtually equal all fighting for different ideas.  However, I felt like we were all able to come together and create a wonderful piece.

Illumination

At first, I was unsure of how the printing the process would go. I didn't know much about printing and did not know if I could convey my ideas in prints. However, my inspiration, the book A Fine Balance by Rohinton Mistry, led my process. Some of the major metaphors in the book were train tracks, the game of chess, and the sewing together of a quilt. I started with the metaphor of the train tracks, and printed many images of the track. I attempted to blend this metaphor with the game of chess and I used the black and white pattern. I ended by sewing each of the pieces together with red thread. I chose the color red because it stood out amongst the black and white. The feedback I was given reflected my intentions. My peers said that they liked the color scheme and contrast, and that it embodied the metaphors I was intending to display. Overall, I am very happy with how my piece turned out because I think it reflects my love for the book and gives the book justice.

Print Project Beginning Stages

My inspiration for the print project was a book I read in English class called A Fine Balance.  A Fine Balance is set in India, and is about the interactions and lives of many characters.  Each character has his or her own life philosophy.  Some were negative, and some positive.  One major theme was the train system in India, so I will use train tracks as a background for my print.  In addition, the game of chess is used as a metaphor for the positive and negative events in life.  Life is about having a balance of good and bad, so I am planning to print many pawns one on top of the other to demonstrate the theme of balance.  I will use linoleum as the material, and chip away at the negative space.

Early Modernism Painting Project

I initially was drawn to this impressionist strip because I found the blended colors in the sky and water to be very serene.  In my previous year in photography, I did a project taking pictures of sunsets and silhouettes, and I believe this previous project influenced why I was drawn to this strip.  I intended to focus on demonstrating a sense of differing textures between the sky and water.  In the peer edit, Ellie and Francesca expressed how they liked the symmetry, contrast of colors, and texture.  I focused on maintaining the symmetry, but making the texture of the sky and water different in order to see a clear difference.  Through the peer edit, I learned I was successful with my intention.  After this project, I believe I am a painter.  Painting includes many technical elements such as color, texture, and brush strokes, and I learned to use these elements throughout this project.  I have come to realize that I intuitively can tell when the painting looks right, or when I need to make a change.  When the blended colors did not look right, I could see it, and I did what I could to change the colors or brush strokes in order to produce the best work possible.

Learning how to See: Representation and Approach

1. My intention was to explore myself as an artist.  I feel like I succeeded in discovering that I focus on a precise use of contour lines and value.

2. In the past, I was in photography, so I took photos that were all very realistic.  In class, I have also always enjoyed doodling, but the lines of my doodles are always very exact.  I feel like both of these past experiences have influenced my aesthetic voice.  I like my pieces to always be very precise, and I struggle to get past a line that appears out of place, and feel the need to redo it.  My strength is maintaining my artistic voice, but I struggle to step out of my comfort zone and present a more abstract representation of objects.  For example, blind contour drawings make me nervous because I feel like I have no control.  I like to be in control of each line that I make.

3. The group feedback generally stated that they liked my precision, value, and composition.  These attributes represent my intentions, and I feel that I was successful in producing a piece that I am proud of.

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