NEXT PRESIDENT COLLAGE

Collages have never been a personal favorite for me, but this year I improved so much. I don't feel like I put my all in my collage last year and this year when I originally started I had no direction. This resulted in me starting over completely in the middle of my project because I just didn't feel like it represented what I wanted to say effectively. My topic was economy so I pasted a bunch of news paper clippings talking about the economy as my background then added tissue paper, modeling paste, acrylic paint, more clippings, water color, and dye to create my finished collage. I am so glad I stated over because my heart was not in my first project, but I can truly relate and feel myself in this new one.

REFLECTION ON THE MARKING PERIOD!

I can't believe the marking period is almost over! This has been a great marking period and I feel that I have grown with my collages and black and white drawings. I have gained new skills and learned more about myself as a person. I learned a lot about myself through the election collage because I didn't really think about which side I was on or who I would vote for if I could, but this project made me think a little deeper. I had to do a little research and take a stand. This was very important to me because as silly as it sounds, I never really cared much about any of it. This marking period impacted me a lot and I'm sad to see it go, but I'm excited to start a new marking period with new projects and experiences.

SHOE DRAWING!

 Black and white drawing is my personal favorite even from last year, so when we started right off with drawing I was thrilled. I was a little nervous coming in this year because I wanted to see personal improvement from last year and I wasn't the most confident when we started. As soon as I picked up that HB pencil and started getting in the zone, I was drawing like an experienced, confident artist. I picked a difficult area to draw because there were a lot of black areas and I wasn't sure how to pull those colors out since I was drawing in black and white. I also had a lot of shoes to draw so it was more time consuming; however, in the end I was very pleased with how it came out.

UPDATED FOR THE NEW YEAR!!

As I update my blog and reflect on my posts from last year, I understand some things I didn't before. For example, in many of my projects I now see somethings I could've added then, but never saw at the time. As a first year art student last year I didn't fully stretch my abilities to their fullest because I was new and I was afraid to explore. This is something I will absolutely change with this new year. I am very excited to start my senior year on a good note and make all my projects the absolute best they can be. Many of my goals include personal achievements in sports, but also in creative arts.

Reflection Post

This year was my first as an art student, and to be honest I didn't know what to expect. I was intimidated at first about what it was going to be like being thrown into a class with 4 year students, but it was nothing like I expected. Art class has become my favorite this year because it is so relaxing and I feel like I can be completely myself. My favorite thing I realized was that my teacher gives everyone a broad assignment, but everyone creates something completely different. I have learned so much this year about myself and about art. I never knew how much I love to paint and shade things until I tryed it this year. I really hope I am lucky enought to have it in my schedule next year because it was such a great time and a perfect relaxing break from the day.

END OF THE YEAR SLIDESHOW

Patti a portforlio

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Finished Metal Work

   Working with metals seemed very intimidating at first but once you got in the hang of it, it was no big deal.  Since this was my first year working with metals I got very frustrated whenever my blade broke.  On my first day my blade broke about eight times which made me think I would never be able to do it. Once I got used to it I would be sawing for the entire period when it only felt like a few minutes. I enjoyed metals very much and I was extremely proud of my finished project.  I tried to incorporate the Leo symbol in my project and it came out even better then I had hoped.  I also enjoyed firing the metal because it made the metal look almost eroded and gave it a much more rustic feel to the whole piece.  It was a good experience for me because it showed me a completely different side to creating "art" then I would have ever considered.  For example, I signed up for art expecting to paint and draw things, but working with metals allowed me to create something beautiful that also expressed me through something completely different.

Ceramics in-process!

     Working with wet clay may seem hard to some people because can be very flimsy and difficult sometimes but I fell in love with it.  Being a first year art student, everything is brand new to me.  I had some difficulties with painting and portraits, but as soon as we began working with clay it was as if I have been doing it for years.  I automatically loved how the clay wrapped around the mold and dried to form the exact shape.  I also love how I'm able to carve anything into the clay and make it unique and different.  We recently began a project in which we have to create a place setting consisting of a ceramic plate, bowl, and cup that is functional.  It is also in tribute to someone you either know or don't know personally.  I decided to do my abuelita because she is very inspirational to me.  I am still working on it and hope to finish soon.  This is a great experience so far because it allows me to express myself and my appreciation to my abuelita through something that is useful in everyday life.

Decorative Metal Panel

Our most current project is the decorative metal panels.  I am really enjoying this because we were allowed to make any design that we wanted. Its also hard to saw and make which makes it challenging and fun. We are allowed to saw 3 types of metal, brass, nickel, and copper.  We are also allowed to add textures and distort them. They don't need to have any significance to us although mine does. I added the Leo symbol into mine so it is a little bit more personal.  I love doing this and I will be upset when it is over.  This is a great experience and not your everyday thing to do in art class.

Me sawing the metal           

Cutting out the Leo symbol

Identity Collage

The objective of the identity collage was to add things that have changed your identity a lot.  My personal theme was about how quickly one person can change your views on certain things and really impact your life.  Before we started the assignment I was expecting it to be extremely easy. I was wrong. This collage was  very difficult for me mainly because I didn't know how to make things suddle and hide them, but still tell a story.  In the end, I knew what everything symbolized and although it wasn't my best project, I am still happy with it.

Self-Portrait Tempera Batik

One of the hardest things we have done this year was easily the self-portrait tempera batik. It was so difficult because it was of myself. It was difficult drawing myself because I i never thought that it looked like me but in the end, I see some features that are very much alike.  We first started with a practice that was a smaller piece.  That was a little bit easier because there wasn't so much to work with. When we got to the actual portrait which was huge, it was intimidating. There was just so much to paint and so many choices of where to start, where to make darker, what colors to use...etc. We were allowed to use any color we wanted to I chose a blue/teal color for mine. It made it more fun and not so original. It made it so that everyone didn't have the exact same skin colors.  When we were done painting we inked then rinsed it which created a cool, worn down look. After that we used colored pencils to shade in some of the missing areas (from rinsing).  I personally thought that the colored pencils were the hardest thing to do because there wasn't a colored pencil that was exactly the color paint I used so I was forced to blend a few colors together.  It was a fun experience overall.

Large drawing, not yet painted.       

Smaller drawing, beginning to paint

Pablo Picasso

25 October 1881 – 8 April 1973

Pablo Picasso is easily one of the greatest and most influential artists of the 20th century.  He grew up in a small city in Spain with his middle class family.  From the age of seven, Picasso received formal artistic training from his father in figure drawing and oil painting.  At 13 years old, Pablo's father was at professor at a College of Fine Arts in Barcelona, Spain.  Pablo's father persuaded the officials to allow Pablo to take an entrance exam into the advanced class. The students had a month to finish the exam, but Pablo finished in a week.  He was immediately entered into the class because of how much he impressed the officials.  Pablo went out on his own at age 16 to Madrid.  That is where he realized his love for El Greco's work. He mostly loved the elongated limbs and arresting colors.  This was just the start of Picasso's amazing adventure. He eventually died while he was out to dinner with some friends and his wife.

A cool fact about Pablo is that his first word was "pencil."  I think this is cool because it's as if he was born for this profession.

I personally like Picasso because he was not afraid to go out on his own and explore.  He also wasn't looking for fame through his paintings, fame just found him.  I also really like his paintings as opposed to some of the other painters during this time because he had a lot of shapes and they are all really fun to look at.  One could look at his paintings for hours and never get bored because there is always so much to each of them.

This is my personal favorite paining from Pablo because I love the emotions on her face and all the crazy colors and shapes included in this.