Artist Statement

IB Art has definitely been a challenge, to say the least.  Coming into this class, I didn’t know what to expect, but I knew I was going to have to push myself artistically and intellectually even if that meant stepping out of my range of comfort.  In the past I have taken art classes such as drawing, photography, computer graphics, art foundations, and ceramics.  I thought I had worked with a wide variety of media, but as I have already learned throughout this semester, there are many more types of media I still have to try. 

This semester I have had a chance to develop my artistic skills and test my limitations.  I did this through my first project where I picked an object and first I drew it with pencil.  Then I drew the same object with charcoals, but in a much larger scale.  Then I used pastels and finally acrylic paints.  At first, I was concerned because it was overwhelming, but then in the end I really enjoyed doing this project because I was able to see how the process allowed me to grow and learn many new techniques.  With each medium I was able to identify my strengths and weaknesses and figured out what I needed to improve on for my next projects. 

This year I am going to focus on the idea of culture.  The purpose of this is for me to hopefully gain a better understanding of other cultures around the world along with exploring my own culture. So far, I learned content about Cairns, which are basically rock formations created for multiple purposes.  We compared how different cultures used them, and that inspired me to create my own Cairns in places that are meaningful to me.

My view on art has changed from the beginning of the year.  I used to think people who created wonderful pieces of art were just born with their talent, but I learned that this is not the case.  Art takes a great amount of dedication, perseverance, and creativity, which, allows you to gradually build up your skill.

Eiffel Tower Painting

For the past couple of weeks I have been working on the painting of my Eiffel Tower key chain.  When I first started painting, I was a little timid because this was one of the first times I've worked with paints, but by the time I finished it, I felt a lot more comfortable painting.  Comparing my painting to the first charcoal drawing I did at the beginning of the year, I've noticed that I have grown so much with this object and improving my artistic skills.

Here are the series of progress pictures I took of my painting leading up to the final piece:

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FINAL PAINTING!!

Ceramic Head

Our assignment in ceramics was to create a head that incorporates something about us, either opening out of our head or out of our heart.  Since one of my favorite shows is Glee, I decided to create the "glee" logo and make the top of my head open up to it.  To get the cracked effect on my head, I first put a coat of engobe on it, fired it, then painted black slip over it.  Then I wiped away the black slip, but where the clay had lines, the black slip stuck to, emphasizing the cracks.  This project was so cool because each head turned out very unique, just depending on various factors.

Photography

Last year I took photography and learned so much!  I was taught how to use a 35mm camera and everything that goes along with it, including the film.  It was definitely a new experience because I have only used digital cameras and never had to deal with developing the film.  But it was so fun to learn how to use a black room and all the different techniques you can do when developing film.  We also spent some time with digital cameras and enhancing them in Photoshop. 

This is a technique I learned using the black room.  I painted on the developer
 and it gives a really interesting splatter effect.

I took this picture with a 35mm camera and developed it in the black room.
I love the classic look and lighting on the flowers.

I took this picture with my digital camera.  I think the perspective of
this photo really makes it interesting.

This is another technique I learned in the black room.  I first developed
the picture normally and then I soaked it in tea to get the sepia tone.

This is called a photogram, which is created by placing objects directly on the
 paper when you expose it to the light, then developing it normally.  We were
 asked to create a theme with objects and as you can see, my theme is art.

In Progress...

This is my Eiffel Tower key chain in acrylic paint.  It's still in progress, but it's going good so far.

Eiffel Tower - Second Attempt

This is my second try at drawing my Eiffel Tower key chain, using chalk pastels this time.  It has improved from the charcoal drawing, but it is still not the correct proportions.  I liked using this media, though, because I could blend and layer the colors easily and using color made it more interesting.

Eiffel Tower - First Attempt

This is a charcoal drawing I made of my Eiffel Tower key chain.  It was my first attempt at drawing this object (other than a small pencil drawing), and as you can see, the size is definitely not proportional and the shading is inaccurate.