Art Series

Okay guys so I tried to do my art series on this show me thing just cause it seemed kind cool and I have to apologize for 2 things before you watch it.

1. Sorry for all the noise, the iPad was on my knees and I didn't realize it was so noise sensitise.
2. Sorry for sounding like a dummy.



Also did you know that this dumb site wouldn't let me copy and paste the embed code so I had to type out the whole thing piece by piece... look how long it is!

<iframe src=http://www.showme.com/sma/embed/?s=M0X4iWW" width="578"height="433" frameborder="0"></iframe>

Okay but anyways, this may very well be my last post for art class in high school, and if so it has been a slice art class, farewell.

Artwork Self-Assessment; Part 2: Critical Analysis

So I've decided to critically analyze the piece that I liked most; my book.  In order to analyze my piece of art, I kind of have to step back from it and pretend I am seeing it for the first time.  It is really hard to analyze your own work, as you see hours of dedication, and people seeing it for the first time will only see the final outcome.  You see the paint strokes, and the perfect colors you mixed, and the trails and errors, you see the improvement, and the progression from a plain white canvas to your own painting, something you created, that would not be there if you didn't paint it.  But, people seeing it for the first time only see the final product, and it is rather difficult to separate yourself from that connection you feel to your art.

This is the piece I am analyzing.  I looked at the Grade 12 curriculum for visual arts to make sure that I am asking myself relevant an meaningful questions about my art. Critical analysis is basically broken down into 5 sections; initial reaction, analysis and interpretation, consideration of cultural context, expression of aesthetic judgment, and ongoing reflection. 

 Initial Reaction

What is your first impression of this work?

When I look at this artwork, I see that it is almost split into two separate sections, a close up of a day sky, with a silhouette of trees, and a far away shot of a night sky, with a silhouette of a mountain.  I can see that there are many purple tones in this artwork, it is the main color of the night sky, and a color of the clouds in the day sky, "Purple is the color of good judgment. It is the color of people seeking spiritual fulfillment. It is said if you surround yourself with purple you will have peace of mind. Purple is a good color to use in meditation. Purple has been used to symbolize magic and mystery, as well as royalty." I found this interesting, because this painting appears kind of mysterious to me, I think that there is a deeper meaning that what is just seen on the surface.  

I think that this artwork is pretty, but it seems to lack depth, it looks very much like it is painted on the surface, it doesn't really bring the viewer in, it looks more 2 dimensional to me. The black of the trees and mountains almost looks too shiny, I feel that they should be a more matte color of black, or have some sort of reflection on them from the color in the sky, or moon. 

What does this work bring to mind?

This artwork defiantly brings peace to my mind.  The trees are standing perfectly still, the clouds do not look storm like.  This painting reminds me of a peaceful day.  The colors of the clouds look warm, pinks and purples usually remind me of August or September, this painting brings me back to warm August days.

Although I feel like this painting could have a deeper meaning, to look at it without analyzing it I would not think of anything past the surface.

 

What emotions does this work evoke?

This work evokes calmness, mystery, and maybe a little sadness, or fear.  There is nothing really going on, it looks kind of lonely.  It makes me feel relaxed, but a little frightened at the same time, like something might pop out of the dark woods.  Or like the loneliness of the painting is what I'm most afraid of.
  

What questions do you have?

What is the point of the day fading into the night?  I know that it could mean something different to anyone, but what was the intended purpose?  Why does the day sky have no sun, but the night sky has a moon?  Why are there clouds in both parts of the painting?  Is the artist trying to hide something?  Where is this painting taking place?

What connections can you make between this work and your own experience or

other art forms?

Since I painted this, it's a little hard to answer.  This artwork is less professional than other art pieces I've seen, but the idea is interesting.  I think that this could be better, if the artist had more experience. It doesn't look bad, just a bit phonier than I'm used to seeing.  Looks like something I would see in a children's book. I haven't really seen any art like this before though.
 

Analysis and Interpretation

What elements, and principles of the art form are used in this work?

Line is used in an interesting way in this painting, it is not typical straight or curved lines.  Lines were used to draw the tree line, and the mountain line.  The lines used in this painting are defiantly an important asset as they created the whole silhouette which was a focal point in this art piece.

Color was also used in this to display depth, and emotion.  The colors chosen give the painting a melon collie, peaceful kind of feel.  This feeling the observer gets makes the painting so successful in my opinion.

Value and shape were also used in this picture.  Value was used to add definition to the clouds, and shape was used to define the silhouette and the moon.

What do you think is the theme or subject of the work? 

I think that the theme of this art piece is alienation,freedom, and discovery.  Depending on who was to viewing this piece, and what was going on in there lives, they may think that this painting has a different theme. For me, right now at this time in my life, I think that the theme of this painting is freedom. Looking at the sky always gives me a sense of freedom.

Why do you think the composer, choreographer, playwright, media artist, or visual artist created this work?

I think whoever created this work wanted to get a message across.  I think that they may have had something to say, and wanted people to connect with them.  I think that they hid the real meaning of what this piece was all about within the picture, and only certain people could uncover it.  

What do you feel is the artist’s view of the world?

I think that the artist sees the world as a place that can be discovered.  I think that they fell like each day is passing by too quick (as seen by the night and day comparison) and I think that they want to explore what the world has to offer.  Both images look like they are probably from Canada, because of the trees and the mountain outline.  It seems like every day is passing by and the artist is still in the same place, eager to get out and see the sunsets of new places.
 

How does this view match or contrast with your own view of the world?

You know I am actually the artist so I guess my last question was probably a little biased.

Consideration of Cultural Context

What social, political, and historical events may have influenced the artist in this work?

P.S. guys it was a song that influenced me. But it was a really good song so I'm pretty happy that that was my motivation with this painting.

What events in the artist’s life may have affected the creation of the work?

Okay so I'm gonna answer this one too then I'll get back to the 'third' person talk, I know it's not really third person but I don't know what else to call it.  It wasn't really an event in my life that affected the creation of this art, it was more that I listened to the song 'A Dustland Fairytale' for 4 years of high school, and when I was tasked with creating an artwork for a poem, this was the first one that popped up in my head.

Expression of Aesthetic Judgement
 

How effectively does the artist select and combine elements to achieve an intended

effect in this work?

Actually scratch that, no more 'third' person, I can answer the rest of the questions.

I know that this piece was based on a song, but I don't think someone viewing it for the first time would assume that.  I do however this that the piece gives off emotions similar to those felt while listening to the song, and that was kind of the goal here, so I feel like I've achieved that.

What doesn’t work, and why?
 

I feel like the only thing that doesn't work it that there isn't quite enough depth to make this piece look real.  I think that the colors, and the concept works, and the painting does look a little better in person, but it's just not sure eye catching.

In what ways does the artist evoke joy, sadness, or other emotions in this work?

Emotion is evoked in a subtle way in this piece, it could mean something different to anyone, this piece is all about perception.  

Ongoing Reflection

In what ways do you feel your work is successful?

I feel like the message I was trying to send was successful, I based this art piece on a poem, but it was not solely about a poem.  I really do love the color scheme, and the idea behind it.  It was super close to the idea I had originally had in my head, and I love that it does represent a song that is super important to me. 

I feel like this art piece it pretty original.  I used paintbrushes, toothbrushes, sponges, and my own fingers when painting this piece, to technique wise it's pretty diverse! I really like it, but like everything, there are some things I would do to improve it.

In what ways would you change the work to improve it?

Basically, I did what I could with the skills I have.  To improve this piece, I would want to watch some YouTube videos on making landscape painting look more realistic, and practise a lot, or take lessons. 

I really did try hard, but that was the extent of my artistic skills for now. I would love to be able to develop them further, as I've seen how far I've come in the part 4 years, but that will take time.  I would defiantly take on a piece like this again once I learn to make my paintings look more realistic, and at that point I'm sure I'll come up with something else I want to improve about it.

How did your work affect the audience?

I'm not really sure how my work affected the audience! I haven't shown anyone this piece yet.  I really hope that they take what was intended by it, I think it would be more meaningful after reading my blog write up on this piece, what do you guys think of it!?

Artwork Self-Assessment; Part 1

So this is Part 2 of my final art culminating.  This portion is a self assessment portion, now I still have one more blog to make after this one about my series artwork, but luckily that one won't affect this one. 

Throughout this blog post, I'm going to be talking about my most successful art piece, my least successful art piece, and I will be critiquing one of these using our critical analysis process.

What was my most successful art piece? That is kind of difficult to think of, one comes to my mind over the other I've done though.

The artwork I did for the poem unit was in my opinion my post successful piece of art.  Visually, I really liked the way this one turned out,  I loved the day sky, and the night sky, I loved the silhouette of the mountains and the trees, it was a really appealing piece to me! 

Along with the way this painting looked, I really liked that it symbolized a song that I've loved all through high school!  Being as this is my last year, and I've loved the song "A Dustland Fairytale" since almost the beginning of Grade 9, this was a really meaningful piece for me.  This artwork will always remind me of that song, and I feel like that song will always take me back to my time in high school.

I also like how much work I put into this painting.  It took me so many tries to get it just how I wanted it and I really felt like my dedication paid off.  I worked on this piece for probably about 3 weeks in total, the moon itself took me 2 days to get right, but by the end there was nothing I wanted to change. 

Usually, when painting, I find that I have an attitude kind of like if it looks good enough, just leave it.  I know it's kind of a bad attitude to have, but I've changed so many paintings before, and I hated the way they looked after I changed them!  But I decided to take a chance with this one, I really wanted to make it look like how I saw it in my head, and in the end it did!  Very pleased.

What was my least favourite piece of art?

Probably the first unit we did, "You are a book".  And, don't get me wrong, I don't dislike this piece.  In fact, I really like it, I just feel like there were some improvements I could have done with this piece to make it a lot better. 

I really liked a lot of the ideas I had, I liked a lot of the pages I did, but it just wasn't quite right.  I feel like this book was taking me so long that I kind of got fed up with it and began to get a little lazy.  I loved the cover, and a few of the pages, but after so long I just began to do most of my drawing with sharpie. 

The finished product of my book was not what I had wanted it to be, it was not what I had envisioned when I originally thought of this art project, I had so many good ideas but I feel like I kind of just forgot about them, or ignored them or something.  If I were to do this piece again I would have had a better plan, this book had around 1000 pages, and I thought that that was a good thing at first, but I ended up feeling lost in the pages.

If I were to do this again, I would probably take say 10-15 pages out of the book, and work with those, I think that all of the pages made me feel kind of over whelmed.  Also, I would have gone into a page with an idea in my head of how I wanted it o turn out, I was just kind of going with whatever I thought at that moment, without thinking of the next step forward.

I also would've used more artist skills, I ended up using a lot of sharpies and markers, and that was not the original plan.  I had wanted to show off all of my artistic skills in this piece, and I felt like this book didn't really end up doing that justice.  

I would actually be very interested in doing this kind of project again, I found it to be an interesting challenge.  However, I would go about it completely differently.  I would set more realistic goals for myself, and try to follow through with those goals. 

With this being said, I am going to be critically analyzing my poem piece in my next post.  It was my favorite, and I have a lot to say about it!

Stay tuned! 







Artists Support Other Artists; Studio Work

Another example of artists supporting other artists is getting aboard with new ideas through studio work.

At the beginning of this assignment I talked about how there were a bunch of different links in the picture in my first post.  So one of the links lead to this new kind of art that’s just making its debut now. Its glass art made by a 3D printer.  Here is the actual link, but I’ll attach a video underneath. 

Super cool right!?  So this is a pretty wild idea, and it would be extremely complex, but the point is in order to be a good artist you have got to push yourself, and get aboard to support new and innovative ideas! 

This is just one example of studio work.  Artists can support other artists in the studio as well if they are doing a collaborative art project.  With actual collaborations, it is easy to share skills with other artists, this will inevitably increase all of the artists involved artistic skills, as it introduces all of them to a different way of doing art.  It the art world, it is important to be diverse, more opportunities will be presented your way if you have a variety of skills and are willing to accommodate.

I feel kind of lost on what to say about studio work, because studio work is just everything.  I mean studio work is how art gets created, artists can support other artists in the studio, but I feel like most of the support comes arfter the art has left the studio.  What do you guys think?

Artists Support Other Artists; Community

I already talked a bit about the artist community, and how artist support other artist within the community, but this can be done through many ways.  This can be a social media response, it can be creating 3D glass art to support new ideas, or it can be a more visual and collaborative representation.   

This is an art community. A museum. 

This is also an art community. A street.

An art community is anywhere where artists can talk and collaborate with one another.  This gives them exposure to new types of art, allows for them to communicate, make suggestions, criticize, and compliment artwork. 

It is within these communities artists may feel a connection with other artists, and a collaboration, or group can form.  These communities should feel safe; they should represent your interests, as well as push the artists in them to be the best artist they can be. 

An artistic community should inspire artist, this inspiration, and support from fellow artist will push upcoming, and long-time artists to do better, to try harder, and to be more welcoming to new ideas. 

Artists Support Other Artists; Advocacy

Okay, so now I’m on to advocacy.  So I’m not really 100% sure on what advocacy is so I’m going to do my best here.

What is advocacy?  And how does it support the idea ‘artists support other artist?’

I’ll admit, I Googled this, “Advocacy is an activity by an individual or group which aims to influence decisions within political, economic, and social systems and institutions.”  So how does this support my culminating theme? This is probably the toughest central idea for me to talk about because |I don’t really have any prior knowledge about it.  

So, if advocacy is the act of influencing decisions, and there are many artistic groups across Canada, and the world, that are advocates for art, then I guess that advocacy could also support artists.  Many groups advocate for art to be taught more thoroughly in education systems.  These groups support upcoming artists that may need more studio time to reach their full potential.  Many groups advocate for a change, such as LGBT rights.  These kinds of groups main purpose is to support LGBT people, but they also support artists because if artists feel strongly about a cause such as LGBT rights, it gives those artists a group to join, a cause to stand for, which automatically comes with its own support system.  By joining a group like that, artists almost get a fast pass to an artistic community.  

A great example of artists supporting other artists is The Canada Council for the Arts.  The Canada Council for the Arts offers a range of grants and services to professional Canadian artists and arts organizations in music, theater, writing and publishing, visual arts, dance, media arts and integrated arts. They support new artist, and established artists, they are all for art.  They believe that art is the future and they help artists develop that future. 

Here is a brief look into what they do.

This culminating has defiantly opened my eyes to many ways that artists support other artists.  The main thing I learned throughout the research I did over this culminating it that all of the ways artists support other artists are intertwined; without one, there would not be the others.  I found this kind of funny, because prior to starting this I would not have thought that studio work, community, social media, and advocacy would have anything in common.  However, being an advocate for something can lead to people sharing your posts on social media, which can lead to getting involved in an artist community, which can lead to combined studio work with your peers.  Or being in an artistic community can lead to the sharing of you pasts on social media by your peers, which can make groups such as The Canadian Council for the Arts support you which will allow you to try out more innovative ideas in the studio.  ‘Artists supporting other artists’ is really a whole web of things, and any path can take you anywhere.  It was really neat to learn about this! Hope you all felt the same.  Please feel free to comment if you have any responses to anything I’ve said! J

Artists Support Other Artists; Social Media

In case any of you are still lost, I'll talk about a few examples of artists supporting other artists.  

Social media is defiantly one way that artists can support other artists.  Social media has made it extremely easy for artists to like, comment, tweet, or share art.  It also makes it very easy to credit a piece of work.  Unfortunately, with the easy access of sharing artwork nowadays, many people forget to credit the artist, and just share the work.  This is why it is even more important for artists to make sure they are crediting the artist’s work.  

After the Paris attack, one artist made a beautiful representation of how to move forward.  His name is Jean Jullien, and he created this image:

I did talk a bit about this image in a previous post, but the point is, many teenagers, and young adults were sharing this image without giving the artist any credit.  Now this was a really beautiful and inspiring art piece, and Mr. Jullien deserved the credit for this piece, and he eventually got it, but it took days for me to hear about it.  This is why it is so important for artists to support other artists!

I feel like many times, people don’t think of the artists, they just think of the art.  I think that many people think that it just magically popped up or something and it belongs to no one.  On social media, many people post famous quotes, and they always give credit to the person who originally said it, why is this not the same standard for art?  People own art; they own what they create, by posting a picture without giving credit to the artist, you are basically plagiarizing.

As artists, it is important to bring attention to this issue, by not crediting the artist, people are theoretically stealing the art piece.  And, as I said before, stealing is okay in art, in fact it is encouraged, but we must give credit where credit is due!  

Along with giving credit, many artists can share each others posts, write encouraging comments, and become engaged in artists lives to make for deeper artistic connections.

Social media has it's cons, but it also has a variety of pros.  It really does make for easy communication, and allows for artists to partake in international exhibitions.  It allows for communication among people that live on different countries, and lets people expand there artistic community without leaving there home.  Social media has really opened the door for artists to a whole new world.  It is a key contributor in the theme 'Artists Support Other Artists.'

Artists Support Other Artists; Intro

Welcome to part 1 of my culminating task for my final art class of high school; Grade 12 arts.  Our culminating this year has been split into two different sections, to try to cover as much content with one culminating as possible.  In this section I will be focusing on the idea that artists support other artists.  I will be talking about what this means, what some examples of this are, and how this can help artists.

See this picture above?  I screen shotted this image from my teachers blog, this is the format that we were given this section of the culminating in.  Now it won’t work on here, but when you run your mouse over this image on the actual blog a bunch of little white dots pop up, when you run your mouse over the little dots, a link then pops up to a website or video.  My class was asked to review all of these links before we started our culminating to give us some background on the kinds of things we would be covering, and to get a general idea of what ‘artists support other artists’ mean.

What is this ‘artists support other artists’ concept I speak of?

It’s actually a pretty broad topic; there are many ways to go about what it means, and many different ways to interpret it.  I almost miss the days when I was given an assignment and there were no if, ands, or buts about it; it was just a straight forward question.  But, I guess when you get into grade 12 those days are done.  Okay, so I think that the concept ‘artists support other artists’ just means that if you really want to get anywhere in the art world, you have to open yourself up to new ideas, give credit where credit is due, and look to give support, as well as receive support.

Honestly, the art world is a cruel, unforgiving place if you try to take it on alone.  Unless you happen to know the right people and catch a huge break at the start of your career, being an artist can be a rather frustrating, and unrewarding job.  It is definitely better to have friends in the art world than enemies.  Climbing the artistic ladder to the top can be a slow process, but with the support of other artists it can seem faster, and it will definitely be a more enjoyable and less lonely journey.

Ever heard the saying ‘you catch more bees with honey than you do with vinegar’?  How about ‘give credit where credit is due’? Or ‘good artists copy, but great artists steal’?  These are all great points to support my main idea!  Basically, you have to be nice.  You have to be willing to connect with other artists, and make a good name for yourself.  You must develop a safe environment around you filled with people who will share your work, and you will share there’s in return.  You have to be willing to put yourself out there, and you need to talk to people, reputation is key.  Seek artists out, bring artists in, find positive people and share your ideas with them.  

In order to support other artists, and be supported in return, you have to give credit.  Whether sharing a piece of art, borrowing a general idea, or ‘stealing’ a painting, it is absolutely crucial to give credit to the founding artist.  By doing this, you will gain the respect of your peers, and demand their respect in return.  Artists don’t mind having their ideas borrowed, but if it was there idea, they deserve to be credited for it.  This supports the original artist as it brings publicity back to the original piece of art.  When ‘stealing’ art, it is also important to be respectful of the original art work.  Instead of captioning your picture “The New and Improved ____”, a caption such as “Rendition of _____” is much more respectful.  This will shine a positive light on the new art piece, and support the original artist. 

Artists must also stay with the times; they will have to ‘steal’ some modern ideas, as art is changing so fast nowadays.  They must support new ideas, and take charge producing new art pieces.  They must be okay with stepping out of there comfort zones.  With technology being so advanced nowadays, it is impossible to ignore the change, a new kind of art is created, and it is all over social media within 1-2 days!  This generation is crazy these days!   In order to be a good successful artist one must be willing to go with the change, don’t fight it.  If a new piece of art come out, artists must challenge themselves to mimic this art, create something better, more brilliant, but don’t forget to give credit where credit is due!  

As much as art is a competitive business, it is so important not to let that competition take over your life.  Artists do have to try to be the best in the business; they do have to fight their way to the top, but in doing so they have to keep as many friends as they can.  As competitive as the art world is, everyone will tend toward nice, respectful people.  I mean, who would you rather do a group project with?  Someone who lies, cheats, and steals your ideas, and gets a 95?  Or someone who helps, is trustworthy, shares credit, and gets an 85?  Who would you rather hire as an employee?  Someone who stabbed his/her last boss in the back?  Or someone who comes with brilliant references?   The choice is clear. 

Anyone can be an artist, but good artists, artists that want to make it past the local art galleries, and past the confinement of their own home town must put themselves out there.  They must support other artists, and hope that other artists will return the favor.

Series Change Up

Okay so my last series idea just wasn't really happening so much for me, so I know its kind of late in the semester but I've decided to change it up.  I want to focus on the change in the generation.  Basically I want to do a compare and contrast kind of art series.  I actually got this idea last night (New Years Eve) when I was thinking about how fast this past year went by and the year before that, and how fast high school went by and how what I was wearing last night is totally different than anything I would wear last year, and how the way I talk and look has changed, and then I got this idea.

So I'm thinking right now I'm going to focus on what kind of art would you see waling down the street 40-50 years ago?  What kind of art would you see walking down the street now?  What kind of faces would you see?  How has the face of beauty changed?  What is considered the norm now?  What art pieces would you choose to put in your house then, vs. now? 

Can we pin point these changes?  I better get moving, I already have a few ideas... :)

Christmas Ornaments

So school was a bit hectic before the break, and I figured I'd try to catch up before school starts again.  For most of the last week of school my class made some clay Christmas ornaments, kind of just to get into the spirit of Christmas. 

I found this really cool design on Pinterest!  My tree is mostly blue and silver so I figured Id make my mom an ornament as a little stocking stuffer since I was basically broke after all my other gifts.

 

I started by finding a star shape online that I liked, and printing it up.  I then ran a dull blade over the paper, over a sheet of clay in order to get the star shape I wanted. 

Next, I found a tool a little bigger than the sides of the star so I could make straight and even cuts, I then began to carve.

I carved the star fairly deep because it was coming out pretty messy to start, and I wanted lots of room to sand it down.

After it dried, I sanded it, this was probably the most exhausting and boring part, but the results defiantly paid off. It was kiln time.

The star successfully survived the kiln, then it was time for the fun part; painting it.  Now unfortunately I was in a rush and I totally forgot to take a picture!  I have a picture of the finished results, but I wish I'd remembered to take one of the first paint job.

I picked out two colors one was more aqua, which I wanted to make my accents, and the other was a dark blue, which I wanted to make my main color.  I first painted thick in the carvings with the aqua color, and a little outside the carvings.  Next, I ran a wide paint brush over the star in one direction, trying to leave some of the aqua carvings exposed. 

We threw them in the kiln, and it was literally ready 10 minutes before I left for the Christmas break on Friday!  My mom loved it!  :)