Final Works

Process and Sketches

Since many of my creations are usually unfinished, my sketches and thought process is an opportunity to illustrate my ideas and what the be a final product should be. Before I start on any of my projects, I first write out my ideas and then select which I think will work best. Second, I will draw a (quite detailled) blueprint of what the final will look like. This step involves understanding how to draw a certain object (which can require research and countless drawings— Like Roger Federer) and getting my thoughts down on paper. This process is very time consuming, since everything has to be just the way I want it to look on the final paper, just in a different proportion. A great example of this meticulous process is the Headline project. I chose "At Top of Game and Seeking New Adventure" since I knew I wanted to do something with tennis. I wrote the headline at the top of the page and then began to write down ideas. The first thing I did was chose the top tennis stars, Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal, and Andy Murray. Each of these players have a distinct feature about them that I wanted to include in the project. Since over the summer I had taken an adventure to climb Mount Kilimanjaro, I wanted Roger Federer to endeavor on the same journey. I knew that I wanted to have Federer in his famous winning position and I spent a lot of time tracing, sketching and observing this pose. After about 30 un-proportional drawings, I got a good one and understood how to draw him like he was. I also planned his famous "RF" symbol to be in his frame for better identification. Secondly, I knew that I wanted to have Rafael Nadal doing a fist pump and showing off his massive muscles. So, I had him ski racing and he had just won so he could be showing off his guns. Lastly, I wanted to have Andy Murray's huge scream, so I though the Iron Man would be an appropriate adventure for him (I had originally thought soccer, since he is good at soccer too). The distinct emblem on his shirt and also huge mouth gives him some identity.

Although the planning stages were time consuming, they were extremely helpful when I approached the final paper, since I had a detailed plan in my head. In some sense, the sketches and planning were just a smaller version of the final project itself.

Still Life Drawing

The Final Still Life drawing for me was a major break through in my drawing from observation and my "art-career" all together. Throughout the year, I had gradually understood that it was best to "get everything down" first and then worry about detail. At the start of this particular project, I thought that this assignment was going to be just like every other one had been: frustrating and overly complicated while I watched everyone else successfully create a masterpiece in front of my eyes. For the first 10-15 minutes, it was just that. I began to give up and started the "Ms. Roberts, I need help" whine. After these frustrating minutes, however, I realized that this difficult set-up was an opportunity to experiment, since I had nothing to lose. I did not worry about details, became intensely focused, and began to just draw and put everything in. As soon as I had a couple of items in the sketch, the proportions made sense and so did locations. Once I had everything planned out on the paper, I was then able to focus on the details and shading. During the ten minute break of the double block, I went around to look at everyone else's drawings and see what I was lacking. After seeing Emily's (or maybe Hanna's, I forget), I got inspiration on how to make the basket's actually appear woven. Further observation and I was able to understand the light and shadows to begin to give a 3-dimensional look to the art piece.

Although it is not completely finished, I believe that this piece illustrates my progress and understanding of drawing since the beginning of the year. From barely having one object on the sheet to being proud of my nearly-complete artwork is really rewarding to me. It shows artistic growth and development of cognitive and physical skills throughout the year and I am very pleased with the final product.

3 Places Project

Although I did not get far in this place project, the assignment itself was fun and the "final" product was rewarding to me. The artwork is very simple and with not much detail, but I am proud of the three different "places" that are shown.

Process:

After sketching aspects of the three locations, I knew that I wanted to make sure that the drawing itself was not complicated or complex, since I did not have the right amount of details from the sketches. After sketching a blueprint of the drawing itself, I realized that I would have to change my ideas, so I ended up making the window bigger and took out some of the other objects that I had drawn from observation.

Artwork and My Comments:

In the top left corner, the kite came out really well and I was really happy with that. The neatness of the window really brought a clean and nice aspect to the drawing and made the sculpture in the front stand out. The "shell-tornado" sculpture from the Visual Arts center took a while to draw, since I had originally spent more time drawing another object and only a minute observing the sculpture. In the end, however, the sculpture came out better than I thought possible after some extra work.

Artist-in-Residence: Alexander DeMaria

After viewing Mr. DeMaria's artwork, I was really amazed at how much detail is in EVERY part of his works. It manifests how much time he must put into each work of art, and the type of person he is. When walking by the blank, white, bare art gallery, after lunch, I briefly observed Mr. DeMaria in the gallery, observing every corner, space on the wall, and visualizing his work around the room. It really shows how much care, dedication, time and effort Mr. DeMaria puts into his work.

Some of his art work (concepts is a little strange (example: Dreams Conjured on the Pike Bone Kantele),yet the amount of detail, especially considering the material and utensils he used, balance his creativeness with his skill.

I am personally a fan of his older work than his newer work, as it is less "surreal" (in a way) and because the older ones have more color contrasted with the black and white. His "Under the Same Shadow" gallery is strange to me, though I like how he creatively played with the music accompaniment and disks and speakers.

My Question for Mr. DeMaria is: Would you consider yourself a perfectionist, or just someone very patient and attentive to details, as all of your art work is very planned, neat, super detailed, and "perfect." Or Would you consider yourself and just an "Artist."

Drawing from observation skills.

Accurately creating a drawing from observation takes a variety and multitude of skills, some art related and others in a broader sense. To accurately depict a "still-life" most preeminently takes an understanding of the set-up, how to draw the objects, and your skills as an artist. Artistically, it takes an understanding of the foundations of what you are depicting and their locations and size (ratio to other objects); the tools that you are utilizing; when and how to use value to depict depth, mood, color, texture, etc.; and many other essential foundations and detailed skills to draw effectively from observation. The other skills, not pertaining to art "specifically," consist of knowing how to focus intensively (for an extensive period of time), the physical ability to stand in one spot for substantial spells of time, and an enthusiasm for the task at hand. To conclude, drawing from observation takes these two essential classes of skills, artistic and those not concerning art, and to the extent utilized, is manifested in the artist's work.

Collaborative Drawing

I have a lot of trouble starting off on most art projects (drawing), and to have other people lay everything out for me was really nice. Although there were some objects and sizes and locations that I originally liked, and were changed by others, coming back to my drawing with the layout of the canvas (sheet on the ground), and the trash bin facing the "exact" direction was really helpful, as I was able to build on these essential foundations, the layout, that I was struggling with (in the beginning). One change that I was not to fond of was the chair and the location of the paper-towel role; the chair was in a completely different direction than I wanted, and a little off, and the paper-towel-role was misplaced. However, because of the marvelous foundations there, I was able to create the chair that I wanted, and relocate and redraw the paper-towel-role.

When editing other's work, I was able to discern mistakes that others made better than my own, which was surprising. However, when I went back to mine, I was able to see what could be changed, more than before which was great.

When I approached someone else's work, I was quite "unforgiving" and did what I thought was best to the drawing, which I normally do not do. I first looked for the major placement, ratio size, and anything else that needed immediate change. After making those changes, I would focus more on certain details, which would save the person time later.

When I came back to my drawing, I had to change the chair and the towel-role completely, but because the mat under everything was proportional and most of the items were placed exactly, it was a much simpler job, and way less complicated. I was also able to see changes that others had done and what I could change a lot better.