Text as an Element

    For this mini-assignment, we were given the theme of "Text as an Element" and tasked with creating a piece using words as the main focus and putting that in to action however we saw fit. I decided to work with oil pastels to tackle this theme and I think that my vision really came across. I also decided to create the word "away" with balloons because I thought that it was a clever way to use text, but in a fun way. To put things into perspective for you, if you were to look at this scene from any other position, you would not see the word appear. It only works if you look straight on as it is drawn in the project. I love working with unique perspectives, but creating something like this was a new experience. I love how it turned out, though!     I was able to use a lot of the skills that I have acquired throughout my art career in this project that I believe definitely benefited the overall product. For example, I have learned a lot about the use of color and how that transfers in to the mood of the painting as well as how it can be used to create value. I liked this assignment and hope to be able to do a lot more using text as an element in the future!

Tension

    First post of Art 3! I can't believe that one year ago I had just begun Art in high school. It has been a wonderful ride and I am so grateful for every experience. For this mini-assignment, we were given the theme of "tension," first day of class, no boundaries, just go. We began by brainstorming lists of things that came to mind when we thought of tension. One thing that my group came up with was the idea of not belonging and how that can create tension. So I decided to play around with that as a figurative thing and thought a lot about contrast. That's how I came up with this!
    I began by doing a watercolor design on the whole page. Then, I covered the paper with black acrylic paint, but left the shape of a couple flowers. When the black dried, I then proceeded to create white flowers to balance the contrast between the black and the color. While this shows literal contrast, it also reads the theme of "tension" because the color flowers stand out among the rest.
    While this was just a little exercise, I really like how it came out. I don't usually do abstract work like this, but it was a neat experience to be able to not use value or realism to still get my theme across. I was able to practice certain skills such as composition and line fluidity. For example, I used different sized lines to show emphasis on certain flowers, rather than value in the petals. It was interesting to work on these skills and see how that will be able to transfer in future projects!

Altered Book

    Final project of art 2! It's kind of bittersweet but I am excited to see what the future holds. For this project, we were introduced to a unique new form of art that a lot of artists have been jumping on, altered book carvings. When I first heard the instructions on this, I didn't know how this was was supposed to relate to art, it sounded more like a construction project to me. As I got into it, however, I discovered that there are many forms of art, not just that on paper! It looks really difficult, but having planned out the basic shapes beforehand made it pretty easy! After planning which shapes would be on each level, you just place the mat underneath that level and carve away, slowly getting closer to the back cover. Once everything was carved, which took a LONG time, I painted the cover and the front page to enhance the pieces. 

     The theme that I chose for my book was "Along for the ride." While coming up with ideas and staring pointlessly at the book for some sort of inspiration, I kept envisioning it as a chest. So I just went with it! I believe that the real treasure to be found in a chest is not money or gold, but rather the memories that we hold from others and from trips that we take. I carved various items such as ticket stubs, old letters, photographs, etc. into the book to portray this idea and I think that it read really well! I am really happy with how this turned out especially because of the message "between the lines" ;). I think I really took a risk by incorporating as many components as I did, but I think all of it helps to portray the idea that we really are just along for the ride! I learned a lot from this project such as how to think outside of the box and really push myself to the best of my ability. I also learned about the importance of good composition and that is definitely something I will take with me.  Even though this is not the medium that I usually work with, it was interesting to see how many ways you can approach a project and put your own mark on it.