Distorted Me

The process for this piece was taking a picture of me, distorting it using photoshop and then transferring the image to a piece of masonite. I then took soft pastels and shaded the face and came up with the background color. Other mediums used was charcoal and india ink to give more emphasis in the picture. I think that this is a good piece, but it is not one of my favorites. I feel that maybe a different medium could have helped this project out. This is also not my style and was a huge risk for me as an artist. I am proud for following through with this project, but i think i am going to have to let it grow on me.

Sticks & Mini Guitars

This piece was created by drawing with a stick that was sharpened and then dipped into india ink. The purpose of this piece was to show the sketchy look and draw as quickly as possible. I really liked this project and since this project I have drawn with sticks a couple of times. I think that this piece was successful and I like how the guitar is emphasized by the use of red and yellow. This was a really fun piece for me. :)

Dress up

This was my second summer assignment. This is a charcoal drawing of a shoe and pearls on a mixed paper background. It is hard to see the background but thats one of my favorite parts. I used alot of different textured, yellow paper and by doing this it made the drawing more interesting!

Coliseum

This was my first summer assignment. This summer I took a vacation to Europe and I actually got to see the Coliseum in Rome. This painting was based off of a photo I took when I was in Rome. I like how this piece turned out. One downfall to this piece is its size. This painting is very small. I like the monochromatic theme that is portrayed in this painting. Overall I am proud of this piece.

Blue Jars

This is a charcoal drawing on black paper. I used white charcoal instead of using common black charcoal to shade these jars. The blue was added to create harmony and emphasis in the piece. I like the way this turned out but I think something could be improved on in this piece. This was a unique piece because as a class we were experimenting with the erasure technique. We did this to try to show movement in the piece. For example, the lid opening on the bigger jar. I'm not a huge fan of this technique but i gave it a try.

Weight

This is one of my pieces from last year. I like this piece because of the monochromatic color scheme. I also like the fact that i took what seems to be a masculine object such as a weight and used a more feminine color to paint it with. I like this piece.

I am Art.

So, I was sitting in my living room thinking about why art is so important to me. I had just finished looking at the different art blogs that my classmates have created. I was inspecting all of the different styles of art that we all find to be near and dear to our heart. I then got to thinking... Why is art important to me? I of course went to the immediate cliche answers of, it allows me to be creative, it's just cool to be able to create something original, it's therapeutic, and so on. But as I really took a look inside I realized its not just about creating something original or being creative. For me it's about discovering what I am capable of doing as a person. What I can challenge myself to do. What I am willing to show the world about myself. For me creating something is empowering. Nobody else can create what I can. Each time I finish a piece of art I am putting a piece of me out there to be critiqued and judged. This brings up the question will people like what they see? I believe art is more than something just cool to look at. It is a part of that artist, it is their hard work, patience, problem solving, their story. I am not sure I have answered the question of why art is so important to me, but I do know that as long as I am capable of doing so, I will create and continue to put little pieces of me out into the world to be judged and hopefully to be appreciated.