What does our collection reveal about us?

In looking at our collection, you can clearly tell that we are high school students. As a whole, it just looks like a big blue blob. However, as you get closer and examine the objects individually, you start to realize that almost everything provided by the students has a connection back to school. There are pens and pencils and erasers, textbooks, sports ribbons, spray, nail polish, and much of that nature. On a personal level, I can absolutely relate to our collection for the sheer reason that I am a high school student! I think it resembles Portia Munson's collection very well,  just on a smaller scale and I am very excited to see what projects come out of this!! 

Collecting vs. Hoarding

There is a HUGE difference between hoarding and collecting. A collection is an organized grouping of similar objects or objects that have special meaning to you. Hoarding is when you become attached to EVERYTHING and never get rid of anything. Collecting is a hobby where hoarding is a sickness. Karsten Bott claims he has a collection, however, I believe it is boarder line hoarding. When someone has so muh stuff that they need  to build a walkway thought it, that is a problem. He has a compulsive desire to collect one of everything in the world when, in reality, that is an impossible task. 

comparing and contrasting.

As much as I so desperately wanted to enjoy doing the black and white drawing of the bike, I just could not bring myself to that point. I found myself wishing is was doing other projects and I found that it just did not capture my attention. However, I did enjoy doing the candy jar drawing. I believe I enjoyed this one more because it was a change of scenery as opposed to staring at the same blac k and white color for an extended period of time. However, taking into co.consideration that drawing is not my thing, I think that I did very well with both drawings and I surprised myself!

                               Vs.

Candy Jar

During this project, the object was to draw the candy jar that was set up in the middle of the table. Although the candy was very tempting to eat, I sucked it up and drew. I dove right in and before I knew it, I was ready for color! This was where the fun began. I loved experimenting with different colors and shades and combining colors I never thought was possible! It was so much fun to try to recreated the candy the way I saw it and it showed me that not everyone see's what I see the same way.

Bicycle Drawing

In the begining, i thought chosing an angle would be the most difficult part of the drawing. It did not take long to figure out that was not the case. The drawing of the bike itself was not the part that frusterated me. The part that really made me hit a wall was the shading. Now, i have always known that drawing is not my thing and I tried to go into this assignment with my head held high and a positive attitude. It worked for the drawing portion of the assignment. I felt really good about my work and I did feel like I had progressed as a drawing student. However, I soon discovered that I was not entirely correct. When shading started, I could not figure out what needed to be done. Therefore, I decided going incredibly dark with pencil and then lifting the color out was an awesome approach. Not so true. It was time consuming and my drawing turned out darker than I wanted it to be. However, I guess art class is about trying new things and experimenting with different techniques. It did teach me that in order to get the type of shading I was looking for, I should have started light and gone dark insted of the other way around. Regardless, my drawing DID come out better than I had expected and once again, I have proven to myself that I am capable of much more than I though i was.
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Senior Year!

And so begins year two of the best class ever! This year in art, I intend to dig deeper and create things that I never thought was possible. I can't wait to prove to myself and everyone that there is a hidden artist in me that is begging to come out! I took this class last year never in a million years thinking I would take it again! I loved it so much, though, I just had too! I can't wait to see how this year progresses and how much I accomplish this year!

Reflection Post

Looking back at all of the artwork I have created this year astounds me. I never in a million years would have guessed that I was capable of creating anything close to what I did this year. I have learned that if you really set your mind to something it CAN be done, no matter what anyone tells you. If you can dream it, you can create it. It was an amazing experience being involved with the art program this year and it has inspired me to sign up for art again next year!

Art Slideshow

Looking back at all my work from the year was so fun! Making this slideshow was so awesome! It tied the whole year together for me.

Art Slideshow - slideshow

Artist Inspired Story

"A little swim never hurt anyone," thought Brooke. She had the biggest show of her life at five but she knew she would be back in time. It was hard to be a famous ballet dancer. She never got the chance to live like everyone else and now was her chance. She found herself alone in the middle of the woods with nothing but the sound of the wind rustling through the leaves and the small waves crashing in the lake in front of her. She so badly wanted to just dive in but then it occurred to her, "What if i lose track of time? What if I am late?" It was only two at the time. The show wasn't until five. She had plenty of time. She jumped into the refreshing blue lake in front of her. She floated on her back and looked up at the leaves slowly falling off the trees. Fall was just around the corner but summer was still in the air which made it warm enough to swim.

She loved knowing that no one knew where she was... well almost no one. Her boyfriend Kyle knew because Brooke had invited him to come along but he declined due to work. She decided it was probably time to get out and start drying off after, what she thought was about an hour, had gone by. She went up to the shore, spread her towel, laid down, and let the sun do the work for her. Before she knew it she was fast asleep and dreaming. She had a dream about the show she was to perform later that night. She dreamed about how thousands of people were screaming her name as she pirouetted across the stage. She could not wait. It was to be the biggest night of Brookes life.

As she was dreaming she heard a voice. "Brooke!!!!," the voice screamed worried and impatient. She woke up in a panic when she realized she wasn't dreaming. It was Kyle. When he finally found Brooke he told her that the show was in 30 minutes and that they will probably not be able to make it in time. Brooke began to cry. "How could I mess this up?!," she thought. She wanted this more than anything. Seeing Brooke cry melted Kyle's heart. He picked her up and ran to his car. HE gently placed the weeping girl in the passenger seat and ran to the other side. He abruptly started the car and began to speed in the direction of the theatre. "Where are we going?," Brooke asked. "You have a show, don't you?," said Kyle with a slight grin. The sped down the highway and pulled into the parking lot of the theatre with seven minutes to spare.

Wardrobe met her at the door and began undressing and redressing her immediately. Makeup and hair worked on her as she walked. They put the finishing touches on just as her name came over the loud speaker. Her music began to play, she stepped on stage, and performed better than she had ever performed before. The first thing she said when she was finished was, "Maybe I should be late to performances more often." She looked to her choreographer who seemed angered by that statement, but shook it off, gave her a huge hug, and congratulated her on a job well done.

Blind Contour Drawing

In this drawing, we had to draw a portrait of ourselves without looking at the paper. This I found to be a great challenge because I continuously felt tempted to take a glance at what I was drawing. It is a lot harder than it looks! We also had to write facts about ourselves, which really made me think! I really enjoyed this assignment. It was fun!

Lantern

My finished lantern turned out a lot better than I expected. It got very frustrating at times but I just took a deep breath and kept going. I have gained a new appreciation for artists who paper cut. It takes a great deal of focus and patience. I liked doing this project, however it is not my favorite type of art to do. It is beautiful when it is done right but I do not have that much patience.

Empty Bowls

The Empty Bowls Fundraiser is an effort to fight hunger. The concept is, art students, teachers, and really anyone who has any type of creative ability makes clay bowls from scratch. This involves sculpting, firing, and glazing the bowl. After all the bowls are made, people donate different types of food (in our case, pasta and soup). We then hold a dinner where everyone from the town comes and buys a bowl, which then they take and fill with food and have a social dinner. All of the profits go towards helping world hunger.

My Artist: Edgar Degas

Edgar Degas is an artist whose main focus was ballet dancers in their natural element. Degas was born July 19, 1834 in Paris. He died September 27, 1917. He was most known for being one of the founders of Impressionism, but claimed that he was a realist. His portraits, specifically those of the dancers which consist of about half of the paintings he has ever done, are regarded as the finest paintings in the history of art. Degas mainly focused on women models and sometimes, painted them nude. He is mostly known for his dancer paintings, however.

I decided to choose this artist because, as a dancer, I found his paintings to draw me in. I found myself studying the dancers posture, feet, turnout, and much more. To see how a dancer such as myself looks through someone else's eyes is a neat experience. I also enjoyed the detail he went into. No two paintings are similar and no two dancers are the same. Every one of his paintings are unique in their own right and i found that neat to look at.

                                                    

This picture drew my attention because it reminded me of my first day in pointe class. I was scared that I was not going to be able to do pointe as easily as all the other girls and that is what this girl looks like is happening to her.

I liked this picture because of the colors. The mixture of the blues and the greens really stuck out for me among all of Degas' other paintings. The emotion he put in the dancers really stuck out also. It is a dancer's goal durring a performance to feel the music and act it out and you can tell through this picture that these girls are doing just that.

Finally, I chose this sculpture because it is very well known. This is one of those things that you see multiple times in your lifetime, but may never know who created it. This is very unique and this dancer is represented as very proper. It stuck out to me because it was different from all the rest. 

I chose Degas because his artwork drew me in and made me look deep into it. That is what artwork is supposed to do. It is supposed to intrigue you enough so you want to dig deeper into it and the hidden meaning of it.