When my teacher told us of this project, I was very excited that we will not be doing things such as coloring or drawing, but we would be getting to cut out pieces and discover how to draw with magazine clippings. How we would be able to express ourselves through the art. As I was picturing what I was going to do in the collage I created an image in my mind with my face but in the background, I wanted to have nature to show how connected I feel to the outdoors. When creating my self-portrait, I wanted my audience to see me as a face among nature. I believe when I was creating my portrait, I could influence my audience by grabbing the viewers' eyes toward not only my face and who I am but what I try to stand for. One of my goals in life is to help nature and be proficient in my life. Taking a picture outdoors is a good start to show nature but creating a piece of art showing how much you care about nature is different. You are taking time to create something to show your appreciation for what you believe in. As making this self-portrait I was so excited to have my background that I knew I needed to save that part for last so I could focus on my face. When constructing my face, I wanted to get my shadows in place so my face would have some depth. Along with having highlights on my more outstanding features such as the tops of my cheeks. As I got my hair together, I wanted my hair to be dark with light browns to show my true color of hair. My shirt was red, but I wanted to include more warm colors with the red to give the shirt some attention. Not to have my shirt be a boring red shirt but like the way I see things that everything has life.
Real Anatomy of Technology
When I first thought of this project I was nervous because I had no idea what I wanted to make. Eventually with planning and brainstorming I had a slight idea of what I wanted to make. I wanted to create a part of the body that is most important to human functions and idea making. To show this I used the brain showing how electronics affect us mentally. When I started sketching my first idea I wanted to incorporate the idea of electronics pumping in this grey sludge into the brain. The grey sludge would represent depression and anxiety. This sludge would take away the colors of the mind. To show how if we are on our electronics for to long we almost let them control us. In my second idea I show a brain plugged into a cell phone. The apps on the phone such as social media and other commonly used apps would drip onto the bottom of the phone and drain into the brain causing it to change color and become the colors of the apps themselves. So the brain no longer thinks for itself but thinks like the apps. Creating my last and final idea I took both of my failed attempts and put it into one. From my first idea I took the electronics pumping stuff into the brain but instead of a grey sludge I took from the second idea I took the idea of using the colors of the apps. I added shadows to give it more depth and dimension to the art. I took a sharpie to add outlines to make the color pencil pop out more and make it more favorable to the eyes. After all that I didn't want a plain white background so I colored lightly in orange, magenta, and sunshine yellow to make the brain and shadows be the main sight to see. This project was very difficult for me as an artist because I enjoy putting things together and know exactly what to make. This caused me to really challenge myself as a young artist and push myself to create something spectacular and meaningful for those who look at my art. I would defiantly put more time into research when creating a piece of art like this. All in all I would love to make something like this again to perfect it even more.
The Value of Words
The Value of Words for me was somewhat complicated and easy. During the beginning of the project it was difficult to come up with ideas to make. I wasn't sure what I was suppose to create. I had researched some ideas and get a better picture of what to do. When brainstorming the idea I chose to do a home because I love being home and the comforts of home.
I chose the words safety and calm with chaos. Because even though a home may be calm there is always some form of chaos that is normal to us. When you are home you should feel safe and protected form the world. For the fence I chose the word protect because it protects the family from people entering and leaving. The rest I chose words that describe what the object actually is.
Art Awareness
With this project I found myself wanting to do all of the things I could. I found myself searching inside myself for something I truly care about. What I found was that what I care about is animals and their rights. As someone who wants all animals to live the life they deserve i found myself with topics such as wild animals in captivity, also animals that are left in the weather all day without proper care, how people over feed or malnourished there animals, and how people who have exotic pets don't give them the proper living space and food they need. I ended up choosing one I knew I could show with watercolor paint and something that meant a lot to many people, not just a few.
As sketching the dog that was left out in the weather all day without proper care i had to research types of dogs. It was very eye opening seeing pictures of dogs that are at death's door and wondering how someone can just leave the dog there. Coming up with the background I wanted it to look like it was in the city with a high fence and this poor dog behind all these homes all alone dying.