Tuesday, June 5, 2012

End of The Year :(

Well, I don't know where to start really. I cannot believe a year has come and gone already - time really flies doesn't it? I have to say My art class with Mrs. Kiick this year was a blast. I actually put fourth the time and effort to create art, and great things came of it. I worked with metal for the first time (actually really cool), worked with pottery( long and drawn out but I loved the results), and created a book of all my sketches from this year - which I will probably be doing again.

I have to say I have never really experienced a class quite like Mrs. Kiick's. I always took the generic art classes in elementary school and middle school; but this class I actually wanted to be in. I am happy I took this art class - for I have improved an incredible amount over the period of just a year.

This year I learned how to actually color things in instead of just making outline sketches. Personally I absolutely love transferring. I found i am actually good at it - and the effect it gives to a paper is amazing. Most of my projects have some kind of transfer in them from this year. The other thing I found amazing to work with is watercolor. I love the faded/ pastel look the water color goes to things, as well as the blurry edge. I definitely will be using it over the summer on personal projects.

The end of this year is kind of bittersweet, as i will most likely not be returning to HTHS in the fall. I am transferring to a private school up more in Central Jersey. I will honestly miss Mrs. Kiick's class the most out of all my classes - mostly because I had so much fun in that class. Everything I learned I will take with me though - I am so glad i had the opportunity to take this class.

My favorites from this year!

Metal Work 
Midterm
Natural World Sketch
Pottery - Back 

Friday, March 30, 2012

Ceramics

This unit we are working on a ceramic place setting to honor or tribute of someone. It includes a plate, bowl, and cup that we will eat out of when the project is completed.

The idea came from Judy Chicago's The Dinner Party, which is a giant triangle table holding a place for each of the monumental women; that made a difference in women's suffrage.

For this project I chose to honor my great - grandmother; a fashionista of the 1930's that meant a lot to me before her passing 9 years ago. Here is what I have so far:

 This little hat took me 3 days to do!

Metal Work!

Hello !

After a couple weeks of endless sawing and sore arms, we finally finished our metal pieces in class. No one has any idea of the tremendous about of work it takes to even create a small metal piece until you do it, and I greatly respect those who do it for a living. My arms were constantly sore from attaching the small saws at the right tension and sawing away at the tiny pieces of metal.

After we finished sawing, sanding the edges and polishing the pieces with sandpaper, we were ready to sodder. When you sodder you add white paint like stuff to the metal to keep it from tarnishing under the torch. After, you add tiny pieces of metal that are able to melt under the blow torch's heat to the major areas of the piece.

When you are ready, you fire up the piece and melt the sodder pieces. When you are done, you dunk it and water and you are finished!




My Metal Piece!

Friday, January 20, 2012

MetalWorks!



This week we starting a fun new project - Metals!

Even though i just started with them today because I was absent, I really like them.

We have to saw through the metal to create the designs, and it is really tiring, but worth it. That stupid hand saw is a pain to get the blade on!

Here is what i have so far;

Yup, took a me whole day to do that.


Sculpting my I - dentity

Well, more like collaging. After the hard time at portraits, we moved onto a fun and free type of project -  a collage that in our opinions shaped our identity. After a long few weeks, I am pleased with what turned out as mine. Although I buried a lot of meaning, It still looks good on the surface!

Here is mine:




Portrait Time!

During the second marking period we had been working on Temper - Botique self portraits. Now, i usually draw nature type things, preferring to stay away from humans in general. When Mrs. Kiick first announced we were doing self portraits, my heart dropped. I had little to no experience with humans, let alone myself!

During the sketching phases I took forever erasing and drawing, erasing and drawing to get lines, and probably would have kept going on like that forever if i was not forced to sharpie the lines and make it final. This was least favorite part, because i fear things that are permanent and cannot be fixed in the art world, which is way i often prefer photoshop.

Anyway, Here is how it progressed;


Here is the beginning stages. This was after i used sharpie around the outside to get ready for paint. In this stage it looks like me.



Here is my practice painting. I only got to do one because I take forever to do anything and by the time i was done it was time to begin painting the big portrait (scary). I guess I like how this turned out. I feel like it looks nothing like me and has many obvious errors; but oh well.


This was beginning to paint! I don't think it looks like me, but oh well! I think the nose is way off and thats what bothers me. :/


The end! Im actually pretty pleased with how it turned out, although I took off like a TON of paint, I decided not to add too much colored pencil. The nose is still very off, but other than that I nailed the eyes, which are my favorite.

Practice makes perfect!








Thursday, January 12, 2012

The Artist of a Century

Monet was a an inspirational artist who painted many natural places; including: ponds, bays, rivers, deserts etc. In his paintings, their seems to be an overwhelming feeling of calm and serenity. When I look into one of Claud Monet's paintings, It seems as though I am taken to the smudged atmosphere depicted in his painting. In his painting Impression Sunrise - I can almost hear the boats in the harbor and feel the light wind on my face.
.Impression Sunrise.
One of Monet's earlier paintings, he painted this using a new method -
impression. I love this painting because of the serenity and lighting of the sun on the water. It breaks the 
light blues and pinks of the background images and draws your attention the the lighted rays of the sun and to the darker boat on the river.

Born on November 14th, 1840 in Paris, France; it was almost a given he was going to be an artist from the time he was born. Although his family had wanted him to enter the family grocery business, he entered the Le Havre secondary school of the arts on April 1st, 1851. He became well known with the locals for his car coal pieces, often selling them for 10 to 20 francs per work. While on the beaches of Normandy in 1856/1857, he met Eugene Boudin, who became his mentor and taught him how to do his most famous skill - oil painting, as well as how to paint the outdoors. His painting, The women in the Green dress, Depicts his wife - Camille Monet. He had two children - Jean Monet and Michel Monet. Camille died at age 32 of tuberculosis. 

Monet is his Garden - 1917



Oat and Poppy Field, Giverny
I absolutely love this painting for many reasons. The coloring of the poppy flowers leads the eye
back to the multiple horizon lines created by the trees. You can almost hear the bugs chirping and the cicadas whirring. I love the mix of coloring through the blue of the trees in the background to the light
pinks in the sky. The shadows of the large trees break up the field and make your eye draw to the middle of 
the painting. Overall it is just a calm and peaceful painting that i love to look at.