My passion within art is seeing how far I've come when I work on a project. When i start out, I start slow and my artwork looks pretty poor, but by giving it time and diligence, I think it's fun to see how my art progresses and eventually I have a completed project. My favorite part is being able to see a final project with no white spaces and I know that it is done. That is my reason for making art.

Art is something that I'm proud to be able to do. When I get an idea, I picture it in my mind as a perfect finished model, and then I have to make my art be exactly what I picture. If I compromise anything, I immediately notice and have to fix it. This means that I have to jot down my ideas and then I layer on detail. I erase A LOT because I'm never satisfied with something until it's perfect. This can sometimes make my artwork messy and then I just have to restart. I guess this just slows me down even more, but it's worth it for the final product, and seeing that final piece makes the entire process worth it for me.

In the future, I think I will still like art as much as I do now. I want to continue drawing and painting as an adult for a hobby. Professionally, I also am considering graphic design and architecture, both of which would require a good imagination and artistic abilities. I think in the future, I will also make more artwork on a computer because it is fun to make and applicable to jobs in the future.

My Growth as an Artist

During this first semester of Advanced Art, I feel like I have grown more than in any other art class. I have been able to choose what projects I do and be my own worst critic. If I'm not good at something, I do a project focusing on that and I become pretty good at that style of art. I think that I did really well on my Santa sketch, because I was horrible at face drawings (as my first few practice sketches show), but I watched some tutorials and came a long way in face sketching. My favorite project was probably my Stonehenge because it incorporated so many different aspects of art. I had to use computer pictures, 3D computer models, clay, paint, paper mache, and wood cutting to make the final product, and it was a lot of fun to make. So far, I've done a lot of 2D work, but I plan on doing more 3D art next semester. I also want to make some computer graphics models next semester.

Shapes

My goal in this project was to make an abstract painting with depth instead of just being shapes. I used simple shapes but the black line running through the painting gave the scene depth and unity. At first I sketched the basic shapes that would be in the painting to get an idea of what the scene would look like, but before I ever started painting, I erased every line and did the painting free hand. I think the edges of the shapes were kind of blurry, and I wish I had made those edges sharper. In all, though, I like the way my project turned out.

In the spirit of Christmas, I made a sketch of Santa Claus in mid-laugh. I used a variety of sketching tools, including a number 2 pencil, ebony pencil, and eraser, along with a blending stump and my finger for shading. It took me several practice sketches to even make a recognizable face, but I think the final drawing turned out distinguished and well done.

For this project, I made a scene of my living room entirely from the words that represent the objects in it. For example, the recliner in the bottom right hand corner is made of the word "recliner". There are no lines or colors, just the words. It was a fun project to make, and all it took was a piece of paper and a pen.

What is Art?

In the modern world, art can be anything you want it to be. Art can be something of beauty that incorporates all the elements of art, or it could abstract or an unusual image that is supposed to symbolize something. At art museums they even have murals with nothing but a phrase on it, and this too is art. I think that art should be something that moves you. It should take time to create and have detail and meaning. It should something fun to look at. It should have meaning, but I don't think that should be the only thing in the artwork, like abstract artists do. It needs to be a blend of beauty and meaning, both to the artist and the public.

Artist Inspiration

Lorraine Wilson Papas

My Aunt Lorraine was an amazing artist who loved to paint. All of her artwork was made before she was 27. After that, she suffered from Multiple Sclerosis and didn't have the hand control to paint. She married and had two children. In 2004, the MS finally won the battle she had been fighting all her life. She died peacefully in her sleep.

We have her art hanging all over our house and it looks like we

purchased professional artwork. I feel inspired by her because she was a family member and I knew her personally. Her artwork makes me try to succeed in my artistic endeavors as well as she did, and she makes me want to keep getting better at art.