Marking Period 3 Workbook Pages

Tometic Palimpsest

The process for this project began with us thinking about Art History and its implications socially and historically on society. This includes issues of gender typically, regarding which artists receive the most attention in the textbooks. Having been in AP Art History freshman year, I can recall most of the artists we studied were in fact male, until we were on units of more modern times and movements. The purpose in fulfilling the project requirements were to express issues related to art history, and I initially was reminded of human idealism, masculinity, and hierarchy/power as being three things conveyed commonly in art. This being when art was either concerning or even commissioned to express the power of a subject, or even perfection. Since we were supposed to incorporate text into the pieces, I first made a small figure fashioned after Michelangelo's David of wire and torn pages from art history textbooks. I cut out specific phrases regarding the concepts, and made them stand out from the rest of the materials. Then I made a charcoal drawing after the figurine, which I tried to make it look like a human figure made only out of words and phrases. My final painting was a more detailed version of the David, in which I tried to use common ways of portraying male power as it has been throughout history. I used red as the background, since it is a color signifying power and is also eye catching. I tried to make the point of view from below, but I had trouble shading it to give it a large hierarchy over the viewer. I decided to use Michelangelo's David as a reference because it is a piece that famously depicts a "perfect" male figure, and I wanted to see if I could incorporate other techniques in painting to bring the concepts of art history together in one image. 

Metropolis Gallery- Student Show Review

I missed the original night unfortunately, where the seniors were there with their work and live music. I visited the following weekend on Sunday with my mom when it was generally empty, so we got to see everything pretty quickly. We have always driven by Metropolis, and it never seemed to be open or had anything showing in the past. The interior was actually pretty cool, it had mid-century modern feeling to it, if I had to try to describe it. The seniors' work was in the back in a small room, and I was actually expecting more work to be shown, but it seems like they chose one of their favorites from their pieces. Though I've seen most of the same works in class, some looked more professional in a proper setting. I really liked Juliette Smith's Burlesque philosopher drawings and Shanna Harvey's photography especially in the gallery. I wanted to see a full series of something though, because having random pieces placed around the room was kind of broken up, since there was no continuity.

Marking Period 2 Artist Pages

Art History Embodiment

Landscape & Social Science Works

 

The results from the questionnaires lead me to thinking about the content and design of my pieces. I received good, positive feedback, but the works I ended up making just do not seem like what I would choose to make if given complete freedom with direction. I liked using the cardboard for the landscape, because it gave a rougher look, especially around the edges. It made it easier to blend the colors as well, but once I completed it I did not like the results as much. For the social sciences project, I used mostly torn up pieces from found magazines as the background. I like the look and texture that it made, although regarding the size of the piece, I am still unsure how I should have cropped it. I made it close to the elements within, because I did not want too much negative, white space from the background. The problem with doing that is it seems too small. In drawing Marilyn’s portrait, I am pleased with how it turned out. If I had more time I would have perfected her jaw line and spent more time on the details of her hair to look more realistic. I may continue on the Marilyn piece and experiment with any possible cropping and sketch details to make it better. Comparing both the landscape and the social science piece, what is most noticeable is my use of color as the dominating elements. The landscape is composed of many bright colors and one dark, and the Marilyn piece is primarily black and white with contrasting red on certain places. I do like using color in works, as is obvious in both. In planning the landscape, I wanted to represent my attitude towards my situation in life at the moment. The ground is dark, as the present can be difficult to view as good. The sky is bright with a sunrise, like looking forward, or up, into an ideal future that is aspired. For the Marilyn piece, my plan was to make a small commentary on female body image as it is influenced by the media. Marilyn Monroe is an iconic beauty image, although the point of the piece is to say that if there is exact and definite beauty, no one would fit the model.

December 5th: Marking Period (Fall 2013, Marking Period 2)

Following the grade of 100% I received for the first marking period, I hope for similar results for this marking period. During class time I was generally using my time wisely on work days, and fulfilled my part of the work in the class composition project. I finished all of my work on time by their due dates, though the quality of some of the pieces was not exactly the best I wanted them to be. This is mostly due to the fact my ideas for some of the work did not come together as I had originally planned.  So far in this school year there have been two gallery showings, and I participated in each visit. The last essay I wrote was pretty thoroughly researched and discussed each suggested topic from that unit. Also, the artist pages in my sketchbook I feel were well detailed and were focused on the importance of the subject. I have learned that I do need to focus more on composition itself rather than just the subject matter, specifically how I will create unity in the pieces I make. Planning and organizing ideas for work seems to lead me to numerous possibilities for what to do, but I notice it would help me more if I also planned a specific composition. For the project we are working on now, I had made numerous pieces from a few different ideas, which helped me decide on one over the others that did not work as well. That decision helped me finalize how I will effectively compose and create unity for the final project.