Daniel's Art Blog

Everyone has a different definition of art. These artists are attracted to make art about or with nature. I think this is because most of these artists  had some sort of connection to trees and that is why they are inclined to make art about or using trees. Most of the project I did had the same steps. For one of them I had to take a piece of cardboard and make a tree using the edge that created lines. For another I used tape to create a tree silhouette and used water colors to paint over it. When i peeled the tape back there was a tree outline in the color. For another one it was just a tree painted with paint. The last one was a tree made out of pipe cleaners and wrapped in aluminum. I studies Takanori Aiba and he makes sculpture with miniature parts on trees. I had a really hard time getting the colors I wanted right, that was my only challenge. My favorite project was the tape tree, It's my favorite because I am really proud of how it turned out.

The last thing I choose, and probably my favorite of the three pieces I made is the magazine collage. This pick was actually a last minute decision. I was originally going to do the chalk pastel + glue project but I ran out of time. I quickly tried to throw something together. This ended up being one of my favorite art project I have done. I  cut out different things that i liked and arranged them to my liking there is really not much to it.

The second item I choose to make was the “Origami Eye”. This was not initially the one I was gonna pick, but as other people at my table were finishing theirs out I was intrigues to make one of my own. The process for making this one was actually quite simple. The step by step manual was a big help. When I saw everyone coloring it bright colors I decided to do something different. I’m finding that this is a common theme in my art. I decided to use a black chalk pastel to darken the very bottom. With that same residue I took my finger and smeared it towards the top attempting to make a gradient effect. This was done on the “eyelid” if you will. The actual pupil kept this theme. When I was in sixth grade this girl got white eye contacts. Since then i’ve had a minor obsession with odd eye colors. However, the white eye look has always been my favorite. So, I decided to make the eye itself white. I used a compass to make perfect circles and used a black sharpie to outline it. If i were to do something different in this project I would make the pupil less perfect. It is perfectly round and I should have made it a little rough around the edges.

For my first project from the art board I decided to choose the “Cubist Portrait”. This project really caught my eye upon first glance. The way the different shapes came together to make a human face had me. I decided to put a different twist to it and make the shapes inside the face, instead of outside. The process of making it was quite tedious, but the final sketch came out looking great. When I began to color it in I went with cool shades of grey. Mixing the paint was hard because it was hard to get the exact same colors time and time again. It was also quite difficult to get into the small spots with a paint brush. If I did this project again I would choose a different thing to color the final sketch, besides that i was happy with the end results.

For this project I wanted to do something out of the normal for me. Usually the themes I do in my art are on the edgier side, or I've been told. I also tend to stay in the grayscale tones, because that what Im most comfortable in. I don’t really deal with color. For this project I wanted to break out of that. I choose to do a snake on a tree branch. I could have done a snake in a different environment but the idea of a tree branch really intrigues me and it made scene when I studied its natural history. All of these factors are what ultimately led me to make the taxidermy I did. The steps to creating this were actually really simple. First you needed to sculpt a basic shape using things such as: newspaper, tape, cardboard ect. After that was done you used a mixture of glue and newspaper to harden your initial sculpture. After that all that you really had to do was decorate at your preference. I really wanted to go the extra mile with texture. I knew i wanted to make the snake skin different. What I ended up doing was punching holes in green paper and gluing the fall out to the snake to give it a sort of scale effect. Honestly if I did this project again there would be few things i would change. Mainly the proportions of the actual thing. I feel like the snake needed to be longer and the branch shorter. I can honestly say that this work is worthy of an A.

This project was problematic. I had lots of fun, but it was frustrating and difficult. The concept was cool but executing it was extremely difficult. I decided to make a lighter. I choose to make a lighter. This reflects me because i always try to think of something no one else would do. I also try to be edge with my art and make something that may not necessarily be something you would see at a school. The Process of this was extremely difficult. I thought that by making a lighter the shapes would not be too difficult. I was wrong. Even just getting the curves right on my sculpture so that it would look kinda of like a square. That was one of my greatest challenges this project. What was really good in my sculpture was the flame on the lighter. It was definitely the best part of my sculpture. If i re-did the project i would have taken more time on making the shape more precise and less round. I would give myself a good score because I worked really hard on it.

While doing this project I began to further understand how space functions as an element of art. At first I was not convinced that space was a valid element. Now that I see how our sculpture takes up space I see that it is. Space can really change a piece of art. It cam make people more aware of it or it can choose to blend in. You can utilize the space to make people feel certain ways. The concept of our sculpture was pretty deep. We made it sitting holding a phone. The meaning was supposed to convey that people are so unaware of their surroundings that they turn into an empty shell just taking up space. I really think that our project addressed the leading question. We came up with a cool concept. We used the element of space. We did good. The process was soooo stressful. The first third of the project we were on a roll. We were getting everything done. And then for some unknown reason a near the second third of it, everything went down hill. We scrapped everything. Completely started over. It just was not up to my standards. So we re-did it. It kinda sucks that after all that work people mutilated it. Tore arms off and squished it. I would give my group an A because we saw that it was not good we we scraped it and made it good. 

For this project I had many ideas for what i wanted to do with my greeting cards. I narrowed it down to three designs each for a different person. I used three different ink colors (red, green, and black). The ink did not print as smoothly as i wanted it to, so i outlined and colored in the left white with a marker of the corresponding color. I went back and colored over my print to make them all more interesting. So on the christmas tree i went in with silver and gold sharpies to add ornaments and a star. On the grey hair one i used a silver sharpie and made the hair actually grey. On the red ornament i went in with a thin black sharpie and outlined the top. The front cover of the cards i wanted to keep them all simple. I wanted to use different fonts on all the covers but i messed up on the second one and ended up having and A with antlers. I added the christmas light so that it would not look so plain.

Overall i do think that paper mail is going out of style. With the convenience of technological mail no one wants to take the time to sit down and hand write a letter or a post card. The fact that sending an email can be free does not help the fact. To send a post card or greeting card you have to go out and buy it. 

Faceless Self Portrait

one of the pieces that most appealed to me was  Self-Portrait by Max Beckmann. I saw a self-portrit. I really liked it. The painting is almost Vintage, Its Simple, and not perfect. There is not a lot of emphasis on perfection. The picture is black and white which is I always enjoy. There are not a lot of defined shapes its just a lot of lines. If  person could not see it I would tell the its a self portrait make with just what appears to be a pen. I feel like the person in the picture likes simpler things. There is still definitely dimension in this art. The hand seems to be close while the window seems far away. All of the painting was in black and white. The person seems elderly. He looks like he lives a simple life. I got this idea because there are not many details in the background. The most important part of the painting is himself. I think this was made using only one material to draw. If he was here i would ask him what caused him to make this painting. I would call this painting “Me: Black and White”. I choose this name because its a black and white self portrait. nothing is really happening in the painting. If the painting made sounds i would expect a pencil or pen scratching against the paper. the painting is about himself. I came with this idea quite simply, for it is a self portrait. If i was inside the portrait then i would see a person drawing himself. I think the person drew this to keep almost a “time capsule”. I think he did this because he looks middle-aged. I think living in this painting would be peaceful, because it seems not crowded and chaotic. I really like the simplicity of the painting. I don’t like that there are not many details about where the is taking place I think the painter did a good job. Its his interpretation so we can’t really judge weather it was good or bad. I think everyone should see this work, but I fear they will thinks its boring. I would give this artist and A for this work. I would give him that because the piece is a great visual work!

The next piece I chose is The Grand Canal by Claude Monet. I see a very visually appealing landscape. I would describe it as majestic, soothing and relaxing. I like the attention to detail in the picture. It amazing how the drawing is not crystal clear but we can still recognize details. I feel like the person drawing this likes to visit beautiful places on the world. I feel like the artist travels a lot. There are a lot of colors that add dimension to the picture. Most of them are pastel colors. I would call this “pastel landscape’’, because there are a lot of pretty pastel colors. I feel like this person drew this to capture this beautiful piece of land and make it last forever. I would show this to a lot of people, and i think that they would enjoy it.  I like the color pallet that the artist used, i don’t like that the painting seems blurry. IF I were grading this artist i would give this artist a B because i feel like it would have been better drawn to make the image clearer.