Design Your Own Art project
Project Description: This projects purpose was to let us (the students) make an art project of our choice, whatever style we wanted, such as watercolors or photography, with an element of digital art, such as a time lapse or photos of the product. I chose to draw realistically with charcoal and graphite pencils and take photos of this process.
Project Pre-Assessment Below
Artist Statement Below:
Drawing Sequence Slideshow Below:
ENVIRONMENTAL DOcumentary Project
Project Description: This project included choosing a topic of concern environmentally in Durango, and my partner and I chose to make our film about air pollution. I chose to partner up with my friend who lives in London because we have worked together on projects before, and I thought it would be interesting to compare and contrast air pollution in large cities and smaller cities. Communicating to my partner throughout the project was difficult, but overall I am satisfied with our final documentary.
What I learned and am taking away from having completed this project include these answered questions:
Q: What is old, and what is new in any work of art?
A: In any work of art, an idea may be new or old. The artist might have just thought the idea up, or they might have thought it up a while ago, just putting work into it now. Composition is another aspect of art that is old, we have used these for centuries, subconsciously or consciously. These compositions may include: Rule of Thirds, Golden Rule, and others. Newer things in art may be the problems the artist is addressing, but the problem may be old as well, and still not solved. Where the art is displayed can be new, how people view the art can be new, and also old. The perspectives and views of art pieces can change and therefore be new. However, they can also be old perspectives that have not changed.
Q: How is art used in everyday life?
A: Art is used in everyday life in photographs we see on the wall, in the movies or TV shows we watch, art is basically everywhere. It is in the design of a Target or T.J.Maxx sign, and in the Logo of a brand you are wearing. It is used when you take a picture for Instagram, when you listen to music, and even when you speak. Poetry is art, stories are art. Art depends on the person who is looking at it or listening to it, or watching it. Art is perceived differently, but no matter what way you look at it, art is used in everyday life.
Q: How and why is art used as a vehicle for communication?
A: Art can be used for a vehicle of communication because it can convey many meanings and often makes people want to act. The saying "a picture is worth a thousand words" is applicable to this question, because art can speak many volumes to different people, it isn't just applicable to one group of people, it can be applicable to many groups of people because we have such different brains and ways of thinking. Because of the way art is perceived by different people, it is a great vehicle for communication in making people think and therefore making them want to do something.
Q: Why do Artists Produce Preliminary Plans? (sketches, brainstorms, storyboards, etc?)
A: Artists produce preliminary plans because they broaden the artist's mindset of what their artwork may be, they make many possibilities so they have choices to choose from. They also produce preliminary plans to start thinking of how many ways their artwork could go, and how their ideas can change. Plans also give artists a good outline of their work so they can orderly work on their art without not knowing what they are going into.
Q: What is old, and what is new in any work of art?
A: In any work of art, an idea may be new or old. The artist might have just thought the idea up, or they might have thought it up a while ago, just putting work into it now. Composition is another aspect of art that is old, we have used these for centuries, subconsciously or consciously. These compositions may include: Rule of Thirds, Golden Rule, and others. Newer things in art may be the problems the artist is addressing, but the problem may be old as well, and still not solved. Where the art is displayed can be new, how people view the art can be new, and also old. The perspectives and views of art pieces can change and therefore be new. However, they can also be old perspectives that have not changed.
Q: How is art used in everyday life?
A: Art is used in everyday life in photographs we see on the wall, in the movies or TV shows we watch, art is basically everywhere. It is in the design of a Target or T.J.Maxx sign, and in the Logo of a brand you are wearing. It is used when you take a picture for Instagram, when you listen to music, and even when you speak. Poetry is art, stories are art. Art depends on the person who is looking at it or listening to it, or watching it. Art is perceived differently, but no matter what way you look at it, art is used in everyday life.
Q: How and why is art used as a vehicle for communication?
A: Art can be used for a vehicle of communication because it can convey many meanings and often makes people want to act. The saying "a picture is worth a thousand words" is applicable to this question, because art can speak many volumes to different people, it isn't just applicable to one group of people, it can be applicable to many groups of people because we have such different brains and ways of thinking. Because of the way art is perceived by different people, it is a great vehicle for communication in making people think and therefore making them want to do something.
Q: Why do Artists Produce Preliminary Plans? (sketches, brainstorms, storyboards, etc?)
A: Artists produce preliminary plans because they broaden the artist's mindset of what their artwork may be, they make many possibilities so they have choices to choose from. They also produce preliminary plans to start thinking of how many ways their artwork could go, and how their ideas can change. Plans also give artists a good outline of their work so they can orderly work on their art without not knowing what they are going into.
Stop Motion mini Project
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Basic Project Description: This was a stop motion project made for practicing filming techniques for our upcoming Physics Documentary Project. My partner and I decided to draw a stop motion of a flower/vine growing on a tabletop with a dry erase marker.
Topics that we used in this Mini Project:
Reflection: Unfortunately, my partner and I accidentally switched our camera mid-filming. We now know to make sure the camera angle is the same throughout filming. In this stop motion we used hard light, which looks slightly unprofessional. We should've used hard light since light easily reflected on the table. I can use these mistakes to make my documentary refined and clean. |
Logo Project
Final Project Reflection Questions:
Q: What did you get out of this project? A: I started this project drawing preliminary sketches, about 30. After I chose which sketch I liked the best, and put it in Adobe Illustrator. Doing this project I gained skills in Adobe Illustrator, as well as Photoshop and hand drawing. Since I was sick and missed school during this project, I had to make sure I finished it within the time that I had, which wasn’t much because of these missed school days. I wasn’t very satisfied with my final project at first because of the little time I had to work on it. It wasn’t very simple like a lot of people's logos. I thought simple was better because it was easier to remember and more clean. I thought of ways I could make it different, but I thought about it for a while and realized that I wasn’t a simple person at all and probably not easy to remember. My logo is different because I am different, and I like the way it is. |
Self Portrait Project
Envision and Critique to Reflect: Reflective Strategies are used by students to understand the creative process.
Invent and Discover to Create: Students assess and produce art with various materials and methods.
- Q: When is art criticism vital, and when is it beside the point?
- A: Criticism is important to help an artist look at their artwork in a different way, perhaps in a different perspective also. It suggests ideas to not necessarily make the artwork "better," but gives the artist new ideas. Criticism is besides the point when it is directed at the person and not the artwork.
- Q: To what extent does a work of art depend on the artist’s point of view?
- A: A work of art depends on the artists point of view to the extent that it is displayed in an art museum or exhibit where others can think of their own opinions on what the work might be.
- Q: To what extent does a work of art depend on the viewer’s point of view?
- A: A work of art depends on the viewers point of view to the extent that the opinion is not as the artist intended if the artist is present when forming this opinion.
- Q: Why is it important to understand the intentions behind an artwork? A self-portrait in particular?
- A: It is important to understand the intentions behind an artwork or a self portrait in particular because the artwork may be interpreted incorrectly, but you can learn more about that person as well.
Invent and Discover to Create: Students assess and produce art with various materials and methods.
- Q: How are the characteristics and expressive features of art and design used to create a self-portrait?
- A: Characteristics and expressive features of art and design are used to create a self portrait with colors, facial expressions, and styles of art. These may show the emotion that is trying to be conveyed.
- Q: What problem solving skills are employed in making visual reflections of self?
- A: Problem solving skills are employed in making visual reflections of self. We may use these skills when we decide a certain color does not convey how we feel or how we want the audience to feel, for example.
- Q: Visual arts rely on reflective processes to create new and evolved works of art through introspection, collaboration, global connections, experimentation's, and research. In what ways did you accomplish these skills through out this project?
- A: I accomplished these skills through this project by researching Andy Warhol photos, and others similar to his to form an idea of my own for this self portrait. I experimented with making my face very pale, with everything white except my eyes, but I turned out not liking the end product of it, so I changed it. However, in the tutorial I followed for my original idea I learned how to use curves. Instead of using curves to make my face white, I made it negative.
Teacher Creature Project
Project Objective: Envision and Critique to reflect. Recognize, demonstrate, and debate philosophic arguments about the nature of art and beauty (aesthetics).
Progress of Project, Version one to Final
Project Reflection PROOF SHEET
To begin this project, each student made a Google Form for a few teachers to fill out, asking questions they would need answered for their project, for instance: “What is your spirit animal?” Based on what our teachers answers were, we drew a preliminary sketch, (which is basically a rough draft). My idea was to place my teachers on Mars, with their faces as the center of a sunflower. I then created a Teacher Creature folder in the computer and on Google Drive, so I could put all of my photos and versions of this project in Photoshop. To start this project officially on photoshop I needed to find a picture of Mars, Sunflowers, an eclipse, and stars. First, I selected the whole photo of Mars to be my base/background picture. I added in pictures of stars that I had refined and feathered, along with an eclipse as well. I then selected the sunflowers with the lasso tool and refined the edge,copying it into my teacher creature PSD. I had to erase completely around the sunflowers so it was just the stem and sunflowers, (not the sky and background colors.) I added in the teacher’s faces I chose (Ally, Stephen, Brian.) I refined and feathered the edges of their faces, and changed the hue and saturation to match the sunflowers color. I added in my name and warped it so it looked creative and different, and tried to make it stand out but not be the first thing you see when you look at the picture. Lastly, I decided to make the sunflower and faces larger to be a better focal point for the picture.
Hardest part of the project: The part of this project I struggled the most with was erasing carefully around the sunflowers. It was difficult to erase tiny things, and I needed a steady hand. It was time consuming but important to learn how to do. Doing this project I really liked how abstract and different my project looked. However, if I was to be honest I think I would say I liked my project without the teachers faces. Although I like how different my artwork is, I don’t like it as much satire and funny (with the teachers faces). Underlying structures unconsciously guide the creation of artworks because they give you ideas of what other things to do for your art or projects.
Hardest part of the project: The part of this project I struggled the most with was erasing carefully around the sunflowers. It was difficult to erase tiny things, and I needed a steady hand. It was time consuming but important to learn how to do. Doing this project I really liked how abstract and different my project looked. However, if I was to be honest I think I would say I liked my project without the teachers faces. Although I like how different my artwork is, I don’t like it as much satire and funny (with the teachers faces). Underlying structures unconsciously guide the creation of artworks because they give you ideas of what other things to do for your art or projects.
Photoshop Tutorials
Vampire Teeth - making a new copy of the photo and warping the teeth
Changing Hair Color- Painting with a low hardness paintbrush
Changing Eye Color- selecting eye and changing saturation
Vampire effect- Selecting skin with quick select tool and changing contrast and grayscale
Changing vibrant object colors- Selecting the car with the pen tool and changing hue and saturation
Face cracking/water ripples- Multiplying water ripple picture and erase around eyes, mouth, and ears, sponged the nose
Landscapes: understanding distance with scale & proportion
During this "Mini Project," I learned a plethora of things on Photoshop, as well as understanding distance and proportion. I learned about background, middle ground, and foreground. Foreground is very detailed, and closer to the camera, with vibrant colors. Middle ground is seen in a photo as a blurb and behind the foreground, it is less detailed but not completely blurry. Background, on the other hand, is very blurry, with little to no detail at all. Knowing these facts for Photoshop, I now understand how to select things with the lasso tool, and feather them. The result of this can make a cropped photo on a different photo look real. I also learned that making a photo a JPEG makes it uneditable, it has no layers at all. A PSD on the other hand, is saved but still has the layers and is editable. These are the main things I learned in this "Mini Project."