The Beaver

                        The Beginning Outline

                                    Finished

The Beaver

Hello Everyone,
I'm sorry it has been awhile since I last posted anything.

Our current art project is a wire sculpture.

I am enjoying it immensely, except I do believe I am allergic to the metal we are using....I'm going to have to check up on that....
Anyways, we all had to reach into a plastic bag, and, without looking, we had to retrieve a little plastic animal.  

......I got a beaver.....

Okay, I'll admit it: at first I was very disappointed with the animal I got.  BUT, I am really starting to like my little beaver now.  We have been through a lot together.
                   Our mission is to sculpt the animal 20 times larger then the little plastic creature.
I started out by making just a very basic wire outline of the body shape.  it was rather two dimensional at first, and then slowly I added to it, making it three dimensional.  Then I added legs, and ears and I am now on the process of weaving in the wire and basically just making it look like a beaver.
It's taken a lot of resculpting and reconfiguring.  A few times, I had to kinda take it apart, cause it just wasn't quite right.  But I think now I have the right body shape and I am on the home stretch!  

I think...

I will post some pictures of it when I am done!

Photo Collage

Our most recent art assignment was to take photos from two different places, and then put the photos together to form a new scene.  At first, this sounds easy, fun, and do-able, but as I began taking photos, I realized this wasn't going to be quite as easy as I had thought.  It's not just about thinking about cool ideas for a composition. #1 you have to take pictures with a lot of the same lighting #2 you have to take pics that will fit together and tradition nicely  #3 You have to make sure you take enough photos, and that they don't all look exactly the same ....I'm sure there are others but those are all I can think of at the moment.
Anyways, I went through a bunch of ideas, all playing with the same kinda of general composition.
                                                          I wanted benches and trees.
Don't judge. I had my ideas. And they just happened to all have benches and trees in them.  I like trees. And there are many many benches on campus.
I ended up printing out about 140 photos...yes.
I only used about 50.  (I know, I know)
But I was glad I had that many photos to chose from.  There is a saying in photography that goes something like this, "Out of 100 photos, you might get 2 photos worth keeping"....enough said.
 

All these photos to sort through.......

Putting it all together......

Finished!

The Joy Of Art

         Today, I saw a man....made entirely our of tape.  He was sitting outside in the sunshine, basking in the little metal chairs outside of the Great Hall.  It's a pretty cool piece of artwork, so I stopped for a moment to look at it, before sitting down a few tables away, in my own little metal chair.  As I sat there, almost fifteen people passed by, and all of them commented on the Man of Tape.  It was all, "Oh that's so cute!"  or "Wow, look at that! That's so cool!"  or  "Hey! I want to get a picture of that!"  And so I sat there, watching people's days become so much better because of man made of tape.  They all walked away with smiles on their faces.  And I know this sounds really stupid, like a Hallmark movie or something, but it's true.  Art creates emotions; It leaves you feeling different.
         Not all art makes you happy though.  Art can be depressing, irritating, gross, stupid, ugly, and many other negative adjectives.
         Let us also be reminded that art is not only pictures and sculptures; it is music, poetry, prose, paintings, photography, drawings, ceramics, flower arrangements, gardens, theatre etc.  I believe that art is simply creation.  Anything that is created can be art.  All art has to be created.  Not just from someone's imagination, but it can be inspired by past occurrences or feelings.  Art is more powerful then most people realize.
          Let's take for example Giotto's Arena Chapel in Padua Italy. Now, at the time (during the 1300's), not too many people could read, so Giotto painted a timeline of Jesus's life, so people could now know about Jesus.  The paintings not only told stories, but Giotto's paintings also evoked so much emotion, that many people could relate to the feelings and could more easily understand religion, and all that.
         So *ahem*I guess what I'm trying to say, is that a painting isn't just a painting.  And you shouldn't see a sculpture, and say to yourself, "oh, it's just another naked roman dude..." because art is so much more then that, and if you take the time to study it, and learn about it, you will be able to better appreciate everything around you.  Or, at least, well, I think so, anyways.
        So, have an awesome Friday!

Photography

We are now moving on to photography in my art class.  Our assignment was to take photos that represent the 15 words we were given......here is what I came up with.....

Animal

Creation

Gluttony

Envy (haha, okay so we just picked a random person with a girlfriend ;)

Greed

Joy

Light

Man Versus Nature

Mineral

Sloth

Vegtable

Lust

Pride

Wrath

Fear

anyways, here they are....it was a hard assignment, but whateve's I had fun! So why not?!  :) 

Finally, Finally Done

                       From Pencil to........Pen!

Working on My 20,000

My preliminary drawing

My Very First Mark! Can you see it?

Working working working

Almost done!

20,000

The mission:  draw a symbol at least 20,000 times to make a picture
Difficulty Level: ....I think I just killed my brain thinking about it.....


I will attempt to make this project work...I am very happy with how my initial sketch is turning out, but I feel as though the actual symbol part is going to be helluva task....I'm going to stay positive.  :)
In actuality, I am truly enjoying this homework.  I've never done it before, and I'm having fun seeing it come together.  I think I'll document my progress....Jake suggested it, so I think I shall take his advice...
I'm going to go work on it now!  :)

The Thought Process

Art is not easy.  You need the right attitude in order to be an artist.  You can't be like, "Omg! This coffee mug is sooo hard to draw!  I'm never gonna be good at art!"  (You have to say this in a girl's high pitched voice...it just makes it better, haha)   Anyway, you can't be like that.  You have to grab the composition by the horns and say, "I'm gonna draw you, gosh dang it!" (but you can insert a cuss word too, if you'd like).
It's all in the attitude.
Another thing. You should not think you are the best artist in the world either.  Humility will get you far, and you will learn so much from your peer's criticism.
You've all probably heard this many times before, but draw what you see, not what you know.  BUT, this is one of the truest statements in art. It will change a picture from being flat and not looking quite right, to looking Wow wee--How Did That Just Turn Out So Awesomely?--Awsome.  Not that I've had many of these...but I can say, it makes a big difference.
In art...pretend you are blind, and seeing for the first time.

Blind Contour Drawing

Bling contour drawing?......Bahahhaa......I'm sorry Harry, you do NOT actually look like.....that.
You know what's kinda awkward? Staring into the eyes of the dude across from you as you try and draw his beard.....
BUT....it was a lot of fun, and blind drawing is supposed to help with eye hand coordination.
I seriously wish you could see my blind drawings...haha.
I think there was a fine line between making the drawing too small, and thus having trouble fitting everything in, and then having it too big, cause then you tend to smush everything in the center.....and then the person looks like they have a really fat chin (again, I am sorry Harry).

My Attempts at Art at Midnight

Okay, so I drew this at midnight, so excuse the strange angles...I couldn't get the front correct.  I think somehow it started to go wrong at the dark line where there's a rise in the plastic of the stapler.  My brain was telling me that I should have the front parallel to the back angles, but I kept looking at it, and checking the angles with my pencil, (you know how people do?  With one eye closed, and their pencil stretched out it front of them?) but each time, the angle proved to be slanted in the opposite direction then the back....awh well....
Also, I need tips on how to make the metal part look more like metal....I believe the contrast might not be enough, or maybe I need the shadows to be sharper....anyhoo....maybe I'll have to work with metals and weird angles more often.
Please give some feedback on how I can improve :)

Well, hello blogspot people

Hello.
I have been inspired.
Before, (before 10:15, this morning)  My major was English...and Art.
This is after, (after 10:15, this morning)  My major is Art....and English.  
Goodbye, I'm gonna go draw and practice trying to be an artist.