I actually got a lot out of this class. Honestly I didn't want to take it, but I put it down as an alternative and I got it. I'm so glad I did. This class was honestly relaxing, besides some stressful projects. I'm not putting it down and saying that it's not a class you shouldn't work it, because it definitely is. A lot of people take a lot of time and dedication to create the amazing pieces that they created. But it was a really nice class for me to just be able to think about what I want to make and how I want it to look. It wasn't filled with tests and quizzes that asked me questions that made me want to cry. I learned a lot about different mediums and how you can't mix acrylics with glaze. I learned how to use pasta to create imprints in clay and how to use newspaper to put two pinchpots together and create a circle. I learned about different ways to make one thing and I learned about relief in different mediums as well. I also realized that in art a mistake can be turned into a really good thing. I think that's what I like most about it, because I make a lot of mistakes. I'm really glad I took this class.
I did feel like illustration Friday's helped me think outside the box..when I did them. I actually really liked illustration Friday's because I could just draw whatever. We had a topic every week, but we could draw or use any type of medium. Some of the topics were harder then others, but when I actually sat down and had time to do them I was really happy with the ideas I had come up with. They didn't look exactly like how I thought they would in my head, but I was happy I had those creative ideas in the first place. I also think these are really creative because when I see some other peoples illustration Friday's its cool to see what they thought of in their minds too. These illustration Friday's let me make what I wanted to make and it gave me a free choice and I liked that a lot. My most difficult project would be my final relief piece. I think everyone at my table, maybe even the whole class knows I was very frustrated with this project. The reason why it was so difficult for me was because of the time. This project took me so long and at the beginning I was really excited about my idea and the project, but the work became very tedious and very exhausting. Not only that, but I struggled to get a grip on the concept of cutting out pages of the book. I wasn't sure which parts of the pages of the book I could cut and which ones I shouldn't cut. Overall, I was happy with this project, but I definitely don't plan on doing a book relief again. For my dwelling I wanted to make a "glass" house on top of a hill. Sort of like what they would use in some sort of an animation movie. I used plexi glass which looks like glass, but is flimsy and flexible. For the hill I used balls of newspaper to create a tall hill/mountain and then covered it with plaster and but it all on top of a wooden board. Trying to find a material to work with other then clay was difficult, but when Ms.Sudkamp gave me suggestions, it became a lot easier to find other alternatives. When I had to use other materials, I realized my project didn't really need clay at all and it could've made it harder. After coming back from break I had trouble creating the house with plexi glass and struggled with putting the pieces together to even create a wall or floor. So I decided to make a hill house. I created the hill and heated the fake grass onto it and created a door so that the hill itself was the dwelling. It wasn't the original plan and it could've been a lot better, but not everything works out the way we want it to. I definitely think if I had more time I could've thought of a better alternative, but this is how it ended up.
When I made the animal head for my figurative piece I went through a lot of struggles. At first I couldn't even put my two pots together in a sphere without squishing them. So then I learned that I could ball up newspaper and put it inside the pinch pots so that I could squish and mold it without it caving in. For my figurative piece I decided to use the phrase "Speak no evil, Hear no evil, and See no evil." I really liked this phrase and I have seen it before on clothing and other places, so I decided to use it. I decided to use monkey heads because I've seen it in a picture and other people have said it reminded them of the monkey emojis. Then I decided to create a slab and three head holders for each head to or placed in and then used watercolor and painted puzzle pieces to create a cool affect. This piece in particular doesn't have a meaning to me, it was just a project that I thought turned out well and I enjoyed making it. |