Reflection on the year

When looking back through the pieces I have created this year I was very impressed at the way each of my final works turned out.  I have grown tremendously as an artist and this is definitely reflected in the final works I have created.  One artistic quality I feel really improved this year was my ability to engage and persist though challenging pieces as you will read throughout this reflection.  I learned to go with a gut feeling and then expand and grow on that idea continuing to try new things until I created a final piece that incorporated many of the ideas from my brainstorming into the piece.  I explored beyond my boundaries on many of these pieces and went way beyond my comfort zone, but the final result turned out successful.  When asked to identify two works that I felt were most successful examples of my creative development I could only narrow it down to three successful pieces because they reflected a true change in my artistic style. 

The first piece we did this year was a still life and I choose to create two pieces.  The first one was a very formal piece that I worked on for over two weeks perfecting the lines and values with black ink washes, but what stood out even more to me was the piece I worked on for 3 days at the end of the project.  I decided last minute to try one more ink wash and in a single day quickly washed in three different objects.  I absolutely hated the outcome and was planning on throwing it away immediately, but Mr. O encouraged me to wait till the following day and then reevaluate the work I had done.  So the following day I came in and while I still hated it I decided I would try working on the piece for a little while to see if I could improve it.  That is when I got the idea to try and use black pen to help bring out some of the values I had washed in.  In one day that piece went from my worst nightmare to my favorite work.  Adding the black pen marks turned the piece into something I really enjoyed almost more than the piece I had spent 2 weeks on.  To me this is a piece that stands out not only for its formal elements, but also for the successful combination of two different mediums and was a turning point for me as artist.  Previously I had always shied away from using black pen because it is so unforgiving, but after the success with this piece I was able to incorporate this medium into later pieces of mine. 

            One of my other favorite pieces is the series of hands I created using black pen.  The beginning of this project for me was focused on the whole figure, but once I realized focusing on the hands was where I was really interested in my whole project came together.  With this piece I further honed my skills of black ink from the first piece and created a series of six hands that each represented a different letter in sign language to spell out the word TRAPPED, describing my reaction to our society with the daily schedule of work and school and the path we are all on from high school to collage to a job.  This piece allowed me to transform as an artist because it showed me the power of a piece of artwork.  It gave my artwork meaning and value not just ascetically pleasing to the eye.   It allowed me to tell you something about myself through my artwork, which I had never really done prior. 

            The third piece that stands out to me is the final piece I just finished.  Mainly what stands out is the ability for me to finally bring together some of my more formal lines and values such as in my first piece with my more crazy colorful artwork such as the poem fish piece I did earlier this year.  Finally bringing these two different sides of my artistic abilities together was really interesting to me and allowed me to understand how to juxtapose different styles and create a single successful piece.

            My least successful work this year was my piece styled like Van Gogh’s works of the area directly outside the art building.  My medium for this piece was paint and the build up and layering allowed me to create more texture and movement.  While I loved looking at this view, painting it didn’t turn out quite as I had planned.  I didn’t feel like my painting ended up as bright and happy as the landscape actually looked.  I felt that the piece lacked emotional feelings which didn’t make it very interesting as it didn’t really give you much insight into me as an artist.  This was the only piece this year that I did using paint and personally I fell like painting wasn’t all that successful.  If I were to redo this piece I might try it in colored pencil to see if I was more successful in creating a happy, bright view with colored pencil or else try paint, but just focus on accentuating the numerous colors in the trees to bring out the happy, colorful feeling.  I also felt the building didn’t end up quite proportional which could be throwing off the whole piece.  I am not sure I learned anything specifically from this piece, but next time I would focus on drawing the scene out ahead of time so I could better plan where the building would go in relation to the tree.

            At this point I think some of my greatest strengths as an artist are being able to not plan out exactly what I am going to do, but to just go with the flow and try a few different things before working on a final work.  This year my work with black pen has been really successful which was exciting and even with ink (black and colored) washes.  I would say my overall effort in this class was pretty good.  I feel like there were some projects where I really gave it my all and other where I could have put a little more effort into them, but in some ways I have felt that the more laid back, go with the flow feeling, has only improved my pieces moving me away from being the rigid artist I have been in the past.  I definitely could have worked on being a little more on time to class although to my defense I seemed to always get out of English late.

            As an artist I am most excited about pursing the different strengths of mine that have become apparent this year, specifically the use of black pen and creating deeper meanings within my works.  I can’t wait to see where this idea of having a stronger message created through your piece is going to take me on future pieces.  The skills of pursuing even through challenging situations is a process that I will use in and out of the art studio.  Also going beyond my comfort zone and challenging myself with new ideas and ways of doing things will have a profound affect on activities inside and outside the art studio.  I have really enjoyed this year in art because of the freedom we got with each piece to create our own paths which has had a profound affect on shaping my artistic style.