Drawing from Observation Skills

The skills that it took to create my drawings are endurance, focus, being open to criticism, value, placement, and texture. It took endurance because for some of the drawings we spent a lot of time on them and on one double block, we spent the whole two hours on one drawing which required endurance as well as focus. When we did drawings that focused on placement of things compared to other things, we had to be open to criticism and willing to change our drawing because sometimes if one thing was off, we had to change the whole drawing.
I had never focused on texture so much, so in the zoom drawing it was something I got to work and improve on. As well as for endurance, I hadn't really worked a straight couple hours on a drawing so it took time to stay focused and keep working. I enjoyed working on placement because it gave me an opportunity to take the time to mainly focus on the placement. I had to focus on certain things like value, texture, placement specifically which let me improve more on certain skills.

Collaborative Drawing

When I approached each drawing, I mainly looked at the position and size of the things in the drawing compared to how they really looked in the room. In the ones I approached I saw the sides of the trash were missing so I added them and the positioning would be off so I moved or tilted them. What I did was I looked at the view I had and the view the drawing showed and tried to see if there were any differences. I moved things closer together in order to shrink the space between some objects. It was difficult to see the mistakes at first but when I started looking into the drawing more I found ways that the drawing could be improved.
When I looked at my drawing at the end, I thought it looked good and I could tell that people had changed a few things because of the erase marks but I couldn't remember what my drawing looked exactly like before. I could tell they had made the carpet smaller and moved the trash. They had added in the wood and water bottle since I hadn't gotten to them when I had left my drawing. To finish my drawing I mainly added in value and made some objects less blurry. I didn't have much to do after I added some value so, I finished the drawing fairly quickly.

Pre-assessment

The drawing from imagination felt more natural compared to the drawing from observation. The drawing from observation was more exact but when using my imagination I could add my own details that I imagined instead of drawing the ones exactly from what I saw during the observation drawing.

Final Reflection

My three goals were to become a better drawer, get better at following specific instructions, and to be more interactive during discussions. I think I achieved my goal because I have improved on my drawings, followed specific instructions especially during drop everything and draw, and i have been more interactive during class discussions and power points. I think the most important thing I have learned is the principles of design and I think they will be very important to know for other art classes i take.
During my value drawing i used repetition, leading lines, and proportion to create distance. My value drawing was of a man walking under a streetlight at night and a street to the right and buildings to the right then another street then more buildings. I think the most successful part of my drawing was my buildings.

Drop Everything and Draw Proportion

I think the point of this Drop Everything and Draw was to make us think about proportion especially when drawing a person. It made me think about the size or length of things compared to the things around them. It was a way to get us into drawing proportion basically without getting into the details of the drawing itself or making it look particularly good.

Nighthawks- Art HIstory #1

"Nighthawks" is a painting by the American Painter Edward Hopper in 1942. It takes place in a New York restaurant named "Phillies". There are three customers and the man behind the counter is dressed in all white. The man and woman that are holding hands don't look very happy but more into their own separate worlds and thoughts. The main characters seem to be the couple and man behind the counter because the other man has his back turned so we cannot see his expression. The man behind the counter is leaning to grab something but you can tell he is talking to the couple because of the way his face is positioned to be looking at them. The restaurant itself looks very simple and the simplicity that surrounds it does not make it seem as simple. The light from the restaurant lights up part of the street and building behind it but the building's corner is darker.

The mood of the painting is lonely. It makes the small restaurant seem like the only place awake in New York at the time. The light that shines from it is very bright. It gives off a sense of emptiness, loneliness and isolation. The characters seem to be thinking more about different things rather than focusing on what is happening at the moment. The emotional separation expressed between the couple makes me feel bad for them. The characters look lost and the man behind the counter is the only character that doesn't look as tired as the others. The painting is very simple but also sparks your curiosity.

There is a Balance between the light from the restaurant to the dark building behind it. Hopper uses light and dark to express the shadows. The whole painting itself is asymmetrical but their are some approximately symmetrical and symmetrical objects. The color and brightness fades as you come furthere out of the store. Hopper does a good job with light and dark contrast.

Principles of Design

What is design?

• to create, fashion, execute, or construct according to plan: devise, contrive

Design is working with a plan.
The Principles of Design help artists organize shapes, lines, forms, and colors to communicate effectively.

• Balance
• emphasis
• rhythm and movement
• proportion

to create a sense of unity
unity + variety
you don't want to much unity
Variety is achieved by introducing some differences into the picture to increase visual interest.

Balance is when the visual "weight" of an artwork feels equally distributed.

4 types of balance:

• symmetry-left is same as the right if you draw a line down the middle

• approximately symmetrical-subtle differences

• asymmetry-not symmetrical

• radial-circular symmetry

Emphasis- when one element in an artwork appears to be more important or attract the most attention.

3 ways to create emphasis:

• Placement-where things are placed
• Contrast-light vs. dark, small vs. big, differences
• Grouping-putting things together to attract attention

Rhythm and Movement-referring to how the artist guides the viewer through a work of art

• Repetition

-same elements
-alternating elements
-progression

• Leading Lines
• Implied Movement
• Optical Movement
• Actual Movement

Proportion-the size relationship of the parts to one another or to the whole

• Colors
• Shapes
• Forms

-Color to create contrast (Emphasis)
-Shape to create contrast (Emphasis)
-Using Proportion to show distance
-Using Proportion to show emotion

Story Collage Critique

I appreciated all the advice on my Story Collage. It was helpful to see how others interpreted my story. I liked the complements, because who wouldn't! The feedback I got from my peers were that I used anthropomorphic, geometric, and organic shapes well and that they could tell what the story was but it was somewhat confusing. It was helpful to see that the mountains could look like pyramids. Carly said she liked how it was 3D! The best advice I got was when people said that the story was confusing. It made me think that next time I can be more clear. I appreciated the critiques.

Shape Collage Reflection

In my Shape Collage, I used organic, geometric, and anthropomorphic shapes. I used an organic shape when I made my mountains. I used a geometric shape when I was making my road. I used an anthropomorphic shape when I made myself. I used everything from tiny shapes, like the bits of clothes on the ground and my facial features, to large shapes like the mountains. I think my Shape Collage doesn't give the viewer the direct story of what is happening but lets them use their imagination and really think hard and focus to see what it could mean. The story behind my Collage has a lot to do with my culture which is represented by the red, blue, and orange colors in my background because they are the colors of the Armenian flag. The figure of me, that is stood upon the paper, represents Armenians and the bumpy path ahead of it represents the struggles that Armenians have experienced in the past and continue to experience. The mountains are supposed to be Mount. Ararat which was historically located in Armenia and is still beloved to Armenians, even though it is now in Turkey. I really enjoyed making my Shape Collage!

Wire Sculpture Reflection

I enjoyed creating the wire sculpture. The most challenging part was connecting the wires to each other because it was hard to turn them and make them tight since it required a lot of arm strength. I think the most successful part of my sculpture are the eyes because I think their shape resemble my eyes very well and the circles that are my pupils look 3-D and cool. The drawing assignment slightly helped when making my wire sculpture because it helped me have a better sense of the shape of my facial features and pay attention to the detail but when using wire, it is very difficult to shape things perfectly and put in a lot of the detail. Drawing with a pencil is very different then sculpting with wire. The most important thing I have learned about using lines is that lines can be twisted and turned to form many different shapes and put together to form 3-D objects.

Week 1-3 Reflection

I have had a lot of fun in the past weeks. I love how the class encourages me to use my imagination because I like knowing that I can't be wrong and it gives me a lot of freedom. I am not a fan of Drop Everything and Draw because it requires me to follow specific instructions with no negotiations and it doesn't give me much freedom but I survived. My three goals are to become a better drawer, get better at following specific instructions, and to be more interactive during discussions. (: