My thinking on art has changed a lot throughout the course of the semester. When I first came into this class, I did not realize that literally anything can be made into art. I also learned that when "arting", there is no such thing as a limitation. The unit that I learned to most was in "Artists Solve Problems." In this unit, we were challenged to come up with a limitation and create a piece of art with that limitation. Before this class, I would have thought that being restricted would put a stop to art, and it would be difficult to advance. Also, while given the freedom to make art with whatever medium I choose, I found myself being slightly overwhelmed and unsure of what to do, usually ending up with me creating a drawing. After finishing off the unit, I learned that limitations will spark new ideas to do something, and while it may be difficult, the results will be something interesting.
From the beginning of the semester to now, my art making skills have thankfully improved a lot. I noticed that in the original art, I took the theme of "obstacles" literally, or so I think. I am not completely sure as to what I was going for in the original work, however it appears that there is a person attempting to get around what looks like obstacles portrayed as shapes. In the final artwork, I have drawn a branch of flowers. On the lower part of the branch, there are some dead, limp flowers. On the top part of the branch, there are new, healthy buds waiting to bloom. For the final artwork, I took the theme of obstacles symbolically; the dead flowers show that despite anything bad that has happened, it will hurt but it will pass. The buds represent the new opportunities that will come when obstacles are overcome. Apart from deepness in art, the use of value and composition are taken into account unlike the original art, making the picture look more complete.
My favorite unit from the semester was the "Teens Inspired" unit. For this unit we selected a work from the North Carolina Museum of Art and create a piece inspired by that work. This unit was easily my favorite because for this project, my group made a bridge out of sticks and twine. It was a solid, and rather large bridge that can be put to use. I had never done an art project that required some physical activity, that was life size, and that was slightly dangerous. It was also really cool to know that this project was considered art. While creating the bridge, it was lots of fun, and working in a new environment outside the art room also made this unit my favorite.
Unfortunately this class is coming to an end. What I loved in this class was that I had the opportunity to do anything I wanted for the units; I wasn't bound by a strict set of requirements for projects, and it was up to me to decide how I would take it. I also liked how almost everything we did was encouraged, and even when something in my art did not turn out as planned, it was constructively criticized and the good points were brought out in it. If anything could be improved in this class, I would like to have a few more small lessons on drawing like we did in the beginning of the semester In our sketchbooks, like when we drew spheres and experimented with value. It has been a memorable experience in this class.