There's More to Me than Just Politics. I swear.

I’ve been to nearly 14 countries and a lot of cities that I would rather not count at the moment. Since I was young I have been travelling, I mean my first time on an airplane was when I was two years old. So when I think of a cityscape or a landscape, I am immediately taken into the memories I have made on my visits to such cool and interesting places around the world.

For my cityscape piece, I created a photo montage, but only using one picture. This was primarily inspired by the photo collages created by David Hockney. This piece really incorporates the element of design, more so than anything I’ve created earlier this year. The concept for this piece, not only includes my love for visiting different cities, such as Dubai as captured in the picture, but also the emotions behind it. Whenever I visit a new city, that first glimpse is unforgettable. It’s that moment I stood on the pier and turned around and around, attempting to take in what was around me. It’s hard to believe that you are actually witnessing something so great. And that’s what it feels like when you look at this collage. There is so much going on in the first glance, that it is quite overwhelming. The arrangement of the pictures still creates an image, but it’s hard to see clearly. Because of this, movement and space are prominent throughout the piece, especially with the inclusion of the colored paper lines. The color scheme is also similar, so that makes it all united. With the cityscape in the background, the major building, and the greenery, the composition is strong. And since it is a collage, the multiplicity of certain objects make the composition more complex, than it already is. Although I have chosen to do the 2D design portfolio, I believe this is the first piece to truly capture what 2D design is.

As for the landscape piece, I immediately jumped to Japan. Though as much as I love Japan, I love video games. I was brought up playing a GameBoy Color and the Nintendo GameCube. Having an older brother made me play video games a lot throughout childhood. And seeing as I’ve always been interested in video game design, I wanted to create the picture of the Golden Palace I took in Kyoto, in that style. I was able to use different programs, such as those on an iPad for the first time, which was a very new experience to create art. I then used Adobe Illustrator for the outlines. My main focus was to use very bright colors, leaning towards neon. I thought by simplifying the landscape, as it would be in the early stages of a game, and adding bright colors the abstractness would develop more. And since this is a variation of digital art I have never tried before, I thought to give a dabble. The use of the outlines creates a lot of movement and color to the piece. The also creates a focal point at the building, but since there is so much greenery, your eye still moves around the piece, especially because of the foreground. The layers of the scenery add to the composition as well. Again, this piece fits quite well into 2D design, because this in its essence is inspired by video game design.

Overall, I’m quite happy with my pieces. Landscape and cityscape are quite normal to create, but I think I took the basic idea into something bigger and better. It’s not just a sun setting over an ocean, made with acrylic paint. I’ve explored different ways to create art, and somehow succeeded. I would say that both pieces are equal in their strength. In the past I have always had heavy concepts. Although I do care about politics a lot, there is another very chill and lazy side to me. I have so many other interests and I think these pieces accomplish creating a variety of what represents me. Because of this fact, they are good additions to my breadth portfolio.

I Don't Apologize for My Opinions (& Neither Should You)

To be perfectly honest, I have a love hate relationship with open ended projects. I have the freedom to create whatever I want, but at the same time the freedom is frightening because of its endlessness. There is no beginning point or set path or idea to jump off of. I guess this is what it’s like to be a real artist, and I got a taste of that through the process of creating these three pieces.

As I’ve mentioned before, I want to create art that matters. I want my art to reveal a message and a strong one at that. I want for viewers to be provoked by what I say, no matter if they agree with it or not. And so I created a variety of three pieces all on the lines of social justice and political statements.

My first piece is a cut paper design with watercolor. Over the course of the year, I haven’t done anything super intricate or intensive, and so I thought by doing cut paper I could expand my horizons of the art I create. The concept of this piece is the idea of environmental activism and protecting the earth. We live on this wonderful planet with extensive forests and animals and flowers, but the increasing factories and pollution only destroy it. Things like climate change, which does exist, are threatening many parts of this Earth. It’s quite ironic that we use natural materials to build infrastructure, but the same buildings and factories happen to take away the little nature we have left. And so, the piece resembles the Earth forming into the trees and flowers, which create the factories. This in hand, affects the leaf which encompasses it all, making it deteriorate at the touch of smoke. I enhanced this idea by using watercolor to paint over each section which represented these factors. For example, the brown enhances the trees, and the grey enhances the smoke. Because of this, the use of color and shape is very important. As is contrast and balance, because of the white space and black space that is created with the cut paper. Although the composition is simple because of the leaf’s placement on paper, the detail and alignment of the sections within the leaf itself makes up for it. In the past, it was hard to figure out what I was trying to say, so my main goal for this was to make it simple but still get my point across.

The second piece is the comic strip. I have not done any digital art this entire year, and thought I should dabble in that. My portfolio is 2D design, since many of my pieces have a design aspect to them. And so, I decided to take this even further by creating a story. Before my passion for politics, I wanted to be an animator. So I thought I would take a step towards this by creating a comic. In response to the recent election, many people have protested, especially those in the LGBT community. Having elected someone who doesn’t see eye to eye on their community is very hard. And so, I wanted to create a comic strip that would make things feel light and at ease. And so the three panels relay the message that even if the city may be on fire, there’s always hope and love somewhere, all you have to do is find it. I think the use of color is really important in this piece, mainly because the LGBT community is known for it’s colorful pride flag and pride festivals. Also, I tried to create space and value on a 2D digital canvas. I have never created digital art before, so I watched a lot of tutorials on creating value and used those techniques to do so. I also think the settings and placement of objects (such as the balloons, shovel & X, or the speaking bubbles) added to the unique composition. I have wanted to create a comic for a long time, and although it was a rushed process, it didn’t turn out too shabby.

Finally, the last breadth piece is the women’s rights campaign photo, which leans more towards being a poster. Equality is very important to me. I have acknowledged with racism in my art, so I thought gender equality would be something new to tackle. My goal for this was to provoke the audience and to show the audience the importance of women’s rights. When we live in a world where women get abused and don’t get treated equally as their male counterparts, it’s alarming. We may live in the 21st century, but there is still so much to be done about gender equality. And so I wanted create a piece which calls for action and acts a campaign poster. Color is a really important aspect to this piece because I really dialed up the redness. The contrast of the bright red letters dripping down from her eyes against the black and white face is kind of disturbing. However, this really ingrains in your mind and speaks volumes. My favorite aspect about this piece is the lighting. I wanted it to be really dramatic and I think I pulled it off. This creates more contrast and a lot value. The message behind the poster works for abuse, women’s rights, and whatever the audience feels, and because it’s so dramatic the whole poster is even more effective. I love the way the poster fills up the canvas, so this piece was turned out really well in my opinion.

Overall, my pieces turned out a lot better than I expected them too. Out of all three, I think the cut paper is the weakest, maybe because it stands out more and seems more simple. If I were to do this again, I would’ve spent a lot more time on the last two panels of the comic strip. I was very rushed to get it done, even if I came outside of class nearly every day the last week to get it done. They are much more sloppy and just not up to my expectations. In the future, I would love to work with more digital drawings and enhance my skills and become more comfortable with the tablets. I did a lot of exploring for these three breadth pieces, because of that I think you are able to see the variety of work I can create, whether it’s intricate, digital, or photography. I’m quite pleased with the end products and their messages are very important to me, because of that this entire assignment was (in my eyes) pretty successful.

#BlackLivesMatter

When the assignment was first given, I had no idea what I wanted to do, what I wanted to say, or what I wanted to create with. The thought of using alternative media and going out of my comfort zone was a bit scary. Any time I tried to think of ideas, my mind would just go blank. And then one odd evening, my mom asked me to water the houseplants and then it hit me: flowers. My alternative media would be flowers. I browsed the internet, mindlessly, looking for inspiration and different ways to incorporate flowers into art and by the end of the night, the entire piece came together.

Black lives matter has been a very prominent movement this year. Although there is a lot of politics that goes in hand with it, the main idea is to promote equality amongst race. In light of all the shootings and homicides of black people, “Black Lives Matter” became a saying to advocate that the African American community is just as important as everyone else. Beyond this, the movement became a symbol of civil rights and egalitarianism. In opposition to this movement, “All Lives Matter” was created. Some people misunderstood that Black Lives Matter meant that black people are better than everyone else and started to oppose anything and anyone who supported this movement. Through my piece, I wanted to convey that black lives do matter, not more than anyone, but as equals. The deaths of Alton Sterling, Philando Castille, and many others have affected families and communities and thousands on social media, so my piece is a cry for systemic racism to end and for people of all races to be treated equally.

I aimed to portray this through two series, in which both are made of three individual pieces. I used a variety of media, but the prominent three are flower petals which were used for hair and clothing, coffee for the skin, and metallic paint for the wording. The first series is of two guns being pointed at an anonymous black man. In this piece specifically, the flower petals really add to the meaning. Since the guns are formed with petals, it makes the weapon look delicate. But that’s the total opposite of it’s intentions. And so the juxtaposition of these ideas makes the message a lot stronger. Also, the two arms are of different skin tones, since systemic racism can come in the form of white or black police officers shooting someone. The second is of three individuals who are protesting against racism; it’s quite evident through the emotions and actions of the three individuals. Both pieces prominently show color and texture. The colorful petals make each character an individual and the texture of the flowers and the stains of the coffee add to the stylized nature of this “campaign poster” if you will.

In terms of composition, I followed the rule of thirds for the second series. Each of the three characters are towards one side of the piece. This allows for the words to be seen, but they allow the eye to move around as well. In the first series, the two arms are very strong since they are diagonal, and they lead up to the middle piece. The composition of both pieces creates a lot of movement. Craftsmanship wise, the spray mount did get onto parts of the paper without petals, so it makes the paper sticky if you touch it. That was the only part I could’ve taken more time on. Besides that, the painted coffee sections turned out really well and so did the typography. I had a lot of control throughout the process of this piece, besides the spray of course, which makes the piece look well constructed.

Overall, I think my pieces really speak an important message. Some people may still disagree, but at the end of the day I have no control over what people think. I am stepping forward with my opinions and taking a stand for I what I believe, and for that I am really proud of myself.

MKE: MIAD & MORE

Last Tursday, my AP art class and I went to Milwaukee to spend time in the Third Ward and at the Milwaukee Institute of Art and Design. For the first half of the day, we toured MIAD and went to a few galleries. Many of the pieces I saw at MIAD were very inspiring and interesting to look at. I was actually amazed at all the work people had done. I apologize for the quality of my pictures. My camera is getting old. 

This piece is by a Student Artist at MIAD. It is a mixed media piece that was the subject of their photographs. It is a piece that was photographed at multiple angles, as you can see in the photo. I really loved the colors that they used and how the colors interact with each other. So quite evidently, color is a major element within the piece. But the pot and leaves create a lot of movement. Your eyes are able to move around. I think the woman that peeks out of the plant is also prominent since it is in white. Since these are photographs, I think the way the light hits the piece makes the photos very strong. The piece is strong since the lighting is so amazing. Both of the pictures that are presented, however are very similar. They aren't very different in their angles or lighting. 

The second piece I found interesting was a Graphic Design poster. This student at MIAD had them hung up in their work space; it is most likely a digital piece that was printed. What caught my attention was the style and font of the words. They phrases were strong in their meaning and in how they were laid out on the poster. One of my favorite posters was the one that said "I am not throwing away my shot". I thought the way the words surrounded the fist made for it to be a call to action or political poster. The color scheme makes for the poster to have unity. The shapes that are used, not only in the topography, but the images makes it strong. However, the composition is quite basic since it is all the middle and together. However, it works even if it is simple. 

The final piece I really liked was by another MIAD student. I loved many of the works at the galleries, but my pictures didn't turn out so well. Anyways, this piece is a sketch using pen. It's a figure study, focused in on the mouth and bottom of the face. What I found unique about this piece is that the artist used scribbles instead of regular shading or flat lines. The boldly colored in hair contrasts the scribbled face. This allows for the piece to have movement and use of line and shape. The composition is quite cool since the face is zoomed in so far. Since it is a simple figure study, the lack of color is okay, but I think it could have been super cool if the hair was one color, the lips were another, and the skin was contrast to them both. 

The second half of the day we got to roam around the Third Ward. Allison, Macy, and I decided to go to West Elm which is an amazing home store full of furniture and decor. One of the many things I loved was the marble, wood, and copper aesthetic they had going on. A lot of the items they sold fell into these categories, which made for a very modern look. The lights they sold were one of my favorite part. I love everything that is marble, or copper, or wood. And since this store was full of things like that I couldn't leave. West Elm is honestly so cool. The set up of the items or the color schemes were very interesting. It reminded me a lot of my aunt's home. Her family just bought this giant house in Las Vegas and her decor is so amazing. I could see her buying everything in that store. It also reminded me of the Zoella's home goods line. She just released a bunch of new products with the same marble and peach theme. 

Along with this we spent our day at Colectivo Coffee. I had a Chai Latte which was amazing. Although I didn't capture the inside of the coffee shop, it was very rustic. A lot of the decor reminded me of the Farm House that was used in Glee for Kurt and Blain's & Santana and Brittany's weddings. The rustic theme made it feel very homely, casual, and chill. The outside of the coffee shop had this amazing mural as well. The style was very cool and futuristic (as you can see to the left, Macy and I stand in front it). I really hope to make something in a large scale, but not as large as a building though. 

Speaking of murals, the art gallery owner told us about this one on the side of the building. I thought that it was just a nice positive thing to look at as you are walking down the street. Many people who live in the city always have places to be and things to do, and to just take a second and look at this makes you feel a little less heavy. It was just very calming and nice to look at it. It just made me feel very warm inside.

Overall, this day was very relaxing and needed in the midst of all that has been happening in my life. I really needed a day off, and this day was perfect.Especially since we had Chinese food for lunch. This may or may not have been the highlight of my day. :)


<<< Also, I documented a few of these things in my sketchbook. 

You Pick Three and the Death of Gender Roles

Renaissance, pattern, and movement. My three words, at first, seemed to be a challenge. But, as I kept thinking and exploring these different ideas, many things came to mind. Starting with renaissance, I immediately thought about medieval times and my trip to Europe last year. The amount of detailed work and paintings I saw at the Louvre and France in general really sparked as inspiration for this painting. And so, I branched out of the Renaissance style of painting and used the word as a starting point. I had known I wanted to do some type of golden intricate work in my painting which would resemble the renaissance time period, and the repeated design would create a pattern. Movement, however, was the more difficult of the three words. And so, I decided to get started and think about movement along the way.

My main concept for this piece was to emphasize a person. I wanted to create a blank human form and have them wear a statement dress. But, by having no facial features, hair, etc they were just a person. This person has no gender and no sexuality. Some people may say that because they are wearing a dress they are female, but that isn’t necessarily true. I believe it is important to not assume who someone is and to not shame them for that either. And so, to make a stand on labels and gender roles I decided this painting would focus on that.

I painted the dress on a canvas and glued paper on top. I used watercolors to paint the background and the human form. I’m not very familiar or comfortable with watercolors, but I think it turned out quite well in this piece. To make the message behind the piece stronger, I decided to add triangles which acted like arrows coming towards the person. The bright red arrows coming off of the canvas really show movement since they point in different directions. Your eyes move in the direction of the arrows, but end up at the dress.

In terms of composition, I believe this piece is stronger than my previous ones. By placing the person at the right end of the piece, with the arrows on the top and side, the piece became more complex. There is balance throughout the piece because the arrows were added, and that made it much more interesting.

Craftsmanship wise, it took me a very long time to paint the gold detail and overall it turned out quite well. I really like how the sleeves of the dress turned out because the visible brush strokes make the sleeves look like satin with folds. Since I don’t work with watercolors, I tried to blend the colors as best I could and I think a lot of the shading I tried worked well. The way the red bruises on the person is subtle with the skin tone was well done too.

When looking at the piece as a whole it is evident that pattern and movement are a part of the piece. Although color plays a major role as well as shape, my two picked elements and principles are the main focal points. The renaissance art style may not be as evident, but since it was used as inspiration, I think it fits in well.

Overall, my work on this project was much better than my previous pieces. However, I could’ve taken more time in the dress since it seems quite flat. I could have made it more realistic, but I think it turned out okay. The use of mixed media makes my piece unique as well. Through this piece, I really pushed on my use of media and trying to make it complex, and I think I succeeded on that front. At first this You Pick Three assignment seemed like a nightmare since I was so lost, but having guidelines and something to work off of was a different and very cool opportunity. In the end, my message is strong and the piece is approved by my standards (as of now).

Asylum: The 10 Works

Time management and concepts have always been a struggle when I create art. My ideas tend to be basic and not developed, and I always seem to nitpick too much, making me take too much time to do anything. This assignment allowed me to work on these two aspects along with creating strong compositions. It may have been a rough week, but in hindsight, I’m pretty sure it was worth it.

After choosing my word, Asylum, I immediately had many words coming to my mind. I documented them through visually journalling in my sketchbook. After looking at them all, there were two main themes that seemed to be evident. One in which the dark aspect was more prominent. The idea of crazy people or those in a mental hospital is what I worked with in the majority of my pieces. Some of my art, however, focused on the other definition of the word of finding a safe haven or a place to show light in the darkness of someone’s world. I then created ten thumbnails for each of these works.

Starting with the pieces that focus on the safe haven aspect, I wanted to show how religion can be an asylum for people with problems. Thus came the two pieces that focused on a Church and a Mosque. The two pieces are collages, using different materials. The Church piece, especially, came out really well since the texture of the piece made it stand out. The Mosque piece turned out quite well, since the contrast of the dark painted sky and the shiny gold paper emphasised how religion was the light in the surrounding darkness. The final piece dealing with this definition was the array of light bulbs. I created this with my thin sketch markers and colored pencils. The different sizes of lightbulbs and lines across the piece make it my strongest piece in terms of composition. The overlapping of the objects make it strong as well. The details I put in such as “Help Me” in the lightbulb itself made the details just as important. However, if I created this in a different media, then the piece may have stood out more.

I created six pieces in the dark and crazy definition of asylum. I focused mainly on the people and their figures, since that had been one of my goals for this school year. I created four acrylic paintings. The monochromatic painting of the melting lady and the figure with the snake are my favorite pieces since they are the most completed. The craftsmanship is very neat and make the pieces have a look of their own. These two stand out the most out of the whole portfolio. Although the compositions aren’t complex, the execution and the concept speak more in comparison. I focused three works of art on the scratching on walls and overall mental side of an asylum. One piece was created with paper, colored pencil, markers, and also pencil shavings. I tried to create texture with the pencil shaving and the cuts and red marks were made to look like rips and scratches in a wall. The painting of a hand scratching the wall is decent overall. I painted all of it using a palette knife, and this made the texture and look of the painting more dark and scratchy, since none of the lines are perfect or that the colors aren’t blended. The final painting on this mini idea, was the perspective piece. I used one point perspective to create a room with multiple writings and symbols on the back wall. This showed the mental aspect because of the satanic references. Although the execution is quite poor, I think the idea behind these works were much stronger than what ended up on paper. The final acrylic painting is my strongest in terms of concept. The sword that comes into the canvas at a dramatic angle along with the above and underworld coming out of the sword is quite strong. The idea that asylums are located on the outskirts of populated cities, make the city both an underworld along with the city that it is. My composition is not very bad since the color and dramatic line of the sword make it pop. The final piece I created for the assignment was also based on mental patients. This was created on paper, where I burned some of the edges to show that these people are so distraught. The red eye and face were to mimic blood and how that’s all this person thinks about. And the addition of a single pupil, with now actual eye makes the piece more creepy, which was the intention.

Overall, my portfolio as a whole had its ups and down. Some pieces were very strong, whether it was concept, craftsmanship, or composition, while others were not up to par. Although, I wasn’t focusing on my art elements or design principles, many of them showed up throughout my works of art. Whether it was color in the monochromatic or complementary paintings, or line and movement in my sword piece and light bulb piece. It turns out that many of my stronger pieces were strong because of the way I utilized the art elements and principles, and I guess I did it all subconsciously. And you can see in my lesser pieces, the elements were missing.

This assignment as a whole really prepped me for working hard, while working fast, while
creating interesting and complex works of art. I believe my portfolio is strong with the exception of one of two pieces. I feel accomplished and satisfied in what I created. My works show the word in many forms and many of them have very strong aspects. Through this assignment I was able to grow in terms of stretching my concepts and creating complex works of art. So, now that I’ve gone through this massive project, I feel ready to take on anything AP Art throws at me.

Here are my works, and please forgive my formatting.

 

 

 

Artist Statement - Summer Art

My summer was full of great experiences and firsts. I traveled the majority of the time, whether it was in the country or out. There wasn't a weekend where I was able to relax or just do nothing. Thanks to art, though, I did have something that kept me occupied, but still calm and in a relaxed mood. Maybe because of the hecticness of my summer, my artwork wasn't up to full potential. But, I did try to do my best in a style that I was and am developing.

I first started out by doing the online work, going on the websites, finding new artists, and reading the articles. I, however, didn't post one of the research posts until later in the summer, since I hadn't quite finished it before I left. Over the few months, I tried to post as often as I could. Whenever I was traveling, I tried to post every week or every ten days. This then became my posting schedule, where I simply update my journey throughout the months.

Once I got back from my trip, my first priority was the final works of art. I was quite rushed since I only had a few weeks to develop and create my ideas. Since the beginning of summer I knew I wanted to focus on creating characters and working in a stylized comic style (if that makes sense). Instead of normal cartoons, I wanted to create people who were different and represent all walks of life. Which I intend to do for my upcoming portfolio. My character painting was a good start to this. The accented features with the blue paint, make my style unique, it's not just a comic. My craftsmanship is the best in this piece. My goal was to make it look like a digital painting and very smooth, and I think I executed that part very well. My composition, however, could've been more elaborate. I can take this to the next level. As I said, this painting was a good start to what I hope to create in the near future.

The next two paintings are abstract works that fit in with the aesthetic and overall series of the girl. The use of similar colors makes it look like a set of paintings, which is what I wanted to create. Except, they are quite underwhelming. My work is usually more complex, whereas these two are very simple. My compositions should be more thought out. I do however, like some of the simplicity that is portrayed through these works. The craftsmanship is also one of the positive aspects of these paintings. I really love how the brushstrokes played out. The paintings have a clean look to them which I appreciate.

Because of the style I worked in, the most prominent art elements and design principles would be line, color, balance, and movement. Line and color are quite obvious since I worked with cartoons and the geometric shapes along with the brushstrokes of the blue gradient piece. The character and blue gradient piece are balanced somewhat evenly, whereas there is more weight to one side on the geometric piece because of its asymmetry. Movement is seen in the blue gradient because of how I painted the brushstrokes. It's also evident in the character piece with the blue highlights on her neck as well as the direction of her hair. In terms of these elements, my pieces are nice. But they are not great.

Overall, my pieces are decent. They have so much more potential and now that I'm back into the swing of things I have more ideas. From these pieces, I have learned that I am capable of creating people and that my ideas can be developed into complex works. My goal for this year, based on these paintings, is to create art that is not only calming like these, but also have a lot of meaning. I want to create art that is impactful and deals with subjects I care about. I have many ideas in my head and I hope to execute them as great as I can imagine them. I'm now very excited to grow in terms of my vision and execution throughout this school year, because my summer art was just the beginning of a great and highly awaited journey.