Art 1 Final Exam

When working on your art in this course you had a range of choices in each project.  This was the first year Apex’s art department used the “Open Art Room.” Do you feel that this range and choice encouraged you to grow as an artist? Please explain how it did, if not, explain how it in.

The "Open Art Room" definitely helped me grow as an artist. Going into Art 1, I basically only used charcoal and pencils. This was mainly because at home thats all i had. Being in the "Open Art Room" allowed me to play around with other materials. For example, when we made the bottles/spheres with the different mediums i was able to find what i liked and didn't like. I found that i really like chalk and oil pastels (although i haven't quite mastered them yet) and i also confirmed my suspicions that paint is not for me. The "Open Art Room" also inspired me to go out and buy different mediums to use at home. I purchased chalk and oil pastels, as well as water colors, which i really enjoy working with.

Do over: If given the opportunity, which project would you do over? Describe why and how you would redo this project. Reasons might include choosing a different theme, using a different medium or creating a different idea completely. Include photo.

If i could redo any project, i would redo the two-in-one assignment. Simply because it was in the beginning of the year and looking back it was awful. The girl's face portions were way off and just in general isn't as well made as i feel i can do now. I also really enjoy the concept of mixing two objects that have similarities but are completely different. Not to mention i am also still obsessed with sugar skulls! If i re-made it i would make sure to  make the girls face more proportional. I would also consider using chalk pastels instead of charcoal because it still has the same texture but just in color.

Sketchbook: pick any warm-up from your sketchbook that you found beneficial, interesting or simply felt you handled well. Describe the activity and reason for selecting it above the others. Include photo.

I really enjoyed the very first warm up we did. Where we had to draw the picture of the old man, but we had to draw it upside down. I chose this warm-up in particular because going into the class i had this set of mind where everything had to be done a certain way. This warm-up however, right out of the gates, broke me out of this frame of mind. I realized to focus on shapes rather than how i would expect something to look like. The warm-up was also entertaining and a bit kooky, which made it very enjoyable.

Which project was your most successful? Describe the theme and or topic and the process you went through to complete the project.

If i had to pick one project as my most successful i would say the "Color Project" was my best work. The piece as a whole was exactly what i was aiming for, colorful and trippy. To make the piece i first started with a pencil sketch of the "monster" face. I then went over the face with sharpie and started to fill it in with hundreds of colorful lines. After the face was complete i had to make the background. Because the face was so colorful, i chose to keep the background black and white. I basically just took a sharpie and made the whole background on giant zentangle.