Hey guys. This is my blog for art class. I don't really know what to say right now, so I'd just like to point out that I am way cooler than Noa could even dream of being.

 So on this blog I'll be writing about assignments we've done in class and uploading pictures of work I've done.

 The first assignment we had when we came into class at the beginning of the year was one that launched us into a study of line and shape. Everyday in class first thing we got a small piece of paper and a prompt: a word, sentence or question. (ex. what does it feel like to have a secret? or jumping into freezing cold water). With our eyes closed, we drew about the prompt for one minute, expressive line only, no pictures. We let our pen or pencil guide us and draw how we feel thinking about the prompt. One time we even listened to Yo-Yo Ma playing the cello and drew as we listened, trying to use expressive line to create the music. This is my September book that I made to keep all of the prompts and responces in when we were done.

 

 

 
 Further on in the year we did some projects with color, including a color wheel and shades of colors. We also used primary colors to create secondary colors, and complementary colors to make brown. This project was surprisingly harder than I thought it would be. It was difficult to get the exact shade you wanted when mixing color, and adding the right amount of black to make shades (especially for yellow!) was really a challenge.

 Right now we are finishing up a unit on portraits. We drew self portraits and classmates as well as master artist portraits in frontal, profile, and 3/4 view. When all of our portraits were done we assembled them into a zig-zag book and made a box to put the book in. Doing these portraits really helped me in learning to draw what you see, and not what you think is there. We probably all remember the way we would draw lips or eyes when we were little, and doing a portrait of someone makes you realize how different these things really look than what we thought. I think especially doing the self portraits helped me to grow a lot as an artist. I mean who wants to draw themselves? It isn't easy to look at yourself in a mirror and have to draw what you see. But if you can try too look at the image as lines and shapes without losing sight of the thing as a whole, I think it makes it easier to draw yourself and look at yourself as a work of art.

 The cover of the portrait box was a double self portrait, it had to reflect who you are. We brought in things from home that had meaning to us or described who we are to decorate it. I had my ski pass, an old ribbon from my point shoes, and starburt wrappers to name a few. This was also a study in texture, the materials we brought in had to have different feels and textures. 


  After portraits we started working with clay. The two projects we have done so far are a mask and a little Mayan pinch pot rattle. We shaped the mask to our face and added eye holes. We had to add texture and bring things in from home to add to it. Then we fired the masks and painted them after they came out of the kiln.When they were completely finished we wrote something about the "Voice of the Mask"-who it is, what is stands for, its story, etc. I did mine in the form of a poem. We got into groups when we were finished and presented. This project was one of my favorites. I love working with clay and watching the mask take on a life of its own was really interesting and exciting.

 

Any extra paint we had from the mask we used to paint an envelope any way we wanted.

 

 To make the Mayan pinch pot rattles we took two little balls of clay and pinched them into bowls, then scored and slipped them to attach them at the rim. We decorated them with hair, clothing, and a face, and we painted them after they got fired. When they came out of the kiln we got a piece of water color paper and painted the pinch pots using shadow and shading as if there was a light source shining on it. Then we went in with watercolor or markers and did impressionistic dots and marks on it, beginning our study on impressionism.

After glazing

Before glazing