i knew very little about art criticism when I started Art 1. The only thing I was aware of was that it is very important to young artists like myself in getting the message of the artwork across. I think that the mistakes young artists run into a lot is that they don't take a step back from their artwork and try to view it in other people's shoes. I was very comfortable in evaluating and critiquing my work because I understand that everything I do can always be done better. The part I wasn't one hundred percent comfortable with was critiquing others. I never wanted to hurt anyone's feelings so I always would start by adding a part about their work that I think they did very well, then telling them what part of their piece needs a little work.

My understanding of art criticism has changed drastically throughout the semester of taking Art 1.i have learned that art criticism doesn't always mean having to erase or paint over part of your piece but it can be simply just adding minor elements to it. For example, in my most recent piece in the identity unit, Mrs. Purtee told me that the first thing she saw when she looked at my piece is that I had too darkly shaded part of the ground and she couldn't get her focus off of it. Once I made the change of lightening the ground, the focal point came upon the woman in the picture which I what I wanted. The way I now use art criticism when I make or view art has changed because I now look at mine and others artwork and look for small things that can make the whole piece look better. I now take my time in evaluating artwork and look at all of the elements of the piece before saying anything. I try to figure out what the artist is trying to convey and give critiques that will help them get their message across.

The most important thing I have learned in Art 1 is the important of value. In a drawing, you should include at least 6 shades of the pencil from black to white. We did a lot of shading exercises in this class such as placing a 3D object on the table and shading it in the way it looks to us. We also shaded spheres with colored pencils in a couple different ways such as cross hatching.

The thing I would add to make this a better learning experience is to do more group projects. I think that working together with other students helps you see things from their perspective. It would build students collaborating skills which would help them later on in life. I would also suggest that there would be a project that had to be done by spray paint or something out of the ordinary so students get to use other mediums beside drawing and painting. Overall Art 1 has been a fun class that I have been able to be creative in my own way in.

What are some different ways to interpret line? What did you learn by thinking of line in different ways?

To me, lines can be interpreted in two main ways. The first way is in an art form. Some of the things that can be designed by using lines are zentagles and sketches using patterns. The second way is not in a physical form. Idioms such as "along the line" and "drawing the line" are used commonly in our language and can even be transformed into art.

How do you feel about your final artwork for this unit? What do you like or dislike about it?

I felt accomplished with my final artwork this unit. Zentagles take a long time to complete and it took me a couple days to this one because of how large it is so when I was finished it was a relief. I made my artwork in black and white and I wonder if it would look better if I had used color sharpie to outline. What I like about my project is the shape of the whale. What I dislike about it is it's difficult to come up with a lot of zentangle patterns that are creative and look good.

The new skills that I learned in this unit included how to shade using the hatching and cross hatching technique, the local color technique, and the under painting technique. The picture of the sphere I have posted is an example of how to use the hatching and cross hatching technique correctly. I used the colors blue green brown and yellow to shade the sphere. I used the darker colors, brown and blue, to create a shadow for the sphere. The light source is coming in from the top left of the picture and that is why there is a light yellow spot on the top left corner of the sphere.

My thinking about what original art is has changed in the way that it is okay to steal pieces of someone's art, but not to copy. People may say that there is no difference but the difference is very prevalent. To copy someone's artwork is to draw or create every piece of their work in the exact same way that they did. To me, that is not okay. To steal someone's artwork is to be influenced by the message of their art, and to create something in your own style.

The challenges I had during this unit included coming up with ideas that would be interesting to look at when I combined two pictures into one. I struggled with this throughout the entire unit. The success I had during this unit were the warm ups and sketches we had to draw. I spent a lot of time on them and I felt accomplished after they were completed. If I could go back and change anything I would want to come up with a better idea for my final project. If I had more time, I might have tried to draw an animal with a human head or vice versa. Overall I enjoyed the many sketches of this unit.

My understanding of artistic space has changed drastically.  I have realized that there are many ways to take up blank space and use it to your advantage in drawings.  To me, three dimensional objects are the most appealing to the eye when drawn to use up space.

The exercise that was most helpful to me was one of the first ones we did which was learning to draw cubes.  I was not aware of what a vanishing point was but now I know not only what it is but how to use it.  It was a critical part in drawing my final project.

I feel that my final project is a good drawing, but it could use some touching up and bordering along some lines.  The vanishing point I used is just to the left of the doorknob.  I feel that my project was successful considering I had never used a vanishing point prior to this.  

           



 What i've learned in art this week is that there are many tricks such as using a vanishing point when drawing cubes, to help the drawing turn out more precise.  I've also learned that Mrs. Purtee is not only a great art teacher, but a person as well.