FINAL POST.... probably?

http://lhs.loswego.k12.or.us/z-mcbrides/AP/2009/09APbreadthconcentration.htm

Well.
I only have five days of school left. Really. No more public school for Ali, no more Lakeridge... it's so, well, odd. Graduation. Huh. I still have to yet to really wrap my mind around it.
Amid the stress and craziness that has been haunting my every move and breath these last few days, coming to art class is such a relaxer. At the beginning of the year I was nervous to be in AP, unsure of my qualatitive and quantative abilities; then I was excited to begin; then I was bored with the entire system; but now it's really just a calming experience. I am fairly satisfied with all of the pieces I created this year. A few of my concentration really make me happy... I definitely think that my skill has grown infinitely this past year. I don't know which piece is my favorite. There's some aspect to all of them that I'm proud of, and another bit that I wish I could have changed. Oh well. The forced focus on one theme for the concentration I actually found to be quite edifying....
Advice for future AP students? Hm. For one, decide on an idea and stick with it. Forcing yourself to continue with something not only teaches personal responsibility and dedication, but also expands your artistic boundaries. If you keep on changing or choosing things simply because they're easy for you to do, you will never learn anything new. So stay the course. Challenge yourself!
Also, at least try and look like you're doing something in class, or Mrs. McB will yell at you.

Okay.

HAVE YOU GUYS HEARD OF THIS MAN HE IS MY CURRENT HERO: Esref Armagan. He's some Turkish dude who was born without eyes--so has literally no sight and never has-- and he paints and draws. Accurately. It's amazing. I'm so impressed. He has better perspective than I do!

Deep breath of relief.

Last week was so hectic, and this week will be crazy too, and then next week will be as well because I will be studying for Hell Test and it's my birthday in two weeks (!!!) and I want to be able to party it up because you know me I'm so crazy like that, and I'm so glad this week is over.

It's so relaxing to have my APH paper done and our concentrations done. Woo.

-sigh-

Prom was good, infinitely better than promsi. My dress wasn't as cool, but everything else makes up for it. Yeah.

I wonder what our after-concentration art project will be? I'm kindof excited to do a full piece that has nothing to do with reflections! YEAH!

I still need to do my final NAHS hour. Boo. Do you think beautifying the school with landscape arrangement works? :)

eek

I'M SO NERVOUS ABOUT GETTING EVERYTHING READY FOR AP!

New Thoughts

I'm finding that I really want to do a painting of an actual scene- like, something and then there's a piece of mirror or other reflective object and you have this glimpse of another world, kind of thing- because I've just realized that almost all of my pieces focus on the reflective object.

We have this really old rundown shed in my backyard with a dirty mirror in it... That might be fun to do.

And, I'm thinking of doing a painting of a landmark, like the Eiffel Tower maybe?, flipped and messed with colors. Hmm. That actually sounds like alot of fun. :D

Mental Organization

Okay, art stuff. I have to finish so many things this month! April will be crazy! AAHHH!

Finished Pieces:
1. Ocean Cave- painting from inside of an ocean cavern, reflection of stone in water
2. Jingle Bell- painting of a jingle bell laying on a reflective black table
3. Teapot- ink drawing of myself reflected in a teapot on a wooden floor
4. Beach Legs- graphite drawing of friend's legs on the beach, shadow reflection on sandy water
5. Penguin- charcoal drawing (with pencil) of a penguin's skeleton, reflected in glass box
6. Snowy Pond- painting of some trees reflected in a pond on a snowy day
7. Table Top- ink drawing of myself reflected on a shiny black table
? 8. Horizons- ink drawing of parents on the beach with sand/sea/sky in background

Unfinished pieces:
9. Aquarium- graphite and watercolor of christina reflected on an aquarium's glass walls
10. Feet- graphite drawing of a foot and its reflected kinetic structure
11. Skyscraper- watercolor painting of a skyscraper with reflective sides and repeated in orange
12. Guitar- painting of girl with guitar joined with reflection

Possible pieces:
13. Glass Shoes- painting and graphite of my and sarah bartell's shoes reflected in glass
14. Sunglasses- reflection in sunglasses

Portland Artist!

Okay, so we saw this guy at one of the galleries in Portland that we visited on our field trip, but he had fallen to the back of my mind. Michael Knutson does crazy abstract-geometric paintings. Looking at his website, it is clear that he can do true-to-life art, but this is where his interests lay. He paints blocks of color that make it look like the canvas is covered with 3-D prisms. The colors he chooses are awesome! I am just fascinated by how he can do something so repetitive as this in nature and make the piece look complete/ finished. They look like those optical illusion, "Magic Eye" book things-- maybe if you squint just the right way, an elephant will pop up.... His work also reminds me of the movie Labyrinth, with David Bowie.... anyone else?

Looking at his gallery, you can really see the progression of his work from more basic fractals to page-covering-spirals.

FIRST INSPIRATION ARTIST

Okay, so the first person who I've recently been into is Dave McKean. He does a lot of comic book art among other things, but it's not at all the typical Superman style. McKean uses many different media in his pieces, which is something that I have never been able to accomplish very well. There's a very surreal and almost grotesque feel to many of his images. I discovered him because he's worked on numerous things with Neil Gaiman, who is basically my favorite author. 

now to find a local artist.... Hmmm.

march pics

So, I'm not really sure what I am going to do for my next concentration pieces. I was thinking of doing one based on a water reflection pic from the zoo (I actually started it in class but it is at the very-unfinished stage so I might change it). This is not the same picture I was using but it's of the same place, so here's the general idea of it:

The other picture I am thinking of doing is this one, of Sarah Bartell's and my feet reflected in a glass animal cage.

Does anyone have any recommendations for expanding the boundaries of my reflections?

february critique

MY CONCENTRATION IS REFLECTION AND THE LINE BETWEEN REALITY/ UNREALITY, i guess.
This is my first piece. It is of my friend Hailey's legs and their shadow on the beach. (that's sand on the ground). I hadn't done any forshiz drawing for a while, so it was good to get back to it. I've always like just, well, drawing something. I was trying to do a reflection other than just in the usual reflective surfaces.... yeah. I like the background. I feel like this is a fairly satisfactory piece? The only thing that bothers me is how bright the bumps on the jeans are. From close up they don't look as ridiculously white, but from far away (like in the picture) they stand out. Which bothers me. Does that even make sense?
My second piece is from a picture of a penguin skeleton I took while on the zoo trip (which was great, btw). It's done in charcoal pencil thing, which I've never really used before, so it was fun I guess to figure it out. The skeleton was located in a glass box and so the background is the reflection of the skeleton in the glass. I wanted to create a different feel with the reflection, so it was done in pencil and with hatching-type stuff. Yeah. I think I like this one too. It was slightly frustrating trying to figure out the charcoal pencil.

concentration pics

these are the six concentration pieces i have done. i am one behind because i changed my concentration at the beginning of the year... but i have one from last year that i am going to re-do and then i guess i'll do the two more this month (hopefully) and then i'll be on track!