Post-Modern Principles Project

For this project I chose to use the principle text in order to create my piece.  I decided I wanted to make art relating to dance, because I've been dancing since I was three. I wanted to use the dancer's body to make the letters, and I got the idea to make them spell out "evolution of a dancer" because that is the theme for my dance studio's recital. Evolution of a dancer is supposed to represent a dancer's journey beginning from when they are little and as they evolve they become more flexible and creative. I showed this through the letters because the dancer starts out as a little girl making basic shapes to create a letter and  she evolves into an older dancer that creates more complicated shapes. I used pen on illustration board and framed it with different papers to add color.

"The Best Art Supply Store" Doesn't Sell Art Supplies

I agree with the line from the article, "artists can create using any number of materials," because although an artist may be experienced using a certain material, I don't think the materials make the artist. I've seen really amazing artwork made out of paint samples or sticks, so I think using non-traditional materials can turn out better than artwork made from fine art supplies.  I think limitations allow creativity and make art more interesting and intriguing.  Art made out of random materials can be less limiting and more unique.  I prefer looking at art made out of non-traditional materials because it always surprises me how the materials can transform to create art.

               

Olivia Gude Post-modern Principles Response

In the article, there were a lot of points I agreed with. I think that the elements and principles of art that are taught are limiting and can be insignificant concerning modern art. I believe the elements and principles of art are important basics that people should have understanding of.  However, I don't think they should be used extensively or independently. There's more to understanding and creating art than these concepts.  Learning about post-modern principles should be put into art classes in order to make the curriculum more modern and less traditional.  I think this would allow for more inspiring and innovative art.

What Evokes Change?

For this project I decided to create a question using the word change.  The question I chose to use was "What evokes change?".  I thought about answers to the question in order to come up with an idea for the art. One answer to what evokes change is wanting to fit in and be accepted.

 To show this, I decided to to use a caterpillar hanging off a branch getting ready to make a chrysalis. This shows the caterpillar getting ready to change. I also chose to put butterflies around the caterpillar to show what influences the caterpillar to change.  Someone said this idea reminded them of the ugly duckling which I agree with.

I wanted to use a material that I hadn't used before, and I picked paper because I thought it would look interesting. It ended up being a choice I regretted since it was challenging cutting out the markings on both the caterpillar and butterflies.  In addition to layering paper I used black marker to make details.  For the rest the project I used watercolor.  I like the way the project turned out overall, and think the time it took to cut and layer the paper was worth it. I also like the contrast between the colors blue, yellow, and orange.

Is Art Without Meaning Decoration?

I don't think all art may be created with meaning, but I think meaning can be found in all art. Some art may have more meaning than other art, and determining how much meaning art has depends on who's analyzing it.
When I googled "wall decoration art" I found a picture of trees and birds. Some people may view it as decoration that fills up space on a wall. Others may view the trees as representing life, nature, and connection.

Element Art 3

What element?
The element I chose was line. I chose line because I thought it would look interesting adding value to the tree with lines. The leaves are made up of a lot of green and a few yellow lines.
What media?
I used charcoal and chalk pastels on wood. I chose charcoal because it would show up well on wood, and I wanted the tree to stand out in black. I used the chalk pastels to add color by doing the sky and leaves with them.
What subject?
The subject is a tree that looks like you're looking up at it. I wanted to do a tree, and thought it would look cool to see it in a different perspective. I also liked the idea of doing a tree on wood because it forms a relationship between the materials and subject used.

Book Carving

Prompt: Explain how you developed your design for your book carving.
I developed my idea for the book carving after decieding which of the five themes I wanted to use. The choices were simplicity, along for the ride, scientific, questionable, or fears and phobias.  I decieded that I wanted to do fears and phobias because I had the idea of looking up a list of fears/phobias and choosing one that would look interesting carved. I found two that interested me including hylophobia (fear of forests) and anthrophobia (fear of flowers).  After making a few thumbnails I decided I liked the idea of carving trees rather than flowers.  I came up with an idea for the cover and drew my final sketch to see how big to make everything and how to lay out and layer the pages. After I finished planning I began to carve starting with layer one.
How important was it to have a clear plan before starting?
It was really important to have a clear plan because I wouldn't have known which layer to do next or the layout of anything without it. It helped me understand how to carve the book and didn't make the layers confusing.
What were the challenges you faced when working on this project?
Some of the challenges I had with this project was cutting each layer similarly so that pages didn't stick out the further I cut into the layer.  It was also hard being patient and taking my time. Plus cutting the trees on the last layer was hard because they were really small and I had to cut tiny triangles out of them. 
Explain how you overcame them.
I ended up having to go back and re-cut some layers because the pages stook out too much. This took time but it made the book look a lot cleaner.  I took my time because I knew I would mess up and it would look bad if I didn't.  With the tiny trianges I just cut them slowly to make sure I didn't rip the page.
Discuss your design and how it relates to the book you chose (if that was the case, if not just discuss design).
My design doesn't relate to the book I chose. My design was about trees because my theme was hylophobia (fear of forests). I drew a tree on the cover of the book and filled it in with black pen. I added leaves cut out of pages from the book to the back of the book and had them stick out.  On the inside cover I cut out a picture of a tree and wrote 'hylophobia fear of forests' to explain the theme of my book. The actual carving was of trees, rocks, a path, a cabin, and a sky as the background. 
Did you take any risks? How and why?
I took risks with the trees because they were curvy and cutting curves was difficult.  I also used tissue paper which I have used before but I didn't know how it would look in the book. The biggest risk I took was putting the tree on the cover because if I messed up it would be hard to cover up.
Describe how you felt about the overall project and if you felt it was successful.
I felt really good about the overall project and also felt it was successful. It turned out the way I had visualized it. I love the cover, the addition of the leaves, and the color the tissue paper gave for the background.