Reflection Essay

This year was spent expanding on a lot of the skills we learned last year. I learned about figure drawing, wood carving, still life painting, and abstract painting. My favorite unit was probably figure drawing because I am the most used to drawing people. Particularly the gesture drawing portion was great because I've been able to get a better understanding of the natural stances and proportions of the human body. Wood carving was entirely new to me, and it gave me a greater appreciation for carvers because it was really difficult! I thought learning about and using the different tools to get different effects in the wood was really interesting. The still life project also gave me the opportunity to use oil paint for the first time, which was a really fun medium. I don't really like drawing/painting still lives because I feel it's hard to get all the colors and proportions right. I haven't done much painting before, but I thought oil paint was really unique and it was cool how it could be built up. Similarly, I have never done stretched or primed a canvas, or done an underpainting or brunaille. Although oil painting was new to me, and I wasn't very good at it, I enjoyed the process and all the techniques I learned. Abstract painting is something I usually try to avoid because it seems like there's a secret formula to getting it come out right, but it was one of my favorite projects this year because it was fun to just experiment and see what I could do with acrylic paint. I liked the different brushstrokes and textures I was able to create and overall it was a fun way to relief stress and experiment. Additionally, I learned about various art movements such as the Renaissance, impressionism, post-impressionism, abstract expressionism, and contemporary approaches to sculpture. This has allowed me to learn about new artists and techniques, and have a better understanding of the timeline of art as a whole. I've really enjoyed learning about art history because it's a very interesting topic and fun to see how art has evolved.

I think I have grown the most with portraiture and figurative drawing. The gesture drawing unit was really helpful and I've found myself using it when I draw on my own time. Although my artist copy and self-portrait were definitely not perfect, they gave me the chance to use materials I wasn't very familiar with (like charcoal and white chalk) with a subject that I was used to. I have also gained a better understanding of shading and highlights, and how those can feed into if the content of a piece looks 2d or 3d.

I think the area I most need to improve is just using more media and trying out new things. I got frustrated at times with the wood carving and oil painting because they came out bad, but I think I should try to start using more materials and subject matters. I also have a lot of room to improve on drawing poses and figures, as I tend to avoid dynamic poses or full-body drawings. Overall, I'd like to expand my range with my art.

I can use what I learned this year as I move forward in a lot of ways. I've learned to use new materials, and I would like to use them again (maybe not wood carving) as well as further expand. I think I'd like to practice painting a bit more because I always avoid it, but it's a very unique medium. I can also use my new understanding of color theory and how different colors and values affect the surrounding ones. I want to use more color in my art and I think I will be able to do so more meaningfully next year with my independent work. All in all, I think all the different materials and concepts I have learned will be applicable to what I make next year. Thank you to Coach Hall for teaching such a wonderful art 3 class!