Final Reflection

"Lani you are completely focused. When you work you get totally in the zone." Ms. Roberts said these words to me a few days go as I was working overtime on my artwork. It was the first time anyone has ever called me focused. After she said those words I realized, art is my therapy. There isn't another class I want to sit in and actually do the work for hours on end. I know myself well, and I'm aware that my attention rate is extremely low, but when I'm in the art studio I am somehow able to focus my energy into one piece of work for hours. Cut, glue, paste. As redundant as it sounds it's something I'm able to take complete joy in. In senior studio, I also had the pleasure of exploring new ways of making art. One of my goals while making Drake was to add my own twist instead of taking it straight from the original photograph. I started off by making a water color background which eventually turned into a modern spray paint blend of colors. If I could do anything different this term, it would be to explore with the background more instead of starting with water colors. Everything happens for a reason, I wasn't inspired by the spray paint idea until I saw Jake Libassi use it on his drawing of Wiz Khalifa, so at the same time I'm glad I gave water color a try because sometimes in order to succeed you need to fail first. I've decided I going to keep creating celebrity collages after senior studio ends. I want to build off the three I already have and create a collection. There was a long time when I wasn't making art this year. Senior studio reminded me art was stress relieving, fun and always there for me when I need it.

Process

This week I managed to finish about 1/3 of drakes face. I'm now going to focus on more detailed areas such as the right eye, lips and some shading. Once thats done, finishing filling in the skin with the right color scheme will be that last touch. I will take pictures of the new and improved background which came out better than I had even imagined. The spray paint gives the background a graffiti image gives the artwork a more modern feel than the watercolors which is exactly what I wanted to go for. It also suits the fact that my piece is portraying a rapper and the background completely fits the theme.

Spray Paint inspiration

I found some of these paintings that my background was inspired by. Notable Artists- Graffiti Artists

Banksy, Imminentdisaster, Gaia

Being a genius vs. having a genius.

I think my genius now has changed from where to start to how to finish. Drake started with a rough start, finding the color scheme to free handing his facial features. That was the first genius I acknowledged. Breaking through the rough beginning until you find something that works and that you love. No matter the frustration, I had to keep playing with the colors to make it work. Now it is about the finish which is the background. I need to open up my imagination to new ideas which is how the spray paint idea came along. I saw a peer using it on one of us drawings and it inspired me to use the material. My genius now is opening up to the last original spec of creativity I have to make this project something I will be extremely proud of.

Inspiration

TITLE: Week 5

This week I got a lot done. I finished Drakes left eye and decided to start a new background but keep the lettering. The water coloring was too blotchy to put on display for the show so instead I'm taking up something new- spray painting. This is perfect because I wanted to add my own touch to this picture and bring something original to the piece. I plan on making the whole background tomorrow and finishing his face by this weekend. The framing will be done next week.

Crit Notes #2

My project was on the right track when critiquing came. I had a vision, I let them know and there wasn't much feedback because it is very straight forward I just have to keep going with it. Now that critiquing is over, I am changing something about my project which is the background. I will be looking for more feedback on that this week as it progresses.