Austin Blog

One quote I really like is "fake it till you make it." This resonates with me because I like to play around with materials until it turns into a concrete idea. This happens frequently when I make mixed media artwork. The other quote the resonated with me is "make things=know thyself." The reason I chose this is because my art is a visual display of how I feel. Not when I am making my Drake painting necessarily, but if you put me in front of a blank canvas with a paintbrush in my hand, whatever gets put onto the canvas reflects off my emotions at the time. What I make is who I am. The art work visually shows me how I am really feeling. Making things, know thyself. As far as strategies go, I want to follow the fake it till you make it route. I sample and play with different materials until I find something worth building off of.

Week 4

I started collaging Drake during week 4. His skin is going to be a challenge because it's very light so I will need to seek out more magazines for the correct color. With only 12 days left I'll need to take him home and work after hours to complete him. So far it is coming out perfectly and the background is perfect. The letters are also complete, they flow very nicely with the rest of the painting.

Crit notes #1

I did not get much feedback on my Drake because my idea is incredibly concrete. The only complaint I had is that I wanted to add something original. Phoebe had the idea of adding my own colors to the collage. I might play around with the border of the picture once it is finished to add my own touch. Also the watercolors didn't blend the way I would have liked them to, so Ms. Roberts had the idea of washing a very clear brown over the water colors. I think this will help mute the background and blend the colors even more, helping drake pop out as much as possible.

Alternative Exhibitions Formats Response

I loved the artists Cai Guo-Quiang and Andy Goldworthy. Andy Goldworthys format is so original because in real life the art he makes is always changing. I think the real format of his art is planet earth/mother nature. There is no place he cannot put his art because his format is out in the wilderness. Much of his art also has to do with photography because he cannot carry his art around with him. Cai Guo-Quiangs art is engaging and almost interactive. I love the Head On sculpture because it is action pact and literally fun to look at because of the format. What I really like is how he suspended the wolves in the air. That is what makes this specifically unique. You don't oven see wolves flying like reindeer through the room!

Week 3 Reflection

This week I continued to work on the background of Drake. I was able to stencil in the letters D.R.A.K.E. at the top of the painting and filled in the letters with the same watercolor pattern as the background. Black acrylic paint outlines the letters. I expect to be done with the background by the beginning of week 4 and start collaging. I want to add my own originality to the image in some way, which I have yet to figure out. I feel as if I am just copying an image and not putting enough of my own creativity into it. I will brainstorm this weekend and experiment with different materials.

Art/Fear

If you think good work is somehow synonymous with perfect work, you are headed for big trouble. Art is human; error is human; ergo, art is error. (Perfection)- this quote stands out to me because no matter how good I think one of my paintings is it will never be perfect to the human eye. Everyone has different tastes and while one of my paintings looks perfect in my eyes, it can be completely different through someone else's. There is also room for change and improvement. As long as an artist can get their message across to the audience the way it was intended, I feel that is what makes them successful. Not the actual visual art itself.

You cling ever more tightly to what you already know you can do- away from risk and exploration and possibly further from the work of your heart. - This really follows my mindset this year. I feel like I have been sticking to collages because it's what I excel in. I tried taking up mixed media and failed the first time then quickly quit. I was scared to explore due to time and deadlines which limited my ability to share what I felt like I wanted to explore.

To demand perfection is to deny your ordinary (and universal) humanity, as though you would be better off without it. Yet humanity is the ultimate source of your work. - this spoke to me because when I look at my friend's artwork I often envy the work they are capable of creating. I wish that I had the natural ability to create their work. In result I lose faith in my own art. I'm demanding something that is someone else if I am not creating my own art and not putting my own heart into it by replicating someone else's. I should not be ashamed of what I am capable of creating.

Week 2

This week has been successful to say the least. The watercolor background is going exactly the way I planned. I am still playing around with ways to emphasize certain colors and making them contrast well with each other. It is taking more time than expected to do the background which is not a negative, I still have plenty of time to start the face. Unfortunately because the projector wouldn't aline back to my pencil tracing, I decided to draw the rest of the rappers face free-hand. I am not 100% satisfied with the results. I become very obsessive about shading details. In the end those are less important details because it is not going to be a pencil drawing so I plan to move on from the drawing.