Learning Experiences

First of all, let me apologize for not posting last week.  I was incredibly busy working on finishing my first art project for AP Art.

Ta-Da!

The first 2D assignment was to create a self portrait using contour lines. I thought it would be kind of cool to try and incorporate the 2D design assignments into my own projects. Here is the first result. I decided to come right out and confront my fears of creating large-scale sculpture, and believe me, it was a terrifying process.

The theme of the sculpture kind of developed as I worked. Basically it's supposed to represent how in high school (and probably even afterwards) we try to figure out who we are and what our personality is. It's like we put on different faces trying to figure out which one fits best. I wanted it to be a bit more quietly personal, rather than yelling in your face saying something like "People are fake and they just put on masks and pretend!" I wanted it to be a little more withdrawn and saying "Don't mind me, I'm just trying to figure things out."

I don't know if any of that made sense, so here's a description of how it's made. I made the body by having my awesome sister wrap me in duct tape (section by section) and then, after cutting me out of my cocoon, I wrapped the form in papier mache. Erg! I really dislike papier mache; it is a very thankless process. I don't understand how people can get everything to look so nice and smooth. It may have helped if I had had time to do a second coat, but things started coming down to the wire and a second coat wasn't really an option. Then I spray-painted the figure with black spray paint and I actually missed a few places because I ran out, but they don't really show. Also, I poured gravel in the feet and stuffed the rest of the body with shredded paper to help keep its shape and weight it down. The dress is a simple length of fabric sewn in half with a hem on top and bottom. I drew the contour faces on it in blue, black, and purple fabric markers (does anyone else absolutely love contour lines? I just think they're so cool looking). I used the other half of my fabric and drew one face on it and framed it in an embroidery hoop I spray-painted purple. (Originally it was going to be black, but I ran out and luckily enough, I had purple spray paint that matched the markers perfectly). I then arranged the square on her head and glued it into her hands just with tacky glue. Securing the base was possibly the most stressful part. Because of the way I stuffed the body, the ankles ended up really weak (hehe, weak ankles) and it didn't like to stand very well. So after much brainstorming and a very trying trip to Home Depot, we found two threaded rods, a circle of wood, and cement. I drilled two holes (about an inch wide) on the base where I wanted the feet to be. I then made holes in the heels and shoved the rods up into the legs. Then we poured cement into the holes in the wood and put the bottoms of the rods into the holes and let it dry. And then, there it was. My long, stressful, sleep-preventing project was completed. And even though I absolutely despised it when I was finally done, it's starting to grow on me. I got some real positive feedback from my class and people seem to like it.

Sorry the pictures aren't all that great, I had to take them with my iPod.


Also, here are some pictures I decided to share with you all. This first one is a comic I did at the beginning of my challenge, but I haven't been able to upload it until now, because our scanner wasn't hooked up. It's about how happy life can be when you finally let go of something. Like a grudge, or a regret, or something like that.

And this is just a page of doodles from sketchbook that I rather liked. They're mostly Avatar: The Last Airbender related. Such a great show . . .

These are rather large files, so sorry if they're hard to see. And here's another doodle I did for fun with one of my best friends the other day.

Days Created: 36
Total Projects Finished: 6