Blog Post #8

As you enter the exhibition, what feels like a thousand tiny faces look back at you. The collection feels almost endless and with each new inspection new faces seem to appear. A huge grid composed of hundreds of human heads and faces is stretched across the wall. Every subject is a small portrait. Each face though is painted or drawn with an incredible amount of care and patience. It is apparent that many hours went in to constructing the entire collection. I am uncertain as to whether the subject is the grid or each individual face. Each face is painted in a small space, about 3-4 inches in diameter. The faces were meticulously painted with apparent brush marks but with incredibly accurate coloration and what felt like a great amount of precision.

 

Looking at all the faces at once is rather overwhelming, yet as one approaches there is discovered a great amount of detail in each face. All the faces in the leftmost panel are simply painted but constructed with masterful and patient brushstrokes. The collection seems to be of most any person’s face but all are given the same amount of meticulous care. Each face is taken from a photograph either black and white or color. I wish I could do things well but I am weak and feel broken.

On the right hand side of the space is a huge collection of drawings each being of the same girl on a different day of a one year span. Each is given an impressive amount of care when it comes to the detail in each iteration of the face.  Each face is smoothly shaded and in most every case lacks lines. Each face is placed squarely in the middles of their respective pages and are placed in order from day 65 all the way to day 365 in a snaking pattern. The detail is what carries these images along with the strict appearance of only the head in each drawing. They are all in what seems to be graphite and every one is given  the same amount of care and delicacy as any other. the two that caught my eye the most were a pair that seemed to be out of focus and as photographs this would make sense but as drawings they confuse the brain and lead to a pair of hurt and upset eyes. The variety in the collection comes from the change in facial expression and the way that the hair is worn.

Both collections have what feels like a theme of time, or the passing of it. Fr. Nguyen calls time an “element, familiar and sacred, real and incomprehensible.” He does not wish to harness or capture time but rather represent it through his work. In his statement he states that these pieces are hiding nothing but offers instead a “reconstructed moment” to the viewer. As a viewer I got the feeling of sheer volume. the artist states that the quantity of photographs of produced daily is massive but that in each picture taken there is not meaning but only information. Likely millions of pictures are taken each day and are taken for granted and people sift through them with no care for the weight they possibly hold.  In my opinion the artist seems to ask the viewer to slow down some. We consume hundreds of images a day but we do not appreciate them. He has taken thousands of man hours to create individual moments frozen in paint. The viewer can consume the pieces as a whole or they can slow down and take into account each tiny portrait captured in paint and pencil.

My first impression of volume has been given depth with thought. There is more to an image than what is on the surface. This collection is more than the sum of its parts. I think that these pieces of artwork were successful; they show the viewer the mastery of the medium the artist has along with the thoughtful patience that composed those thousand images. Along with being successful I feel the two collections are very unique. I doubt that many artists would be willing to draw the same girl at least 365 times with what is probably many hours of focus and concentration. I ask myself “can I do better” and I my answer no. I would be delighted to have such focus but this requires mastery of the medium and an expert’s concentration. The concentration and determination to go through with these thousand portraits is impressive. It feels planned out very well. Personally I would not hang this in my home but it is nonetheless a powerful collection that inspires me to slow down and to take my time with some of my art rather than trying to sprint through a piece. I would like to take what I learned and apply it to my own work. This in my opinion is a fantastic representation of art. It captures quality of work with weight of meaning in an impressive display of control and precision.

Mid-Term Assessment VISU 1

10,000 hours until mastery. What exactly I am trying to master lays hidden in a nebulous fog. What exactly the peak of my journey is I cannot say but I have seen progress, change even along the way. I started out with doodles and now I pursue art in a collegiate setting. I try to work and hone my skills. I do my best to at least try, though I honestly believe I haven’t tried enough. I have not put myself to the challenge. I have been trying to skirt by on what I thought was talent, but I realize talent comes from skillful practice. Skillful practice is where expert hours come from and I believe with the weak attitude I have put forward I have lacked enthusiasm when practicing. I do not commit to practicing as I will think the subject is beyond me. I have not practiced in an effective or efficient manner.

 

 

This class though has widened my scope of expert experience. I honestly would never have approached photography otherwise, but I am glad that I have. Being introduced to new topics has broadened my capacity, and with each new topic I am faced with new critiques and criticisms. I do my best to write down criticisms and think back to them because I fear I would otherwise stagnate in only what I think is good and what appeals only to me. I do my best to take in what people say as it is a good place for me to build.

Blog Post #7

Mr. Swift gave a very good piece of advice when he spoke to the class: do your research. Doing research often goes overlooked but its clear that in his position doing research has helped, from creating a sound bottle design to adopting antique whiskey production. I enjoyed hearing from someone that has started their own business.

He was followed by Rebecca Marino who spoke of the importance of persistence when pursuing opportunities. She told the class of her many internships and many jobs from pump project to conflict of interest.

Alex Roka’s story was most surprising to me due to the extent of his professional experiences and opportunities. I was impressed that he went to work at a ad firm as big as GSD&M and also was able to pursue his own lettering interests when he joined Preacher. He had one of the more intriguing stories about personal experience.

Finally there was Taylor Browning. She spoke about her experiences with art studios in San Antonio and her own interest in art. She also told the class of her exciting trip abroad.

Blog Post #6

For each class ask yourself the following:

  1. My greatest strengths in Visual Studies include: An interest in art, basic compositional comprehension
  2. For greater success in this course, I need to: Produce more work.
  1. My greatest strengths in Drawing 1 include: Good perceptual comprehension, previous experience in drawing.
  2. For greater success in this course, I need to: Spend more time outside of class working on drawings.
  1. My greatest strengths in Freedom & Rights include: Good note-taking and a prior grasp of some topics covered in the class.
  2. For greater success in this course, I need to: Analyze notes and topics.
  1. My greatest strengths in Visual Studies Seminar include: Interest in Art
  2. For greater success in this course, I need to: take better notes.
  1. My greatest strengths in College Algebra include: mathematical inclination and comprehension.
  2. For greater success in this course, I need to: do the homeworks closer to when they are assigned.
  1. My greatest strengths in Rhetoric and Composition 2 include: A decent grasp of writing and essay construction.
  2. For greater success in this course, I need to: Portion out my writing work

Computer skills:

  1. My computer skills include: Understanding Windows OS, Basics of art programs
  2. I still need to learn: in depth in adobe creative suite.

Research & writing skills:

  1. My greatest strengths as a researcher/writer include: I know how to form an essay and I understand some of the basics of rhetoric.
  2. I need to work on these aspects of research and writing: portioning out small times for writing during the week
  3. I learn best & accomplish most when: I am invested in the topic

ACTION PLAN

Choose one class that you are struggling with or are not doing as well as you could.
Now make a list of 10 ways you could improve your performance in this class.

Visual Studies 1

  1. Work more outside of Class
  2. Take better notes in class
  3. Review any notes taken in class
  4. Don’t Procrastinate
  5. Talk to professors when I have trouble
  6. Talk to fellow students for inspiration and possibly guidance
  7. Become emotionally in the work
  8. Be more focused
  9. Practice even when it is not necessary
  10. Use my strengths to build up where I am weakest.

Blog Post #5 Parts 1&2

The below image is for my visual studies class in which we were supposed to create a collage style image on the computer. I used a picture of South Congress and some pictures of biplanes and King Kong to  create the image below.

Something

I think that the different style of the planes and Kong work well in differentiating it from the ordinary rest of the picture. I feel I could have developed a more interesting idea though, the quality of the picture of South Congress is lacking and the composition would benefit from a better picture. Possibly pulling color use into play could in my opinion strengthen the conceptual quality of this image.

The next image is of a drawing for my drawing class in which we are supposed to draw five objects(cone, cube, sphere, torus, cylinder) in any arrangement we desire. I chose to put the cylinder alone at the far left of the page with objects trailing to the right above and below it.IMG_1719[1]What this piece needs more than anything else of is work. I feel that the composition isn’t bad  but I could work on the accuracy of the shape and quality of the objects in the drawing. Giving weight to the objects would really bring the entire drawing together, this would require shading lines heavier as they approach the viewer and shade more lightly objects that ought to appear distant.

 

2D Harmony

Creating collage is tough for me. I prefer to create a single image rather than compile several. It is a challenge for me to compile images or to think of compiled images creatively. I think in a very linear fashion, I think of one object rather than several working in tandem.

Something

Harmony Pt. 1

Walking down South Congress I was still unsure as to the subject I intended on capturing or what exactly I planned on making for the collages. I ended up taking quite a few pictures of pole posters and some “street-art.” I personally like the way my pieces look in black and white, I feel it makes each part work better with every other part, giving the pieces in my opinion a better sense of coherence.

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Blog Post #4 Pt. 1

Beginning with Ms. Broussard, I liked what she had to say about visiting museums and spending our time examining art as much as we are creating it.

Next Caelan Navarrete I particularly liked her message of having a message in your art. I feel that is a very important message to teach new artists.

Shelby Savage showed some of her minimalist design homework that was fairly interesting, I particularly thought the “Which Wes Anderson movie should I watch?” piece was intriguing.

I liked quite a lot Mr. Young’s design for the writing class, I thought that the simplicity and symmetrical nature was very nice, I also quite liked his ongoing dream project.

Ms. Christin Smith’s “Firefighters” set was fairly interesting. The set seemed to capture part of the life and motion these firefighters go through.

Finally I liked the small builds that Juliana Isabel produces, each photo has its own personality and direction.

VISU: Final Images

My latest set of images came from a long walk along South Congress. Walking gave me an interesting opportunity to see far more than if I had driven along South Congress. When I started the walk I decided to find as many cases of Symmetry as I could. But as I looked for examples of the principle, I found I enjoyed seeing the small objects that upset the perfect Symmetry. Slightly off from perfect. I enjoyed walking down South Congress and taking the images almost as much as I disliked printing the images.

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