MICA 2

finished finals. yay

some art to see

mica1

drawing class rendering assignment ; first self portrait oil painting

Ap 2-d FinaL- The final blog post

My advise for AP students next year is if your waiting till the very last night to get a project done, then you better well know that you can do it. Also don't be afraid to exit your comfort zone. be willing to try new things once in a while.

My favorite piece this year is probably the one i drew of my brother and the crocodile. This piece made me realize that i was done with my first concentration idea and was ready for a change. I also liked how it turned out. I liked my flowering inferno piece, because it was something i made that was more feminine than what i usually make. also it was one of my one night pieces that won a gold key. that made me happy.

What i learned about my self this year was that if i start a piece early, then it will turn out better than one the night before (except for some occasions). I was willing to try new things

My favorite events are three-

1. the AP showcase- this is when i got the feeling of "yes, i survived AP for the SECOND time around". it was a nice experience to go through again. i also forgot how long you just have to wait around for.

2. The barbecue- did you try those Angus beef patties?

3. Lumberjack day- it was nice seeing my art teacher and peers outside of the art room and acting more casual and relaxed. Plus i really want to start axe throwing. Ms. McBride, I'll let you know if i want to get a target started at my house.

In ten years i see myself doing something that makes me happy. I don't like planning that far ahead to the T. But i probably see myself doing something with art. next year going to mica, i plan on trying all sorts of different medias, which i hopefully find something that will be my future career.

poem: "When one wants to sit, then it seems they're going to quit. But if you stand tall, you can possibly win them all." - Reverend LumberJackson McCulloch Grove.

My completed concentration

Hamlet Rap yo!

Matt Shapiro, Jordan Burt, Colin Bickford and i just finished recording our first hit single as the clan known as Thug Dungeon. We all collaborated our creative input to make a Hamlet Rap. The assignment was to create a rap by oneself or in a group about hamlet. We had a class to write it and the next class to perform. Our day to perform is this coming Tuesday, the 20Th, and we wont actually perform because it's eight to nine minutes long and we cannot remember everything we recorded. Yes, we recorded our track. Starting with a rap, moving on into a screamo, then a creepy Beatles revolution #9 sort of thing, and finish it off with a shout out. The one song was originally about six minutes. But then we wanted to create a second track and a third. But then that all turned out to be one song. This is probably the best english assignment i've ever done/ been apart of.
shout outs to:
C. Spitter
Burttron
Shappyyyoo!

Concentration update

So, i know i basically started my concentration in february, because i got tired of my first one and couldn't fine any motivation to complete or push through it. I think i made the right choice though changing it cause i know i would of had a tough time completing my work. Some might disagree, but i think i will have the hardest time from now till the art show, because i have 4 pieces completed, 5 pieces in the works, 2 ideas to start, and 1 i don't know what to do yet. I have a 4 step process that helps me complete my work, but most of the class have only 3 pieces left to complete while i have 8 to complete. The next 2 1/2 weeks will be a hellhole for me, but atleast i'm happy with what i'm doing, so that will keep me going.

Pieces done:

1. Bro vs. Croc
2. Nana & Wine
3. Uncle Silly in Denmark
4. Cousin J.J in London

Working on

1. Me vs. Clown
2. Cousin Timmy & I
3. Merry KISSmas
4. Brotherly Love
5. First Birthday/ First piece of cake

Concentration: exaggerated family photos

OCAC thing

Last year, Pacers and I attended the OCAC thing and i had a crappy time doing radical journaling. It sounded interesting at first, but it was crap. I ended up giving the finish review nothing but 1's and 2's (out of 5 system). No wonder its not there anymore. you might say i ruined a class for others. Wrong. I saved lives and peoples time by taking that class out.
This year, made me completely forget about last year's class, also i actually learned something. I did Pinhole photography, which was my second choice, but i don't regret getting it over carving a wood instrument. we made cameras out of cigar boxes and used the dark room to develop images (which I've been wanting to do for a long time). I gave straight 5's for the class.

Top: negative; Bottom: positive

artist hunting

I've finally decided to surf the web and look for an artist that has work i enjoy looking at. I found this guy, James Jean, who i can't remember if I've seen his work or not before. His work is interesting to me because its diverse in a way i like it. He has some figure paintings that captures the volume, forms, and tones of the people. And he also has some surreal pieces as well which makes me believe that anything can be possible through the form of art. his subject matter tends to be people, which is what i find most interesting to draw, and it can be humorous, in sort of a dark way. Like his 2010 piece "shoemakers". I enjoyed looking for new artist to be inspired by and am not so down on it as much. Also his sketchbook is really cool too.

James Jean Shoemakers

http://natebloch.com/

if you don't have any form of humor, especially male humor, than don't watch the videos this guy made.

Can't say i didn't warn ya.

except the second video, which is a music video, is cool and artsy and appropriate for all audiences.

New Pieces

The first one is of my brother petting a Croc and the second one is my grandma holding some red wine. My concentration is of exaggerated family photos and i feel like I'm on the right track with that. I wanted to focus on a certain kind of mark making and stick with the black ink with very little color. For my next few pieces I'm going to do a larger size of the third one above that's of my cousin being held captive by fake guards in London. I've done a little thumbnail size of the ones I've done already, so I'll continue to do that so i don't go into the final piece with a blank slate. some other photo's i might do are of me on my first birthday, a famous Christmas family photo, and other awkward images that will be embarrassing.

Critique

My Concentration was Taking Bands Ive seen in concert and creating my own interpretation of them through painting. I wanted to take band names and try to incorporate that into my ideas. This piece is of Star Death and White Dwarfs and so i wanted to actually try and think scientific about that actual concept. When a White Dwarf begins to consume a star, there's a peak where the Center of the White Dwarf is ignited and Flaming gas bursts out from the surface. and during the Show the guitarists/vocalist has a smoke bomb that goes off, so i thought i was able to incorporate the show to the real deal. In the pieces I've done of other bands, the composition is mainly having the viewer focused on the main subject that is located on the left side of the painting. I had the secondary colors as my main pallet, but also trying to include the primaries. The bottom right corner and on that side a bit has some molding paste to add texture, which was one of the things I've placed in all of the pieces. I tried to have big bodies of space with shapes building it up. Unfortunately, i don't have a second piece done for this concentration, which is weak sauce. I was losing my motivation towards the subject matter, thinking i wasn't going to be able to execute any of the pieces the way i envision. So, now I've decided to change my concentration, which is the main topic for my most recent post.

New Concentration

I know its a bit late in the year for a change in concentration,but the one i was doing came to a point where i was getting tired of what i was doing and did not have any motivation to do it. But i have recently been looking at Ralph Steadman's work and it made me want to try and take photos that i have of my family and make them into this crazy tripped out style of drawing. I decided to change my concentration to doing drawings of my awkward family photos in a in a way inspired by Steadman's techniques and styles. that consists fast scratchy lines and ink splatters, which are things that i do and like. So, I'm going to try and make a fool of myself and the family, because i figure life is better when you realize how crazy and weird your family can be at times.

Rough Sketches: 1. brother petting a croC, accidentally dipped my brush in the wrong mixture of ink, so the water ended up looking goofy. 2. Nana having some wine 3. my younger and chubbier self in London sitting with statues.

Writing

I have to write this essay about what artist would i spend with for an afternoon. I tried thinking of some that were in the fine arts area, but none of them really striked me as being someone i want to spend an afternoon with. So i thought up of people who i really get inspired by, Musicians. And of course i picked Thomas Alan Waits. But why not pick him. He's strange, corky, and a genius in a way (more than Kanye West). His music either points in the directions of hate or love in your brain, and fortunately I'm not pointing towards hate. His story's are clever and absolutely hilarious because you never know whats true and what isn't. And if it's not true, you'll believe it anyway. So if i had to pick an artist to spend an afternoon with it will be Tom Waits. But most likely i would just let him talk the whole time, while he's fooling around on the piano.

Listen to his stories "Tom Tales" and "Missing My Son" or "Big Joe and phantom 309"

Personal Thoughts

I've realized that i have ideas flowing through my head, but executing them in time seems to be difficult. So most likely i will be working on every single concentration piece until i need to have it absolutely done. I will work on them and keep on adding more frosting to the cake to a point where i can be at ease. I've recently been introduced to the artist Lucean Freud and i found his work to be very inspiring, which i find hard to come by for myself. how he paints his subjects letting the brush stroke guide your eyes to see what is being shaped and formed by the paint is something i find awesome. Right now i have six pieces being worked on and 4 more ideas that will be on canvas. So right now i don't feel like i'm going to have trouble making something up, but just completing it.

Winter Break with herpagonasyphilaids

This winterBreak i went to the south east in the city i like to call Del Boca Vista. I spent christmas week there with my grandparents (Nana & Pops) and my uncle and cousin. My family and i had momments like my grandma forgeting to turn off the car and is informed about this by the neighborhood security at 2 in the morning. Also watching Jerry Springer and Maury as a family. We actually might try to take a trip to conneticut and get on those shows. The Arts going fine, but i don't think i'll have the pieces at a complete finish tomorrow (monday).