Art 3 Final: Reflection Essay

From taking art 3 this year, I've learned a lot of helpful techniques. Before this year, I had a general grasp on how to make art, but it wasn't very skillful. Reviewing my art skill inventory, from the beginning of this year, has shown me that I lacked a certain amount of depth and understanding in my work. In my still life specifically, I had very poorly developed composition and lacked color application. However through the many projects and slideshows I endured, I was able to develop a much needed understanding of the aspects of art. I learned the basics and tips to a good composition ("Where to put the cow"), I learned a lot about color theory (which expanded on my previous knowledge), and sculpture techniques that I hadn't explored or attempted previously. I also learned about art history and the different artists in varying periods (like the early and high Renaissance artists Donatello, Leonardo, Botticelli, etc) which helped me to take inspiration and example from these artists. Looking back on this year, I've noticed a significant amount of growth as well. Comparing my art inventory pieces and my work throughout the year I've seen a great amount of growth in many areas. One of these areas is my ability to create a still life. My first still life was very linear and lacked depth, which made it ineffective. My oil painting, however, had good composition as it utilized the rule of thirds, a good clear focal point, and nice relationship between objects in relation to color. Another aspect I've seen growth in is my ability to work from real life. Many of my works before art 3 were made by looking at an image, but since I've been create accurate works from real life, like my oil painting, pen fantastic four project, and partially for my self portrait. Lastly I believe I've significantly grown in my ability to capture a self portrait. My skill inventory self portrait lacks value and doesn't resemble me at all. From the knowledge gained from this class, however, I was able to create both an accurate and well crafted self portrait during the first quarter. Despite all the growth I've had from taking this course, I still have some areas that need improvement. One of these areas is in color. Before Art 3, I never used color in my works. This led to me having a poor understanding of it and almost no experience in it, as represented by my art skill inventory still life. While I did learn about color theory and practiced the application of it in my oil painting and abstract painting, I still believe I can further my skill in this area. Specifically I'd like to be able to go deeper into the study of color theory to broaden my general knowledge and attempt colored pencil and paint works to put the knowledge to the test. Another area I can improve in is creating sculptures. I really enjoyed making my sculpture project during quarter 2, but I would love to do it more to sharpen my ability to make sculptures and my knowledge on how to properly plan one. Furthermore, all my experiences and knowledge from art 3 are crucial and can be used in my art for the future. Next year I hope to continue art both inside and outside of school to continue my path to becoming a "good" artist. I have really enjoyed the self portrait and painting projects from this year the most and therefore will use the skills learned in those areas to move forward with my independent work next year (like my knowledge of color theory, value, gestures, and composition). Not only this, but I will also keep in mind the aspects of sculpture to guide my journey of art, as I feel they were all very important. I hope to use the experiences of this year to the best of my ability next year to create work I'm proud of and enjoy.