Art III Final Essay

Before the start of this year, I felt as if I was at a standstill with my artwork. In prior grades, particularly in middle school, I was always experimenting with my style and adding new things to it to improve the overall quality of my drawings. Each year, there would be a hugely noticeable difference in what my art looked like. This changed as I reached high school age and as I became confident and happy in my cartoonish way of drawing. From freshman year to sophomore year, the only difference in my style was in proportion. At that point, I felt secure enough that I began imagining what I would do and where I would take my art in Art IV and V. This year forced me to grow by expanding my perspective. Doing so gave me new places to go in order to improve my art. Instead of just working to improve the way I drew, I was now experimenting and trying drastically new things. It was interesting as an almost entirely self-taught artist to actually learn about the techniques and the movements that have developed today’s art culture, even if I still take comfort in my own way of doing things in my home projects. I’ve learned so much about technique that I wouldn’t have known at all otherwise, especially when it comes to painting. There are so many different named ways to apply paint that I would have only used prior as a means of throwing something cool and unexpected in. Now, I know how to deliberately use them in my work to create effects. I’ve also learned how to ask for help. When I was younger, making a mistake was seen as something that could completely ruin whatever it was that I was trying to do, and so I’ve learned to avoid asking for help and to just figure it out myself as a means of evading being berated. As much of a habit as I found it to be, this class forced me to reach out for help because of the nature of what I was doing. Asking for advice feels a bit less daunting now, enough so that I’ll be able to succeed a lot more in my next classes than I would have without this one. As ready as I now feel for Art IV/V, I feel a little worried over just how I’m going to execute my ideas. I have an idea for an overarching theme of “things I could never say out loud” in my portfolio, and I have several plans for big pieces combining my favorite media, but I hardly even know where to start with things like cutting canvas into curvy shapes. I feel comforted by the knowledge that I can ask for help with these things in order to achieve them more efficiently. I’m also eager to hopefully use the techniques I learned in this class such as stepping back and using different brush techniques to overcome challenges and work out weak spots. I think I’m going to do great next year, and I couldn’t be more eager to get started on my first pieces.