3/7/14
It was day 2 for additive self portrait drawing. After yesterday when most of the kids just gotten hard dark lines down, some of them are starting to add shading and highlights in areas that they need to. For some reason we still have this floating head effect where not too many people want to add necks or shoulders to their drawings, they only want to have faces. We see this a lot with first level drawing classes, and I don't really understand why. So Wertz began to explain anchor points and the techniques of bridge, tay and cruciform, which are compositions that have 2, 3, and 4 anchor points to make the work less of a halo.
Sunday, April 6, 2014
3/10/14 Journal
3/10/14
Wertz pulled a curveball on everyone and went around dumping graphite resin onto their papers. After the initial all-out chaos of everyone freaking out and being upset, He explained that everyone would be doing a subtractive drawing similar to the ones that they had done earlier in the semester. They got to work, but there were comments throughout the whole class period about how this sucked and no one wanted to do it. He has to make them uncomfortable somehow, and he did a good job of doing that today, even though all of the kids hated him for it.
Wertz pulled a curveball on everyone and went around dumping graphite resin onto their papers. After the initial all-out chaos of everyone freaking out and being upset, He explained that everyone would be doing a subtractive drawing similar to the ones that they had done earlier in the semester. They got to work, but there were comments throughout the whole class period about how this sucked and no one wanted to do it. He has to make them uncomfortable somehow, and he did a good job of doing that today, even though all of the kids hated him for it.
3/11/14 Journal
3/11/14
Today was the last day for subtractive self portraiture. Some of the results are great. Over top of their additive drawings, the students were given graphite resin to begin subtractive drawings with kneaded erasers. This produces interesting results. The students continue to use images from their phones as reference, which is normally frowned upon, but some of the more daring ones have started to use mirrors. This is encouraging, considering that any student who continues with other art classes or goes to school for art will be laughed at and discredited for using a photo reference for a self portrait rather than a mirror.
Today was the last day for subtractive self portraiture. Some of the results are great. Over top of their additive drawings, the students were given graphite resin to begin subtractive drawings with kneaded erasers. This produces interesting results. The students continue to use images from their phones as reference, which is normally frowned upon, but some of the more daring ones have started to use mirrors. This is encouraging, considering that any student who continues with other art classes or goes to school for art will be laughed at and discredited for using a photo reference for a self portrait rather than a mirror.
3/12/14 Journal
3/12/14
Today we began the second portion of this self portrait project. Wertz wants the kids to dive into the world of college, so he is having them rip, tear, cut, glue, whatever they want to do, with different types of paper. Some of the kids who are more willing to try new things just jumped in, but most were apprehensive. Looking back to when I was an underclassmen, I was the same way. I was almost perfectionistic in the way that I worked, and I didn't want to do anything I wasn't comfortable with. But now I am used to being uncomfortable, so I am trying to have the kids realize that not much growth will come out of being comfortable all the time. So I hope to see them loosen up within the next few days.
Today we began the second portion of this self portrait project. Wertz wants the kids to dive into the world of college, so he is having them rip, tear, cut, glue, whatever they want to do, with different types of paper. Some of the kids who are more willing to try new things just jumped in, but most were apprehensive. Looking back to when I was an underclassmen, I was the same way. I was almost perfectionistic in the way that I worked, and I didn't want to do anything I wasn't comfortable with. But now I am used to being uncomfortable, so I am trying to have the kids realize that not much growth will come out of being comfortable all the time. So I hope to see them loosen up within the next few days.
3/13/14 Journal
3/13/14
The kids continued to collage over their drawn self portraits with construction paper and other types of papers. I realized today how far that I have come in the past 3+ years, and how much I have learned in the art wing. It is a little bit overwhelming for me sometimes to have all of the students kind of be in awe of me and act as if I know everything there is to know. I do know a lot, but it is probably 1% of what I could eventually know in the art field. At the same time as it feels good to have the students look up to me, it is also nerve-racking. I try to find a balance between being their peer and also trying to teach them at the same time. It is an interesting dynamic.
The kids continued to collage over their drawn self portraits with construction paper and other types of papers. I realized today how far that I have come in the past 3+ years, and how much I have learned in the art wing. It is a little bit overwhelming for me sometimes to have all of the students kind of be in awe of me and act as if I know everything there is to know. I do know a lot, but it is probably 1% of what I could eventually know in the art field. At the same time as it feels good to have the students look up to me, it is also nerve-racking. I try to find a balance between being their peer and also trying to teach them at the same time. It is an interesting dynamic.
3/14/14 Journal
3/14/14
Everyone was supposed to finish up with the collaging stage of their self portraits today. Looking back at the beginning drawings, it is cool to see how far they have come. Honestly, I'm not a huge fan of collage, because it is really easy to make something look tacky, but some of the kids are doing a really good job of it. Others, of course, are making their work look like the inside of a teenage girl's locker, but we like to call that failing forward. It's difficult to have success in something if you haven't first failed at it.
Everyone was supposed to finish up with the collaging stage of their self portraits today. Looking back at the beginning drawings, it is cool to see how far they have come. Honestly, I'm not a huge fan of collage, because it is really easy to make something look tacky, but some of the kids are doing a really good job of it. Others, of course, are making their work look like the inside of a teenage girl's locker, but we like to call that failing forward. It's difficult to have success in something if you haven't first failed at it.
3/17/14 Journal
3/17/14
The students began to put their self portrait works into the computer today. Though some of them had already posted their scans to their Bloggers, most of them had not. Apparently nearly all of the kids are taking pictures of their work with their phones and then sending them to their blogs, which we need to get them out of the habit of doing. A scan is a much better solution, and its resolution and quality is so much higher. So I essentially had to show each person how to use the scanner and upload their scans to their blogs and Wertz's thumb drive on the computer. Next they are going to begin using the Adobe Suites of Illustrator and Photoshop to enhance their self portrait collages.
The students began to put their self portrait works into the computer today. Though some of them had already posted their scans to their Bloggers, most of them had not. Apparently nearly all of the kids are taking pictures of their work with their phones and then sending them to their blogs, which we need to get them out of the habit of doing. A scan is a much better solution, and its resolution and quality is so much higher. So I essentially had to show each person how to use the scanner and upload their scans to their blogs and Wertz's thumb drive on the computer. Next they are going to begin using the Adobe Suites of Illustrator and Photoshop to enhance their self portrait collages.
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