Texture Reflection

Degree of Exploration (Stretch and Explore)

How varied is your collection of textures?
     - My collection of textures is quite varied. I used both natural and unnatural items in my texture blocks to provide contrast, and my Photoshop digital collage exhibits a large variety of textural photographs and rubbings. I used items of different size, shape and color on my texture blocks and images with a variety of textures in my collage. However, three of my texture blocks featured vertical lines in some way, so I could have varied this more. Although the three blocks were made using different techniques and materials, they all have a quality of vertical movement and could have been changed. Overall, I used a wide variety of textures, but could have explored even more interesting and varied textures.

How thoroughly did you explore the effects of juxtaposing and organizing the collection?
     - In general, I thought that I exhibited lots of exploration through organizing the collection. With my texture blocks, I reorganized them over and over again until I found a compelling piece with a variety of different materials. In the rayogram, I also experimented with many different organizations of textures to create an interesting piece. It took me a very long time to decide how to organize the items in my rayogram because I was interested in exploring and organizing the objects in a way that made sense but also provided lots of varied texture. When making my digital collage, I thought that I was very exploratory in organizing the layers of texture and I experimented with many different combinations of texture until I found ones that created an interesting contrast or an interesting relationship. I worked to make the very different textures look cohesive in a final digital collage and organize them to create a unified final piece.

Degree of Craftsmanship and Attention to Detail (Engage and Persist) 

How thoroughly do your various projects for this unit exemplify your exploration of "texture"?
     - I think that my projects exemplify my exploration of "texture" quite thoroughly. I was able to incorporate a large variety of textures into each one of my pieces, from the collage to the texture blocks to the rayogram. Exploration can be seen in my texture blocks where I have used unique and interesting textures in new and abstract ways. For example, I used a collection of push pins on one of my texture blocks and flipped them upside down and organized them by color to explore new methods of organization and juxtaposition. In my digital collage, I incorporated photos of corn, the texture of rocks, the pattern of a tire, and multiple texture rubbings. Finding a way to incorporate all of these items took lots of exploration of texture. In the final project, my exploration of texture is shown because I was able to use real moss to bring out the mossy texture of the rock photographs I had taken. Finding this connection took lots of exploration of texture and thinking about how texture can be used to unify a piece.

To what degree did you push yourself to rework and refine your work?
     - I do feel that I pushed myself to reword and refine my work, but that I could have done so more. For example, I was exploratory in my use of textures on the texture blocks, but I was not able to rework any textures that I was not completely satisfied with. I would have liked to play around more with certain textures and rework them in my final texture blocks. However, I believe that I spent a very long time refining and reworking my digital collage. I would reach a point where I wanted to restart, but instead I chose to rework and reorganize certain images in order to further refine my work. I made sure to look closely at the details of my collage to ensure that all of my textures worked together. I also thought that I successfully refined and reworked my rayogram until I was happy with the results. I tried a variety of different materials in a lot of different positions until I found a final composition that I wanted to photograph. Overall, I think that I was able to push myself to rework and refine my work in most aspects of the texture project, but that I could have been more exploratory and paid more attention to detail when creating the final texture blocks.
   

How well unified is your final texture block / digital image?
     - I believe that my final texture block is very well unified. Although I used a large range of textures, images and rubbings, I believe that they all came together to create a unified composition. Specifically, in my digital collage, I was able to pull the texture off of photographs of rocks using Photoshop and put them in the corners of my collage. When considering which texture to use in my final composition, I chose moss because I noticed that the rocky texture was very natural and organic-looking and closely resembled moss. Also, when considering which rubbings to include in the background of my Photoshop collage, I chose rubbings that I felt looked organic and rough, similar to the texture of the rocks. I thought that even though the texture of corn is very different from the texture of a rubber tire, I was able to unify the two photographs by placing the corn photograph inside of the tire outline. I further unified the outlines of the tires by including the real moss here. In general, I feel that my final texture collage is well unified and cohesive.

Level of Understanding and Growth

In what ways have you developed technically in areas of drawing (rubbings), digital photography and Photoshop, and sculpture?
     - I believe that I have improved my rubbing skills through trial and error and that I was able to improve my photography skills through exploring camera settings. When I first began the rubbings, I used charcoal and found it to be messy and unwieldy for the kinds of rubbings that I was creating. I then switched to a different more waxy media to create cleaner rubbings. With the waxier material, I was able to define the texture where I wanted to and keep the negative space relatively empty. In this way, I believe that I became better at creating precise texture rubbings. I also believe that I grew as a photographer because when I was photographing various textures, I was able to play around with settings and use the macro mode when shooting objects close up and the auto-focus mode when capturing larger textures. Also, simply by using such high-quality cameras, I feel that I developed my knowledge of photography and improved as a digital photographer. Coming into this class, I had never used Photoshop and I definitely believe that I improved my digital collaging skills. Now, I am able to extract certain textures, crop and move images, change colors of pictures, and select specific areas that I would like to focus on. Lastly, I also believe that I improved as a sculptor through working with such a wide range of textures on my texture blocks. I learned to use hot glue guns efficiently and to create texture using items that may not seem textured. I thought that my final texture blocks were sturdy and clean-looking, and this shows my improved sculpture skills.

Are your final works free of glaring technical flaws or difficulties? How might your works have benefitted from technical understanding or control?
     - I feel that my final texture collage, digital collage, and rayogram are free of any glaring flaws or difficulties, but that my texture blocks may not have completely been free of error. I feel that my final collages and rayogram were very clean and organized looking and that I did not have any obvious technical errors to improve. In my texture blocks, I feel that I may have used hot glue in situations when it was not necessary and left certain objects slightly disorganized on the blocks. I feel that some of them could have been glued down better or organized more cleanly. In these ways, I think that my work was mostly technically error free, but that my texture blocks could have used some extra technical work.

Texture Collage

Shape and Composition Project

Look at your rayograms and paper cut-out creations.

What compositional styles where you drawn to? (pattern, rhythm, directional movement et cetera). 

In general, I was drawn to balance and unity because I enjoyed trying to unify foreign objects into a cohesive composition. I also was interested in finding ways to balance various objects using rhythm and directional movement. I particularly liked to make pieces that incorporated items that normally would not go together in a choesive, unified, and balanced way.

How do the shapes of the objects relate to one another on the page? Choose one collage and one print as your most compelling work and explain why.

I chose my white-paper-cuts on black paper collage as the most compelling collage because I found it interesting that directional movement was conveyed using organic shapes that did not clearly indicate a direction of movement. The organic, natural paper cuts were placed in a way that invoked movement in a specific direction without the use of arrows, geometric shapes, or curved shapes. I find the final piece to be unexpectedly unified and moving directionally. 

I would consider my rayogram to be an interesting piece because it incorporated both natural/organic and industrial/inorganic materials. I really like the contrast that these very different items created when they were layered on top of one another in the photo. I also like the dimensionality that was achieved in the rayogram with the translucent screwdriver and three-dimensional nuts and bolts. 

Working in the darkroom can be challenging. There are a lot of technical and mechanical components to keep in mind. Make an outline of your process in the darkroom, go through the steps of making a print. (you do not need to write in complete sentences).

     - arrange your objects on the photo paper and place below the developer                     

     - expose the photo paper to light for 8 seconds

     - place the exposed paper in the developer chemical until fully developed

     - move the exposed paper to the stop bath for 30 seconds

     - move the paper into the fixer chemicals for 2-5 minutes

     - place the paper in the water bath for a few minutes

     - move the paper into the permawash and then back into the water wash

     - remove the print from the water wash and onto the dry racks; leave until completely dry

To what degree did you push yourself to rework and refine your work? How well unified are the compositions of you final collage and photogram prints?

     I definitely pushed myself to rework and refine my work during the paper cuts project, as I would cut and arrange paper cuts and then completely rearrange them over and over again until I found a layout that I liked. I would choose one compositional style to focus on, and then switch my focus to another one and redo my collage in the process. It took me many attempts to get two final collages that I felt satisfied with. However, in the end, I think that this experimentation payed off.

     In the rayogram, I liked being able to experiment with various materials in the darkroom and get a feel for those that appeared best in prints. This process really helped me to discover some interesting objects that i was eager to use in my final piece. When creating my final print, I definitely had to rework and rearrange the materials almost constantly. Although I feel I could hae taken more risks, I thought that I was able to successfully experiment with the materials to find intriguing combinations and create a final composition that respresented one of the elements of composition.

     I think that both of my paper cuts are very unified, as I used the same types of shapes (organic, geometric) throughout each piece to invoke a sense of unity and balance. In the rayogram, I think that the contrast and lack of complete unity was what made my piece interesting. There were no objects that completely did not belong, but some objects were more emphasized than others and I think that this created an interesting display of proportion and contrast. 

HABITS OF MIND
Look at the Artist Habits of Mind. Besides, Develop Craft & Reflect, which habit did you excel at with this “Shape and Composition” project (consider all facets of the project)? Which habit did you struggle with? Give a little explanation about why you chose each one. 

I think that overall, I was successful with experimentation when finding the pieces to put in all three of my final compositions. I had to experiment many times to find ways to successfully unify the sshapes in all three of the pieces. Oftentimes, I was not pleased with the outcomes of my combinations and had to rethink my element of composition and experiment with using materials and shapes in new and unusual ways. I also thought that I did well experimenting while practicing in the darkroom, as I made many prints using a variety of objects in order to see which ones I found most interesting.

Final Rayogram

I chose to focus on contrast when I created this image. I think that the image illustrates contrast because there is a competing mixture of both natural and unnatural elements that create an interesting contrast. I made sure to incorporate both organic shapes and more angular, structured shapes to provide a contrast between items. There is also contrast between the mesh and the black space in the background. I chose to use various industrial materials including chains, nuts and bolts, nails, and screwdrivers and organic materials like fern leaves and honeycombs. I chose the screwdrivers because they are very strong solid shapes that provide the piece with structure. I especially liked that one of the screwdrivers was slightly translucent because I think that this created an interesting dimensional effect. I also chose the honeycomb because it is both opaque and translucent and creates interesting shadows that evoke depth. i think the disorganization of the chains throughout the piece provides some variation and interest to the otherwise organized and balanced piece. 

Rayograms

This composition represents balance because there is a consistent flow of natural items across the page. The objects are all of fairly equal size and are spaced in a rhythmic way. There is also lots of contrast between the solid white objects and the dark background. The organic shapes show interesting movement and evoke natural movement. 

This compostion depicts unity because across the page, all three objects are of similar size and are facing similar directions. Although the natural items are very different in shape, they evoke a similar sense of direcitonal movement and are placed symmetrically, making them look balanced. The item in the middle is proportionately larger than the other two items. 

Paper Cuts Project

White on Black Paper Cuts - Directional Movement
     This piece represents directional movement because when viewing the cut-outs, the eye is taken on a path across the paper. The mind sees the figure from left to right. It curves upwards towards the top and of paper and then downwards to the bottom of the paper. These cut-outs illustrate directional movement because the white shapes are assumed to flow in a certain direction. Although this direction is not otherwise indicated, it can be inferred after viewing the cut-outs.
     I used the negative space to frame the shape made by the cutouts and to create lines that move between each cut-out. The majority of the shaped that I used in this composition were organic because I had based the cut-outs off of sketches I had done of a tree's shadow. The shadow had many inorganic shapes and I used these shapes as inspiration for the project. However, I did use a few straight lines and a small triangle to mix in a few geometric shapes and give the piece a cleaner aesthetic.
  

Black on White Paper Cuts - Unity
     This set of paper-cuts depicts unity because the entire piece is contained within one organic shape and it is balanced and nearly symmetrical. The overall shapes of the cutouts are fairly similar and exhibit a common likeness. I used many curved shapes and triangles to unify the shape that I created. Also, the amounts of negative space left on the paper and somewhat symmetrical and further help to unify the cut-outs in the center.
      In this composition, I used negative space to frame the cuts. There is a nearly equal amount of negative space between each shape and a nearly equal amount of negative space on either side of the figure in the center of the paper. The negative space creates interesting organic and geometric shaped within the figure. In this piece, I used also used many organic shapes to show movement and create interest and fluidity. However, I also integrated geometric shapes into the piece to make it more angular and sharper on the inside while I kept the shapes framing the figure more organic and gave them softer edges. I think that this creates an interesting contrast.


     I find the first composition to be more interesting because I think that the organic shapes create intricate patterns within the negative space and in general, I find the white paper cuts on black paper to be more aesthetically pleasing. I think that the white on black has a more unique effect and creates more contrast, even though the same colors are used in the second piece. I also find the choppy movement in the first to be more intriguing than the symmetrical movement of the second piece.
     I see novel shape and composition within both pieces. I think that there are novel shapes in the upper right hand corner of the second set of cut-outs and I find it interesting that the shapes work well together even if they do not physically fit together or line up exactly. I also see unusual shapes within the bottom right hand section of the first piece, where four cutouts are put together to create a shape almost resembling an arrowhead. I find it interesting that these four organic shapes are able to work together to create a unified object. I also see interesting composition within the unity of the second piece. When thinking about unity, one does not typically think about jagged geometric shapes being put together, but in this case, it works in an unusual way and the jagged lines come together to create a unified piece.

Paper Cut Project

This piece represents directional movement because the eye is taken on a path across the paper. The mind sees the figure from left to right. It curves upwards towards the top of the paper and then downwards to the bottom of the paper. This illustrates directional movement because the white shapes flow in a certain direction across the black paper. Although this direction is not otherwise indicated, the eye assumes that the figure moves from left to right. 

Final Wire Sculpture

Wire Sculpture Project

How does your wire sculpture use line to articulate motion?

 My wire sculpture depicts a volleyball player jump-serving, and i used line to articulate this motion by shaping the player in a strong way. The sculpture has a higher concentration of wire in the chest, shoulders, and legs to show that these areas are partaking in the most movement and have the most strength. The lines in the figure's right arm are bent in a way that represents movement. This arm is the one that is about to hit the volleyball, so it is tensed and in an upright position to show that it will soon move. I also hung the sculpture from a wire so that the figure was hanging in midair to represent the jumping of the athlete through the air. 

In what ways does your sculpture illustrate your technical development?

 My sculpture illustrates my technical development because I was able to use line to show contour and form without completely filling in every part of the sculpture with excess wire. Also, I was able to wrap as little wire as possible and instead rely on line and shape to illustrate definition and strength. I used concentrated amounts of wrapping only at joints and when combining two pieces of wire. I sort of wrapped the legs, but I did this to give the impression of extreme strength and not necessarily to increase volume or take up space. This sculpture also represents my technical development because I was able to give the object some three-dimensionality using wires. For example, I made a spiral and then elongated it to create the spherical shape of the head. I was also able to use wire to create a three-dimensional rib cage of sorts within the chest of the figure. 

Look at your preliminary sketches for your sculpture, how do the sketches resemble your final piece? how are they different?

 The basic shape of my sketches corresponds to that of my sculpture, and the size of the original sketches is similar to the size of my wire sculpture. However, there were many details that came out differently in my final piece. For example, I had originally planned to use a two-dimensional circular wire to create the head of my figure, and I was going to add hair using thin wire. However, in my final work, I was able to make a wire spiral to use as a three-dimensional head, and I decided to forgo the idea of the hair because I could not find a way to make a three-dimensional ponytail that could be seen and understood from all angles. Also, my sketches did not have as prominent of a rib cage as my wire sculpture did. In continuation, I was not planning on adding wires to emphasize the strength in the legs and shoulders of the figure, but I ended up doing so to depict the explosive power of the figure. 

Interim Wire Project

Contour and Gesture Drawings

Contour and Gesture Drawings

In this sketch, I drew a bruised apple. I tried to use light lines to put emphasis on the apple's bruises. I wanted to make it look as natural and organic as possible, and I tried to keep the apple's overall contour lines dark and dramatic. 

Ben posed in front of the class for this drawing, and it was our task to draw this pose. I thought that this pose had lots of interesting movement and an interesting shape. I lightly sketched ovals to represent the overall shape of the body, and I used somewhat frantic lines to represent the movement of the figure. 

Next, Rakesh posed in front of the class. I thought that this posed showed really interesting balance, and I tried to emphasize this with the tilt of the heel on the right foot. I also thought that the overall slant of the body was very interesting and used tilted ovals to represent these shapes. I think that the shape is very organic, and I used soft lines to try to capture this aspect through the contour.