Plein air
Mentor Visit Assessment #4 Mentor: Zahra Jahanyfard Profession: Fine Artist Location: Hall Park [6801 Gaylord Pkwy #100, Frisco, TX 75034] Date: 04/12/18 Time: 12:10 p.m. - 1:10 p.m. Assessment: For quite a while my mentor visits have not been incredibly noteworthy. We mostly talked. Of course, the conversations had their use; I learned a great deal about my mentor’s organization and mindset. Nevertheless, the conversations lacked substance. Mr. Speice pointed this out to me; I need to be more active. ISM is a course that propels active and engaged learning. I should not be neglecting that. So, for this mentor visit Mrs. Jahanyfard and I decided to have me follow her to one of her classes. She was teaching in a local park; her goal was to show her students value and shape in nature. What was truly interesting about the class, though, was the environment. Only recently did I begin drawing outside; it is still a relatively new experience. This visit, though, allowed me to gain a more solid grasp of why I should do this. The outside world is overflowing with new possible art pieces. Just in the hour I was there I saw a blue bird land on a rust-colored sculpture, a duck swim around a lake and later rest beside a tree, and a line of turtles facing the lake, ready to jump. These few scenes would provide for amazing paintings with practically perfect lighting. Being out there showed me how much I have been missing by staying indoors. The outdoors environment is perfect for an artist. I should be taking advantage of that. Every possible drawing or painting is full of challenges provide me with a chance to improve. If I spend my time working outside I will be able to gain something I have been lacking. For most of the year I have felt rather stagnant. This change of pace seems engaging and exciting; it is an opportunity to step out of my comfort zone. I could easily take advantage of this by going out to a few more parks. Each has its own character of sorts, so spending my time in them will allow me to paint more distinct and unique pieces. The serene atmosphere is also extremely calming and thought provoking. Moreover, I could spend my time in a more urban area in a city. The contrasting, busy atmosphere would provoke completely different thoughts. Also, being outdoors seems to stimulate my creativity. I do not consciously think much there, but it seems I still am thinking. The thoughts that pop up are more abstract and meaningful than my usual ideas. Just in this visit I saw a duck looking at a tree; later in the day, I thought of making a drawing where its neck elongated like a giraffe eating from that tree. I usually do not have creative thoughts like these. The environment is inspiring; I feel motivated to go out more often just so I can foster this creativity. Creativity is something I have always lacked, so I am extremely excited to begin developing it. My hope is that this surge of creativity might help me create more meaning in my work.
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Sketches
Mentor Visit Assessment #3 Mentor: Zahra Jahanyfard Profession: Fine Artist Location: 2355 Lebanon Rd, Frisco, TX 75034 Date: 03/23/18 Time: 5:00 pm - 6:00 pm Assessment: A few months ago my mentor and I decided to challenge ourselves by creating some sort of artwork every day. We did so fairly easily. What really stood out was the how much I enjoyed the process. There is just something about art that calms me; really, it is cathartic. I decided to do so again in hopes to keep building art as a habit. Day 1 This really is just a sketch for something I will paint later. Now, however, it served to show me how much I have improved. I never thought I would be able to draw this. It looks like a distorted dog. In a sense, it looks fractured. I have tackled it now, though, and it seems more manageable. I feel more confident in my abilities. It is incredibly encouraging to feel this way; I am compelled to further challenge myself. Day 2 This is not the only sketch I have drawn for today, but it sort of symbolizes all of them. They are not detailed; they are scribbles. I have mentioned time and time again how much I adore the less realistic art styles. This way of sketching reminds me of the style of painting I adore. It is more free-flowing and filled with movement. Practicing this style feels amazing and still challenging. There is a fine line between a good stylized drawing and messy scribbles; I am still searching for the balance. Day 3 Today was very similar to yesterday. This image, however, serves as the first sketch in a series I did today to start thinking about a promise I made while I was in Brazil. I told my grandparents I would paint their house. Of course, this sketch is rough and malformed. Nevertheless, it is helping me see the areas in which I will struggle when I actually commit to painting this. The backyard of their house is cluttered with nature and small building; I want to do them justice, so I want to ease into this. The slow, but consistent drawings will allow me to gain a better grasp of how to face this challenge. It will also prepare me to create the best painting I can. Day 4 For this day I decided to explore something completely out of my comfort zone, fantasy. This sketch was my attempt at sci-fi. The odd circle is a planet; the weird rectangles are parts of a sort of space-station. Maybe “space-city” would be a more appropriate word. I imagine the white lines being streaks of a spaceship flying around the city, which, itself, orbits the planet. My hope here is to challenge myself to do something different. I have been meaning to step out of my comfort zone. Working on projects like these should help me actually develop my skills in this area. Day 5 As part of AP Art Drawing, one of my classes, I have to draw twelve pieces with the same theme. For this year, I picked my dogs. Painting them has allowed me to develop that expressionist-sort-of-style I adore. Nevertheless, I have grown bored of painting semi-close-up artworks of my dogs where I focus on their fur. I want to do something different. So, for this sketch I focused on perspective, but still managed to include the dogs. I will be painting this at a later date, but, for now, the sketch alone has served to encourage me to pursue more change and improvement. Day 6 I went for two opposing spectrums today. I continued my attempts at exploring sci-fi, but I also drew a portrait of what I imagine a roman would look like. I rarely draw people, not to mention robots. This was my way to re-familiarize myself with both concepts. I feel I should do this more often. For the past few days I have been veering further away from what I usually do. This constant search for change shows me how much I still have to work on and how little I actually know. Stepping out of my comfort zone will introduce me to new concepts, techniques, and styles. It will allow me to further grow and develop as an artist. Of course, I want to keep doing this. The only way I see how is by continuing what I have been doing. By continuing to explore through my sketches I will be able to more quickly scroll through the massive amounts of opportunities I have in the arts. Narrowing what I truly enjoy will be more difficult, but it will help me better understand what I enjoy and seek. Day 7 I went back to form today. Still, this sketch does a sort of combination of things I have been trying to do recently. The sketch tackles the odd sketchy style I am attempting to develop, it incorporates something different than my dog, and it helps me prepare to draw my grandparents house. What this sketch did that differed was that it showed me another medium I may work on. I have drawn in the board before, but I never realized why I keep doing so. I enjoy it; really, it is fun! I also feel more free to be crazier with my lines. In a sense, I am motivated to explore with more mediums to draw and paint on. I have explored cardboard and now dry-erase board, but I rarely touched anything else. This could be another way for me to explore more ways to challenge myself. Action
Mentor Visit Assessment #3 Mentor: Zahra Jahanyfard Profession: Fine Artist Location: 2355 Lebanon Rd, Frisco, TX 75034 Date: 03/08/18 Time: 5:00 pm - 6:00 pm Assessment: Mrs. Jahanyfard put it in simple terms for me. Art compels and pushes a person to improve and change, and not just in regards to art but also one’s life. Through the process of pursuing betterment and challenge, one has to find ways to change his or her habits and self. A consequence of trying to improve in one area leads to improvement in another. Mrs. Jahanyfard shared with me that whenever she attempts to improve as a painter, she finds herself reflecting in other parts of her life; this leads to betterment her in organization and mindset also. This is something I should have already realized and probably consciously knew at one point. Honestly, it angers me that I did not consciously think this throughout my time in ISM II. Art is not something to tunnel vision into; it broadens one’s world. By exploring art one may find growth in many other different areas, and it comes from the mindset art brings. All of last year I attempted to grow as a painter. This quest and challenge, which involved the one hundred paintings I made, encouraged me to also improve me writing, and presentation skills. Moreover, I learned more about what compels me to improve and began learning of ways to best develop my talents and weaknesses. At the time I thought, if I am trying my best in one thing, why not all. It was that change in mindset that motivated me to act in this way. I wanted to grow as a painter, but to do so I had to give it my best effort; while pursuing this, I realized I should put my whole effort in everything I do. It is vital for me to now, at the very least, begin seeking improvement once more. This brought me success last year; my goal is that it will do so again. Of course that would involve constant reflection and effort, but it would be worth it. I have learned and seen from my mentor and past experiences that the rewards for effort feel much greater than the risks. Achieving success, improving feels incredibly satisfying. Even when one fails, it can motivate them to improve. In a sense, that is what I hope it will do for me this last few months of school. I feel like I have not done justice to the opportunities ISM gives me. This mentor visit encouraged me to change this doubt and guilt I feel. Now I want to grow and improve more than ever. I am inspired to be the best I can be not to prove anything to anyone other than myself, but to do justice to the opportunities and sacrifices others have taken for me. The best way to do this is to create a worthy final product. I am working with a friend to create a video promoting the arts in Frisco. This requires us to conduct various interviews in a timely fashion. This mentor visit has compelled me to not just do this well, but, instead, to give it my full effort. It is genuinely exciting; I will be meeting with professionals from all sorts of careers. This change of pace already feels great! Two things must be done to make this product worthwhile: First, I need to stick to the schedule. Organization has always been a weakness, but recently I have begun to address it to a much higher degree. By keeping pace and continuously being productive, I will ensure everything goes according to plan. Secondly, I need to be prepared. Most of these interviews are with types of professionals I have never encountered in the past. I need to be ready to converse with them and act in an appropriate way best fit to the environment. Moreover, I cannot waste their time; it is important for me to ask questions worthwhile questions. I have spent too long pondering one what needs to be improved; this mentor visit highlighted the fact that I need to take action. Improvement can only be accomplished through effort. I know the rewards are great, so I will seek to give everything I do my all. |
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