Filippo Brunelleschi & Linear Perspective

This was a research task on an artist named Filippo Brunelleschi who is known for architecture, sculpture, and mechanical engineering and one of the pioneers of early renaissance architecture in Italy as he develops the idea of linear perspective. On the page is two linear perspective sketches done in school and another two linear sketches done at home in order to develop an understanding of linear perspective using the horizon line, vanishing point, etc.. 

Macrocosm|Microcosm: Experimenting with Photography/Mark-Making/Audio/Moving Image

For this task, as a class we went to the school's lake as it was outdoor in nature and used the four techniques below in order to create work from viewpoints in nature investigation: 
Frottage - wax crayons/graphite
Audio/Moving image using smart devices
Photography with filters apps created using smart devices
Direct observation extreme close-up dry mediums
As we also considered manmade and architectural forms as a contrast. 
For any of the tasks that we were unable to manage and complete were to completed as a homework during spring break. 
The experiments from the image on the left hand side focuses on recording colour. 
The QR code is the link to the audio sound.. 
The experiments from the image on the right hand side is technique or process of taking a rubbing from an uneven surface to form the basis of work of art (mark-making). This focuses on marks rather than the outline. It builds up the surface looking at the quality of tone and the use of marks to recreate surfaces. 

ViewPoints In Nature - Unit 2

During the lesson we were asked to sit in groups and gather our ideas regarding any word related to nature. Using the mind map created in class, we were to create a 'double page' title page. It was then our choice of how we wanted to respond to this. I responded in a form of visual images from photographs uploaded on google in order to make it visually interactive with words all around both double pages that would best describe nature with some unique words to show a unique way of thinking about the title of the unit. 
These words include of: 
-Palm trees
-Landscape
-Man-made disasters
-Lively
-Environmental awareness 
-Plants/ man-made objects
-Weather that could lead to disasters
-Trees/ Buildings 
-Photography
-Natural wonders
-Beauty 
-Habitats 
-Colour/ darkness 
-Underground -fruits/nature -dirt/soil
-Biomes/ city 
-Global warming 
-Constructions
-Wild 
-Pollution
-Animals
-Planning 
-Food 
-Generations
-Religon
-Growth
-Human innovation 

Reflection of Final work & Exhibtion

For the large scaled portraits exhibited in the theme of art in our cultures, as we were given 32 A4 squared papers which when placed together created a large scale portrait of one of the most influential people on times magazine and as for my group, we were given the portrait of Vikram Patel to recreate ranging from different materials in order to recreate an effective portrait. While creating this specific portrait we definitely faced into different types of difficulties as sometimes not bringing in the squares that they were taken home to be completed on the day of the deadline really affected the group since if one person brings you down the whole team goes down  very different compared to working individually as you're the only one that gets affected and you basically bring yourself down. Therefore, there are more pressure when it came to working as a group since you would get the feeling and making sure you don't let your team down. Despite this matter, and considering the fact the we put a long amount of time to creating this portrait there were definitely times that a member would forget to bring in the a4 paper or at times when a member of the group is absent that would also affect the group and the project as it would be harder to get portraits done on time and additionally they would be left out on decision making regarding the portrait. Therefore, the presence of every member in the group is highly important. Furthermore, lack in being committed to the work is also considered highly important as each member of the group must definitely put in all their efforts in completing and recreating this portrait in order to meet deadlines on time and would absolutely help for further improvement and refinements needed in order for the portrait to be neatly exhibited. There were also difficulties in following all the tones and textures and clearly presenting them in the portrait. Moreover, there were times where the portrait didn't go exactly as planned sometimes turned to be a good thing but sometimes it turned out to awful for example when it came to the collar of the shirt, we messed it up by using a black cloth on it assuming it would work perfectly to present the collar however, it turned to look horrible which we then removed it and changed our idea into using pieces of black lines following it's original line which turned to look out my better and more effective. We continuously referred to the original portrait as used the primary source of printing the portrait for more accuracy which helped a lot when it came for improvements and making sure everything fell into place. Throughout this process, I have learnt that refinement is extremely important certainly not easy and fun but one of the most important section when in comes to art making and in this case for the portrait there are times when you think the portrait is completely done and that there is nothing to improve but once you take a closer look at it, you realise that even a simple small part needs refinement in order to create a finished final product. Overall, regarding this matter, I've learnt that you are only done with your portrait or even any art work once there's nothing more to improve and nothing left for refinment from a far distance as well as a near distance and thats when you know your artwork is completed and ready to be displayed as a final product. Withal, i've also learnt that meeting dealings are highly important because that's something which is expected from you and in this case if we didn't meet our deadlines with wouldn't have come to a completely finished outcome if which it was presented it would show lack of commitment also leading to bad grades and reports. In consideration of working in a group, we observed and learnt different skills and techniques from each other and I personally learnt more about how other people think and how it's either similar or completely different to my way of thinking these includes of arrangement, grouping, time management, coordination, preparation, etc...  My areas of improvement in which I should consider are time management and preparation as I should make sure all my work is in on time and I must come fully prepared to lessons.  Once we completed and were done with refining certain parts of the portrait, our next focus was on curating and organising the exhibition. Since it really plays a big role in the process of the exhibition as well as the outcome which will then be more organised for the audience to enjoy and admire each and every artwork exhibited. This also helps the audience to follow an organised path when it comes to viewing the artwork as planning the displacement of each artwork is part of curating an exhibition. I believe the aspect of an exhibition that needs to be considered is when it came to the age group of the audience and as for this exhibition there weren't certainly a specific or an approximate age group as it was free for everyone and anyone to come by therefore, as a curator we definitely expected a lot of kids therefore, making sure the artwork doesn't get destroyed or damaged by the audience we had to consider and make sure the people working for their shifts had an eye on the kids. Additionally, if the exhibition is littered it wouldn't be pleasant to be viewed and invigilated by audiences and other artists and due to the atmosphere of the exhibition being placed in the canteen and due to that specific day being on international day meaning food will be all around the place, litter will highly be expected and as the job for the people taking over the shift they should also consider telling younger kids to make sure that they don't litter in order to keep the place clear and organised and fully away from any litter being in the way. This is why it's important to have all the members of the group present on that day meaning, everyone must show up and even if one person is absent, it would surely affect their group members as they would have more work to do and more aspects to be aware of because it's hard work being a curator. I personally, think i did well and put a lot of effort and time towards this whole project especially when it came to the sketch portrait as I put a lot of time almost every day in order to complete each part of it and i'm very proud all the work and effort i've put into this unit. I do believe my sketchbook and blog reflects my art process as i can always come back to refer to my improvements and the areas that I need improving on and it's always good to record your hard work as by the end of the year you can come back to see how you started and generally just see your whole process in art. During this whole unit, i've learnt  time management, teamwork, organisation and basically how important it is to not let your team down as well as the skills that went along with it. I definitely did improve on artistic skills especially for the sketch portrait i've learnt the ways in which you could make your portrait look 3D by simple shading and effects, throughout this, I've also learnt how tone and texture are important as it affects the way in this case a portrait has been lay-out and finally, I've also had an improvement with meeting deadlines and time management as it's very important when it comes to exhibiting especially getting work done much quicker instead of extending the deadlines and just dragging the work along. In order to make the unit more fun, It would've been better if we would just share our ideas for other groups apart from our own group and compare them to our own ideas and see if we could maybe consider their ideas and other groups could also come to tell us their improvements and how they think we should improve our portraits this way we would have a whole load of ideas and as our own group we could consider those ideas among ourselves and choose the best ones out of it according to ourselves this way the portraits would look much more better as we would have everyones suggestions. 

Curatorial Rationale & Service & Action

I individually started by creating a sketch portrait using the grid technique inspired by an artist named Chuck Close. Afterwards, as a ground of five, we created a large scale portrait using the same grid technique inspired by the same artist using one of the times top 100 most influential people named Vikram Patel. We used Vikram Patel's background of the things he had done and accomplished in order to reach the point as to where he is now; to show and link this back to the theme of our exhibition and the importance of their work within a global society. As he was a psychiatrist and helps bring better mental health care to low resource communities. He goes around the world trying to bring communities closer together and help cultures remain proudly united. Vikram Patel inspired our group to create this portrait in this way as we show link between his background to his physical features. Afterwards, we basically had to think and plan about how the exhibition should be set up around in the canteen as parents and other students will enter. In order to commit time to planning and exhibiting, I stayed back on monday during lunch as another double lesson working on this and curating the art exhibition as I was not able to stay after school due to difficulties in transportation, I also stayed back on the day of the exhibition an extra shift in order to help take back the art works and clear up as I wasn't fully present for taking the artworks down to the canteen. Therefore, as a solution, I stayed back to clear up. During our shifts we made sure students/parents/guests were not to touch any artworks as we also made sure they do not litter the canteen furthermore, we helped in answering the question they had regarding the artworks and to further explain our own artworks to the parents/students/guests using our own skills to share valuable information about. As for the actual display of the collaborative portrait we titled our work as 'Vikram Patel' making the portrait stand out as it gets introduced by the name presenting to the audience that he's an important person making the audience want to discover and know more as they are also highly interested in art as it keeps them engaged. We created a list including of our names as all artworks in exhibitions are credited by their names. As a group we made sure we had our background information regarding the artist put along with it as Husnaa &  I were responsible for this specific task. I personally enjoyed the way the exhibition had been set up as i invigilated the exhibition. I think this because as parents/students/guests walked through the canteen they were greeted as they observed a collection of large scale portrait with the artists who created and helped in created being present ready for guidance and assistance and definitely present for any questions that ran into they mind. As a class we decided to have all the individual grid portraits on one board as it will look very much effective as it's all placed out like a collage of portraits and as the audience would notice it from far as they're walking towards it also keeping the audience engaged making them want to look further into each one of the portraits. Therefore, I believe the organisation of the exhibition was set out brilliantly especially with each group having shifts to cover until the end of the exhibition. During the exhibition, i also invigilated everything presented for exhibition as my point of view as an MYP art student as well as the audience in order to get a better view of what's going on around the exhibiting with all the artworks and how it created an interesting and effective atmosphere for just anyone to observe and admire all the hard work and effort that has been put through making all this starting from the small pencil drawing portrait to the collaborative large scale portraits and finally to the whole exhibition and curating followed by all the responsibilities that came along with it. 

Research on Vikram Patel

 After starting our collaborative portrait, we were asked to research on the person in which were working on (Vikram Patel).

Vikram Patel is known to be one of the most 100 influential people on times magazine. He basically helps bring better mental health care to low resource communities. He does this by teaching ordinary people too deliver basic psychiatric services. He is also known for his vital contribution in laying the foundation of global mental health thorough numerous research articles and textbooks. He also researched and have looked at the burden of mental disorders and suicide in young people; the association of prover and gender based violence with depression and suicide; HIV/AIDS and maternal as well as child health.

Creating a Collaborative Portrait

During the start of this specific topic, each group were given 32 A4 papers in which when placed together created a large scale photo of one of the most 100 influential people on times magazine and as for my group (Dia, Husnaa, Virgina and Insia) were given the portrait of Vikram Patel. And as for this project, we were asked to recreate this portrait using different materials in order to recreate an effective portrait.

Chuck Close Inspired Grid Pencil Technique

As we completed the Cindy Sherman inspired photographic portraits, we were asked to do the same using inspiration from Chuck Close. To start off, we had to print a clear black and white A4 sized portrait of either a family member, relative, friends or even ourself as Chuck Close had already done. For this particular task, I have chosen my cousin. We then had to create a photo-realistic portrait using the style of technique of Chuck Close (Grid Technique). While creating this, we had to focus on using a range of B pencils to create a range of textures and tonal values in order to create the inspired portrait. 

Cindy Sherman inspired Portraits & Reflection

After completing our PowerPoint presentations, we then continued further with the ideas and techniques of Cindy Sherman and were asked to create a series of portraits that explore identity in the style of Cindy Sherman. As we were done, we then had to write a reflection that explains how and why we created the works which we've created and further explore this work. As for this certain project, I have recreated my own photos inspired by Cindy Sherman and I have chosen her Clown idea and concept using a variety of apps, make-ups and props like the way Cindy Sherman had done. In my opinion, the clown works of Cindy Sherman had the most impact because, it personally gave me a better understanding of her work. My subject is generally focused on the dark side of Cindy Sherman by demonstrating and bringing out the different ways and faces of  'clowns'; as Cindy Sherman has done for her clown images. Cindy Sherman herself describes this certain concept of photography as intense, nasty and ugly side since she believes clowns have an underlying sense of sadness while they're trying to cheer other people up. I personally agree with this statement because clowns are always known for their happiness and their 'funny actions'. Accordingly, clowns are always seen and present at little children's birthday party for entertainment. Although 'happy' is what we see on the outside can it be the same underneath all that makeup and costume?  

Here are the inspired photographic portraits which I have created as an inspiration to Cindy Sherman: 

Comparative Study PowerPoint Presentation

After researching on the two artists, Cindy Sherman and Chuck Close, we then had to choose a partner and work in pairs to create a Comparative study PowerPoint presentation based on both artists. We had to demonstrate knowledge and understanding on function and purpose of art works created by Cindy Sherman & Chuck Close. We also had to include social historical contact of these works and explain why both artists are deemed as two of the very best in the world today. Furthermore, we had to demonstrate critical thinking and interpret the works highlighting similarities and differences.

Artist Research: Chuck Close

After researching on the artist Cindy Sherman, we then started to research on another artist called Chuck Close; in order to get more familiar with his famous grid- technique portraits. Throughout my research based on Chuck Close, I've discovered that most of the work by Chuck Close, is based on the use of a grid as a underlying basis. Chuck Close is indeed a very creative person who uses many techniques and methods. Everything he makes is from photographs and images because as my teacher always mentions, artists generally use primary source images rather than a secondary source image; meaning they generally take photographs and print it out rather than finding images from the media. After he has his primary source image ready, he then cuts those images down into small pieces which allows him to concentrate onto one piece of image. Furthermore, all his portraits are either his family, friends, relative or even himself. He also believes that a person's face shows what kind of life they had. 

However, before we were instructed to create a double page based on Chuck Close, as a class, we had watched a video about Chuck Close which presented the techniques of Chuck Close and his process through creating portraits and as a homework, we were asked to continue watching the video as it was quite long and take down notes. 

Artist research: Cindy Sherman

As a start off to the topic, we were asked to research on the artist Cindy Sherman. We basically had to   figure out who she was as an artist as well as the arts produced by her; in order to get more familiar with artist research and different techniques used by them. We also had to choose four art works created by Cindy Sherman and analyse each four of them. Throughout my research, I have learnt that, Cindy Sherman takes photographs using props, make-up and photoshops in order to present a wide range of characters which each presents a variety of different personality. She basically creates a whole new world for each of them; whether the character is male or female. 

MYP Unit: Perceptions Of Self & MindMap

Key concepts: Identities and relationships 
Related concepts: Communities 
Statement of inquiry: The process of artistic creation can lead to self discovery 
Inquiry question: What connections of elements can be identified as specific to the genre? 

Before starting our very first unit of the year regarding perception of self, we were put into groups which we then had to create a mind map about everything we knew that related to perception of self. 

These points included:

• Mentality 
• Personality - Beliefs 
• Family - Self experiences, culture, style 
• Background - Choices you make
• Talents 
• Self appearance - Photos, Selfies- filters (different appearances) - Social Media , Make-up 
• Point of View - Likes and Dislikes 
  

Introduction

This is basically my MYP Arts process journal. This blog will include of documented evidence and process throughout my learning of Visual Arts in year 10. The reason as to why I've chosen this specialism is because, I have a strong passion and interest towards Art especially creating Art. During the MYP course of art, I look forward in learning new techniques as well as skills, expanding my knowledge towards art and famous artists and also understanding choices and decisions made by a variety of different artists in order to learn and understand how they started and the things they did in order to reach where they are now.