Post 2/Reading 2

       This week I worked 20+ hours on the stippling alone. It was very tedious and frustrating at times, but the repetition of it was very meditative. After finishing the stippling of the art, I moved on to figuring out what I wanted my collage to look like and how I would like it to come off of the figure in a dynamic way and give it a sort of flow/movement within the piece. I decided to go for a more crown-like approach, but not too literal as the collage with make the crown more abstract when applied. The torso will also have the collaged piece flowing down from it and give the piece a more unified aspect. The collage piece will consist of red tints and shades with a possible pop of gold. I chose red because of the connotations that the color red bring to the viewer: wrath, love, lust, excitement, emotion, or even temptation. I like the fact that this gives the viewer the option to have their own interpretation of how the color red speaks to them in this piece. 

Close-up

Final stippling with a preview of what the shape of the collage will be

Collage shapes/pieces

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At first, I did not have any inspiration from an artist when it came to the collage. Looking at pictures of my previously stated inspired artist, Erik Jones, I found another artist named Niky Roehreke. Niky is a design and illustration artist who is inspired by fashion and uses it in her work. She cuts out pieces from magazines and collages them on human figures to create garment-like shapes and other abstracted forms. This led me to the idea of collaging the shapes on my figure almost like she was wearing it. This will give my figure some character and make it more interesting. 

Niky Roehreke

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       Chapters 1-2 in the reading were all about the fear in art and how it affects us as artists. That fear can make us have unfinished projects, doubt our skill and ability, exhaust ideas, and also avoid venturing into ideas and materials that scare us. This fear can harshly affect us as an artist. It can prevent growth and the acceptance that the process of art is all about experiencing new things and knowing when to fail. We are afraid of making mistake and the idea that the artwork is in the fate of our own hands sounds a bit scary. But this feat can fade with the acceptance of mistakes and failure. Trying out new materials and not giving up when projects get tough can help the artist diminish this fear. According to chapter 2, those who continue to make art are those who have learned how to continue- or more precisely, when to not quit making art. The process of making can be hard on the artist if it isn't going their way, but that's what makes them grow and learn from their mistakes. For me, this fear is all too real. With my current stippling piece, the fear of making the wrong marks or over-doing the dots and making it too dark lingers constantly in the back of my head. I have thought about quitting and giving up at many times because it got difficult and I was afraid it would not turn out how I wanted it. But, I kept pushing through, and I kept making those tiny dots layer after layer. I can definitely say I have grown from this piece because I did not stop. I am an artist because I keep pushing on when it gets difficult and that fear is a great motivator to show yourself that you can accomplish it.