Collectors Edition

Thirty-six magazines are what my collection consists of. It continues to grow every month. Once a month a new edition of Runners World Magazine comes out and I always snatch one off of the shelf from the Running Company. I started as a freshman in high school when I got my first copy for Christmas and at first I was obsessed with them. I would read every issue cover to cover the second it came out. Anytime I had free time I would read my Runners World Mag and it would pump me up for practice the next day. As I started to get older my school work and number of other priorities got much greater than they had been when I was a freshman. I don't have as much time to read all of the issues in my free time anymore. However, I still collect them and read the articles that really strike my interest. I also check out the "rave run" photo on the inside cover of every issue and it inspires me to travel and see the world when I get older. The artlicles in those magazines pertain to just about any problem a runner may come in counter with and they are a good resource to help cope with your problem. I think that I will collect Runners World for as long as I run or stay in running. It is a great thing to collect and the collection will always keep on growing 

Black & White v. Color; Comparing and Contrasting

This year we did two types of drawings instead of one. One of these drawings was in regular graphite pencil, and one of the drawings was in colored pencil. The graphite drawing was of a bike that was set up in our classroom. I had drawn and shaded in graphite last year. I definitely improved on my skills and I was excited for the colored drawing as well. The colored drawing was of a jar of candy in the room. The shading ended up being much more difficult with the colored pencil but all the different colors made it fun. I liked the technique of blending. Not just shades but also blending the different colors together to make unique color creations. We got to do a third project with coloring our boxes and I really enjoyed that too. Drawing in color made the project feel much less stressful than the graphite drawing had. But I'm glad we got the experience of doing both. 

The Art of Cycling

This year our drawing assignment was drawing and shading an angle of our choice of the bike set up in the art room. My intriguing angle presented a big challenge in drawing and shading my bike. I do think my skills in both of drawing and shading have gotten better than they had been last year. This was definitely a challenging project and drawing is one of the things that I find most difficult in art class. I'm just glad that it's all over and I'm excited for what's next 

A Sweet Temptation

As the Halloween season approached, we were tempted by sweet insides of the jar. This colorful and delicious drawing of our candy was a fun and exciting way to end the marking period. Adding color to our drawings made them really pop. And coloring on the pre decorative paper made it even better. Shading with the colored pencils was pretty difficult and making the jar look realistic was even harder. However, I went for it and drew what I saw from my perspective. With drawing not being one of my favorite techniques in art class, I am satisfied with the way my drawing came out. Now I can't wait to eat all of it!

Art 2013-2014: New Year, New Challenges

As a new year starts I am excited to be getting back to Mrs. Kiicks art class. There will be lots of things keeping me busy this Fall such as SATS, college applications, college visits, cross country, and school work. I am happy that I can come to art class and just put all that aside for one period each day and just really relax and "Express Myself" on paper. I am excited to make the best of this year and my final art experience and I know it will be a good one.

Final Reflections

As this year is coming to a close I have been looking back on how I have grown throughout the year. One really important decision was taking art class. Although I am really tight with time at the end of the year, taking it was a really good idea. Everyday I could come to art class and forget about all the other stressful classes I have and just enjoy myself. I could really open up my mind and see the slightly creative side that I never thought I had. I amazed myself with the works I created this year and it was a big feeling of accomplishment. My favorite thing all year had to of been either the lantern or my short story based painting. Cutting paper was a really sick technique that I'm happy I learned. Investigating and learning about Keith Haring's life was really cool and I got to learn what life of a professional artist was like. Wrapping it all together in the end by sewing the works together into a book was a great idea because I know I will always have my book. The relationships I developed with Mak, Matty, Trish, Mrs. Kiick, and the rest of my classmates are amazing and I'm happy I got to become closer with all of these people. This class was a great experience and I am going to always remember it. Everyone should find their creative side on them and this class helped me do just that.

Slideshow

An overview of this sick year of art class. Its been real fun.

art - slideshow