Questions and Answers

How many questions do we ask per day? 

How many questions do we ask ourselves per day?

These are very different things.

The questions you ask fellow humans (or even animals) are one thing.
But the ones you ask yourself are in a completely different league.

Can you ask someone what the time is? Sure.

Can you ask them how they are? Definitely.

Can you ask them why we persist and persist at an existence that on the surface doesn't even cover 1% of what we truly want to achieve and that ultimately this ride we call life will be over in the blink of a bloodshot eye rendering all effort and progress gained utterly pointless? ...yeah you can ask that, but don't expect a prepared and positive answer.

There are curiosities we should probably keep to ourselves (with the exception of a very patient friend or family member). They could be mundane dilemmas like what paint to use when making a piece of work, or whether to use audio in a video piece or not. But as we all know these dilemmas may take a lot more than a few seconds of pondering....

Like:

"Should I even be even ATTEMPTING to paint?!"

or

"Wtf am I doing on iMovie?! I don't even 'get' what I'm trying to create!!"

These worries and brief attacks usually pass... But the point is that you ask them in the first place.

I'm not a particularly high strung guy. I stay positive the majority of the time and don't get too hung up on the small things. Nonetheless though, I ask myself questions all of the time. From the trivial to the terrifying. What I have realised is that these questions are what keep us creative types going. Even if we give the wrong answers, it's not the end of the world. Plus, what even is wrong? We'll figure it all out at some stage.

From here on out I vow to ask as many questions as possible.

(I'll try to keep the weird, awkward and panic inducing ones to myself.....maybe)

Progress Update

This past month has felt like a mad rush. Next week we have our Viewpoint unit hand in and presentation, as well as Exploring Specialist Techniques. Both units have been great fun and I have learned many things since beginning them.
The week after next we have our Botanics unit to hand in and present. Being the most tricky of the units so far to initially get started with I am pleased with how my sketchbook and final piece have progressed! I enjoy drawing, so having to include sketches of various flowers was a pleasant experience.

As for Viewpoint, I've felt the only way express my creativity regarding ideas for my cover and centre spread was to have a bash at Photoshop. Although weary to begin with I soon grasped the basic idea and how the different tools worked. Many if not all my ideas for the final pieces required me to get them down on paper first, just quick sketches. This proved a valuable reference when trying to convert the ideas onto the computer.

Exploring Specialist Techniques has allowed me to further investigate printing, and more particularly, lino prints. I have really enjoyed cutting my designs and experimenting with colours and composition.

I hope to achieve good grades with my last 3 units of 1st year, fingers crossed!

Expanding my Knowledge of the Art World

Having learnt about many artists through High School I believed up until a month or two ago that I had a good idea of what kinds of artists had been and gone throughout history. To me, Art was simply an outlet for very creative people with the passion and skill it takes to produce beautiful paintings, or drawings. My outlook and personal opinion on the matter has changed and developed a lot since beginning this course.

On Monday afternoons we have been looking at the periods in history where groups of artists have challenged tradition and disrupted the norm and created new ways of physically producing artwork. This has opened my mind to the art world, it has questioned my view on what 'art' really is.

So many people find comfort in pigeon holing things they come across in life, things have to be categorized and for example if one person with an open mind and a flexible perspective, views a blank canvas with three single dots in the centre, that person will take their time and develop a patient opinion on the piece. Other people instantly decide "That isn't art! How could it be?! It's nothing, anyone could do that!"
I used to be like that person. I guess it's a maturity thing, not to say someone who simply doesn't like contemporary art is immature, nothing like that. It;s just a trait you develop as you grown up. That is what I've come to learn since starting the course, is that you don't have to like every piece of art in a gallery, it's about appreciating and realising the artists ideas and motives and developing your own opinion on their piece.

Igniting my Creativity

Upon starting the Art & Design course I was happy in knowing that I was once again going to be in the company of people who like me - love art. Since I left school I had only the desk in my bedroom and spare time after work to draw inspiration from. Each week I begin to develop new ideas in my head and become influenced by my teachers and fellow students, I learn an abundance of new things about different artists, their work and history surrounding the development of the various ages of art. I am enjoying getting into a learning routine once again. We are encouraged to be our own person and express our minds whether it be through speech or on paper. I am pleased I am on this course and using my creativity in new and exciting ways. I hope to further my knowledge of the art world throughout this course and improve how I express the ideas I have in my head.