Blog Post 6: Reflection: Tools and Technique

This blog prompt is taken directly from the "Reflection" section of the Final "What is Art?" Paper (Parts 1&2). Do your best work now so you can just cut & paste later.

Describe the specific art techniques you used on your project using "art-specific" language. So instead of saying "I took a picture from its background", say "I used layer masking, the quick selection tool, and different layers in Photoshop to remove a picture from its background". You are trying to demonstrate that you have mastered the tools and techniques that we have been learning in class.

5-7 sentences

Final Art Project Requirements

Image via Wikipedia

"What is Art?" Final Project Creative Expression Guidelines: Technique

These are the standards of quality that we are looking for from Grad Portfolio-level work. In addition, you must post as many "snapshots" of your creative process along the way to your blog-- I want to see a progression from an unfinished work to your rough draft, and progress from your rough to your final.

Music:
Must sound professional, intentional, and polished
Must have at least one original track from YOU (singing, rapping, instrumental melody)
Remixes must bring and additional value to the song
     the original tracks you remixed from must be on your blog, with credits
    
Flash Animation:
1 minute requirement
background
sound
DOES THIS MAKE SENSE to an outside observer?

Videos:
2-3 minute requirement
live action footage (not just collected clips and pictures)
Must appear professionally polished
Sound levels need to be polished
skilled use of transitions
good use of music & sound effects


Websites:
professionally polished
must be completely your own design (no templates)
extra technique points for using freeway or dreamweaver
usability
images
image or J/S CSS buttons
synergy between design and content

2D Images
Gotta be polished & professional looking
layout
skillful use of the application
include layer masking, adjustment layers
present a point of view

Architecture Project
Must be structurally sound and symmetrical
Must appear polished and professional
must be placed in Google Earth or you must design the surrounding landscape

"What is Art?": Parts I & II Final Paper (due 2/13)

"What is Art?": Parts I & II Final Paper
5-7 pages typed, double spaced
1250-1750 words

You will write a final reflection which specifically addresses all of the prompts below, one-by-one. It does not need to be in Essay format-- I'd prefer specific answers to each specific question. Please organize your paper into the following sections:

Technique
Point of View
Context & Connections
Reflection
Process

You may re-use any of the writing you have already done for your blogs or the Part I Final Paper, but you must make sure that you are specifically and satisfactorily answering the writing prompts below. Please do not try to fake your way through the answers. If you know your work does not meet these standards, be honest with yourself and with me. It just means that we have more work to do to get your work to a proficient level. Let's meet that challenge!

Technique

• (Blog Post 6. See also: "Reflection" section, bullet 2) In what way does this work represent a skilled use of the software? Explain specific techniques you used in this software (like "layer masking" or "using the 'pull up' tool in SketchUp") and step-by-step ways you used these tools.
• In what way does your choice of materials for this project represent a skillful and informed artistic choice? Explain why you chose to use this medium to work in, how (and why) you selected the raw images/samples/paints, etc to include in your project.
• How does this work you've created compare with other works of this kind by other artists? Give specific examples of other works of this type (for example, other websites, songs, or paintings) and explain how your work builds on other works in this genre.
• Explain in depth the different materials, techniques, and art genres you experimented with as you were making your final piece. Put as many "snapshots" of your creative process as you can on your blog. You want to demonstrate (and give proof) that you tried a lot of different ways to do your project instead of just going with the first thing you did.
• Explain how the techniques you used add to and enhance the meaning or message you were trying to communicate. How did your technical choices (which program to use, what effects to add, what colors, images, and sounds to use) compliment the message you were trying to capture with your piece?

Point of View

• (Blog Post 5. Please revise in light of your current progress). Your work of art must communicate a clear point of view about Art and about your intended message for this piece. In what ways is your point of view evident in the work itself?
• (Blog Post 5. Please revise in light of your current progress). What is your definition of Art and non-Art? How is this definition shown in your artwork?

Context and Connections

• Specifically describe the artworks you looked at when developing your definition of Art in blogs 1-3. How does your final work compare with the pieces you looked at? With other works of art you know?
• Based on your exploration of Art, what specific characteristics does Art need to have? Explain your answers. How did you ensure that your final artwork has these characteristics?

Reflection

• Discuss the specific stages you went through as you started reading, researching, thinking about, designing, building, and revising your project. Be as specific as you possibly can.
• (Blog Post 6. See also: "Technique" section, bullet 1) Describe the specific art and technical techniques you used in "art-specific" language. So instead of saying "I took a picture from its background", say "I used layer masking, the quick selection tool, and different layers to remove a picture from its background". [blog post 6]
• (Blog Post 7. See also: "Process" section, bullet 3 ). Interview a classmate you trust. Ask them to grade your art project against the rubric and to give you warm and cool feedback. (In other words, they tell you what they think is effective and they give you ideas for how to push it forward).
• Compare your finished work next to an established, professional work of art. Give yourself warm and cool feedback as you compare what is successful and effective in both pieces. Use art-specific language.

Process

• (Here, you can use major turning points from your Part I Paper. Add more to reflect your learning since then). Describe how your definition of art grew and developed over the course of the project. How did you become aware of, challenge, and develop your ideas regarding what Art is (and can be)? Discuss major turning points in that process.
• What strategies did you use to overcome setbacks you encountered in the process?
• (Blog Post 7. See also: "Reflection" section, bullet 3 )What feedback did you get from your peers and from Ted about how to improve your piece? How did you incorporate this feedback into your revision process?

Blog Post 5: Connecting your project to your definition of Art

Post your answers to the following questions on your blog in 5-10 sentences:

1. What is your complete definition of Art? What is your definition of "not-Art"?

2. In what ways is your art project a good example of your definition of "Art"?

3. What moods or feelings does your art project communicate?

4. What has been the most difficult part of this project so far? How have you gotten over challenges?

Project To Do

Project To Do:

Do Blog post # 4
What do you want the message of your finished project to be?
What artistic effects do you want to achieve?
Sketch your finished project on scratch paper, Photobooth it, and blog it!
Begin working on your final project. You can find tutorials for the software in yesterday's post (below).
Friday Progress Post! I want to see your project, whatever it looks like today. At the end of the period, post it to your blog.

Blog Post 4: "Setting Goals and Trajectory of your Project

What is Art: Part II Final Projects

The ROUGH drafts of your final projects will be due on January 15/16 and will be your main grade for second quarter. By that time, you will need to have the following items on your blog to pass my class:

Your complete answers to Blog Posts 1-3
Your Part I Final Paper
Complete answers to Blog Posts 4-6
Two Friday Progress Posts
Your Final Project (rough)



Your job today:
“sets goals and trajectory of the process of creating the work of art”

BLOG POST #4
Find the project you chose to do below and use this document as a guide.  Answer the first two questions on your blog today. As you progress through the list, post frequently so I can see what you’re doing!

***************************************************************************************************
A 2-D image or series of images in Photoshop or Illustrator. These can be images you shoot with a camera, compose from scratch, or remix from other media.

In a blog post, plan out your project over the next 2 weeks (with dates and deadlines)

What do you want the message of your finished piece to be?
What artistic effects do you want to achieve?
sketch out a basic idea of what you want your finished image to look like.
get familiar with the tools and explore tutorials on SmashingMagazine.com http://is.gd/ezL3 or other online resources
Post your unfinished work to your blog each Friday (in whatever form it’s in). These posts will serve as progress reports for me and will be graded.

   


 A multimedia podcast/ vodcast made in GarageBand and/or iMovie.

What do you want the message of your finished piece to be?
What artistic effects do you want to achieve?
Write a script for the speaking parts of your presentation.
Create a storyboard of no less than 8 frames, showing major visual scenes from your project.
Get familiar with the tools and get to work!
Post your unfinished work to Google Video and link to it on your blog each Friday (even if it’s not done). These posts will serve as progress reports for me and will be graded.

A 3-D architecture project in Google SketchUp. 

What do you want the purpose of your finished building to be?
What feeling do you want your architecture project to evoke?
Sketch your finished product on paper first.
Get familiar with the tools and get to work! http://is.gd/ezPz
Take screenshots of your project and put it on your blog each Friday (even if it’s not done). These posts will serve as progress reports for me and will be graded.

A website design. You can use iWeb, Dreamweaver, or our newest web design program, Freeway.

What do you want the message of your finished website to be?
What design effects would you like to achieve?
Sketch your finished product on paper first.
Decide which software bundle to use:
iWeb is very easy and a little restrictive http://is.gd/cxc
Freeway is a little less easy but very powerful and flexible http://is.gd/ezKS
Dreamweaver is not very intuitive, but very powerful http://is.gd/ec

Take screenshots of your project and put it on your blog each Friday (even if it’s not done). These posts will serve as progress reports for me and will be graded.


An audio recording or song using GarageBand. You can sing, rap, remix, or all three!

What do you want the message of your finished song to be?
What sonic effects would you like to achieve?
write out your lyrics and make a scratch recording of how they should sound.
Decide which software bundle to use:
get used to the tool with tutorials http://is.gd/cxc and get to work!
Post your song to MP3 format each Friday (even if it’s not done). These posts will serve as progress reports for me and will be graded.




A 2-D animation using Flash. I’m not as familiar with Flash as other programs, so this is for independent students only.

What do you want the message of your finished animation to be?
What creative effects would you like to achieve?
Write a script for the speaking parts of your presentation.
Create a storyboard of no less than 8 frames, showing major visual scenes from your project.
Take tutorials at http://is.gd/ezMy and get to work!
Post your unfinished work to Google Video and link to it on your blog each Friday (even if it’s not done). These posts will serve as progress reports for me and will be graded.



A fine art piece. For students who would like to get away from the computer, you can create a physical piece of art. This could be drawing, painting, sculpture, photography, junk art, or some other physical art piece. It might also involve dance, performance, and/ or writing. You will submit it to your blog, so it will have to eventually be in a digital format, but you can begin the process in whichever way you want to. Please know that you will have to do work outside of class time if you choose this option.
   
What do you want the message of your finished piece to be?
What creative effects would you like to achieve?
sketch out a basic idea of what you want your finished piece to look like.
Take tutorials
http://www.drawspace.com/

Post pictures of your work in progress every Friday (even if it’s not done). These posts will serve as progress reports for me and will be graded.


The ROUGH drafts of these projects will be due on January 15/16 and will be your main grade for second quarter. By that time, you will need to have the following items on your blog to pass my class:

Your complete answers to Blog Posts 1-3
Your Part I Final Paper
Complete answers to Blog Posts 4-6
Two Friday Progress Posts
Your Final Project (rough)