Mrs. Kennison- Lewis Art class: 2015

You will need your SKETCHBOOK and Lined paper & Ink Pen. 1ST PART *Artist Facts *Art Careers *Shading Techniques *Still-Life *Art Elements *Art Principles SECOND PART Artist Statement: Create an Outline before Final Date. Writing your ARTIST’s statement…… An artist statement lets you convey the reasoning behind your artwork-- why you chose a particular subject matter, why you work in a certain medium, etc. And further, a well-written statement shows the relationship of you to your artwork, and helps creates a connection with the viewer that will make your work (and your name) more memorable. An artist statement can: • Clarify your own ideas about your work. • Describe your ARTwork, in your own words. • Be a base for a proposal for an exhibition or project. • Fill a requirement for scholarships, grants/funding, teaching positions, or admission to school. • Be a good source of info for art reviewers, journalists, reporters, etc. • Introduce your work to the buying public. How to write an artist statement:  Follow the steps to make it a little easier for you to decide what to write and how to write it. Artist statement content:   The artist statement should be about you, not about the viewer. It should explain what YOU think about your work, not about how the viewer should interpret it. 1. Ask yourself questions about your work: Why you have created the work and what is its history? Your overall vision-- what are you trying to say in the work? How does your current work relate to your previous work? What influences your work? What is your inspiration for your images? How does this work fit into a series or larger body of work? 2. Create a list of words and phrases that describe your chosen themes, your artistic values, creation process, and influences (i.e. experiences, dreams). Draw from your answers from the previous step. 3. Edit down your list of words and begin creating sentences using those words. 4. Combine the sentences into logical, flowing paragraphs. Start writing: 1. Begin with an overview paragraph that makes a clear and concise statement about your work, and support that statement with your reasoning. This paragraph should be broad in scope. Specifics will come next. 2. Next, go into detail about how the issues or ideas mentioned in your opening paragraph are presented in your work (offer a specific example) and why you use the materials and tools that you do. 3. Point out themes in your work or discuss experiences that have influenced your work. 4. Finally, sum up the most important points made throughout previous paragraphs. Content Tips: • Be concise-- Keep your writing simple, clear, and to-the-point. Describe each portion in as few words as possible. • Proofread your artist’s statement for grammar, spelling, clarity, and interest. Consider hiring a professional proofreader who is familiar with artist's statements. Technical Tips: • Write in the first person perspective ("I created…, "My experience with..."). Things to avoid in an artist statement; Your artist statement is like a personal creed and shouldn’t read like a press release or marketing material. Strive for authenticity. Avoid: • Arrogance and pomposity (how great or relevant you are) • Overuse of technical terms and jargon • Long explanations or discourses on techniques and materials you use • Poems or prosy writing • Childhood or family stories, unless they are very relevant to your work Do not brag about awards and honors What is an Artist's Statement? An artist's statement is a short document written by the artist, which provides a window into the artist's world. It offers insight into a single piece or an entire body of work and by describing the artist's creative process, philosophy, vision, and passion. It enlightens and engages while at the same time giving the audience - potential buyers, exhibition curators, critics, fellow artists, or casual browsers - the freedom to draw their own conclusions. An artist's statement reads easily, is informative, and adds to the understanding of the artist. What isn't an Artist's Statement? An artist's statement is not a resume, a biography, a list of accomplishments and awards, a summary of exhibitions, or a catalogue of works. Why should I write an Artist's Statement? People who love an artist's work generally want to know more about the artist. Your statement will help your viewers answer questions they may have about your art. When viewers have answers, their delight in what you do increases, and they have more reasons to take your work home with them. The artist's statement is therefore an effective marketing tool, building a bridge between artist and audience. But the artist's statement isn't just for them. In putting your art into words, you might find that ideas and thoughts you once had become more concrete. Your writing may open new channels in your mind and take you in new artistic directions. You might discover more about yourself. What information should be included? Well, this is really a matter of personal choice, but there are a few questions you might choose to answer: • Why do you create art and what does it mean to you? • How does the creation of art make you feel? What emotions do you wish to convey? • If the statement refers to a specific piece, why did you choose to represent this piece in this way? What do you call the piece and why? What materials did you use? What are the dimensions of the piece? • What inspires you? How are your inspirations expressed in your work? • What message are you trying to convey to the viewer? • How much time is spent creating your pieces? • How is your work a reflection of you? • What artists (living or dead) have influenced you? • What is your vision/philosophy? • What are your goals for the future? • What are your techniques and style and how do these relate to the medium? • How do your techniques and style relate to your vision/philosophy? • How long should it be? The answer to this question depends on what kind of person you are. Are you the kind of person that gets right to the point, or do you like to tell stories and paint images for people in words? The key here is to express how you feel and create a statement that stands on its own and makes you happy. Remember that people usually don't have the patience to spend a lot of time reading, so it's better to err on the shorter side. Several sources recommend an artist's statement be around three paragraphs (total of 100 words), and others say that a statement of up to one page is acceptable. What kind of language should I use? Keep your statement clear and concise. Avoid flowery language and "artspeak". This only lengthens and weakens your statement. From a business perspective, the more you can relate to your viewer, the better your chances are of selling your work. Some specific terms you may wish to mention in your statement are the elements of art (line, color, shape, value, space, form, and texture), and the principles of design (balance, emphasis, movement, harmony/unity, pattern, rhythm, proportion, and variety). These terms have the advantage of being art-related without being esoteric and pretentious. Use language that is comfortable to you, and let your words flow. My words aren't flowing. How do I deal with that blank page? The more art you do, the better artist you become. The more writing you do, the better writer you become. Here are some suggestions for eliminating that blank page. Write every day if possible - it only needs to take a few minutes, and there's nothing lost. Any writing is writing practice. Can an artist's statement change? Yes! An artist's statement is a living document that should change because you change. Your statement could be updated at about the same rate that you might update a resume, in the least. At the most, review your statement each time you create a new piece, to see if your thoughts still have meaning for you. Review your statement when you experience profound events that alter your creative vision

Born 1928, Emelle, AL Born in a cornfield to an unwed teenage mother, Dial grew up in rural Emelle, in Alabama's western flatlands. He began full-time farm work at age five and managed to attend school only rarely. On the eve of World War II, he was sent to live with relatives in Bessemer, just outside Birmingham. There, he married, raised a family, and worked for half a century in heavy industry, building highways, houses and ultimately boxcars during a thirty-year stint at the Pullman Standard Plant. Dial's life encompasses many of the most consequential episodes in twentieth-century African-American life - sharecropping in the Black Belt, migration from country to city, the upheaval of the civil rights era, and the ethnic conundrums of a rapidly changing postmodern America. As John Beardsley writes, "Dial's life is inseparable from history, because he had made it his business as an artist to be a historian. Dial lived history, then he represented it in paintings and sculptures. From childhood on, Dial built "things" using whatever he could salvage, recycling even his own work to reuse materials in new creations. Dial referred to what he made only as "things," though late in life he found out that others call them "art." Having developed during the era of racial segregation, Dial's style is both personal and culturally rich, and it speaks with a resolute voice that was denied him through the years as a black factory worker. In Dial's art, intense surfaces, multilayered narratives, shifting compositional relationships, and a metaphysical concern with issues of recycling and ancestry exist hand in hand with an ironic, earthy wit and an almost religious determination to make art's complexities and mysteries central to the human understanding of reality.

Mrs. Kennison- Lewis Art class

Pages

Thursday, May 14, 2015

Artist FACTS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Advance Art Final Review

Monday, April 13, 2015

Janet Fish

Monday, March 9, 2015

End of the day refresher......Inspiration

Thursday, March 5, 2015

Mixed Media Art Inspiration

Monday, March 2, 2015

Thornton Dial

Tuesday, February 24, 2015

Houston Rodeo Art

Thursday, February 19, 2015

Media Media Self Portrait

Wednesday, February 4, 2015

African American Artists