Reaching for Yourslef: Final and Critique

This project is by far my favorite project that I ever done for an art class. It actually turned out better than I initially expected and I loved being able to experiment with all of the different colors that my friends decided to use. I had each person paint their hand however they wanted so that each person would be clearly represented by their colors. I really wanted to represent the idea that each person has their own definition of success and way of achieving it. That's why I allowed them to choose their colors and designs. Their colors are a representation of who they are.

Jess:

Ryan and Shannon:

Ryan:

Shannon:

Tessa:

Tessa again:

Zoe:

Everyone:

My favorite picture:

Critique Analysis:

When first seeing my pieces, people thought that the hands were reaching out for something and that it was a very simple meaning. After I explained, they began to realizing that the idea was how everyone has their own way of achieving success and thought it was a very creative way to approach the message. Some questions they had for me were: "Did you edit the hands to enhance the colors?" and "Is there a reason behind the use of hands as your symbol?". I did edit the hands to enhance the colors because I really wanted to create a lot of contrast between the hands themselves and the background. My reasoning behind using the hands as the symbol is because even though we don't always physically "reach" for success, we are still "reaching" for it. They liked the way the group of people was reaching for the words in one of the pieces and thought it would be a good idea to do that in more of the images, but they also thought I could have chosen a better layout for the words. They really liked the simplicity of the project and the way I used the bright colors against an all white background

Awesome Grafitti Found in Williamsport

Winter

Proposal for Text Project

My idea for this project is to focus on verbal abuse and how compliments can help overcome all of the bad degrading comments. I want to use my hands a lot for this project instead of photoshop. I'm going to collage words around a person and underneath them to indicate the process of rising above all of the bad comments.

Bird's Eye View: Candles

A Critique on Words

Most of the feedback I got from the class about my project was very positive. My fellow students really liked and understood my message behind the project and went in depth when discussing other possible meanings. Both the students and the teacher thought that the central idea was clearly represented. Everyone asked questions that could help me further the meaning of the piece or even give it double meanings. They also pointed out different ways that the piece could be interpreted. Some of these ways were closely linked to my original goal and others were completely different. The feedback I received from both the class and the teacher really helped me understand both the good and the bad things that are a part of this project and how I could make it better.

Worm's Eye View