Art102
Week 1
It was still an introductory class, and I drew a portrait of myself in anime style, I really love anime. I drew my everyday outfit, like a sweater and headphones, clearly showing that I’m an introvert. I’m thinking about bringing a suitcase to class later because I have quite a lot of stationery to bring, and my flat is very different from the university. Besides, my shoulder is giving me an SOS signal during the first week because I always bring a ton of stuff to school.
Week 2
In today’s lesson, we experienced markmaking. I didn’t really like this part, especially the part about using my left hand to draw. I quite liked continuous lines and using simple shapes to sketch. I still haven’t decided on my own theme. I really like the traumatic theme, but designing a landscape based on that theme is quite difficult. Afterwards, I created a collage based on the traumatic theme, which was actually a cut-and-paste poem. I’ve written poetry in Vietnamese before, but never in English. Rhyming and inversions are quite difficult, so I just based it on meaning.
Week 3
I’m practicing making models with paper and plastic. I don’t really like using plastic because it’s difficult to control the shape of the cut parts, and other colors don’t stick completely to it. Before that, we had a 20-minute group project on making paper models based on a theme. We randomly chose travel. Speaking of themes, I’m still undecided about what my own theme will be. I’m considering landscape/environment, recovering, and parks or tourist areas. Deciding on a theme is quite difficult; I keep changing my mind. Maybe next week I’ll finalize my theme. This makes me really worried.
Week 4
Today’s lesson gave me the experience of making a zine. I’ve never made a zine before, but it’s quite similar to the bullet journals I used to make, but smaller in size and with more images than text. Finally, I chose my theme as Landscape/Environment, which eased my anxiety, especially after talking to Anna and her liking the idea. I plan to create a park, but I don’t know where to start. I think I should choose a location first and then develop the overall concept, because landscape architecture also depends on geographical, human, and natural factors.
Week 5:
I finished my WordPress project between weeks 1 and 4, so I went straight to explaining my theme. I received pretty good feedback on art102 WordPress, as I really liked this module, especially the practical work. My theme is quite clear, so I started writing my brief directly about the theme. Today’s class was pretty relaxing.
Week 6:
This week I started designing and brainstorming for the project. Since I hadn’t thoroughly researched the terrain and location, I didn’t have many ideas. Most of them came from previous classes and random thoughts. Things started getting busy as this is the early stage of the project. Time management is quite difficult because some demanding modules, like ILSART, are nearing their deadlines, making it impossible for me to focus equally on all modules.
Week 7:
After researching artists and their artworks, I created a general sketch for the entire project. I received pretty good feedback on the overall sketch, but I still needed to revise a few details for better consistency. I felt my drawing was not very good, so I printed out a map from Google Maps and drew directly onto it, which made it easier to convey my ideas. Otherwise, I could understand what I wanted to convey from my sketch, but others would not. I need to improve my drawing skills more professionally. But perhaps I will save that for next semester, as this semester I am mainly focusing on developing and improving my quick sketching abilities.
Week 8:
This week I started experimenting with materials for modeling. It wasn’t very good because I had never used foam before. It also helped me develop more detail sketches to better visualize the main objects in my final outcome. I felt quite stressed and tired, even though I was doing pretty well with this module. The workload was so heavy that I felt like I was choosing something too big for my skill level, like stepping outside my comfort zone. Although it was mentally stressful, it was a big step forward as it allowed me to expand my comfort zone.
Week 9:
I continued modeling this week, which made time fly by. I quite enjoyed modeling, but it took longer than I expected, partly because I overestimated my modeling skills and thought I could do it quickly. Also, shaping the foam caused small pieces to fall everywhere in the seating area, sticking to me. It was funny because I looked like Elsa, with white foam falling everywhere like snow. I went to the campus shop three times today to buy things. I think I need my loyal card and discounts for the shop.
Phuong Vi Nguyen 