Post 4

Hi! I've gotten quite a lot done since my last update. I'm not where I wanted to be, but I'm certainly making some sort of progress. I had been so busy recently with the production of Young Frankenstein, but sadly that is over. I am going to miss stage crew a lot but it was definitely hard to spend all those hours after school.
Anyway, I've spent a lot of time working on Hannah's drawing this week. So far I have drawn her face and plan on adding different objects in the background.
I have made Hannah's drawing using a Wacom drawing tablet, which I show in my video blog. I just recently got this tablet, and this is only the second drawing I've made using it.

This is so far my drawing of Hannah. I began it a few days ago and I'm not done yet. (I still have to clean up the lines on her face and things like that, as well as possibly add things in the background.)

So far, I think the drawing is pretty nice considering I'm not very good at using the tablet yet. It doesn't look exactly like Hannah, but it looks like a person which I guess is a step in the right direction.
Something I need to work on is my time management. I often get distracted while drawing or focus too deeply on the smaller details. Usually when I draw, I don't have a time limit.
As I said in an earlier blog post, I am having a hard time showing the drawings I've done on paper. I tried to show just one of them in my video blog, but most of them are too big to scan. If I have to just take a picture I will, but the lighting of my room makes them look terrible. Anyways, I don't exactly have to much to say, I should probably get back to drawing. (I'm currently working on Sarah's drawing- Oil pastel. I tried to make her face kind of pinkish pastelish just to add something different, but as of right now she's just looking a bit too sun burnt.) Wish me luck! (:

This weeks comments:
Hannah
Sarah
Jason

Video Blog

So, this kind of took me a while to be able to film and edit. I'm sorry it's a bit choppy, I kept messing up because I'm not the best speaker. The password is laurasvideo, I hope you like it! I'm sorry I was only able to show one of my pieces, I hope to show more soon!! (: Thanks.



Genius Project from Laura Roth on Vimeo.

Post 3

In all honesty, I think my biggest problem regarding this project is time management. Last week, I had stage crew every day and didn't get home until about 9:30 at night. While I love working at stage crew, the timing for the play is quite unfortunate considering I need the time to draw during these weeks. Sadly, I barely got anything done last week. That means this week I need to work extra hard to stay focused and to get my drawings done.
Another problem I've been having, which is one I mentioned in an earlier blog post, was being able to focus on one drawing for a while. I feel as if I have started too many, and haven't finished enough. I have started about five and have only finished two. I guess this kind of could go along with time management.
Other than working hard on my drawings during the few hours of free time I get this week, I am also planning on going out and finding a monthly calendar. Personally, I am a visual learner and having a calendar with all my goals laid out would be very helpful for me!
One of the pieces I am working on is left at the museum I take classes at, which sets me back a bit, but not to worry! I can still work on other pieces in the meantime. Again, this kind of messes up my original goal of having one drawing done a week, but I think I am still almost on track of where I should be.
There was something that Jess Miao posted one of the first weeks that I think would be really helpful. She posted a picture showing her progress. I think this is a really helpful tool and helpful tool and I have decided to make one of my own, helping my visualize how much of each drawing I need to finish.

This is the progress bar so far. Hopefully soon I will have more names on it! 

Another problem I have faced is that I plan on doing one of my drawings digitally, using a Wacom tablet (which I already own). In a perfect world, I would like to be able to see all of my drawings laid out and have a tangible copy of them, which means I would have to find a way to print this drawing. Other than having a tangible copy, I would also like to be able to have a copy to post on here! By the time I get home at night, my room is dark and the even with the lights on it is hard to take a decent picture. I took a picture of the progress bar, but that is only because it is not as important that the colors show up vividly on there as it should in my drawings. I would like to find a way to scan my drawings and be able to upload them onto my computer. Hopefully I will have found a way by my next post!! Some of my drawings are large, which makes them hard to scan, but I'm sure I can think of some way to upload them onto here!
Like I talked about in earlier posts, I wanted to focus the mood of my drawings off the mood of the subject, reflecting how they act and what their personality is like. I would also like to place other objects in the drawing that I think represent them. For example, in the drawing I am doing for my friend Leanne, I drew her in the outfit seen in the movie Heathers. I did this because Leanne likes both fashion/clothing and the movie Heathers, so I thought this would be an interesting way to incorporate something she likes into the drawing!
Just like I focus the mood of the drawings on the mood of my friends, I pick which drawing I work on based off of which mood I am. I don’t know if this is helpful or a setback. It could be helpful because when I am in the mood to work with a certain medium, it makes me more motivated and overall I do a better job. It could also be a setback because I can’t get one drawing finished at a time.

By next week, I hope to have more drawings finished, a monthly calendar, and more progress in my progress bar. Wish me luck!! :)


This weeks comments:

Hannah

Sarah

Madi

Post 2

Just a short while after starting the drawings for this project, I noticed that the hardest part for me was starting a drawing and being able to stick with it. Like many other people, I struggle with having a short attention span.My initial goal for this project was to start and finish a drawing each week, ending with seven drawings in total. So far, I have started three different drawings and have not completed any of them. Honestly, I'm a mess.I've added another goal to this project; being able to start something and finish it without being distracted. So far, I've started a water color painting of my friend Ximena, an acrylic painting of my friend Leanne, and a pencil sketch of Madi (in order of which I started first). Since I started Ximena's first, my goal is to finish hers first as well.Something I have noticed over time while working on this project is that the mood I'm in affects which person's drawing I want to work on. I picked which medium to use for each drawing based on which medium I thought would best represent the subject of that piece. When I go to work on a drawing, I often feel compelled to do whichever drawing has a medium of which I am in the mood to work with. For example, when I feel like having a neat, clean painting I prefer to work with acrylic paints. When I don’t mind getting as messy, I want to work with watercolor.This medium depending on mood trait collides with my short attention span and makes it awfully hard to concentrate on one drawing for a long time.It’s kind of hard to research how to draw something, especially considering the point of picking this project was to develop my own style. I have, however, taken the initiative to ask my art teacher for help with this assignment.My art teacher from the Michener Museum, Kristy DeFlores Elliot, is a valuable source to me when developing new skills in art. She has earned a BFA in Fine Arts and Graphic Design from The College of New Jersey, where she is from. She is best at graphic arts, anime, fashion illustration, textile design, portfolio preparation and advanced fine arts classes for students. This year, she has agreed to help me work on this project as well as begin preparing my portfolio in case I want to go to an art school for college.When asked what the biggest setback for me regarding art seemed to be, Kristy said that it was my lack of confidence holding me back. Every Saturday when I meet with her, she encourages that I try to loosen up and get more comfortable with the piece I am working on.I have found different examples of art that I really like and would like to be able to use as inspiration for my own pieces.
These pieces both show obvious styles. In the end, not just in the end of this project but more of my long term goal in art, is that my pieces can represent my own style similarly to how these do.                                                                                 

Post 1

Since I was little, I have always loved drawing. I've never really been good at it, but I definitely enjoyed it over the years. Since I was around five, I have been taking drawing classes in many different places. I have worked with different mediums over time.
I've always wanted to develop my own style, I've seen so many kids around me in classes drawing their own designs and characters and I always feel jealous.
When I found out we could do a project on basically anything we wanted, my mind automatically jumped into something art related. I am taking this as a handy opportunity to enhance my drawing skills as well as get to know different mediums that I have not used as often as others.
My favorite materials to draw with are colored pencils and oil pastels, both of which I have a surplus of at my house. I am going to try and use as many media as I possibly can.
Recently, I have been taking classes every Saturday at the Michener museum in Doylestown. My art teacher there, whom I have known for about two years, told me the biggest setback that I have been facing when it comes to art is keeping my wrist loose and having faith in myself. My teacher there has agreed to help me work on my art on Saturdays.
My goal for this project is to draw around seven different drawings of my friends. I have been known to be a bit of a perfectionist, so I am not sure how long each drawing will take, but my goal is about a week.
I want to focus on the personalities of each of my friends, being inspired by what makes them up and what they are into, not just what they look like. While I am drawing each person, I will listen to music they like and music that represents them because I have found that listening to music while drawing helps me to get into the "zone".
I'm really excited for this project. I hope that by the end I have at least seven pieces that I am proud of and each one gets better after time.