Year's over, where did we go? -- A Retrospective

Over this past year, I feel as though I have grown immensely as an artist. Starting with the drawing unit, I learned the importance of confident, energetic mark-making and learned to live with my mistakes. Although I am not exceptionally gifted with drawing, I had some important takeaways in terms of consistency, and my coordination improved significantly between my artist copy and my self-portrait drawing. Drawing will prove to be an invaluable skill in art 4 as I plan and draft paintings and sculptures on a small scale before I commit to my ideas.

After the sweat and tears of the drawing unit were behind me, we moved into sculpture and ceramics, where I found the love of my life - clay modeling. Although I went into the unit expecting to hate sculpture, I learned that what I really hated about clay in the past was dry clay and constraints. I immensely enjoyed the process of creating my self-portrait sculpture, and it even went on to win a Scholastic Gold key, which inspired me to pursue it for my final home project and beyond into art 4. I went from knowing little to nothing about hand modeling to feeling comfortable with depicting facial anatomy in the round, which came as a big surprise to me. I still have plenty of room to improve in terms of defining plains and securing a better likeness, but I am still proud of the work I have done. In the future, I want to focus on classical-ish sculpture as I explore themes of conformity and societal norms in my art. Far too soon, I had to say goodbye to the clay unit, and we moved into oil painting. Starting with arranging the still life composition, I saw a lot of growth in my abilities with arrangement and planning, whereas in the past I would choose my subjects on a whim and pray that it would turn out alright. The process involved in indirect painting forced my brain to slow down and take my time, which forced me to get accustomed to taking my time with work and making sure it turns out the way I wanted it too. Nevertheless, I still struggled with proportion and color, which is something I plan to work on and improve in art 4. I enjoyed oil painting, albeit not as much as I did sculpture, so I may continue to pursue it in art 4 alongside my sculpting.

Finally, we rounded off the year with abstract painting, and let's just say I have come out of it with a newfound respect for abstract artists and a bitter vendetta against the process. I really struggled with this unit, and I didn't really get a good grasp on non-objective abstraction. It was fun to let loose and do whatever I wanted to a canvas, but I didn't exactly get the best result. In the end, I fell back on figurative work to get to the finish line, in the process sacrificing composition, sophistication, and vibrance in my work. Abstract artists truly have a gift, one I myself do not possess. Nonetheless, I am glad I finished this unit, for I came out of it with a greater understanding of abstract works and their value, as well as a few improvements in my grasp on color theory and unity.

All in all, my key takeaways for the year were a strengthening of my artistic craft and mechanics and a new direction for my work. Starting this summer, I plan to explore ideas of conformity in my work, using sculpture and painting to express ideas surrounding my personal experiences trying to fit into boxes, and what that means for society as a whole. While I want to be more classical in my sculpture, I want to actually try my hand at art nouveau in my two-dimensional works, for I find the style to have a very strong sense of myth and romanticism to it, despite it often being about neither. Also, I just personally find it very beautiful, so who am I to argue with that?

Thank you all, especially you, Coach, for this wonderful year, and I look forward to seeing you again in the fall. Happy painting, and I hope you have a wonderful summer break. :)

Every journey has its final day, don't rush,

Theo Chukin