In our second unit, we learned how to create original art by "stealing" from other places, such as other artists, other subjects, and other ideas in general. At the beginning of this unit, I thought that original art was only original if you came up with the entire concept by yourself, using only your ideas. Throughout the unit, I learned that every idea is built on someone else's ideas, and it's impossible to create something that is 100% your own. Everything is inspired by something or someone else. I now believe that art is still able to be original if you "steal" from someone else's work, by incorporating different elements of that piece of art into your own and changing it to create something new.
The first project that we did in this unit was our Character Remix. I combined two of my favorite animated movies, The Little Mermaid and The Nightmare Before Christmas. By combining the two characters of Ariel and Sally, I created a new, original piece of artwork. I used colored pencils to draw Scariel and her creepy companions, and I used a dark watercolor color scheme in the background to create an ominous mood within the piece. Before this unit, I would have considered this work less original, but now I can see that I have created a different, original version of Ariel.
Our second project this unit was our 2 into 1 artwork. I combined my favorite animal, a shark, with something equally as deadly, a pair of stilettos. I liked the idea that the sharks would be eating one of the less intimidating shoes in the closet, so I drew a flip flop. However, I also wanted to make the flip flop part of the 2 into 1, so I colored it like a clown fish. This piece is original because I'm creating something totally new from the two objects I chose to combine.
My final project this unit was my Subject Steal. I made a visual journal out of scenes from Alice in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll. The subject I stole from in this project was literature. One way I did this was by taking scenes and quotes from a popular work of literature and painting them using watercolor, incorporating both literature and art. Another way I stole from literature was by painting inside the book itself. Doing this created a unique surface and background for my artwork and helped show how literature was involved in my piece. I created my subject steal using pen and ink as well as watercolor in parts of the picture where color was supposed to be more prominent, such as Alice's dress and hair. I used my Pinterest board for inspiration.
Throughout this unit, I learned more about how to create original art by incorporating elements of other works of art or ideas around me into my work. My perspective on visual art has changed greatly over the course of the unit.
Throughout this unit, I learned more about how to create original art by incorporating elements of other works of art or ideas around me into my work. My perspective on visual art has changed greatly over the course of the unit.