My thinking about art has certainly changed during the semester. I thought art was more about drawing things that were in front of you instead of thinking creatively to come up with new ideas. At least, that's always how I had done it - drawing, observing objects. In this class, I used many different mediums and created many different original things. However, I also stole from others. At the beginning of the year, I thought that taking from other artists was plagiarism, but I learned that taking elements from other pieces or being inspired by another work of art can still be original art. The unit I learned the most in was probably Artists Steal, for that reason, which changed how I viewed some art.
My interpretation of theme has improved as the year progressed. At the beginning of the year, I interpreted themes very literally, seeing as in my Underwater drawing, I drew a creature that lived underwater. Granted, no one knows if mermaids exist, but I still interpreted the theme literally. In my final, I drew a girl "underwater," with her hair all wrapped around her and colored blue. I became more creative and included more color in my final. I realized that I have a lot more options and variety than it appears when I interpret a theme.
My favorite project was the last project of the year, about identity. I liked that one because it was fun to do and showed what I believed in, but it also showed how my drawing and colored pencil skills had improved. The project also represented two of my favorite things, Harry Potter and feminism, which made working on it really worthwhile.
What I liked most about this class was our freedom to make whatever we wanted and ability to interpret the unit however we wanted. It really expanded my horizons and made me think about all of the options I had in this class. I got to make things I actually liked while stepping out of my comfort zone. In terms of learning, the class could have been better if we had more drawing warm ups with faces, because sometimes I felt I needed to improve in that field.