The Last Blog Post

Some of my failed/successful attempts at being artsy

Dear Future AP Art Student,

Don't let the fear of heavy workload and stress scare you away from AP Art, because it will probably be one of the best classes you will take next year. Art is the one thing I will make without someone forcing me to, because I love it. I definitely could not have handled all of the other academic workload without art as an escape. I realize now that some of my best work was produced when I was under pressure, so don't stress too much once you're in the class. You will always get your work done somehow. The art shows are THE BEST. The work of other high school artists never ceases to amaze me. It also makes me proud to see the work of Lakeridge artists at the shows as well :) Who wouldn't want to be part of a class filled with such dedicated and talented people?
Also, you are going to have the best year of your life with Ms. McBride. She cares so much about art, and she will go above and beyond for the art class (look how much she's done for the Vans shoes!). Your art skills will improve tremendously in this short period of time, and I think you will discover a lot of things about yourself.
It's really hard to reflect on the whole year in just this one blog post because there is so much to say. It seems like just yesterday we were at Twin Rocks Friends Camp bonding and getting to know each other... and then came picking out our concentration, working on our first pieces, holiday party, Scholastic, AP art show, etc. And now it's already MAY! Seniors are out of here in less than a month, and Ms. McBride I agree with you when you say the year went by so fast. I can't express in words how much I am going to miss the class and the people in it next year! Future AP art students, I am so excited to see the art you will produce in this class, and hopefully I will be back next year to see the art show! Good luck!!

A Peek Inside

My concentration is focused on Malaysian culture. Before I even chose my concentration, I knew I wanted to depict a concept/idea/event/thing that impacted my life. When I moved to Malaysia in fourth grade, I was exposed to a completely different environment from what I was used to in Oregon. Not only did it open my eyes to a whole new side the world, but it also made me appreciate diversity and the new perspectives it gave me. 

I've been trying to draw/paint all aspects of Malaysian culture, but it's really difficult because there is so much to cover! I have created about 10 pieces as of now, and hopefully all of them accurately portray what I'm trying to convey with my concentration! Like many countries, Malaysia has a lot of Western influence as well, but instead of focusing on that, I tried to represent more of the local flavor. My piece with chickens and green shows an image of an open house surrounded by rubble. Many of the houses owned by the local folks were like that because it's hot out, and none of them seemed to mind that they looked run down. The black and white painting I'm working on right now is going to be a temple. A broad range of religions were represented their, because people from all over the world live there including expats like myself. The boats I painted were what I saw every day, when fishermen went out to go fishing at sea. I even got to go fishing myself! The man with the ropes coming out of his back is a ritual they have every year, where they purposefully endure pain. The dog I painted was a normal sight on the streets, and many animals without homes wandered around day and night. 

March Update

Now that we're done with all of the stressful (but fun!) scholastic stuff, it's kind of getting harder to focus on my art pieces. I couldn't get a picture of the two pieces I had for critique, but this is a new one I'm working on! I've stopped using the plastic grid thing and started to draw my pieces free hand, but it's a lot harder to get the composition right. I always forget to make things that are far away smaller, and things that are closer larger.

I went in a different direction for one of my critique pieces. I painted the watercolor paper all black, and drew on it with white ink. I liked the idea of it, but it looked kind of messy. I am definitely going to add to it, and put in more detail in the background because all I had were those lanterns everywhere. I will probably add the building, and then go from there.

November Critique

I am focusing on Malaysian culture for my concentration. So this month I did 3 pieces, and I went in a different direction from my other ones. I tried to emphasize color in certain parts of my pieces. I completely forgot to email the pieces to myself so these are just black and white pictures of what two of my pieces were based off of.

The Suzuki Family Loves Art

Walnut, Honey, and Goat Cheese Crêpe

This is one my favorite crêpe recipes. Enjoy while looking at your favorite piece of art! 
Also Sophia introduced me to this, so thank you :)

Ingredients:

• Basic crepes, cooked (see recipe below)
• Goat Cheese
• Heavy Whipping Cream
• Honey
• Walnuts, chopped and toasted

Directions:

Add crepe to skillet over medium heat.  Dot with small chunks of goat cheese.  Allow to warm through for a couple minutes and spread the goat cheese out with a knife.  Pour a small amount of cream over the goat cheese.  Drizzle with honey and sprinkle with walnuts.  Fold or roll up and serve immediately.  

Basic Crepe Recipe

Ingredients: 

• 1 1/4 cup flour
• 1 1/2-2 Tbsp sugar
• 3 eggs
• 1 1/2 cup milk
• 2 Tbsp butter, melted
• pinch salt

Directions:

Add all ingredients to blender and mix well. Let batter stand for at least one hour in the refrigerator for more perfect crepes.  Warm small or medium skillet over medium heat.  Melt a small dab of butter in the pan.  Pour a laddle of crepe batter into the pan and swirl until a thin layer of batter coats the pan.  Cook for about a minute until the edges are light brown.  Flip with a spatula and cook the other side for 30 seconds to 1 minute.  Stack cooked crepes on a plate or platter until all crepes are made. 


From the Blue 11 Interior's blog

My Concentration

For my concentration I'm focusing on aspects of Malaysian culture. I'm not done with my first piece yet, but it's coming along! I'm planning on working mostly with pen and watercolor.