Shells

    When I visited a beach in India, I bought some shells from a street vendor and he etched my name and some birds onto it. I thought the amount of skill it took to make something as intricate as the birds on the branch (as pictured above) was astounding and the part that amazed me even more was how fast he made it. Another time I visited a beach I got another shell (picture below) but the vendor painted my name and the birds instead. Again, I was surprised at the speed of his painting. I can't wait to get another shell when I go back to India!

Pastel Self-Portrait

    This is a self-portrait I made last year. I first sketched it based on a picture of myself when I was younger. I then used oil and dry pastels to add color. Since I used warm colors on my skin, I used cool colors in the background to add contrast. This is one of my favorite pieces and I hope I'm just as proud of my next self-portrait as I am of this one!

"Punny" Street Art

A popular street artist who goes by the name JPS has skillfully painted popular characters around the UK accompanied by "punny messages." Most of his pieces feature pop culture characters such as Loki, Yoda, and Spiderman. I have attached some of them below.

When I looked at these images, I saw the immense detail that was needed for each picture and really appreciated it. I also thought that the comedy aspect of these images made them all the more interesting and memorable.

Andy Warhol

    This week, I was watching the movie Men in Black 3 and I noticed that the main characters of the movie met and talked about a famous artist in the 1960s named Any Warhol. I wanted to know more about him so I decided to do some research. Warhol, who is pictured above, started the trend of pop art, or art focusing on mass-produced goods. One of his most famous pieces of pot art is of a Campbell Soup Can. He also painted Coca-Cola bottles, vacuum cleaners, hamburgers and celebrities. 
    Warhol expressed the idea of pop art in his famous quote, "Once you 'got' pop, you could never see a sign the same way again. And once you thought pop, you could never see America the same way again." His work is in stark contrast to the work of his predecessors who focused on different aspects such as abstract or impressionism. Warhol is considered one of the most influential artists of his time and has come to represent a the new form of art that has been cherished over the past 50 years.

"Campbell's Tomato Soup Can" by Andy Warhol

This picture of Marilyn Monroe is an example of Warhol's colorful portraits

Edited Influence Map

   After I posted my influence map, I went back and decided to edit it again. I started by changing the placement of my name so it would not be cut off by the top of the map. I then removed the writing at the bottom and changed the color of the background to a lighter gray. I also wanted the color change to highlight the words at the top (the title and my name).
   In my previous post I did not mention why I chose each picture and I want to take the time to do that now. I chose the top left picture because I enjoy making movies and a lot of my art is inspired by things that I have made movies on or seen in movies. The picture below it is of a cat with the words "Hang in There." I chose this picture because it is motivational and I get frustrated a lot when I make art or do anything requiring a lot of focus, so this picture will remind to just "hang in there." The picture next to it is of children around the world. Helping people and volunteering shows all the good in the world, which inspires me in not only my art, but also my life. Beside the picture of the globe with children, I have a picture of Kim Possible, the main character of my favorite show as a child. Kim Possible was one of the first people I drew when I was younger and still inspires me to draw things I love. To the right of the Kim Possible picture, I have a picture of the words "Don't Stop Believing." Don't Stop Believing is one of my favorite songs and I think it has a good message. It doesn't directly inspire my art, but listening to the song is one of the factors that contributes to my art. Continuing with the music theme, underneath the picture of Kim Possible I have the name of the band AC/DC. I listen to a lot of rock music when I draw which helps me focus, and AC/DC is my favorite band out of all the rock bands I listen to. The smiley face next to the AC/DC picture is the logo of my favorite app, iFunny. Whenever I do anything I tend to get distracted a lot and when I do I usually get on iFunny. Now, getting distracted on iFunny has become an integral part of my work and it would feel odd to leave it out of my daily schedule. Below the iFunny picture, I have a picture of the Justice League, a group of superheroes from comic books. The art in comic books are very inspirational to me because of how amazing the quality of each picture is even though the artist has a minimal amount of time for them. On the bottom right corner I placed a picture of an astronaut sloth. The picture represents my love of funny art. I like drawing things that are odd and amusing more than conventional objects. Lastly, the twitter quote from Jaden Smith on the top right corner doesn't exactly inspire me, but it shows a difference in opinion. Jaden Smith thinks his quote is extremely philosophical and that he's the next Plato, but the rest of the world knows that he is just an idiot. Jaden Smith keeps posting tweets even though he knows people are laughing at him, and his confidence in his work can also be interpreted into art. The most important thing is to have confidence in your own work no matter what anyone else says and I hope my influence map shows that.

Influence Map

When I was making my influence map, I wasn't sure where to start, so I began by picking out my pictures. I had a difficult time thinking of what to put on the influence map, but then I decided on putting pictures of things that not only inspired me, but things I like and that make me smile. After I got my pictures, I needed a way to organize them. I tried making them into collage, but I didn't like how messy it looked so I decided to organize them into the grid. Lastly, I added my name to the top of the blog to show that it was my influence map.