Art in Isolation

Alternative titles - Self Artsolation, Quartantine 

Yeah, no, I hate both of those.

So. The entirety of our school is in self-isolation due to COVID-19. Might have to clarify which virus because one day a kid might use this as a primary source in social studies in 60 years. If we manage to live that long- not funny? Oops.

Anyway, the point of this blog post is to share what I have been learning while at home. I'm taking NCEA level one art this year. The best part of art is the creativity, the--almost--complete freedom to do whatever. When you're at home without a teacher hanging over your shoulder, it is slightly more difficult but you probably have more freedom. I wanted to share what I have learnt through doing art while in self-isolation.

I am uptight. That is something that I'm fully aware of. I struggle to break the rules--though, I do believe rules may be broken if there is a reason for it--and I freak in chaos. I get insecure when people are better at me. More relevant, I struggle to accept failure. It's hard to tune out the little voices in your head that tells you that the idea of 'failing is learning' is bull- I'll stop there.

What does this have to do with anything? Well, I've been doing some art. Duh. And I got frustrated because I kept messing up. I ended up with a painting I didn't like. It didn't look anything like the sketch I drew beforehand.
But (there's always a but, isn't there?) I learnt from this. I learnt that I do like the way I painted the pants- the colour, the pockets, the belt. I didn't like how deep the neckline was or how the arms sit. The background sucks.

So I did it again.

I made a new painting. I made mistakes and I fixed what I could but Rome wasn't built in a day. I know I did things wrong.
There are gaps between the background and the figure. The 'Human' is difficult to read because of spacing. The arms aren't sitting equally. The hair is longer than I expected because the shirt sat weirdly. The belt and pants got worse, so did the pockets. The hair has little texture.
It's alright though. I got frustrated, anyone would. However, I kept going and I understand how to improve.

I was okay. 

I did freak though, at one point. I took a break, stepped away from what I was doing and did something I would be okay messing up. I painted my calculator. 

It looks like crap, I know. I do know that. It was my first time painting clouds like this and I winged it like crazy. I have painted better. The right image is a watercolour painting I did a while ago, yeah, the proportion is off, but I really like it anyway. 

So, yeah. I learnt a lot from doing this. I learnt you can make mistakes. I learnt that it's okay to mess up if you learn for next time.

Also, I really like gold paint? And yellow, too.