Critique 1

I started my critique by saying how much I dislike the background on my piece. I don't like having lots of detail, and I wish I had left it alone. I don't mind the flower, but the butterfly was a mistake. I got mixed reviews on this--some people said they liked the background, and others also thought I could have left it blank, or with a light value. I think the butterfly wouldn't have been so bad if it hadn't gotten so dark, but I can't erase it anymore; it doesn't get any lighter.

People were reminded of lots of different things by the doll in my drawing, such as Darth Vader, which amused me. They thought her hair looked a bit like his helmet. It was also brought to my attention that the composition is divided nearly in half vertically. I agree, and find it a bit annoying when I look at it. It wasn't the cropping that I wanted with the image, but I just wanted to get started. I had missed a session of drawing already because I didn't have a board, and I didn't want to get behind anymore. I ended up starting too quickly instead of taking my time and getting the initial sketch right.

Left: How the image actually cropped. Right: How I would like to have been cropped, possibly with another flower instead of the butterfly wing. Or nothing in the background.

Art Lessons, Part 1

In the preface, Haynes talks about a piece by Georgia O'Keefe called Sky Above CLouds IV, so I decided to look it up. Haynes talks about how fascinated she was and that O'Keefe did an amazing job portraying the clouds. With the knowledge of O'Keefe's other works and Hayne's words, I was excited to see what it looked like. And I must say... I was rather disappointed. The clouds look like white blobs. Maybe the piece was from a different time in O'Keefe's artistic journey than what I'm used to seeing. Maybe I need to see it in person. Whatever the reason, it just didn't have the same affect on me as it apparently did on Haynes.

As I continued reading, I came to the part where Haynes talks about everyone being an artist, and that while some people seem to be born with special gifts, these gifts only make it easier to learn. At first, I completely disagreed, but then I thought about it more and remembered a conversation I had with some friends who are math majors. They consider large math problems to be a form of art. Just because I don't consider something to be art (splatter painting, for example) doesn't mean it's not art to other people. So, after thinking about it, I agree with what Haynes thinks. Everyone can do math. I'm not good at it, so it just takes me longer. It would be the same if my math friends decided to paint a picture. They can do it, it would just be more difficult for them.