This week I spend a lot of my time reading. The three books that I have so far include “Ways of Seeing” by John Berger, “The Shape of Content” by Ben Shahn, and “How to Be an Artist” by Jerry Saltz. While these books have fonts that are bigger than the usual books and are on average around 120 pages each, some of the information was not easy for me to grasp. It took me a little longer to read and take notes on these books as there were concepts that I didn’t fully understand at first, or took me some time to understand. “Ways of Seeing” was a book that I read and looked over twice, and there are still parts that I need to learn and fully understand. “The Shape of Content” was another book, which I haven’t finished yet, but have moments where I need to clarify what is being said (how can I apply the information and ideas to my project? Do I agree with what is being said? Am I able to find an example of an idea in the pieces of art that I know and see?). While I took many notes and was able to develop a good understanding of the content of these books, there were moments that stumped me and made me stop to think. Any moments of these books that I am still not 100% clear with, I plan to discuss with James.

4/25/21

As I continue my painting inspired by George Seurat’s “A Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte,” I realize that I am experiencing challenges with the pointillism technique. This technique, which consists of painting a bunch of mini dots until it turns into an entire composition, is a lot more time-consuming than I anticipated. Obviously, my work is not going to end up looking exactly like Seurat’s, but it is not as easy to make the two look similar as I thought when starting the project. While creating the dots can be tiring and time-consuming, I also find myself struggling with proportions and the use of color. I have excepted that my piece will not look like Seurat’s (for many reasons), but with the acrylics paints I am using, I am struggling to find the right colors to use. The people in Red, for some reason, seem to be the most difficult. With the paints I have, I think it would be a good idea to create some kind of palette that I can refer to. This might help me with the paints I use and mix. This painting has taken me longer than expected, but I do intend on finishing it this upcoming week.