Piece #11

In Piece #11 I wanted to portray the idea of an individual moving past the media's influence and developing her own idea of what she believes. To do this I used the composition of a girl looking at the open door. She is turned away from the viewer rejecting outside influences and looking toward the open door of opportunities. I did this drawing on top of CitraSolv-ed images of magazine pages. I covered up most of these though because I wanted my concentration to move toward the idea of rejected and surpassing the media's influence.

Piece #10

For my first piece I again wanted to depict the idea of the influence of the media more than the source of the influence. To do this I incorporated the portrait to show the personal feeling of the teenagers who my concentration is focused to. Then I incorporated the magazine page with the bubbles on top to show that the thoughts of the teenager are overriding the influence of the media. I wanted to go this route with my concentration to show that teenagers can over power the influence of the media and think for themselves instead of submitting themselves to their power.

Piece #9

In this piece I was interested in the idea of the role models young girls looks up to. In the past the role models were wholesome, respectable women but today I feel like the women young girls look up to are not good examples for them to idolize. I portrayed this idea by using the idea of a girl looking at herself in a mirror she holds in front of herself. In the background I incorporated images of past influential women in black and white with new figures girls look up to in color. I think this composition portrays the idea of reflection on who we look all look up and taking time to decide if they are worth our respect first.

Piece #8

For this piece my object was to portray the way the media's coverage of celebrities encourages its viewers to assimilate and imitate the celebrities they see on TV and in magazines. I used the juxtaposition of celebrity portraits with the zoomed in drawing of lips to show the way viewers try to imitate what they see in their favorite celebrities and figures. I used the repetition structure to show the way the media inundates its audience with images and constant messages. I showed the progression of the lips in order to show how certain qualities are emphasized and the way this tells the audience that they need to possess certain features in order to be beautiful or successful. I left the lips in black and white and the images in color to show that celebrities are seen as glamorous while the everyday person is seen as mundane and unimportant.

Piece #7

Moving along to my seventh concentration piece I wanted to move from showcasing specific outlets of the media to showing more of the influence of the media. I chose the composition of this piece to show how the media breaks apart the thoughts and actions of the adolescents who are the audience of all the media's messages. I wanted the portrait to be divided by images of television and celebrities to show how these messages interrupt the natural thoughts and individuality of adolescents. I am happy with this piece because I think the drawing is engaging as well as the design structure and color scheme incorporated into it. I am also happy that this piece takes my concentration is a different direction and is beginning to develop it more.

Piece #6

For my sixth concentration piece I wanted to focus on the violence in the media. My idea was to portray all the different ways consumers view violence in their daily lives and show that influence on an observer. I incorporated images of war, violence, domestic violence in pop culture, and violence depicted in music in the background and worked a graphite and charcoal portrait on top of that. I am happy with this composition because I think it is very engaging and the rhythm of it leads the eye around the whole picture plane. I also think there is nice contrast in this piece through warm and cool colors and also between black and white and the vibrant colors. Overall I am happy with this piece and excited that my concentration is half-way done at this point.

Piece #5

This week I decided to focus on the influence of the media through television. I wanted to portray the dominance of advertisements on television and how they make watching TV merely an exposure to advertisements rather than a form of entertainment. I originally began with a repetition of televisions CitraSolv-ed and then I added in images of product advertisements behind the televisions. When I completed this the advertisements were over-powering the images of the televisions. After the critique I was advised to either add another layer of a specific subject on top of the collage or reconfigure the collage in an interesting way. I decided to cut the collage into strips and create another structure in between the strips of the collage. I chose an image of a girl hiding her face with a newspaper draped over her head. I thought this image was evocative because she is hiding from the abundance of media exposre. I repeated this image to balance out the repetition of advertisements. I am much happier with the work as a final product than I was with just the collage I began with. I like the way I incorporated design structures to create repetition, rhythm, and balance in the work.

Piece #4

For my fourth concentration piece I continued my investigation of how the media affects' society by looking at the way smoking is presented to the public. I began by looking for images in advertisements, etc. and found two strong images of provocative women smoking cigarettes. I thought these two images represented the objectivity of women through the advertisement of smoking very well. I CitraSolv-ed these two images as the first layer of my piece and then found a few more images of old-fashioned advertisements to contrast the new, updated images. Lastly, I included a picture of modern day teenage girls to show the legacy of the way smoking is advertised to women. After finding images I began layers on watercolor pencil, pastels, and charcoal to create a background of smoke clouds. I wanted the mass of clouds to make the viewer question the messages they were being sent about smoking. During critique I was advised to increase the contrast in the values of the piece for more eye catching qualities. I was also told to work on the design structure in the background so that the viewer's eye was led around the work in a purposeful way. From those suggestions I added more media to increase contrast and tried to make the desing in the background more radial. In all, I like that this piece is provocative and grabs the viewers attention through the use of line, shape, value, movement, and rhythm.

Piece 3

My third piece in my concentration is a work portraying the way the media promotes alcohol use. I wanted to show that the media glamorizes the idea of alcohol, making it seem as if alcohol is a pathway to being accepted, fun, and is a beneficial hobby. However, as many teenagers and young adults are targeted by these false messages the media's influence can actually lead to the exact opposite outcome. So for my piece I wanted to represent this issue by contrasting the bottle in the foreground with the sick girl in the background to contrast what the media is selling versus the real results of the product. I began this work as a watercolor pencil drawing but after critique I was encouraged to add layers of imagery and other medias on top of my drawing. I did so by adding CitraSolved images and layering with more watercolor pencil and Sharpie pen. I think by work incorporates the principles of movement, contrast, and balance in the composition and the mark-making of the piece. I feel that this piece is a good representation of my message through mark-making and design.

Piece #2

For my second concentration piece I decided to focus on the message of vanity the media projects onto society. I wanted to portray the emphasis the media puts on outer beauty, vanity, and the image of perfection. I took a similar approach as my last piece by making a collage of images from magazines showing up close, models with a lot of make-up and retouching. Then on top of the collage I drew a portrait of a girl influenced by those messages on tracing paper. I wanted the portrait to represent the influence of the messages of beauty. After the critique in class I decided to emphasize the make-up of the girl and make her look at superficial as possible. I hope my piece generates a reaction from the viewer in order to mirror the strong influence the media has over society.

Concentration #1- Critique Response

For my first concentration piece in my focus on media I am portraying the idea of body image. I first assembled a background for my work out of images of women in fashion and advertisements torn from magazine and collaged together. Then on top of the collage I drew a charcoal drawing of a girl looking insecure and uncomfortable. I wanted the portrait of the girl to express the uneasiness she feels when she sees the images portrayed in magazines and advertisements that try to dictate how she should look or act. I tried to make the expression of the portrait as accurate as I could in order to display the message of body image I am trying to present in this work.

After having a critique in class I received a few suggestions I worked into my piece. My classmates thought the collage/portrait combination was a successful idea and composition and encouraged me to keep working with that idea. I was also encouraged to make the portrait as uncomfortable and insecure as I could in order to emphasize the message. I took these criticisms into account when finishing my piece. As my first concentration piece I think this is a good start to my investigation of the influence of the media.

AP Concentration Statement

For my concentration I want to investigate the media's powerful affect on people. I want to explore the ways in which different outlets of the media ( television, tabloids, magazine, internet, music, etc. ) influence people's daily lives, views, and beliefs. In particular I want to present the ways in which the media distorts certain issues so that the way the public perceives their messages is incorrect or exaggerated. For example, I want to delve into the way the fashion industry presents it self to its readers and how unhealthy activities are often encouraged by the media. To complete my 12 pieces I will be observing coverage and advertisements on television and in magazines, noticing distortions of "reality", and investigating other ways the media presents false messages to the public. As I work through my concentration pieces I want to portray bigger ideas about media- the larger affects the media has on society and the lasting affects it has made on American family and social life.

Repetition

Gradation

Anomaly

Album Cover

Concentration

Space

Repetition Structure

Silk Screen Project

My latest project has been a silk screen project in the style of Andy Warhol. Our assignment was to choose an image that would provoke a reaction from the viewer about a theme in our society today. I chose the image of the dollar bill to represent our infatuation with wealth and money. After completing many screen prints I composed them in this arrangement to create a feeling of being overwhelmed by the idea of wealth and money. I chose this composition because it makes the viewer feel how society makes people feel about the idea of money. People today seem so intently focused on wealth and monetary matters that they loose sight of what really matters. I hope my work desensitizes the viewer to the bombarding idea of the economy and monetary matters.