Nobody likes to present, and if you do, then that's good, but I’ve never met anyone who is 100% confident with presenting, especially in front of a big group of people. Recently in VAM, we had to do a big research project, and by the end of it, we presented it. I was honestly terrified, not because of the project itself, but by the presenting part, but at the same time, I enjoyed this project as it was something I enjoy and am passionate about. I believe the purpose of this project was to familiarize ourselves with almost every aspect of art history. Everybody had to do this project, and in the end, I think we all learned something.
I learned from my colleagues things that I would have never thought about researching by myself. For example, during the abstract expressionism presentation, I realized that there are different takes on this movement, from just splashing paint on a canvas to using soft brushstrokes. Still, it all means the same thing; it is intended to depict emotion. During the Baroque and Rococo, that period’s art is impressive and dramatic, but one of the most famous paintings from this era, “The Swing”, was painted by a not-so-great guy. From my college that did pop art, I learned that pop art was significantly influenced by ordinary things and by that kind of comic book style. The most successful pop artists were successful in advertising before they were full-time artists. In my presentation and just my project in general, I feel that I did well and enjoyed making my infographic and the research portion of it all. I feel like I worked the hardest, but at the same time, those were the easiest part of this entire project for me. I like doing that kind of stuff, so it wasn’t a challenge for me. On the other hand, I did struggle a lot with the presenting part of it all. I hate presenting; it makes me extremely nervous, especially the build-up to it, and it wasn’t that I wasn’t proud of my work or even my speech; it’s just that I don’t like talking in front of so many people that are a little forced to listen to me. But after a few panic attacks and a few restless nights, I finally did it; I was able to get up there and not completely break down in front of everyone. Fake it till you make it, right? I feel like this was a struggle because when I get nervous, I tend to talk really fast, and I had to make my presentation around five minutes long, so every once in a while, I have to stop myself and think about what I was saying. I don’t know what I would do differently, maybe just try not to freak out as much and just calm myself try to look at it in a positive way. Also, I would perhaps tweak my infographic a little more so that the order was more aligned with my speech. In conclusion, I think I did okay. I learned a lot about my movement stuff that for as much as I like the movement I never would have thought about researching like how it actually started, I also learned what I kind of already knew, that I enjoy graphic design, and it will probably be one of the things I study in university. I enjoyed making my vector graphics and just my infographic in general. I'm the kind of person that likes making the tiniest of tweaks to my work to make it look better. I also had fun writing my speech, not because I like writing but because I talked about something I genuinely enjoy and wanted to learn more about. So it wasn’t that bad in the end. I just hope people enjoyed my presentation, and if not, I’m proud of my work anyway.
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If I’m honest, I don't know what I’m doing. I’m about to start my independent project for the year, and honestly, I’m kind of scared. I don’t know what to expect from this assignment because it would be the first time I’m doing something this big; I’m mostly nervous because this will be a very personal project for me, and I just want to be able to do it justice. But I’m going to try my best because at the end of the day if it doesn’t exactly work out the way I want it to, it will still be a great learning experience, right?
For my project, I want to create a very close to my heart piece, a series of paintings called “Generations.” I want to paint acrylic portraits of my grandmother, mother, and sister while they were all around the same age, three completely different generations, to see where the future is headed. I’ve always tried to stay away from painting my family because they would actually see it, and I’ve always been scared I wouldn’t do them justice, but what’s a better way to get over your fears than just jumping right into them. I’m also not very sure how to go about this project. I know I need to start with my basic sketch, but I’m a massive perfectionist and tend to judge myself very quickly, so I’m a little stressed about a project like this. I have seven weeks to complete this project, giving me around two and a half weeks to complete each portrait which I believe should give me more than enough time to live up to my expectations of this project. If you're wondering why I’m doing a project that is going to bring me so much stress, it’s because I’ve recently discovered that family is very important to me and being an immigrant, I don’t really get to see my family as well as I’m not as close to them as I would like to be. So my initial thought for this project was to create a piece about humanity, surrounded by the idea of being human. Still, as I got to thinking, I realized that I wanted to do something that would mean something to other people but that it would mean something to me. There is no better way to show humanity than by how much they have evolved over decades of the world changing. Overall I'm very nervous but excited simultaneously; I really want to see what the final product will look like. There will be many challenges along the way, but I think I’m ready for anything. I have a good idea, and I just want to make something I can be proud of, so hopefully, it will all work out in the end. It’s no secret that goals are hard to keep. Anyone who has ever tried to make a difference in their lives has started by setting goals and things to achieve, but when it comes to keeping them, that's when the struggle begins. I am very impressed by people’s ability to achieve their goals. I set my goals earlier in the school year, and if I’m honest, I wasn’t very good at keeping them, but today I'm selecting new ones and hopefully, with a little more willpower, I will be able to achieve them.
It’s no secret that I don’t like to read, and honestly, it’s because I’m not very good at it, and I don’t like struggling with something that should be very simple and straightforward. I know that reading is an essential part of my learning. I know that if I never actually sit down and read, I'll never get any better at it, so one of my goals this semester is to read more and improve my reading abilities. I plan to set aside at least ten minutes every day for reading. I want to start with short periods because I also know that I have a short attention span, so I want to keep it real for myself. I want to start this goal specifically now because I know that we will be reading and doing a novel study later this year, and I would like to comprehend what I’m reading without much struggle. This is a long-term goal because even after the year is over, I want to get more into reading and read more rigid material. I will try to increase the amount of time I read in a day when I'm more comfortable with books, and that’s how I know I'm making progress. Another thing that is very well known about me is that I am a relatively shy and introverted person, which is one reason I struggle a lot with public speaking. I know that it's impossible to go through life without making a single presentation ever; I was just dreaming it was. So my other goal for this semester is to get more comfortable with public speaking. I'm not saying I will be perfect because I’m a realistic person, but I can at least try to feel like I’m not going to faint every time I get in front of a big group of people. It’s challenging to be completely comfortable with public speaking, especially when you’re like me. I’m going to achieve this by first becoming more comfortable around bigger groups of people and my classmates in general. I’m also going to talk to more people because when I know more about the people I’m talking to, it makes me feel more secure. I have a big presentation in VAM coming up soon, so I would like to complete my goal by that time. I won’t know I’ve made progress until my actual presentation, but hopefully, I will. I believe I’ve chosen these goals well because I know that these are things I’ve always struggled with and have always wanted to fix. I know that keeping these goals will be no easy task, but I will try my hardest. Life is full of things we would like to improve upon, so I know that these goals are essential, but let’s be honest, nobody has ever been able to fully achieve all their goals because there is always something new to work towards. I know I didn’t do great the first time around; I believe this was because of how hard it is to find the motivation to do things nowadays; hopefully, that won’t get in the way this time. Goals will always be challenging because if they were easy, we would have achieved them a long time ago. |
AuthorJust a high school student making a blog Archives
January 2023
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