Skateboard Unit 2

Sanding of the Deck:

The sanding of the deck was time consuming, but nonetheless exciting, knowing that we would have a smooth finish as the fruit of our labour. It was very good to practice using the grating and sanding tools, which may also be a good future use. The first stage in the sanding (using the grating tool) was quite difficult. I found it sometimes tough because the grate would get stuck in the board, or it may pull off ridiculously large pieces of the board. I found it easier to sometimes switch directions, which may sometimes help prevent the tearing off of large pieces. For technique, i found it much easier to use long straight strokes to get more out of the board with minimal effort. Using short strokes got much less out and i found short strokes to be less productive (in the sense that it would not be as smooth). I also sanded out the edges so that the board would be more round, and smoother overall. It seemed easier to hold the board tucked underneath your arms to grate the edges.
The second stage of the sanding process involved the use of sandpaper. I started at the 60, the most rugged, to remove the larger and unecesary parts of the board including chips and glue. Sand paper was an even slower process, however much more rewarding, getting smoother with every increase in sandpaper. I had to start off by removing all the glue and chips in the board. This was the most enduring, having to apply an extra amount of pressure to get rid of it. For the 60, most of the time was spent using my hand and sandpaper only. Using the 60, a lot of time was also spent on the sides. When i moved up to the 80, i applied the sandpaper to a (kindof) styrofoam base to cover more of the flat side of the board. Using this, i mostly went with the grain of the board, feeling much easier to go with, rather than against it. This was slightly smoother, and took almost as much off as the 60, but a little more refined. I moved slowly up the ranks of sandpaper not finding them all very effective. I didn't really see too much wood bits come up, so it seemed that they did not work. However, feeling the board you could really feel a difference. I could really see a difference when moving up to the 220 and the 400. Both of these produced lots of fine pieces of wood. They made a dramatic difference, taking away all the tiny deficiencies in the wood. The 400 especially, was very good in making the whole board smooth out. By then, the entire board basically felt like a piece of paper. Overall i thought that i was able to make the board very smooth around the edges and the deck.

The Painting:

This process was a moderately dfficult process. The designing of it in pencil was an interesting process where we could draw on a large variety of inspiration, where I finally went with the idea of a guitar. I spent a good deal of time designing the rest of it, adding flames, an octopus, and other objects to the guitar. The next part was harder, where we had to cut out stencils for the skatseboard. This was my least enjoyed part of the project, because the task was tedious, but the final output was well worth it. The designs were applied to paper first. This was fun, as I was able to experiment with different tones and colours. I was able to try many new designs and eventually get a few designs I liked from the 3 different paintings I did. From this, I also developed a few more stencil designs, including the peace symbol, curve-design, and squares.

Then it was time to make a final. I put all my favourite designs together, and applied it to another sheet of paper. This included a blue-white background, the V-shaped guitar(black and white), orange peace symbols, flames, and had nearly perfected the technique by using the sponge.

After completing the paper copy. I moved onto the real skateboard. I had designed the whole thing with extreme caution, making sure that I did not screw up on the final - after so many trials. I had done everything, but left out the detailed designs such as the flames, octopus, and waves. I felt that the plain black and white guitar (with a brown neck) looked better without the designs. I felt that I had complicated some things with all the extra designs and it did not look as good. Keeping it simple made the guitar turn out better and have the middle stand out.

Poetry Transformation

What discoveries or techniques did you find helpful through the process? What are two skills that you learnt and what is one area that you feel you work on to improve your skills?
- Looking at the picture at a distance

- Heavy brush stroke and Light brush stroke

- Using a small, firm brush for blackbird (Also tried to contrast it with water to bring it out)

- Large strokes for an effect (distance)

- Short strokes for further distances

- Flicking the paintbrush for snow (This didn't work out as well as I wanted it to, because it created some very large snowballs) {I eventually went to a tiny brush and did dotting work)

Interpret the Poem

A literal interpretation of the poem would be that there is a blackbird that stands out somewhere, but it is also very small, as it is among many large mountains. The mountains are snowing, and it would keep snowing, however there is a large river that keeps flowing through the area. There are also other blackbirds that are flying around, with an ominous green glow around it. Stephens uses a blackbird and repeats it through the 13 verses to guide the reader through a process of self questioning and self reflection.

How you used certain elements or principles of design to describe the selected piece of poetry.

Shape - Many large mountains in the background behind the blackbird

Line - Horizontal lines for the river flowing across the poetry

Size - The blackbird is tiny compared to the entire background, however it CONTRASTS the background, bringing it out

Value- Dark background, and lighter sky and river

Contrast- Contrasting of mountains/tree/blackbird with sky, river, ground

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Thirteen Ways of Looking at a Blackbird
By: Wallace Stevens

I Among twenty snowy mountains, The only moving thing Was the eye of the blackbird.
II I was of three minds, Like a tree In which there are three blackbirds.
III The blackbird whirled in the autumn winds. It was a small part of the pantomime.
IV A man and a woman Are one. A man and a woman and a blackbird Are one.
V I do not know which to prefer, The beauty of inflections Or the beauty of innuendoes, The blackbird whistling Or just after.
VI Icicles filled the long window With barbaric glass. The shadow of the blackbird Crossed it, to and fro. The mood Traced in the shadow An indecipherable cause.
VII O thin men of Haddam, Why do you imagine golden birds? Do you not see how the blackbird Walks around the feet Of the women about you?
VIII I know noble accents And lucid, inescapable rhythms; But I know, too, That the blackbird is involved In what I know.
IX When the blackbird flew out of sight, It marked the edge Of one of many circles.
X At the sight of blackbirds Flying in a green light, Even the bawds of euphony Would cry out sharply.
XI He rode over Connecticut In a glass coach. Once, a fear pierced him, In that he mistook The shadow of his equipage For blackbirds.
XII The river is moving. The blackbird must be flying.
XIII It was evening all afternoon. It was snowing And it was going to snow. The blackbird sat In the cedar-limbs.

Collage

What discoveries or techniques did you find helpful through the process? What are two
skills that you learnt and what is one area that you feel you work on to improve your
skills?

I found that tearing out small pieces, little by little really helped get a more detailed picture. You had to be patient to be able to do this, because without it, you could not make it detailed and precise. I feel that i may have been able to spend a little more time on the long plant area (lower right corner) That could have been done by using scissors to get a thinner piece.

Random Drawings

Landscape Drawings

Top left - Parallel (NEW)

Top Right - Cross Hatch (More updated one to come - camera problem)

Left- Parallel (OLD)

Below - Contour

5 Art Landscape Photos

Here are my photos !