May 18th, 2020
Sarah W

In Visual Arts 9 one of our main projects was Cityscape. As you can see from looking at the picture above, our challenge was drawing a city from the perspective of someone on the sidewalk, looking up. In this city we are creating, the buildings are ones in which we have a personal attachment to. All these buildings in the circles hold memories for me, such as the bubble tea shop me and my friend tend to gravitate towards, or the Dairy Queen my dad occasionally takes me and my brother after martial arts. These personal design choices require self-exploration and refinement of skills, the ability to narrow down a suitable solution when problems arise, and the ability to plan and manage my time. This project also highly utilized the core competency Social Responsibility. Trust in classmates, giving help, and self-determination, are all things that fall under that belt.

If you look back to the image of my project you can see the buildings are shaded in color. I used colored pencils to achieve this, a skill I am not too comfortable with, as I do not use it often. As you can imagine, I ran into some problems with this alien object, and method of shading. And especially because I started on this assignment late I ended up rushing and pressed too hard in areas which made the coloring job missmatched and uneven. I saw this was an issue, and was able to come up with multiple strategies: such as using an eraser to dull the gradient and a roll of paper to smudge the pigment. After that, I compared them to rule out a solution. I am able to come up with a method that uses the least amount of time, and with materials I already have in my home.
I then decided I had to find a way to complete this artwork efficiently and beautifully, and decided on a schedule. Every day I designated time to work on the project, with a step by step procedure. Starting with a sketch, then inking and coloring. I spread it over the course of days I had to complete it, instead of leaving it till the last minute, which would’ve most likely prompt me to rush and create more mistakes, and a less proud piece.

Speaking of finding solutions to problems- my friends were a great help. Art is a subject where there are individual aspects, but even those benefit from support or ideas of other people. A big thing about Social Responsibility, one I used to struggle with is the ability to ask for help. It depends on the person, but I think the issues with this are either stubbornness, or they have a fixed mindset towards whatever they need assistance with and play it off as laziness. Asking for help can be beneficial not only because it can help you get back on your feet, they can help you understand the steps so you can teach someone else. This is why I think it’s important to teach the person who’s struggling, not just give them the answer.

Although asking for help can certainly be beneficial, it’s equally important to also take the time and see if you can figure it out. This is important because at a small disturbance you won’t automatically give up and leave it for someone else to solve or give you the answer, which can lead to bad habits. Even when the person will explain things, I know some may just be hunting for the answer and they won’t be retaining any information. I am able to receive positive help, and I’m able to give positive help. Social responsibility is paying attention to your peers, and being able to give support. I can notice when a person is struggling; whether it’s to understand or conduct an assignment. I notice signs include looking around, frowning, fiddling, or just looking plain confused. We’re all in the class together and we all help each other to learn and grow.

In conclusion, this Cityscape assignment has taught me many things. It was a nostalgic journey that made me grateful towards my loved ones. It has shown me multiple sides of Social responsibility, such as identifying when to ask for help, when to keep at something, and the benefits of being observant. It has helped me bond with others and form connections. It has also helped me make personal choices that expanded my abilities in this subject, and be able to plan my actions accordingly. These lessons are versatile, and can fit into the mold of many different subjects, not just art. This makes them highly valuable to my education and life in general.