I have seen some incredible photorealism while surfing the internet (unfortunately I couldn't find it again so this piece will have to do) and am always very impressed.

Banksy is an amazing artist, despite the illegality of his work. I'm not one for street art (I think graffiti is incredibly overrated) but his work is actually planned, thought about, and demonstrates artistic skill unlike just tagging.

Fernado Botero -- LOVE his art and his style, especially his massive rotund horse sculture.

I get a lot of inspiration from comic books. NOT manga. Straight up comic books. I am always thoroughly impressed with he shading comic book artists are able to get with just ink like in the Sin City series and in this series called RASL.

The Pixies are a band I often listen to while doing art. They are very....inspirational and...odd.

Reflection

Some of my biggest successes this term was finishing a project. I am incredibly satisfied with all of my projects I have produced. I don't know if it was the group or the environment or what, but I was really able to focus and produce work that I am proud of. I didn't have many challenges this term (besides folding the cranes) as I enjoyed everything. I tried to challenge myself with the layer project which turned into the text project. I had been itching to try mixed media (even though I don't think I have the eye for it) but am very pleased with the result of the text project (it frightens my mother although she'll never admit it). Doing the layering-turned-text project changed my view of how I do my work. I loved working with the text and also on a different medium. Most of my pieces produced were in pencil with color highlights. Although I like those pieces very much, this one was radically different and I ended up enjoying it immensely. After doing that piece (and this class as a whole) I have a different outlook on art and art class. I hope to have such an intense class next year, and I enjoyed it very much!