Vichhay Roeung

Artist Statement #4

            The fourth quarter is the shortest quarter of all. At the most there were only five assignments that had to be turned in this quarter. There was much that had to be done, perspective drawing, spaces, (negative), sculpture and photo edits. The first project was a sculpture; during that week I worked on building a mobile, a piece of art that was created by Alexander Clader in 1939. Mostly used as decoration and in nursery, the mobile focused on the aspects of equilibrium. When building it, I focused on the balance and irregular shape of the art piece. One side being a regular balance while the other is irregular, in the end it looks good, it balances and rotates.

            The second art project was to take over two hundred photos and edit three of them. Being a good experience for a week as I went around taking random pictures of everything I see. Which it was fun as there were a lot to see in Philadelphia, many wonderful and strange things such as warning signs. The next piece was a bicycle drawing, where we had to do a negative space drawing, lines only, and then shading. Which what I should had done first was the lines then shading because I finished with the negative spaces, there were color marks that blended over to the lines side. This piece was by far a difficult task as there were many parts and small objects that had to be drawn and focused on.

            For the famous art piece, I decided to copy an art piece created by Leonardo De Vinci. It is a sketch of the Siege Machine that De Vinci created and so forth I copied. Needless to say I captured most of the details that were vital, but since it was a sketch, the insides were the hardest to draw, as there were not much that could be seen. The final piece was a drawing from observation, which I did of a bench near my neighborhood. The drawing seems somewhat like a sketch but the details are truly captured and expressed in the drawing.

Compare and Contrast:

- The first picture is of a flower. I decided to do it that way because I wanted to focus on the beauty of the flower, thus I had like a lenses focusing on it. Burring the picture and making the flower shine.

- The second is that of trees near a park in South West Philadelphia. I decided to make it this way because at first it was just plain and normal, so instead I made it creepy and mysterious. Mainly because by changing it this way it became more exciting and dramatic, such as those in movies.

- The final ones were that of houses in a wide-open area. I brighten up the picture to show how wonderful I thought the area and scenery was.  

This project by far was a joyous experience. There were many things that had to be researched and imagined to make everything seamless. I greatly enjoyed this benchmark, as there were more of what my opinion was and how it could have been. Thus, if the research was done, one could easily imagine many scenarios that I myself wished could had been presented in this benchmark. By far the most, the best event that I investigated was the opposition of the Lend Lease Act, as mainly all the events that I focused on lead back to this one argument. Having a great impact, as there are many outcomes from one cause, thus my imagination ran wild with what could be concluded from this change. That it can only happen if the influence of a group or one is great enough that it could change history. I would have to say that the most challenging part of this project was actually putting it up, the primary and research to me was actually the easy part, while just spending time putting it together. Which if I had more time I wanted to have a flash animation about one of my source, which would be entertaining and amazement in my eyes as this would be an important event in history if this point of divergence was real.      

Our project focused on the PCB Poisoning in Anniston, Alabama, that were caused by the chemical corporate giant Monsanto. For years corporate giant Monsanto have been dumping the toxic chemical (PCB) into the surrounding environment of Anniston. Infecting the citizens of Anniston’s livestock, food source, and water supply. Creating hazardous environmental issues the city of Anniston.  

During the project, the things that went well were the research aspects of the project. As there was a lot of information, most not so useful but still good background information to complete the story of the disaster. What did not go well was the amount of group collaboration as the final product was completed with only one member’s part of the project. What I would do differently is have better group collaboration and punishment for incomplete parts of a group member.

Be Concise - 9

Be Visual - 8

Be Smarter - 8

Be Transparent - 7

Be Different - 6

Be Accurate - 9

Be Attractive - 8

Be Varied - 6

Be Gracious - 7

Be Creative - 7         

Earth Stream

USH – Laufenburg

Benchmark Reflection

            There were many aspects of the project that affected my choice of topics. Mainly as this topic was based off a boarder topic, if the United States should had been involved in World War II. Which what I did was focused on what they did most that was based on diplomacy and debate. Thus, as I looked through the history of the United States involvement in the war, I founded out that they were in an allied relationship with Britain since World War I and that Britain was one of the major forces of the Allies.

            I selected the category of website as I was doing it as a solo project, which website building I thought would be a fast and easy process for an individual task. I used the website method as it was an easier presentation method which I knew how to work. Using the program Iweb as it was just a simple drag and drop process while other method would require coding HTML. A long and tedious process, which I find could be done faster and easier with Iweb.                    

            The problems that I ran into while working on this project were actually making it visually appealing and informative in a way that always lead back to my thesis. Problems that included flash animation, so that the website could be visually appealing but also interactive besides just having hyperlinks. But I had no knowledge of hot to use flash until I had some help in making simple animation. Beside problems that were electronically, there were the occasional moments that I was procrastinating which slowed down the completion of the project.

            What went well in the project was the assistance that I had from other students. One student, being Robert Boardwater taught me how to do partial flash animation, useful both as a skill and for this project. The primary source that I used for this portion was actually the easiest as there was actually a old radio recording of Churchill’s speech that spoke out to the United States that they were willing to fight if they were given the tools.

            If I were to do this again, what I would change is the amount of procrastination I had during the time we had to do the project. As when I was working on it, it was actually easier then I imagine and I believe I could do a better job if I had known this earlier. Such as providing more links or information that could be useful in the website or the visual aspects of the website. Which there were many things that I learned from this project, things that involved the level of my ability and how I confronted the problems ahead. 

Vichhay Roeung

Artist Statement

There were many success and failures during this quarter. What this quarter focused on was life and perspective form of art. From my experience this quarter I would have to say it was a challenging and difficult process, as I was introduced to new method of art such as charcoal and real life perspective. Even though using charcoal was like using a crayon, the difference was its ability to show the color and shading. While real life perspective, there were many details in which it was difficult to capture or even show on paper.  

Drawing from real life, was the most challenging process during this whole quarter. As there were always more then just one layer of shade or the image in which I could see, the viewpoints and the details of the object. At first drawing from real life perspective such as my hand was easy but when it came to shading or transparent objects, I couldn’t seem to capture the exact details of the object. The clear bottle small project, I believe was the first challenge in further advancing my real life perspective skills.

My first clear bottle small drawing was that of a glass jug. The difficult part of that project would be my ability to capture the glass like texture of the drawing. Where it looks like the glass was bending and reflects part of the lights. It wasn’t until I worked on the large clear bottle, when I noticed my improvements in this type of skill. Using charcoal, I have to say that was the most successful part of this experience. Mainly because I was able to improve in art, using two skills I wasn’t familiar with, which in the end I believed it was a beautiful piece of art. Which that was one of the art piece that I am proud of and thought was a success.

  For each week there was a new assignment. From real life perspective and charcoal small to real life perspective and charcoal large. Which every project that was assigned during that week must be finished in two class periods, mainly because we only had art twice a week. So most of the projects were to be done on our own time, during the snow, and even when we don’t have the class. I feel that I could get the art done easily and well during class, while at home the motivation for it is not much. Thus, large projects should take a little longer, while there should be art that could be finished in one class period.

  Finally for the menu project where we had to choose a category, I choose to work on the genre focus. Where I had to create two inspired piece of art from my genre. I focused on fantasy art as my genre, as fantasy to me is a colorful and playful art such as a child’s book. Using origami to express myself, I created two scenes. One being a vase filled with origami pastel stars as the soil and lots of origami flowers consisting of a tissue rose and paper lily. The second one features two-origami crane interacting with each other around a pile of food, hearts, and stars. Which these are my inspirations from fantasy art, which combines my imagery of fantasy and my love of origami.

Artist Statement #2

1/13/11

            Origami as a whole is an interesting and creative art. It focuses on structure building and folding techniques that add up, giving the art piece all it’s magnificent details and realistic qualities. During the second quarter of the school year I wanted to incorporate origami in a form of a sculpture, to be shown as a prop or a decoration. Starting off with the design and blueprint of the sword, I then went on to create the necessary materials to create my sculpture using scrape printer paper.

            To start this project I had to find something I could get inspired to build. Looking at multiple designs I choose to create a prop sword from one of my favorite Massively Multiplayer Online (MMO) game, Runescape. In the game it features a great sword created by one of the Runescape Gods, a powerful great two-handed sword with the power to strike down foes with lighting under the name of Saradomin. It was something I’d really enjoyed from the game and I thought I create it as a cosplay item for my own self-enjoyment.

            Looking at a picture of the sword I started creating the blueprints for the sword. It was an easy process to do as I just simply scaled down the sword to a size I believe was right. Creating a 1ft handle with a 3ft blade that totaled a 4ft design for the sword. But also using a protractor to get the angles of the sword so that it precisely reflects the sword, it’s details, cuts, and distinct sharpness. Then it was on to the process of planning every single detail that I was going to do and how I was going to do it.   

            In order to make the prop I first had to create the material needed to create the structure and fame of the sword. Some call this glued paper layers of a single printer paper but I know it as harden paper because it is much harder then card stock. To make this material, the materials needed are glue, printer paper, and a waiting time of about twenty-four hours to dry. First step was to fold the paper precisely in half or the piece would be crooked, then applying a layer of glue, and finally repeating that process on the same paper, making sure that it is flat and there are no air bubbles. Last step was drying it under a large object such as a book for twenty-four hours as it tends to warp during the drying process.

            After the harden paper became harden, I started building the structure of the sword. Adding on layers of harden paper to a point in which it could hold its own weight and in the form of a T shape. On the structure of the sword I drew an outline of the sword with a pencil, protractor, and ruler until it fit the designs of my blueprint. Using two small long sticks as support on both sides of the sword it became clear how sturdy and balanced the sword will become and it was time for the final part. Covering the wooden support in a matter where it shows the thickness and detailed parts of the sword. Afterward getting assistance from a fellow classmate, Natalie Sanchez to paint the sword mainly due to the reason that I’m not a descent painter. Combing multiple shades of yellow and silver that truly brings out the brightness and power of the god sword.

            Through this experience, I’ve learned a lot about my abilities and creating art. This was a memorable experience as I combined two different kind of art together into one form. Such as I made it a home project to work on none stop, where one time I was up still working until 3 a.m. and during Thanksgiving. Which I’ve truly enjoyed this process and this opened a new window for my next home art project that I’ve already started.   

Vichhay Roeung

Artist Statement #1

            My name is Vichhay Roeung, and I am junior at Science Leadership Academy. We were asked to build something we enjoyed or dreams of out of recyclable material. My sketches started out as simple lines, doodles, about what I wanted to make. What is there to know about me is that I enjoy learning about war, the history, the political standards, and especially the weapons of that time. At the time I was still hook on this new video game Halo Reach, that’s where I was inspired to make a sword. Which was not just because I’m Asian, I just happen to own a sword of my own to use as a model. But as the process went on I though I should challenge myself make a working light saber because I’ve always wanted to be a Jedi, “may the force be with me,” This is why I am an Artist.

            When building the light saber, I looked around for materials I could use. I didn’t plan for what I was going to do. Maybe I should have but I didn’t because I imagined what I going to do piece by piece. It may not had been a potential plan but we needed to use our imagination more often or we will never be able to create something wonderful without the creativity and far reaching goals of imagination. Nothing really goes as plan so I didn’t expect my art to be perfect but I expect it to express me. The way I made my light saber handle shine blue in the dark or with a different shrine the color changes to an orange glow for the plastic section.

            At first I knew I wanted the light saber to be authentic so there had to be a light source so that it can shrine and be like an actual light saber. I started with the handle; the handle consists of two-laundry cap, which I covered with the construction paper that holds toilet paper. But what kind of handle would it be without something that helps as a grip for the light saber so duck taped. Which worked well in giving a grip like feel to it but also an authentic look as if it was a piece of cloth on it. Now it was time for the difficult task using something that the light could shrine through but also a cylinder. Which was the reason I choose plastic bottles. I tried many ways to attach them together but it didn’t work. First was using staples, which gave no support as did glue. As a last resort I used duck tape, the only other way to attach them would be heating them together but I highly doubt I’m allow to because it involves fire.

            The light saber right now is pretty amazing. It glows; it’s durable, and it fluent in it’s movement when I do stunts with it. All in all it was fun making it and now I got a light saber. My technique in this art was simple, just create and fix later. I actually plan on adding more, adding transparent paper so the light will be trapped more in the bottle but also look more processional.

            I really hope to build on from this experience. My life’s goals from art are really just to make an energy sword from the video game Halo and my art career is finish. I saw my mistakes, the problems that came up, and even the solutions that I came up with to fix it. Such as this was truly a wonderful experience because it was building something about me, something I could use to express who I am and what I enjoy.     

Still under construction:

Link to Annotation