Art Museum Gallery Visit 2

IN Exhibition
In this exhibition, I saw numerous artworks from students attending other international schools. It was refreshing to be able to see what other people are working with, and although some had similar pieces with mediums that I've worked with, there were also some differences that shows the uniqueness of each school. One thing I'm glad about was that during the exhibition, I was able to see what others at the same age as me were able to do or work with, and how they did it. The experience was definitely eye opening and it actually gave me inspiration about what I can do with my future artwork.


My first takeaway from this piece is that you have to know where certain highlights are in a portrait. This piece really got my attention because I did a self portrait in acrylic myself, and looking at this made me finally see how I could improve from the areas I was struggling with. Although the artist only seemed to have used white for her highlights, she put in just the right amount and in just the right areas that led her painting to look more realistic. For example, she really perfected the highlights on her cheek, under the eyebrows and the nose, to make the shape that is unique to the face itself. This piece really got to me because I know what it was like to draw a face with acrylic paint and how much I struggled with it, and to see how the artist made the paint so smooth but not too blendy was amazing.

My second takeaway from the piece on the right is that blending might seem like the better option, but leaving defined shapes can really adds more depth and meaning to an artwork as a whole. As I looked at this piece from afar, it seemed so realistic and contrasted, but as I looked closer, I could see how the artist purposely painted her painting with similar strokes of rectangles. It added so much more emphasis especially to the water, because if the artist had just blended the entire background to be an ombre of blue, it wouldn't look as creative and interesting as leaving the brush strokes as part of the water.

A third takeaway from the painting on the left, is that sometimes abstract and more simplicity in an artwork can give out more emotion and leave the audience more amazed. Almost all of the artwork I've done were transferred from an image to a surface, but I never once thought about making abstract art. As I looked at this painting, it ended up being one of my favorites because of the mixture of abstract acrylic paint that the artist created as a background to the boat and ocean. The audience may not grasp what the artist wants them to see when it comes to abstract art, but it definitely leaves both them and me thinking more about it.

My last takeaway, which is very similar to my third as it was one of the main things I loved about the exhibition, is to get creative with my imagination and images by putting together a piece that is unique rather than transferring an image right away on paper. For example, in the artwork on the right, the artist obviously didn't take a picture exactly like the painting she made, instead, she combined a person's face with an abstract background and had even made the piece abstract by getting messy and creative with the different paints on the face and a few areas on the background. If the artist had just drew a normal and realistic face and butterflies around it, I wouldn't have been as attracted to the artwork as I am to it now.

Final Thoughts
Overall, the main takeaway I had from this entire exhibition is that for myself, my favourite artworks or the ones that I am most attracted to are the ones where the artist combines both realistic and abstract aspects to his/her piece as a whole. I think that this is because when an artist adds even just a little bit of abstract into a realistic image, it makes me wonder and think more about the uniqueness of the piece itself and how it can be interpreted in many more ways than just a picture.