Learning Journal #4

Summary

               This time I painted a fox!  I chose this because of the song What Does The Fox Say.  I decided to do reds, oranges, and tans to paint it.  First I mixed a red and a tan to get kind of a maroon effect.  I painted the main fur this color.  Next I painted the feet and belly orange.  Then for details I did black, like for the eyes and fur marks. Lastly I put on what I thought was a clear shine coat.  It came in a pack of paint and it was labeled finishing coat, so I thought I would use it.

Reflection

               This time did not turn out to well!  When I did black in the fur I did to many lines, so it looked like tiger fur.  Then with the coat I thought was clear turned out to be a light white, that messed everything up.  This was the worst one I have done so I just through it away!  It was really the ugliest thing I have ever seen so I will not ever use that new process again.  People have mistakes and I just had one but I am going to learn from it and move on!  I can't wait for my last opportunity, it is coming soon.  I will say one thing I better do better on this one!

 

Six Year High School?

           What would you if high school was six years.  My life would be kind of  bad because I would have to be a lot older than I would when I graduated.  I would not go for this at all!  I would rather go to collage because I would have more freedom.  I would not have to deal with the constant you have to go to this class right now!  I could make my own life plan for the schedule.  I would not have the requirements for history classes.  I could take classes that would give me credits for a teaching degree.  With six years of high school I would have to wait and some of the job opportunities would be gone!
           These are some peoples comments about this and how I agree and disagree with them.
          First, Amanda Ripley quoted, " It's not about how long school lasts. It's about how challenging and relevant school is on a daily basis."  I agree completely on this statement.  One reason is because it is a true thing if kids were challenged they would have to work harder, so there would be no need for six years of high school!  I mean if you push yourself you have more chances to succeed, and to learn from mistakes rather than rushing through easy stuff making unwanted, silly mistakes.  Challenges are defiantly better than time, there is no denying it!
          "At 16, not 18, our young adults need to study with highly trained professionals in settings free from the restrictive and infantilizing culture of our high schools.", says Leon Botstein.  I agree with this man so much!  If we start younger we have a mind that is still open to learn how to study.  While if we are older we only want to sleep and get through the homework fast.  This man is just as knowledgeable as the woman in the paragraph before.  It is clear to me and them that six years of high school is ridiculous!
         " Students are eager to move past high school. The focus should be on informing them about their options for the next step.", says Jeffrey Jensen Arnett.  At this stage in life we do not want to wait around anymore.  We want to go out and experience the real world and find our passion!  This is what I say to six years of high school and this man agrees.  He has the same view I have, get the information and move on with it.  After all these great words from people and my view, you can conclude that there should not be six years of high school!

Learning Journal #3

Summary

                  I have chosen to paint a parrot to see how I do on a little more surface area.  There were also some feathers that gave some details I had to work with.  I chose very bright fun colors of paint for this one.  The examples are orange, green, blue, yellow, and purple.  I thought that the colors looked like a true parrot or macaw.  Next I made sure I got the best brushes out of my supplies to create a masterpiece.  Then finally I painted away!  After that I tried to analyze the problems and fix them with a detail brush.  Then I took it to my parents to get their opinions on it.

Reflection

                  This was defiantly my best one yet!  I have learned that the darker the color the better it looks when it dries.  I am seeing improvements on the little mistakes I was making earlier.  I think the bigger areas are both easy and challenging at the same time.  I could not figure out how much paint to use, so I kept having to guess.  I have one lesson for myself, it take a lot of paint!  My parrot is also my families favorite!  I hope to get better on my next two too.  I love this sculpture painting!

Learning Journal #2

Summary

                     This time I decided to paint a dog model.  I choose the colors light orange, tan, pink, black, gold, and green.  First I painted the main fur orange.  Then I painted the belly tan with some black shadows.  The colors for the collar were green and gold, which was fun together.  The paws were painted black and so was the hair on top of its head.  Then I painted the eyes blue and let it dry over night.  The next day I did a second layer of paint.  Though this time I used a detail brush at the end to try to fix mistakes.

Reflection

My thoughts on how it went were very good.  I was very happy that all the colors came together well.  Second, I think that I have improved since the fish one but I still need some work.  I think that I need to spend more time on the smaller details to make it look better.  I am enjoying this so much because it allows me to get a creative vibe into my life.  I love to paint sculptures but I want to get a lot better at it.  Also, compared to the fish I have done pretty well.  I can not wait to see how I do on my next sculpture.  I think this is going good for now.

Thanksgiving Traditions

     My family has many traditions.  Especially around the holidays!  We celebrate holidays with lots of fun family time.  Thanksgiving is a time to be thankful for family and the simple things in life.
          The first tradition my family has is to bake pies together.  I pour in some of the ingredients, as well as my brother.  My dad make his famous homemade crusts and my mom puts them in the oven to bake.  We make tons of other food too.  We make turkey, potatoes, green bean casserole, stuffing, and punch!
            The punch has lots of yummy ingredients that put it all together.  The first is pineapple juice.  Then we pour in some red Hawaiian punch.  The last thing to put in is Sprite.  Though you could just put in lemon juice but we like the carbonation.
            Our second tradition is to watch old movies, and laugh our heads off!  One of our true favorites is Charlie Brown Thanksgiving.  One it is just a fun family one, and two it is not boring.  There are other movies we watch but I can not remember the names of all of them.
           The third tradition we have is having a game night.  We play games like Uno and Outburst.  Some games we play that I also enjoy are Cadoo, checkers,and chess.  We play games to let us get out of the Internet world for at least an hour or two.
             The other tradition is kind of ridiculous.  I always get to pick out little designed paper plates and napkins.  I also get the matching paper cups too.  Though this is not a magnificent tradition we do it every year so I had to put it down.
              The final tradition is eating a ton of food!  By the end of the night we all have had at least three servings.  This is crazy but when we just walk by the pan or something we grab a piece and devour it.
              In conclusion, Thanksgiving is full of traditions at my house hold.  I would never have it any other way either.  My family continues to keep the up beat holiday spirit by putting up the Christmas tree the day after Thanksgiving,  which I guess is sort of another tradition.  If your family has any traditions take this day to lean back and enjoy it.  Be grateful for the little things in life, and have a Happy Thanksgiving!
               

Learning Journal #1

                                                                            Summary

        This six weeks I will be learning how to paint plaster sculptures.  I went to the store this weekend and bought six of them and some paint and brushes.  Then I went and watched a few Youtube videos with some tips on how to paint them.  I found a couple good ones, but nothing to helpful.
            Though I did look at my grandma's paint sculptures so I had a better idea.  I noticed that she was able to overlap some of the colors to make a Thanksgiving turkey look really nice.  She also paint a rabbit very lightly to look like the brush strokes were hair.  

             Then, I picked out the fish model to paint.  I picked the colors I thought looked good together.  Then I started to paint, it took about one to two hour to get it the way I thought it would work good.  Next I let it dry over night.  The next morning I did a second coat and let that dry!  Then finally I painted on the small details.  Once it was dry I made observations on what I could do better.


                                                                               Reflection

          My reflection of how it turned out is pretty good. I have a few reasons to describe why, so just keep on reading!
             First of all, I painted them as well as I could at this point.  Which I believe is the most important thing for now.  Second, the reason I think it was just okay is because, I kept having little stray marks everywhere, which I dislike so much!  Though over all I think that this was very fun and I will love continuing learning how to do this.  My opinion on why I have done these things is I liked being open minded which is why I made mistakes.  I need to focus more to get better and better!  Now I think I have found a pass time thing.

       

   These are a few photos I took of my supplies I bought and the fish I painted! :)

Santa Letter

           Dear Santa,


                This year I really want an IPhone 5s!  I think that at twelve I should be able to have a phone.  Plus it is the best gift I could ever get.  Though I would really love to get tickets to a Black Veil Bride concert it would be totally awesome!
                  My first reason I would want tickets would be because I am obsessed with the band, and would most likely be the loudest one at the concert!  Plus I would do my parents work for three months if I got them!  Also I would never make fun of the Santa Claus song anymore.
                     For the phone I have lots of different reasons why you should get me it.  First of all I have never had a phone but I think I am responsible enough.  By twelve, I understand that my parents pay the bill so don't talk or text to much!  Also, if I got a phone I would be able to get in touch with my parents if I need to, and you could call me to help with your reindeer!
                       In conclusion I have been pretty good this year so I deserve a little spoiling!  I would be even better if I had these things.  One reason is I would be to grateful not to be good!  Hope you will come through for me this year, I really want to know you listened.

                                       P.S.  You are a super jolly soul!

Sincerely, 

Kenzie Foust