As an intended art major at Trinity, life has begun to offer many interesting lessons. Since starting my art classes, I have stumbled across a couple of great examples of what and what not to do when you are faced with a deceptively easy art project...
First lesson: Don't wait until the day or night before class to start an art project, no matter how simple you think it might be. Art always ends up taking longer than you expect. Example: One of my first art assignments in an art class this semester was to show four different types of symmetry using black squares on white bristol board. Sounds easy, right? It wasn't, as I soon found out when I was frantically working into the wee hours of the night the day before the project was due. Tip: Procrastination never helps...
Lesson number two: Always have a Plan B. Example: Tonight I was working on an art piece that involves creating a wire representation of an object of my choice. I had decided earlier in the week that I was going to replicate a belt of mine. Again, this task proved a bit harder than I had anticipated. After an hour or two of painstakingly crafting this wire belt, it snapped in half. I tried to weld the belt back together, but I had used the wrong type of wire and the solder wouldn't stick. Of course I was very upset and extremely frustrated, but I thought that perhaps I could try to make another belt that was more structurally sound. Three lengthy attempts at this proved that I had no idea how to create a life-size belt made out of wire that would hold together and wouldn't break apart. Luckily, I had a plan B.
To make a long story short, I ended up trying to construct a makeup brush of sorts, which also ended up falling apart on me twice. It seems to have held together well so far, and now, because of my plan B (and, I admit it, some hasty improvisation), I have a completed piece of art that I think turned out pretty cool for all the trouble I had.
Image found here: http://www.anyonecanpaint.com/studio.htm
