Colored Pencil on Paper
Reagan's Global Flag
31.75 cm x 38.1 cm
April 2019
Exhibition Text:
Reagan's Global Flag is a positive representation of what it the purpose and goal for Ronald W. Reagan College Preparatory High School, to provide the education necessary for them to be successful not only in Milwaukee, but also World Wide. It's the inclusiveness and its encouragement for its students to pursuit Knowledge is what makes Ronald Reagan successful school. The pieces that inspired me for my final two flags were John McConnell's "The Earth Day Flag", the Boys and Girls Clubs of America Logo/Flag and the Reagan's Coat of Arms. Buick Colored Pencil on Drawing Paper on FOME-COR.
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Meaning
My piece best represents my perception of Ronald Reagan High School, a school that actively encourages its students to seek Knowledge. Prior to enrolling to this school, I did not know what I would be held against. At first, I perceived the school as the school that only the upper-middle class students attended, as I assumed that it was the school "elite" reputation. Now, I am at the standpoint in school where I can look done and reflect on the stuff I learned over the years. I see that I gained research and overall knowledge that I did not think was possible. It took a while to realize that it was the school's encouragement for students to go up and beyond, and it providing resources for a International education, that caused it to earn its reputation.
Inspiration
Critical Investigation and Research
At first, before I sought for inspirations over the Internet, I wanted to go over the Reagan's Mission Statement. I thought that the best way to understand what truly represents is to look for what is its purpose. From the School Agenda, it says, "The mission of Reagan High School is to provide superior educational opportunities so students can achieve their highest potential." From these ideas like Knowledge, came to mind. From there, I began to jot them down into my Mind-Map.
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Mindmap
I noticed in my time here as a student at Reagan that individualized growth and global knowledge were the main concepts ingrained into the school's curriculum. This along with the school being apart of Milwaukee Public Schools and the school's coat of Arms, influenced me into using colors that represent these concepts in my sketches. I also looked for other representations of Reagan like its mascot, and its International Baccalaureate status and some skills taught by the school.
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Research
Mind Map
When I went on the school website, I noticed that I wanted to attempt to incorporate some elements of the coat of arms into the flag sketches. I broke them down on the bottom half of my mind map, Winded Shoe (represented Hermes), Atom (Represents Science), Book and Quill (Represents Knowledge), and Mask and Heart (Represents the Arts). From each of these figures, I managed to come up with a set of colors for each of the four arms: Yellow, Green, Blue, and Red/Purple. I thought that it was best to be careful with the use these colors along with the color black, rather than the amount of color I put into my sketches, as I could worry about that when I work on the final sketches.
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Planning
15 Sketches
As I made each individual square, my goal was to go rouge and try not to get caught up some concepts. My goal to spread off from my ideas, which was something I found hard to do as I began to wanting to redo certain sketches. I noticed at the end that using more than four colors seemed too much for a viewer and too complex for a flag, but I like the use of a globe in sketches three and fifteen. Although its background seemed intense, I knew it was those two I wanted for my final two.
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Inspirations for Final Sketches
Prior to sketching these sketches three and fifteen out, I did some outside research. From there, as I searched for a hand shake along with a World Flag, I fell across John McConnell's flag along with Boys' & Girls' Clubs of America. It was these flags that made me go forward with the sketches, ultimately leading me into using them as my Final Two
Final Two
When sketching these flags out, my goal was to map out which design elements I would keep for next time. I learned from here that I wanted to keep the purple background as the black background did not look well for me. I also learned that coloring back and forth one direction (up-down) or (side to side) looked sharper than filled in coloring. I wanted to keep the book (Knowledge) as it seemed more powerful than the handshake (communication). It was recommended that I make the book bigger proportional to the flag, something I consider in my final product.
Process
From here, I divided up a piece of paper using a circle compass, made a circle with a circle circumference of 3 3/16 in long.
From there, I drew on the book and the continents onto the map along with the Rs..
Here are the color pencils I used.
From there I began to prepare my modeling board, Fome-Cor. This board had Styrofoam/Cardboard feel and I cut the board so that its dimensions were 12.5'' by 15''.
Final Product
Experimentation
My experimentation for this project mainly occurred when I was practicing cutting the Foam-Cor, a medium I never used before.
From experimenting with cutting with an Exact-o knife with the Foam-Cor, I noticed that I could not cut the foam like holding a pencil. I needed to cut as straight and at deeply as I can, so I had to hold it like in the third image. This made my cuts smoother in my Final Product.
Critique and Reflection
John McConnell (1969) "The Earth Day Flag"
Compare
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Reagan's Global Flag
Contrast
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Reflection
My piece was inspired by McConnell's flag along with the information I retrieved from my school's agenda. A challenge I had was trying not to stay still with one idea, something I did try to do. My craftsmanship on coloring the flag was a definite success. In general, I am very pleased with the way my piece turned out, I can sense the message after analyzing it. My use of a circle, along with my purple background stimulates movement around the flag. However, one thing that I could have improved on in my piece was my cutting skill. On my piece, the Foam Cor is a little bit crooked and since I could only go over it in one cut, so I could not fix it. Another success I had with this project was that the work that after evaluating it, I could sense the unity all the elements the portrait has. Overall, I believe this piece was a success in conveying my message.
ACT Response Questions
Clearly explain how you are able to identify the cause effect relationship between your inspiration and its effect on your artwork?
McConnell's piece influence me into having a global background.
What is the overall approach the author has regarding the topic of your inspiration?
The author presented different World Flags proposal, while explaining the composition.
What kind of generalizations and conclusions have you discovered about people, ideas, culture, etc. while you researched your inspiration?
I discovered that for Flag Designs, simplicity and minimalist is key for success.
What is he central idea or theme around your inspirational research?
The central theme around my research was to find artworks that had international idea flag.
What kind of inferences did you make while reading your research?
Throughout my research I inferred that the best flags were the simple ones.
McConnell's piece influence me into having a global background.
What is the overall approach the author has regarding the topic of your inspiration?
The author presented different World Flags proposal, while explaining the composition.
What kind of generalizations and conclusions have you discovered about people, ideas, culture, etc. while you researched your inspiration?
I discovered that for Flag Designs, simplicity and minimalist is key for success.
What is he central idea or theme around your inspirational research?
The central theme around my research was to find artworks that had international idea flag.
What kind of inferences did you make while reading your research?
Throughout my research I inferred that the best flags were the simple ones.
Bibliography
“Boys & Girls Clubs of America - Providing Millions of Kids and Teens a Safe Place to Develop Essential Skills, Make Lasting Connections and Have Fun.” Boys & Girls Clubs of America - Providing Millions of Kids and Teens a Safe Place to Develop Essential Skills, Make Lasting Connections and Have Fun., www.bgca.org/.
Gorgone, Judith. “The Earth Day Flag.” Earthday Flag History Original Version 1969 - Second Version 1970 - The 2 Earthday Flags, www.planetpals.com/earthday_flag.html.
Gorgone, Judith. “The Earth Day Flag.” Earthday Flag History Original Version 1969 - Second Version 1970 - The 2 Earthday Flags, www.planetpals.com/earthday_flag.html.