MIAD Flag
Contact me at: [email protected]
Title: Reagan Stripes
Size: 30cm x 23cm Medium: Color Pencils Completion: April 2019 |
Exhibition Text
I created "Reagan Strips" with the intention of portraying the traits of Reagan students alone, combined with the traits that MPS and IB portray. I wanted to capture what Reagan is in a flag, intelligence, courage, perseverance are just a few of the traits that Reagan possesses.
Technique When outlining the flag I decided to use a very simplistic process. I used a ruler to exactly measure where lines would go, and to determine the thickness of each line. I measured .5 of and inch for the thinner lines. The larger lines alternate sizes throughout the entire piece. Since our final piece couldn't have any color pencil lines, I decided to use lots of power on the color pencils to get the solid color of the flag. The color pencil would become flat and unusable, which I then had to sharpen. I used lots of heavy lines, and measurements to make the piece as precise as possible.
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Inspiration/ResearchFlag - "a piece of cloth, bunting, or similar material displaying insignia of a sovereign state, a community, an organization, armed forces, or even just individuals "
retrieved from www.britannica.com/topic/flag-heraldry Ronald Reagan High School Vision: The Ronald Reagan High School vision is to academically challenge all students to recognize, appreciate and strengthen their individual talents. By empowering students to become life-long learners, who are culturally inquisitive, technologically adept, and respectful contributors to an interdependent world, Reagan students will graduate to positively impact both the local and global community. MPS Mission Statement: Milwaukee Public Schools is a diverse district that welcomes all students, preparing them for success in higher education, post-educational opportunities, work and citizenship. IB Mission Statement: The International Baccalaureate® aims to develop inquiring, knowledgeable and caring young people who help to create a better and more peaceful world through intercultural understanding and respect. Flags have been around since about 1046 BCE where in China, groups would use flags to establish themselves. Similarly in the medieval period, flags would be used to show what territories belonged to what clan. Flags were also used to recognize towns and what that town would have inside. To know if a town had a blacksmith, it was easily visible due to the flags. Only at the beginning of the Middle Ages, and Renaissance period were flags created to represent nations. In Europe, these flags would often be of their patron saint, and even flags like these exist today. The United Kingdoms flag is made of three separate flags with three separate parts, England (St. George's Cross), Scotland (St. Andrew's Cross), and Ireland (St. Patrick's cross). Flags like these are more prominent now, national flags are quite popular, and we see them everywhere. Flags are a large part of Nationalism, and we see it everyday. |
Experimentation The creation process of this piece was only a few step process, however I ran into a lot of difficulties while going forward. First, getting the hard, solid color that was needed for the flag was difficult. At first my plan was to go over the flag with multiple different colors, as similar as possible. However when this did not work I decided to move onto just using one color. This color pencil was pushed across the paper as hard as I could. The color that came out was the color I was looking for, but my color pencil was ruined. I had to sharpen it, and continue with the process. I did this multiple times until either my color pencil was completely ruined and needed to be switched out, or the color wasn't needed anymore (sometimes both).
Process The first step in making the flag, was measuring out the dimensions of the flag and where the lines are to be placed. I measured each line to half an inch and the gap in between each line was measured to 2.5 inches. I made the diamond with the dimensions at 2.5 inches as well.
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Second, I had to color the lines with as solid color as possible. I used color pencils to fill in the lines / areas that needed color. I used several different techniques to create these solid colors. All consisted of using lots of force on the paper with the color pencil.
After all the solid colors were down, I needed to (...) the flag. To do this, I used my ruler first to measure out where to cut with they exacto knife. I traced around the position if the flag, along with 1.5 inches from the top, 1.5 inches from the left and right sides, and 2 inches from the bottom. I then used a (...) ruler to secure the exacto knife so I could cut straight. I had to do it multiple times in order to cut straight down the measured lines. Last was the gluing process which consisted of taking the flag, and using spray glue on the back of it. After using this glue, I had to put the flag onto the (...). To do this, I lined up one side and made sure it was down. Then I slowly put the rest of the flag down, pushing on it to make sure it sticks properly. |
Planning
During the creation of these flags, I wanted to create a symbol that shows what we do, and who we are here at Reagan. Originally I planned to go with the Reagan colors, white, fossil grey and royal blue but eventually adjusted to adding orange. Grey symbolizes balance, and unity due to the fact that it takes an equal amount of black and white to create it. Royal blue symbolizes perseverance through all the racial problems Milwaukee has. Through all the problems we manage to have a school with so many different races, and so many different kinds of people. White represents the innocents we have still being children, and how we progress out of that innocence as we go through the years of high school. The color orange is considered the opposite of blue, but it also symbolizes being a risk-taker which I feel like Reagan does often. The courageousness of the Reagan students is shown everyday.
Reagan has such a high amount of diverse, intelligent school, I wanted to portray that in the flag. The diamond in the middle represents intelligence. Also, since a diamond is made of two triangles it also represents the equality in male and female. The four thin lines (2x orange & 2x grey) represent the four stages of high school: Freshman, Sophomore, Junior, and Senior. The two thicker lines represent the solidarity of what Reagan is made up out of, MPS and IB. These two things combine to separate Reagan from the majority of the other Milwaukee schools. All these lines are placed in a diagonal direction. This is so because it represents growth throughout the high school years. Each line continues off the flag, which represents the lives of each student, and how they continue past high school.
Reagan has such a high amount of diverse, intelligent school, I wanted to portray that in the flag. The diamond in the middle represents intelligence. Also, since a diamond is made of two triangles it also represents the equality in male and female. The four thin lines (2x orange & 2x grey) represent the four stages of high school: Freshman, Sophomore, Junior, and Senior. The two thicker lines represent the solidarity of what Reagan is made up out of, MPS and IB. These two things combine to separate Reagan from the majority of the other Milwaukee schools. All these lines are placed in a diagonal direction. This is so because it represents growth throughout the high school years. Each line continues off the flag, which represents the lives of each student, and how they continue past high school.
Reflection
This project had a very tough, time consuming process due to only being able to use color pencils to get solid colors. I feel like my execution of this was done decently well, however it could have been done better. I with I had used even more time to color the flag, because you can still see the color pencil lines. Even though from a distance, and on camera they look as if they are solid, it isn't. Seeing it up close, there are color pencil lines around the diamond on the center, and around the rest of the piece. Overall this was a long winded process that I would like to go over again. If given another chance I would definitely try to incorporate MPS more as well. MPS is represented by the colors blue and gold. If I would have used gold more in this piece, it would of had a stronger connection to MPS.
ACT Questions
Clearly explain how you are able to identify the cause effect relationship between your inspiration and its effect on your artwork?
I wanted to combine all three aspect of what makes Reagan such a special school. Reagan is a MPS school under the IB curriculum. But that's not the only thing that makes Reagan so special. no it's the students and staff. The attitude of each classroom, the ability to preserver, and be courageous. It's the solidarity, the bravery, the intellect this school possesses that makes it so special.
What is the overall approach the author has regarding the topic of your inspiration?
Reagan, MPS, and IB all have words or letters in their logo. This is partially due to MPS and IB both being acronyms an very small ones at that. The Reagan logo states "Reagan Huskies" which is very representative of Reagan, it doesn't have a symbol besides the husky. Letters on a flag are harder to recognize, and the Husky shows Reagan but how? There isn't a large significance, and so I wanted to veer away from the Husky.
What kind of generalizations and conclusions have you discovered about people, ideas, culture, etc. while you researched your inspiration?
Flags have been used for a very long time, and to this day people still see flags as symbols. Whether that symbolize where they live, or their favorite football team, people use flags everyday.
What is the central idea or theme around your inspirational research?.
Flags have been around for a very long time, and they are still used today quite frequently. My research shows the importance of flags, and how they gradually transitioned their significance.
What kind of inferences did you make while reading your research?
I inferred that when talking about blacksmith's relation to flags, that this was during the Medieval Time. I know that flags were used a lot in those times, however there are blacksmiths today, therefore I figured they were talking about older times.
I wanted to combine all three aspect of what makes Reagan such a special school. Reagan is a MPS school under the IB curriculum. But that's not the only thing that makes Reagan so special. no it's the students and staff. The attitude of each classroom, the ability to preserver, and be courageous. It's the solidarity, the bravery, the intellect this school possesses that makes it so special.
What is the overall approach the author has regarding the topic of your inspiration?
Reagan, MPS, and IB all have words or letters in their logo. This is partially due to MPS and IB both being acronyms an very small ones at that. The Reagan logo states "Reagan Huskies" which is very representative of Reagan, it doesn't have a symbol besides the husky. Letters on a flag are harder to recognize, and the Husky shows Reagan but how? There isn't a large significance, and so I wanted to veer away from the Husky.
What kind of generalizations and conclusions have you discovered about people, ideas, culture, etc. while you researched your inspiration?
Flags have been used for a very long time, and to this day people still see flags as symbols. Whether that symbolize where they live, or their favorite football team, people use flags everyday.
What is the central idea or theme around your inspirational research?.
Flags have been around for a very long time, and they are still used today quite frequently. My research shows the importance of flags, and how they gradually transitioned their significance.
What kind of inferences did you make while reading your research?
I inferred that when talking about blacksmith's relation to flags, that this was during the Medieval Time. I know that flags were used a lot in those times, however there are blacksmiths today, therefore I figured they were talking about older times.
Reference Page
Britannica, The Editors of Encyclopaedia. “Flag.” Encyclopædia Britannica, Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc., 5 July 2016, www.britannica.com/topic/flag-heraldry.
“Flag Symbols ***.” Flag Symbols, www.signology.org/flag-symbol/index.htm.