A lot of the thinking process that I had for Unit 4 came from my sketchbook process in Unit 3. Thanks to my personal connection that I had for the unit, I knew that drawing out my thinking process would help me personalize my project even more and bring a more detailed composition and organized thinking process for Unit 4
Unit 3 Tree of Life sketches
Before beginning to sketch out my own version of a tree of life, I first had to investigate more about the craft and write down things that would help me understand it’s traditional structure, history, and what makes a tree of life authentic
The beginning of my Tree of Life
After understanding the wide variety of tree of lifes and the many possible routes that I could take to make my own tree of life, I chose the best structure that suited my practice, my skills, and the story that I wanted to convey within my own piece.
In my own version, I chose a structure that allowed for the tree branches to show through the ornaments that I would later add. I chose to create a main figure in the middle of the tree to represent myself as part of the tree and the roots, and I chose objects that had personal significance to my identity as Mexican American
Unit 3 Plate design
As part of the unit, the class would be required to make a print design for a plate. I knew that I wanted to tie both projects in unit 3 together and chose to incorporate more Mexican inspired designs into my work.
For the design, I drew inspiration from Talavera pottery traditionally from Puebla, Mexico, a state close to my father’s hometown and a place I used to regularly visit throughout my childhood. This artwork can sometimes look like Majolica and Azulejo tile design from Spain because of some similarities they have
In comparison to Majolica and Azulejo designs, Talavera designs can be more intricate, colorful, and take up more space of the surface with its design. Talavera designs can also range from being extremely colorful and ornate to being simple and one colored design similar to Spanish design
Sketching out designs
For the purpose of designing a print for a plate, I chose to stick to more simple Talavera designs like the ones I printed out on my sketchbook.
Most Majolica and Azulejo designs work in a square-like structure for tiles, but I focused on Talavera designs meant for bowls and plates, designs in circular structures that would work well for my plate
Final plate designs
After sketching out my ideas and understanding the style of Talavera designs, I chose to stick with a design with slight variations in each of them.
After looking back at more colorful Talavera designs, I redesigned my final concepts and decided to make them encompass the surface like traditional Talavera does
These are all excerpts of my sketchbook and how sketching, drawing, designing, and laying out my work helped my thinking process that finalized my unit projects for unit 3 and influenced my object and thinking process for unit 4