ARTWORK.1.

Component 1 – Reporting

A description of the artwork at hand is that it is clearly demonstrating the theme Christmas in Australia. It has all the traditional stereotypical Christmas images such as Santa in his sleigh with the presents but then has other the stereotypical images that portray that it is an Australian Christmas. These images being kangaroos pulling the sleigh instead of the reindeers, Santa wearing a bushman hat instead of his Santa hat, he is flying over an Australian Eucalyptus tree, and there is also a plate in his sleigh with the traditional Australian meat pies instead of cookies and milk. There is also pictures at the bottom of the painting that clearly show Australia is being represented, these images being of the outback with windmills and some pictures of native Australian flowers and kangaroos.

Component 2 – Responding

My response to this artwork is that it has been thought about in detail. The use of the different elements instead of the traditional worldwide Christmas images has a clear statement. The value of the artwork in terms of tone and shade is that I think it has been done quite well. The shade indicates that you have tried to make the picture have life-like elements, with the way you have created the dark and light shades on the tree gives it the texture of bark. The tones on the sleigh change making it seem 3D like. The line work on the sleigh, making the outline darker creates a clearer picture, allowing the sleigh, Santa and the present sake each an image of their own. The balance of each image is done well in terms of trying to make it 3D like. Santa and the sleigh are up close and the kangaroos are moving off into the distance gradually becoming smaller. Colours in which have been used are good, they all match the correct symbolism, other then the kangaroos, for a person that may only have a stereotypical image of a Kangaroo, they will not understand why it is white. The techniques in which have been used are good, you have clearly created a descriptive picture and in good detail.

The only issue I came across was viewing the artwork it self, it was not a very clear image of the artwork. The reflections from the outside light made it hard to see every detail of the artwork.

My emotional response would be that this artwork makes you think about the conceptual difference of Christmas in Australia compared to the rest of the world.  However I have to raise the question as to whether or not the title in the artwork is really necessary, sorely because I believe that pictures and painting tell a thousand words.

Component 3 – Relating

My relations to this artwork are that Christmas in Australian does consist of everything in this artwork. Creating a 3D artwork does consist of a lot of work and with my experiences it is very hard and time consuming trying to get the shades, textures, lines and balance correct. Having those pictures down the bottom of the painting allows me to think very deeply about Australia and my connections with a lot of those places and items in the pictures.

Component 4 – Reasoning

The significant factors of this artwork are the pictures at the bottom, Santa and his sleigh, the Kangaroos, and the eucalyptus tree. These are the critical components in which tell the story. These components are the visual metaphors that symbolize the meaning behind the artwork. They explain that it is about Christmas but also that the major meaning of the artwork is to show the Australian version of Christmas instead of the stereotypical traditional Christmas. The significant factors describe the stereotypical visual metaphors of Australia.

Component 5 – Reconstructing

Using my understanding developed through addressing component 4, I am able to look at how I would go about teaching Art to children in the future. Using this artwork, to be able to reconstruct and reframe new understandings, I would look firstly at what would the children understand. For example this artwork is about creating a stereotypical visual interpretation of an Australian Christmas, using this you would reconstruct it with the children through asking what they know about Christmas and what they know about Australia. Then have them create their own artwork on Australian Christmas. To reframe new understandings from the artwork I would discuss what their artwork is about and what it consists of and then how they used the main artwork to create their own.