Artology

On Wednesday, April 2^nd Art students from the American University of Health Sciences took part in an Art Show showcasing their work. The theme of the show was “Wonderful Woman”. Their Art Instructor, Yuki Toy explained why she chose this theme, “This year’s Artology theme was “Wonderful Woman”. One of the beautiful things about women is the fact that they have wonderful curvy body lines. It shows attractive drawing lines on a paper. Women also have the power of motherhood, sweetness, and strength. It is important to show women’s beauty from both inside and outside. I think that everyone captured what the true beauty is in a woman’s body and life, by using the lines and shadowing techniques that they learned in last 2 quarters. I was very happy to see the great results on the final.”

The art work was judged by three artists within the Los Angeles area; Eric Almanza, an artist and an art teacher at West Adam Preparatory High School in the Los Angeles Unified School District, Timothy Robert Smith, an artist and Art Professor at Cal State Los Angeles who was selected for the “Most Memorable Paintings in 2013 in the Huffington Post, and Peter Zokosky, a professional artist and an Artistic Anatomy professor at California State University, Long Beach.

With classical piano music playing in the background, spectators meandered around the artwork, admiring the different ways that the “Wonderful Woman” theme was portrayed. Some of the art students used the project as an opportunity to draw those in their lives that had had an impact and struck them as “Wonderful Woman”. Others looked to some infamous woman in history such as Princess Diana, Audrey Hepburn and Marilyn Monroe. Other art work depicted superheroes such as Wonder Woman, whilst some showcased the modern day woman who does it all – jugging family life, housework and work. The art work showed a great range from historical and traditional figures, all the way through to the modern day woman.

After everyone had a chance to enjoy some light refreshments and view all of the art work, everyone choose their favorites including the judges. Third place went to Robert Bayani with his great drawing skills and key for detail when capturing the human body. Robert successfully used the technique called “smudging” which is a form of blending lead onto the paper. The way he created the juxtaposition of a female and a subway was interesting.

Second place went to Dana Ortega who had the most eye catching image of the entire art show. The female portrait that Dana drew had striking contrast which gave a very strong impression to the viewers. She told a very meaningful story with her art work which provides us with depth and understanding of the purpose of the picture.

The winner of the Artology April 2014 was Johnny Nguyen. Johnny used soft drawing techniques and chose to draw 2 female figures which was very unique. His style was very original. The composition of his drawing also worked out very well in his drawing. He did a great job filling in the negative spaces on a large canvas. The judges all agreed that Johnny should receive first place unanimously.

Yuki Toy, tells us a little bit more about her experience in teaching AUHS students and how her art classes correspond with the rest of their teachings. “I have been teaching basic shading and perspective, anatomical terminology, the movement/function of bones and muscles to students in ART200. Students can utilize the knowledge of anatomy to define shapes and form. ART300 contains advanced concepts of art such as: Modern Art History, portrait drawings and projects with specific themes.”