"The Mask" Improvisation and Drawing.

Watching the videos of actors improvising while using the Mask technique made me half understand and half be very confused by the technique. While watching I was able to see how they let the mask take over them, and for the time wearing the mask they are completely that character associated with the mask instead of themselves (changing their posture, walk, pitch of voice, etc). I realize this is a usable technique and I can see how it would work for actors, but when we put them into action ourselves (using the puppets) I found it hard to get into exactly what the actors wearing masks were into. It wasn't until I took advice to just let the puppet become alive, give it a personality and whatnot, that I realized it start to work. The fear of me touching someones's hair, for instance, went away because it was a puppet doing it and not me.

When it came to the drawing with a group, I found it very difficult. Ever since reading the bit about the "Two Questions," I've tried to set my anxiety toward making art to rest by asking myself why am I caring so much about what I'm making? This has been slightly successful for me, I'm starting to find myself being more eager to doodle and not make a big deal of it, but when it comes to either big projects or group projects I still feel that same anxiety. It's almost like a huge pressure on my shoulders telling me that I'd better be as good as the other artists, or I'll ruin the piece; or my work will be so bad that others will draw over it as to make it look better. Toward the end of the drawing exercise I got into it slightly, drawing a bow and arrow shooting the picture that Danielle was drawing, and making the bow follow the curve of the tentacle previously drawn, which was a little comforting. I think what I need to do the most in order to get over this anxiety is to just make art. Much like the quote from the reading I chose as similar to my thoughts, art doesn't have to be just on paper or through a lens. Creative thinking can present itself in many different ways, and I think I've been blocking that thinking and I should let it go, because who knows what it will lead to? I need to learn that it is okay to fail and is necessary in order to get good at something.