Albright-Knox Visit

A.) Which artworks make an impact or impression on me? Why?        

CHRISTMAS CARD, 1977

This piece left an impact on me because I just don't understand why this is hanging in an art museum. There are so many amazing pieces out there that are real works of art that are being sold on the streets. How is this art? 

NUDES, 1951
mixed media on paper

This piece left an impression on me because it reminded me of cave drawings. The way it is blended and kind of primitive really jumped out at me. 

  

B.) Which artworks do I feel a connection with? Why?

AFRO
CONCERTINO, 1948
oil and watercolor on canvas 

I chose this piece because I was drawn to it. I was drawn to it because I thought it was a Picasso piece. I looked at this piece for awhile, I love all the different shapes and how everything is intertwined together. You can't tell where one line starts and another stops.

LA MAISON DE LA CRAU (THE OLD MILL), 1888
Oil on canvas

The reason I chose Vincent Van Gogh's piece was because I love his work. I had no idea we had one of his pieces here in Buffalo. This piece makes me want to live in this house because of the bright cheerful colors.

C.) Which artworks would I like to know more about? Why?

Acceleration #15, Series B, 1962
vinyl cords and painted wood

I chose this piece to learn more about because it is so hypnotizing. I want to learn how the artist made this look like its dancing. Almost like the fuzz on tv. Apparently the artist did this piece but putting it down in layers. 

WOMAN CLEANING A CAULDRON (FEMME NETTOYANT SON CHAUDRON), 1883-1885

I chose this piece to learn more about because comparing it to the other Van Gogh piece, this is really drab for his style. I really want to learn why he didn't use his typical bright colors or even paint for that matter. When looking into this, it said he used charcoal other than that I couldn't really find much information about this piece. 

Logo Design

1. Discuss what you thought about creating your logo.

Creating my logo was pretty cool. It made me think about what was most important to me and what really defines me. Obviously as you can see, I am from New Orleans and I have deep pride in my roots. 

2. Describe the process: creative thinking skills and ideas you used in the logo creation.

While thinking about making this logo, I first thought was was most important to me and what defines me. Once I realized it was my New Orleans roots, I thought about different symbols that define New Orleans. Mardi Gras beads, fleur de lis and the most basic, Louisiana state. Then I just added my initials.

3. What was the most important discovery you made in the creation of your logo?

How much one little logo can mean. This one little logo is the symbol of who I am and I had to make it memorable by adding the bright yellow. 

4. What is the most important information you learned from watching the videos, powerpoint, and reading material  for this project? What is your opinion of the videos?

The most important thing I learned was that a simple logo that gets straight to the point really is the best type of logo you can have. When it is too complicated it won't be as memorable and with advertising that is important. 

Module 4....Exploring Value and The Subtractive Color Theory

Value Scale

1. Discuss what you thought about creating the Value Scale and Color Wheel.

Well it would have been okay, but I had a really hard time finding cyan paint. Once I found all the correct colors, it was pretty easy to do. I did a couple of them because I couldn't quite get some of the colors right the first time. The green and red still aren't perfect but it was the closest out of all the attempts. The value scale was a little harder because of the lighter boxes.

2. Which media did you enjoy working with the best and why?

I liked using the acrylic paint more because I am used to using paints. I have been mixing colors my whole school career so I am comfortable doing it. 

3. What was the most important discovery in the creation of these studies?

Learning how to color in the boxes as lightly as possible. It really showed me the different values a pencil can make. Obviously, the primary colors are important because it is the foundation of all paintings. 

4. What is the most important information you learned from watching the videos for this project? What is your opinion of the videos?

I think the most important information I learned from the first video was that the color wheel is a a pretty clear cut way of explaining the primary and secondary colors. I had to watch this first video a few times. The second video was interesting but explained simple things that most people already know. The second video did not really teach me much. It kind of just gave me an example of what I had to make. 

Elements and Principles Slideshow

http://s1348.photobucket.com/user/whitehurstg/slideshow/Elements%20and%20Principles

This photos were harder to take than I thought they would be. However, I thought I did a pretty good job finding all the different elements and principles of art. Photobucket was a great site, despite a couple of crash's. I like how you can edit your photos to really emphasize the color and feeling you are trying for. They had a lot of different options to choose from. This project was pretty cool to do. I feel like it tells the story of what I did this past week. From swimming, to running a 5k, to just passing a cool plant. I got to tell my story. I had a little trouble with some of the principles but in the end I think they all came out pretty well.

Module 3... Color and Emotion

1. Describe Color and its effects on emotions. Use the appropriate vocabulary of color in your posting.

Color is the most powerful tool an artist can have. There are many of different hues, values and intensities in color that make up all the emotion of the piece. Color is what reaches out and grabs a hold of the observer. There have been many studies on how colors can affect your mood. Which is why color is a key aspect in advertising. Designers use color to draw the person in to look at their product. The best example of psychological and physiological responses of color would be a stop sign. The red of the stop sign shouts caution! If that stop sign was painted a blue or green, would it have the same effect on us? Would we even notice it? Although red is usually used as a caution or danger color, it is also used for love. Which shows the differences of the emotions that a color can convey.

2. What is a theoretical aspect of color that most intrigues/fascinates you? Why?

I was most fascinated with just the basic principles of color. Color comes from the reflection of light on a surface. The darker the surface, the more it will absorb the light, while lighter objects reflect the light that hits them. Think of a rainbow. The white sunlight reflects off all the tiny rain droplets and creates one specific color of the spectrum. It’s amazing to me that white, a bland boring color, can produce these intense and beautiful colors.

3. In the Color video, what made the biggest impact on you in regards to color and its effects on emotions?

The biggest impact the video had on me was how different values and hues of a color can portray a totally different emotion in the piece. The fact that June Redfern did so much research and had so many failed attempts at finding the right color for this emotion of her piece really intrigued me. She wanted to portray how the location felt when she was there. Even the subtle changes she made really made a difference on how the painting felt to me.

4. In the Feelings video, what made the biggest impact on you in regards to color and its effects on emotions? 

It’s funny, until now I never really noticed how much I overlook the darker pieces of art. I tend to focus on the bright and captivating pieces. I would rather look at art that makes me feel happy and joyous, not the aggressive or morbid pieces that depress me. This video really made me realize the type of art I enjoy. I think Goya’s paintings are disturbing and strange. This video also reminds of Picasso's Blue period. Where he only used various hues or blues and greens during a period of time when he was very sad and depressed. 

Module 2..blog

Aesthetics: Philosophy of the Arts

This video, although long was interesting.  It followed different philosophers and their view on art and how it is important and necessary in the world. It was cool, it gave us difference in opinions of each philosopher in how art is beautiful.

CARTA:

Wow, I could barely understand the first guy.  The two scientist basically explained how our brain perceives art.  The second scientist, if you will, had these 8 concepts or rules of art that allow artists to stimulate our brain.

CNN:

The CNN article touched on what both movies did.  Pretty much repeated.  It goes into description how we see art.  Such as lines, faces, and colors.  It also brings up the Mona Lisa painting.  Which if looked at, at different angles it appears as if her smile is also moving.  Artist use deception in there art to fool the viewer sometimes.


The video and articles all intertwined together.  They all talked about aesthetics.

As for the films.  They were hard to watch.  I could not even understand the first guy. And it was really long and what I fear...power points.  It is cool how our brain works when we view art though.

The creation of my first Blog

Creating a Gmail account was very simple. Just another username and password I have to remember. Oh well.  The blog was confusing for a couple of minutes because I did not completely read all of the instructions. So shame on me for that. But I figured it out and everyone is happy.

I expect to learn a lot about art in this course.  I am not a big fan of art, but I do know art is everywhere.  Hopefully this class will open up my closed-minded vision of art.

I have taken online courses before, so I am familiar with them.  The one thing I have learned is that online courses are a lot tougher than in class courses. So bring it.