AED 200 Reflection

1. What were you expectations for this course and where they met?

I plan to have a better understanding about the background of how art works. Knowing a few people that are very involved with the arts, I hope to be able to partake in more discussions with them.

I definitely that I have gained a better understanding of art and how it works. I felt that my expectations have been met after taking this class.

2. Now that you've been through this course, What is art? How would you define it now compared to your intial posting?

After taking this class, I feel that my understanding of art is a creative way of displaying your feelings and emotions in many different artistic ways.

3. Who was your favorite artist in your original posting and who is your favorite visual artist now? If there is a difference, why do you think so? If you have the same favorite artist, why do you think so?

I have always like Divinci but I have now gained more liking for Any Warhol. I have learned quite a bit about this artist and have a much respect and liking for this guy.

 4. Now that you've completed this course, how do you feel about taking an online course? Is your answer the same as it was in your first posting? How is it the same or different?

My answer has not changed from taking this online class. I absolutely love taking online classes and I will continue to take them for as long as I can.

Self Portrait/Gallery Visit #3

1. Why did you select the inspiration pieces?

I chose these portraits because I thought they were perfect examples of portraits. There was a decent amount of detail in the images.

2. Why did you select the media to create your self-portrait?

I selected to use pencil for my drawing. I didn't want to have something to dark and it was easier to change if I needed to. I also felt that with not being that artistic I didn't feel comfortable with anything else. 

3. What challenges did you face in creating your self-portrait and how did you overcome them?

I didn't really run into anything difficulties when creating my self portrait. The biggest thing was picking an image of my self to use.

4. How does this piece represent you?

I felt that the image I chose suits me well and defines what type of person I really am.

5. What elements and principles of art did you apply in this work?

I applied a decent amount of line in my portrait.

6. Did you enjoy working on this project?

This was a fun project to do for one of the last projects. It was a nice simple thing to finish off the semester.

7. What do you think of your final artwork?

I feel pretty good about my piece of art. I really like how it turned out.

P.S. Don't mind my wife's reflection in the one picture.

Art Gallery Visit

Step 1: The Exhibition

Questions about the exhibit:
1. What is the title of the exhibit? 

• The exhibit is Alexander and The Levy Landscape Exhibit.

2. What is the theme of the exhibition?

• Landscape theme

Step 2: The Gallery

Questions about the physical space:1. What type of lighting is used?

• Bright Lights were used

2. What colors are used on the walls?

• White Walls were in the exhibit

3. What materials are used in the interior artchitecture of the space?

• Paintings on Canvas with Oil

4. How is the movement of the viewer through the gallery space?

• It was very relaxing going through the exhibit with all the different nature pieces.

Step 3: The Artwork

Questions about the artwork:1. How are the artworks organized?

• I thought it was very well organized and everything flowed well.

2. How are the artrworks similar?

• I felt the artworks had similarities in areas.

3. How are the artworks different?

• They were different in that the style of artwork was different whether it was a painting or Oil on canvas.

4. How are the artworks framed?

• The artworks I chose were all encapsulated in nice wooden frames.

5. How are the artworks identified and labeled?

• Each artwork piece had a plak next to the artwork with the information on the piece and description along with it describing the art piece.

Art Mask Design

1. Upload the three (3) inspiration images to your Blog (or link to your Photobucket account). Explain why you selected the inspiration pieces.

• I chose the three masks, because I am an avid sports fan. I absolutely love my buffalo teams, so I thought why not design something that I love. 

         

2. Include the analysis and description (art criticism steps) of the three (3) inspiration pieces.

• I thought the mask design I did had a great use of the elements and principles. I decided to use a bit from each mask inspiration I chose. I thought that the ones I chose all used the elements and principles very well.

4. Explain how you used the Elements and Principles in your finished mask.

• I chose to do a collage of different images that I liked from three images I chose to work from. I tried my best when looking for the for examples to use in my mask that I incorporated as much of the elements and principles as I could. 

5. Share your opinion of your finished mask and what you thought about creating the mask.

• Seeing this was my first mask design I thought that it came out fairly well. It was fun to do and a little challenging to do cause of how I chose to make my mask. I like how it came out, I would've added more images but I didn't want it to be over crowded and not be able to see the main ones I wanted to show. 

Artwork - Line Blog

1. What was it like using your hand as subject matter for a drawing?

• I thought this project was interesting to do with the use of my hand as the object. My only complaint was that I found it rather difficult to do this at first seeing as I am not a art major student nor do I have art background. I feel as if I didn't know much about detailing drawings. If I had more knowledge I could have done a better job with this project.

2. What media did you select - pencil or charcoal? Why?

• I chose to use pencil. I thought the charcoal would be to dark and if it smeared from my hand rubbing the paper the drawing would've looked terrible. The pencil was much easier to work with and I feel that it stood out pretty good and can still tell what it's supposed to be.

3. How did it feel to create a drawing with your non-dominant hand?

• I felt really awkward doing that with my non dominant hand. I was amazed by how much we really are dependent on our dominant hand in everyday life.

4. Compare and contrast your final drawings. Do you think they are successful studies?

• I feel as if both my drawings would've been better if I knew more about art drawing and this was the major I was going to be in. In my opinion for not having much knowledge I would say that they look pretty good. There's definitely differences between the two hand drawings, some parts look more realistic than the other one. I honestly think these are successful studies, but feel that with a little more explanation for this task I would have a better idea if they were successful or not.

5. Would you consider using your non-dominant hand to create artwork in the future?

• No I would not consider using my non dominant hand for creating art work again when it comes to drawings things. It was too awkward for me and I didn't feel right doing it that way. I kept wanting to switch to my dominant hand.

Module 8 Video Review Blog

1. Explain why you selected the video you choose from the selection listed above.

I chose the video I did solely because it looked the most interesting and grabbed my attention. 

2. For each video list/discuss the key concepts you learned.

How art made the world 1 - In this video I learned about the most stunning treasures in the world and the obstacles the artists had to deal with back then. The human body inspires and manipulates us everyday. Images are rarely created the aren't realistic to which the specific person looks like. The Greeks were the first to create realistic naked statues of human beings. 

The Greek Awakening - Greece is part of the furniture of the mind. The shaped things the way we saw them and looked at things in the world. The Greek awakening created the sense of thinking that we live with now. Painting and sculpture started to be done in a creative way in human picture and design. The statues became human Gods because the Greeks became God and were afraid of loosing battles with others. The statue of Poseidon and Athena was very interesting and detailed. It portrayed a lot of information on the meaning of the statue and what each part of the piece meant.

3. How do the videos relate to the readings in the text?

These videos relate to the text because they both describe the history of Greek art and the chapter is a summary of both videos, modern art of the body. Both videos and the reading were alike in ways that they built off of each other.

4. What is your opinion of the films? How do they add depth to understanding of the readings and art concepts?

 I believe that the videos did in fact add to my understanding of architecture. Between both videos, I gained information that I have never knew about before. I felt after watching these videos it explained more how art mad the world "more human, than human". I felt the video I chose went along with the required video and also felt I got a good amount of information out of the video I chose.

Module 7 Video Blog

1. For each video list/discuss the key concepts you learned.

Architecture: In this video, I learned more about the aspects of architecture and why buildings are constructed the way they are. There are a few problems that are involved like wind and earthquakes that disrupt a building more as the building gets higher. This video clip also includes adding electricity to buildings and what it would be like with a “smart” building.

Imperial Rome: This videos key concepts surround the architecture that built Rome and its neighboring cities. This video breaks down specific buildings and describes how they are built and their purpose of the structure.

2. How do the videos relate to the readings in the text?

These videos relate to the text because they both describe the history of architecture and the chapter is a summary of both videos, modern architecture as well as the famous architecture of Ancient Rome.

3. What is your opinion of the films? How do they add depth to understanding of Architecture?

I believe that the videos did in fact add to my understanding or architecture. Between both videos, I got a modern and historic view of the architecture for the two cultures and the designs implemented. I learned a little more about the wind blowing around taller buildings too.

4. Why did you choose the films that you watched?

I chose the videos I did solely because they looked the most interesting and they are the shortest two of the four videos. (hey, I’m being honest)

Peer Review

My blog review I had to do that was above me didn't have any posts after the first post, so I chose Ashley's blog and my other one was Courtney's. 

http://ashleys-art200.blogspot.com/

http://funart2825.blogspot.com/

2. When looking at Project #1: (Elements and Principles), did you agree with the element or principle the artist listed with the images? Did you see other elements and principles in the images?

•  I agreed with what the other students chose to represent their elements and principles. All examples were clearly represented. I did see other elements and principles in the postings. They were representing unity but also could represent color. 

3. When looking at Project #2: Where there any images in the Peer Blogs the same as your own? If yes, what were they? Where the reasons the image was selected the same or different as your own?

•  There were no art works posted that were the same as what I had posted. I went to the Albright Knox Art to do this assignment and both students I am reviewing also went to the Albright Knox.

4. Where there any images that your Peers selected that pique your interest now? If yes, what are they and what is your connection with them? What would you want to know about them?

• The picture from both blogs were expressed very well. I think they really emphasizes the element and principle very well. I thought that all images to the blog for project 2 was interesting, the works picked were awesome and both provided well detailed information about them and what they got out of the visit.

5. What do you think about  the process of reading your peers reflection? Do you find this to be a valuable in your learning?

•  I thought this was a cool way to learn more about the elements and principles. When we look at the ideas of other students, it helps me to connect the element or principle to the photo and gives another example to what it is about. It is interesting to see what people interpret each photo as, especially since most, if not all, pictures have more than one element or principle.

6. Check your Blog and read comments posted by your Peers. Do you find their comments helpful?

• As of right now, there are no comments posted to my blog. I will hopefully have either the answer here, or a comment of my own talking about any comments to my blog. 

   

Module Six - Blog: Video Review

1. For each video list/discuss the key concepts you learned.

•  Through the Eyes: The main topics of this video discuss the process of creating a marble sculpture and what the artist does during the process. One detail from the video is the concept of leaving bridges in small parts, like fingers, to help prevent breakage in shipping. The process starts off with a sketch, then to make a smaller model in clay to include as much detail as they can. Then comes making a mold of the clay model out of plaster and silicone, and splitting that so a solid plaster model can be made. The process continues on to a finished marble sculpture, but the process of making the sculpture is specific and every step is important as the next.             
• Glass and Ceramics: The video shows the process of how glass and clay are created and the process it is used to create a sculpture. Glass starts from sand, is heated, and turns to liquid, where other materials are mixed. The glass is then blown to create the shape. The video also states the process of making stained glass. Ceramics on the other hand is clay that's heated to a specific temperature. Mixes of specific clays are mixed, shaped, fired, and hen glazed. 

2. How do the videos relate to the readings in the text?

•              The videos relate to the book in a way which they both break down the process of making specific sculptures, what materials are used. The histories that go with each medium and sculpture and they both also include details to specific works of art.

3. What is your opinion of the films? How do they add depth to understanding of the topics: Sculpture, Installation, and Craft?

•  I think that both videos are interesting and very factual about how to make the specific sculptures. I enjoyed both, it was cool to see the process. Both videos in detail explain the entire process on how to make marble, glass, and ceramic sculptures while showing and explaining in detail. 

Larry's Logo Design

1. Discuss what you thought about creating your logo.

• This assignment was great, I enjoyed doing this. It allowed me to be creative and hands on which I love to do. I really enjoyed making a logo that I would be able to call my own. If I ever needed a logo design for something to represent me I would definitely use this. I know it's not a crazy design, but this is a nice simple one and it fits me perfect cause I'm a simple guy.

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

• The process thought I used was finding different font designs for creating clean lines in my logo design. Using tracing paper and tracing the fonts and being able to decide what way I wanted to do my design. When I overlapped the letters I had to decide how I wanted to overlap them and what letter I really wanted to stand out when my final product was finished. The design I used was a zen tangle type of pattern. When doing this I picked a few colors of the color wheel. The tracing paper was used to assist me in overlapping the letters in my design better.

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

• I discovered a more creative side of myself that I didn't realize I could do. This project was great because I was able to create my own image and not have something provided by someone to create.

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?

• I didn't really get a whole lot of information out of the videos. I found I learned more stuff from my wife whom took art classes and had her notes still and was better able to explain this to me. I thought the video was useful but it didn't wow myself. 

Art Gallery Visit #1

Albright Art Gallery Visit

1.) Which artworks make an impact or impressions on me? Why?

Artist: Giacomo Balla

Title: Dinamismo di un Cane al Guinzaglio

(Dynamism of a Dog on a Leash)

Media: Oil on Canvas

Year: 1912

This piece by Balla caught my attention by how cool the feet of the dog and women looked. I never really saw such a great way to show that a person or thing was running or movement in a picture. First thing I thought when I saw this was it looked like a scene from the Titanic movie when the people are running while the ship is loading and during the time boat was sinking. I thought this was a fascinating way to show an action or movement in a piece of work.

Artist: Lawrence Weiner

Title: A wall stripped of plaster or wallboard

Media: Language and Material

Year: 1969

Lawrence's piece A wall stripped of plaster or wallboard impacts me a lot. I first saw this and thought of the time when I was in the Tom Sawyer play at my school. This definitely looks like the fencing that was painted, obviously this isn't a wall. This totally grabbed my attention and I thought hey I can relate to this so much.

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

Artist: Jan Dibbets

Title: Big Comet - Land/Sky/Land 

Media: Chromogenic color prints mounted on wood

Year: 1973 (Reprinted 2007)

I felt a connection with this piece. It reminded me of a scene from a movie I like to watch called The Truman Show. The image I saw when seeing this work of art, I thought it looked like stairs that would lead to heaven or just above the clouds in the sky. I really liked the detail in the block, at first before I looked at the art description I thought they were pieces of glass with the way they looked. This was one of my favorite works of art that I took when visiting.

Artist: Unknown

Title: Maquette 

Media: Photographic enlargement

Year: May 1957

This was my favorite piece that I found at the gallery. I love to do activities that are hands on especially building things. I connected with this picture, like I said I love to build things and this one he's building a house model. I also felt connected to this because it's engineering and I am going to get my degree in Mechanical Engineering. 

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

Artist: Amedo Modigliani

Title: La jeune bonne (The Servant Girl)

Media: Oil on Canvas

Year: 1918

I would like to know more about this piece of work of The Servant Girl. To me this girl reminded me of one of the characters in American Horror Story, but I know that's not what it is. I would like to know more about what the meaning was behind this art work. I really liked the detail and thought put into this one.

Artist: Phillip Clarkson Elliot

Title: Shelcota, Pa

Media: Oil on Canvas

Year: 1943

The detail in this picture is pretty cool. I love the colors used, when I saw this I thought right away of a part of "downtown" North Tonawanda, NY. Once I saw this I thought of a canal going underneath the bridge and the area I thought of was the bridge over the canal on Webster St. I would really like to know more history and background information with this one. Also I would love to see this in person in Pennsylvania to see how well the true image and the art work here are matched together. 

Art Making/Material Exploration

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

• I really enjoyed the color wheel, because I was able to learn more about the primary and secondary colors. I thought it was neat how mixing certain primary colors together to get the secondary colors. I remember doing this in grade school, but I don't recall learning as much as I did when working on this project. 
• The value scale was really cool. I have never done one of these and I was amazed how you could make that many shades with a pencil or charcoal. I'm glad I was had the opportunity to work on a value scale. It took me a bit to get id down to what I wanted. I also had some help with this seeing my wife did study some art at NCCC, it was a help with understanding how to create this.  

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

• My favorite part of the project was the color wheel. I had always been in the curious state on how all these different colors are made, only to find out with the right color combination. You could make just about any color you wanted and that was really cool to me.

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

• The most important discovery was how different colors could be made by mixing other colors. This activity showed me that the primary colors are called primary colors for a reason! You can start off with them to create a complete color wheel!

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

• The most important information that I learned was, learning the difference between the secondary colors of red, blue and yellow and the primary colors of cyan, yellow, and magenta. Without that information I would of struggled harshly making my color wheel.

Elements and Principles Slideshow

When thinking of what to gather pictures for each element, I found that I learned more information than I didn't know.

When finding the following elements and principles this is what I was looking for:

Line - Marks made by moving points and that were longer and flat in photography.
Value - Black and white, add drama and impact to composition.
Shape/Form - contained area and also geometric, organic, 2D and 3D dimensional.
Space - Area used or un-used in composition , positive and negative space.
Color - The artistic and scheme in pictures providing different shapes, forms and space.
Texture - How the object felt and the quality of the surface.

Balance - Sense of stability in the body of the work.
Contrast - A likes and differences in the work, use different elements.
Movement - Something involved using an action or excitement.
Emphasis - What was the main focal point of an object.
Pattern - Elements which occur over and over.
Proportion - The main picture is bigger than the objects in the picture and are made to look smaller in an image.
Unity - Found something that has many parts to make equal or whole.

*The required way to link the album wouldn't work for me, when trying to embed the pictures that didn't do it either. I have attached a link below, I hope this works and will give me the credit needed.


Photobucket Slideshow

Color Theory and Emotional Effects

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

Color is a strong but a hard concept when it comes to paintings. We believe color is to describe what artists see as inspiration, but it's more than that. Colors have meaning, colors are meant to describe the picture more than the painted lines. Artists add color to represent the mood and how the viewer should feel and think about the work.

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

The most intriguing part about color to me is how certain values of color and different colors (warm and cool) can work together in setting the mood of a painting. We know how to associate certain colors and shades to specific feelings.

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

In this video, the most impact on me was how the artist first captured the color in person and made a quick note of what was there and how bright or dull the colors. She then went back to her studio to create the actual painting based on what she captured earlier. Her paintings are bright and provide a welcoming attitude.

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

I noticed in this video that when the artist wanted to convey a dark, depressed mood, they used dark colors to represent the dark and dullness of the time. When in good times, they used lighter, brighter colors to show power and happiness. They also used colors to represent things, like purple and red which represent royalty.

CNN Video and Article Blog

1. For each video and article list/discuss the key concepts you learned.

Aesthetics Video key concepts:

• True nature is an idea
• Plato had a low opinion of the artists and poets
• Philosophers discuss the difference of reality and illusions in art
• It was argued by Plato that there is no art to write in poetry
• Aristotle focused on tragedy in his art work
• Strickly speaking there was no aesthetics in the middle ages
• During the middle ages there was a dedication to God
• Beauty is harmony and perfection
• neoclassical aesthetics proportion symmetry, harmony, and order
• Harmony is a sign of divine order
• Almost nothing you can't treat as beautiful in art and poetry
• According to Schiller art is what makes us human
• Romanticism in the 19th century was the last of aesthetics
• Art imitates nature
• Spiritual core of art is mythological
• Only art can replace mythology
• Art is the expression of emotion

Changeux key concepts:

• Discovery of tools - 2.5 million years ago
• Discovery of Symmetry - 1.5 million years ago
• Discovery of Symbolism - 300,000 years ago
• Discovery of Artistic Composition - 100,000 years ago
• The work of art is human productions

Ramachandran key concepts:

• Art meets in the brain
• Goal of art is to distort an object and make it look interesting
• Picasso dileberatly distorted images
• Culture plays an important roll in Art
• Art is also known as visual aesthetics
• A cube can be seen as a 2-D object or a 3-D object
• Artists distort realistic images and make them stimulating to the mind
• Artists can hide images with in a work of art and as you study it more you'll start to see pieces of the hidden object
• What , How and Why 

2. Which philosopher's theory on aesthetics do you feel is most important? Be sure to mention the philosophers name, era (time in history), and contribution to the aesthetic theory in your response.

Plato often created his art through poetry. When it comes to the aesthetics of him, he's more the vocabulary and and focus on the issues of the aesthetics. Plato was from the 4th century B.C. his idea was about the true nature of art. He liked to use confusion in the authentic and fake pieces of art. His art was an influence among many people. Plato displayed his art in the act of treasion. 

3. What do you think about Changeux and Ramachandran scientific view of aesthetics and art? What was the most interesting fact you discovered from each speakers lecture? 

After watching the videos of Changeux and Ramachandran, the information they both provided was very informative. Personally I think Ramachandran had a better theory and explaination when it comes to aesthetics and art. His presentation grabbed my attention more, because he showed images in which you had to really look at to find what the art really was. Changeux gave more of a historical background of how art came about and was developed. 

4. How do the videos and article relate to the readings in the text?

The readings and videos related in a way they all in my opinion flowed pretty well together. If there was something you felt you were missing you were able to pick up and understanding through other information learned. I don't think there was anything more fitting than the videos and article to go along with the text in the book. All the content had a nice flow to it and I learned a lot from the information gained.

5. What is your opinion of the films and article? How do they add depth to understanding of the topics in your reading in the text?

I learned more information then I knew about Art and aesthetics than I did before watching the videos and reading the article. The information was very informative, I thought that all three flowed well together, there was some repetitive information, but not enough where you're thinking jeez how many times will I hear this or read about it. After reading Chps. 1-3 I thought I had gained a lot of knowledge, but then when watching the videos and reading the article I learned more to some questions or things that may have been unclear to me after reading the text.

Beginners Luck..Kind Of?

Gmail is always easy to find my way through, but setting up a blog kind of, not really. My lovely wife had to help me a bit. She also has to do a blog for her online class so this was a nice start to learning how to do hers too.

I plan to have a better understanding about the background of how art works. Knowing a few people that are very involved with the arts, I hope to be able to partake in more discussions with them.

I have taken an online class before and I did really well in the class I had taken online. I like the online classes, because you always know in the beginning of the week what you have coming up and what's due. The communication with the online classes are just as good as in person with classes on campus. It's nice to have online classes, when you're sick you don't miss class as you can get what you need done at home.