Visit to The Albright Knox Art Gallery

1.)The first painting that made an impact on me was entitled "Convergence" by Jackson Pollock.  When I say the painting my eyes were just all over the place, and the use of color was amazing.  You were able to see each individual color, but still the piece came together.  Another painting that made an impression on my was entitled "The Trees" by Andre Derain.  I have always had an interest in trees.  To me, they stand for growing and life.  Seeing the use of color and seeing the trees it made me think of how symbolic they can be.  The last work of art that made an impact on me was "Carnival of Harlequin" by Joan Miro.  I felt that this piece was fun and refreshing. The carnival theme allowed my eyes to move across the photo in a happy uplifting way.

2.)  The art works that I felt a connection with was first "Dynamsim of a Dog on a Leash" by Giacomo Balla.  This painting certainly looked familiar because it is in our textbook.  I feel that I already knew it from the textbook, and I also connected to it because I believe the dog in the painting is a Dachshund, and I own a Dachshund.  The dog reminds me exactly of how my dog is and how fast she can move!  Another piece that I felt a connection with was by anonymous, entitled "View of Niagara Falls."  Of course I know the famous Niagara Falls, and looking at this painting reminded me of visiting the falls when I was a kid.  I could here the splashing water of the roaring falls.  Ted Wesslmann, "Still life #20" caught my eye, and I noticed that I have a past connection to a part of the piece.  I recognized the the painting in the background of the still life by the straight black lines and primary colors. I used to always see that painting in my various art classes in elementary,middle, and high school.  Seeing that allowed me to remember what I used to do in those art classes.

3.) I would like to know more about Arshile Gorky, "The Liver is the Cock's Comb."  I first saw that name and was lost. So a title explanation would be great to know.  Its abstract so it is meant to raise questions, and I am just wondering what is the background story.  I would also like to know more about "Untitled" by Same Francis.  I never understood why an artist may feel that they would need to not name their pieceand i noticed that he had other work that was untitled.  I wonder what the story behind that is, and I also would like to know what the shapes and various colors mean.  I would also like to know about Albert Bierstadt, "Marina Piccolo in Capri."  I loved this painting, its use of light was so beautiful.  I would like to know if the light coming down from the sky has a single meaning.  If it is supposed to be the heavens coming down, or if its just meant to be the sun.

Retrieved from CAMIO
(Camera ran out of batteries while at gallery)

LOGO Design

1.)  When I found out that I needed to create my own logo, I honestly felt a little challenged but I felt excited.  I like doing hands on work, and I was ready to sit down and create a logo that would describe myself.

2.)  The creative process for this project allowed me to open up and really think of of things that reflect who I am as a person.  I started to brainstorm, and I started to write down words and statements ("im not yet complete, im always adding things...") that lead me to think of a PUZZLE.  I believe that my life is a puzzle.  The puzzle idea took off as I started to create my logo...

3.) The most imporatant discovery that I came up with when creating my logo was really the idea of a puzzle piece. When a puzzle piece came into my head I took off and realized the whole foundation for my logo.  I really discovered my life process.  My life is full of puzzle piece's.  Some have come together, and some have not.  My puzzle is not complete yet and that is why you can see in my logo that some puzzle pieces are missing out of my "K."  I also realized that it is okay that I still have not come up with all the pieces, but really, that is how life is supposed to be.

4.) From the reading, the videos, and the powerpoint I have found that the most important information is how a graphic designer creates a logo.  I understand the creative process used like brainstorming, and I understand that several steps that go into a final logo.  It takes time, and a lot of mind searching to be able to grasp alot of information and put it into a little logo.  Its amazing how a little logo contains so much content, it looks easy to design but really I now fully understand that major, time consuming, process of graphic design.  I found the videos to be informational and also interesting.  I am very interested in digital media, and seeing the image process and new media being used was very cool to see.

Sketchbook

"My Logo"

Material Exploration

1.) I thought that creating the value scale and the color wheel was a great experience.  Making the color wheel was amazing, because you get to see different colors come out of other colors, right before your eyes.  I liked doing these projects because being hands on allowed me to understand the color process better.

2.) I enjoyed working with the paints.  This media was great to work with becuase the colors came alive right before my eyes.  It was easy to make a color from two different colors, and I noticed that painting was also a little relaxing.

3.) The most important discovery in these studies was first to understand the values between light/dark or black/white, and to see the range of the scale.  In the creation of the color wheel, the discovery was to understand how colors are made from one another.  Also, to discover how colors connect and work together for the artist to create their artwork.

4.) The most important thing, that I have learned from watching the videos is that color and values of those colors really make a difference for the artist to get their meaning across to the public.  Having different ranges and different values of color allow the artist to make a masterpiece that is seen in clarifying ways.  I felt the videos were very helpful to understanding color and very interesting.

Project #1 Reflection

I felt this first project was fun and not that difficult.  It was fun going around in my home and outside to find and  capture the design principles and the art elements.  It didn't take me very longer because there were so many things that had the principles and the elements in them.  All I had to do was to look really close and then take the images with my camera.

My Slideshow:

Elements and Principles of Art

http://w1011.photobucket.com/pbwidget.swf?pbwurl=http%3A%2F%2Fw1011.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Faf231%2Fkatie287%2Fb6df28a0.pbw

Color Theory and Emotional Effects

1.)  Color is what brings pleasure to a particular piece of artwork.  Color allows viewers to experience all kinds of emotions.  For instance, in terms of the colors intensity, whether it is a bold sold intensity, the person can feel bright and happy.  If the intensity is dulled and softened, the viewer can possibly feel relaxed or even a little sad.  Value can also effect a person's emotions.  Value refers to lightness or darkness in art.  If the colors are dark, like black or shades of gray it can have a repressed feeling, if they are light they can have  happy feeling for the viewer.  Color is so powerful in art, and just using a particular color,can allow a person to experience an intense emotional effect. 

2.) Light is the theoretical aspect that fascinates me the most. I found it so interesting how the book discussed Newton, who found that color is really just components of light, and that we are only perceiving reflected light rays when we look at a specific color.  It is just amazing how light is able to take away other colors so we see only one color.

3.) In the Color video, I felt that when June was painting a fast piece of the buildings and the river in Venice, that the colors she was using were really bringing out the beauty of Venice.  I felt that the true view of the backstreet was dull, but when she was painting she was using warm and softened colors, which made me view Venice as a gorgeous place.  It just goes to show that color is truly able to effect a persons emotional state.

4.) In the Feelings video, I found the biggest impact on me was the discussion about how reason came into play and how humanists viewed the world.  I liked the statement about perspective, which was  "man thinking differently about what he is." I thought this to be very powerful, and I was able to get a sense of what the Renaissance was like for artists. They painted exactly what human kind was like back then, and any viewer can experience a feeling of differences and perspectives in those paintings.

Art and Aesthetics Video's

1.)  In the video, Aesthetics: Philosophy of the Arts, I learned the importance of aesthetics has on an artist, artwork, and the viewers.  Aesthetics was discussed and defined as being the philosophical study of art.  The video discussed several philosophies that have been determined in the based on philosophers, and how beauty shapes how people interpret art.
      In the video, CARTA: Neurobiology Neurology and Art and Aesthetics, the concepts that I learned came from two very intelligent men in the neurological field.  Changeux, discussed how there is a genetic origin of art, and from the start of the first human, there has been a constant evolution of art.  He brought up that there is a "Esthetic Efficacy" of art which means the emotions and reason that art brings out.  He also states that art is a human production of artifacts and it is a non verbal language for communication.  The second speaker, Ramachandran, discussed his "Eight Laws of Art/Aesthetics."  These laws are what make art universal.  He goes more in depth and speaks about how art is a visual aesthetic and that it creates visual process for audiences.  Art is "pleasing to the eye," he says and that it is a game or challenge to try to find the big picture.

2.)  Kant, is who I believe to be the most important philosopher to the theory of aesthetics. Kant developed his ideas in the 18th century and he felt that aesthetic experience comes from the imagination.  He believed that beauty has no framework or principles when is comes to art.  Meaning that, beauty is based on ones own feelings.  He contributed to many other philosophers beliefs like Schiller and Hegel, who built on his ideas of aesthetics and art.

3.)  I though Changeux and Ramachandran scientific view of aesthetics and art was very interesting.  They both came up with relevant and various beliefs on how the brain can interpret art.  From Changeux, the most interesting fact I learned from him was how there is a "genetic envelope" which means that art comes from our ancestors.  From Ramachandran, I felt the most interesting fact was that art is basically a visual process or a game, and when someone looks at a work of art they are being challenged to find the meaning.  Once the meaning is found, the person is astonished to have completed the visual process.

4.) The videos relate to the readings in the text by teaching the the viewers on how to look at art.  The videos just gave more ways on how one can interpret a piece of artwork.  They both explain how aesthetics is important in the art world, and that in fact art can make a viewer feel emotion and feeling for what they are seeing.

5.) I felt that the first film, Aesthetics: The Philosophy of the Arts, was insightful.  I was able to view how various philosophers felt about art in early centuries.  I was also able to see how the meaning of art has evolved,and how it will keep on evolving throughout time.  The second film, was very interesting.  I never thought how the brain can interact with the viewing of art in a number of ways.  The films have given depth to the readings by allowing myself to always be thinking about HOW I am going to interpret art, and how my brain is going to interpret art. 

First Blog

1.) The process of creating my own GMail accout was simple! Along with GMail, setting up my blog was also very easy.  Both were no big deal and anyone can simply create an account and a blog by reading and following simple steps.

2.)  For this online class, I expect to learn a number of things.  I expect to learn about several artists, and about the artists' work.  Also, I expect to learn the different types of techniques used to create art and the many different forms of art out in the world.

3.)  I feel that taking an online course is the right thing for me.  I have taken one other online course in the past so I kind of know what to expect.  I think that taking an online course allows me to go at my own pace, and I am hoping that I will enjoy taking this class.