Video Review

Through the Eyes of a Sculpture-Limestone can be checked for pureness and workability by hitting it with a hammer in various spots to be sure it isn't cracked. It stays at 12 celius always until it is ready to be removed and taken to an artist. An artist may start many sculptures at once to keep ideas fresh. The video also shows how silicone mold is made to keep the clay model form in case it is damaged.

Glass and Ceramics-Elements are added to the sand and heated to an extremely high temperature so the sand will break down and form glass. Ceramics are used for different purposes depending on the temperature that it was heated to and glass also can be heated and cooled to allow it to shatter or a certain way or prevent shattering at all.

Installation Art-When an artist creates an installation it is meant to bring the viewer into the work. It can take up space both inside and outside or entire buildings can be created as an installation in itself. It forces the viewer to interact with the work and that is a fundamental part of installation art.

Prairie Style-Frank Lloyd Wright wanted buildings to blend naturally into their surroundings and created horizontal forms that would do so. He felt the layering of horizontals made the buildings appear as if they grew out of the land. Architectural forms can be created to give spaces meaning.

The videos are a great supplement to the readings in the text. We learn about crafts and molds from clay in the readings and in the videos we can actually see this idea come to life. Once you see it being done you can appreciate the amount of work behind it and really see the artistic nature of it. We can see true life examples of how architecture is used as art and formed to give a specific meaning, such as a harmony with nature. The video on installation art brought the reading from the book to life and let us see what kinds of installations different artists create and the processes they take to get there.

I actually really liked the videos. After a good amount of reading in the book its possible to lose focus and just want to be done with it and the videos reinforce the reading really well. We can see real life examples of the same types of art that was in the readings. We visually learn how sculptures are put together from start to finish, see examples of artistic architecture and installations, and see craftsmen working creating their crafts as they would a fine work of art.

Logo Design

I thought creating the logo was much harder than I originally thought it to be. Before I started drawing I pictured this project as something that I could fly right through. It wasn't until I sat down to start drawing that I realized it was going to take quite a bit more thinking and sketching to get to a final logo.

The process of getting to a final logo was interesting. It really takes some creative thinking to figure out what you want to put down on the paper. My ideas for the logo centered around getting my name or initials in it somehow, along with a symbol or a picture that would represent me. I liked the idea the simplicity can say a lot sometimes, but it was hard trying to figure out what I could draw that would be simple, yet say many things about myself. I decided to go with more of a "business card" idea and focused on what I could fit on a card that wouldn't look to cramped, would say a lot, and would be visually pleasing. My final decision was to go with the Capricorn symbol of astrology because it is my birth symbol. When I thought about it I realized that the Capricorn symbold represented all things that are me. There was an astrology book that I once read and remembered thinking how closely the description of the Capricorn fit my own personality. I placed the stars around it because Capricorn is a symbol of the stars. Artistically speaking, the stars make your eyes move around the logo instead of focusing on just one spot. It is also balanced with the black of my name and the symbol on either side and the star in the top left corner brings together the stars floating around the symbol as well.

In creating my logo the most important discovery I made was that it can be very difficult to choose what symbols, letters, or pictures to draw that will be representational in a big way. It is a challenge to say as much as you can about yourself in a very little way. As a result of not wanting my logo to be too cramped or visually overwhelming I had to think even harder about ways to represent myself. I've never had to create a logo of myself before which also led me to quite a bit of thinking about myself. I discovered that the most important thing I would want to get across to somebody in a personal logo would be my personality.

From watching the videos and the powerpoints I learned that not only does it take many numerous copies to get a logo just right, but that even the symbols you use in a logo can say more than you think. A circle is more likely to represent energy than space. It is important to choose things carefully because they will make a big impact on your audience. I enjoyed the first video more than the second because it took you through the different stages of creating a logo and why the business liked or disliked different ideas.

Reviewing Peer Responses..hyperlinked blogs

http://cownd77.blogspot.com/

http://pettjm54aed200.blogspot.com/

I did something wrong when I tried to hyperlink the blogs into my first post so I created a second one to include them in my blog.

Reviewing Peer Responses

There was one image in the blogs that was the same as my own and that was "Mask of a Young Woman." It was chosen as a work to know more about, which was the same reason I chose that work. It just seems as if there is more behind the mask.

The Temple of Dendur work was one that I found I took an interest in and was something I would like to know more about. In the description of the work, we know that there were also statues in the display that we can't see and that it something I wish I could find more information on.

I do think other's reflections are a valuable learning tool because it gives you a different outlook on art and new ways of thinking about different works. One of the blogs having the same sculpture that I had chosen really let me see what else I would want to know about it and why somebody else might like the same work.

I see the comments as more of a learning experience. They are almost like a peer critique of your work, but with more interesting comments.

Art Exploration

Creating the value scale and color wheel were more enjoyable than I thought they would be. I liked getting to use the art materials. Mixing the different colors for the color wheel was fun and interesting every time to see what I could turn them into. Working with the watercolor was my favorite part of the project. It was nice to see how the colors would turn out and how adding little bits of different colors could change the overall outcome. I liked using the brushes. I created secondary and tertiary colors so that I could continue to play with the colors a bit more. While creating these I discovered that watercolor really is about spontaneity. By adding water you can manipulate the colors and continue to work with them, but you really need to have an idea of what you are trying to do. As far as the videos, I liked that they showed exactly how one can mix colors and how to create a basic color wheel. It helps that they explain which colors are secondary and primary while they are mixing them to keep you from getting confused. By using the color wheel to show people how colors relate to one another was one of the more interesting things I learned from the video because I've never thought of looking at a color wheel that way.

Art Gallery

Title: Projected Addition to the Albright Art Gallery
Artist: George Cooper Rudolph
Medium: Watercolor on paper
Year: 1960
Scale: 12 x 24"

I believe that this painting made a lasting impression on me based on the use of color and the scene in the picture. I found it very beautiful and the colors worked well together. It felt like a very realistic fall day.




Title: The Round Passion: Christ Carrying the Cross
Artist:Lucas Van Layden
Medium: etching
Year: 1509
Scale: diameter 8 5/8"

This print made a big impression on me because of the content. The artist depicts the scene of Christ carrying the cross with all the emotions and tiny details that go along with it. The violence and horror of the situation are evident.




Title: Damn Braces
Artist: Sam Francis
Medium: Two-color lithograph edition 44/75
Year: 1960
Scale: 35 3/4 x 24 15/16"

This work made an impact on me as a result of the colors. The bright blue and red splattered in the way it is makes it seem exciting and spontaneous. I thought it was interesting also how you can see an example of how a two-color lithograph looks as a finished product. The title also made me laugh.




Title: Children's Carnival
Artist: Paul Landacre
Medium: Woodcut print
Year: 1946
Scale: 10 7/16 x 14 9/16"

I felt a connection to this piece because is it a carnival. Everybody has memories of going to the carnival and this piece displays rides and balloons and really shines light on the whole thing in an interesting way.




Title: Backyards-winter (d)
Artist: Kevin B. O'Callahan
Medium: etching
Year: 1933
Scale: 12 5/8 x 9 3/8"

This print made me feel a connection as soon as I saw it. It brought me back to being a little kid at my grandparents in Buffalo and looking out at all the houses with snow on them.




Title: Village on the Marne
Artist: Andre Dunoyer de Segonzac
Medium: Oil on canvas
Year: 1927
Scale: 32 x 25 3/4"

The reason I felt a connection with this artwork was that it reminded me of a gloomy day in Buffalo. It was like looking out my window and seeing a gray, cloudy day right before it snows.





Title:Head
Artist: Pablo Gargallo
Medium: Wrought Iron
Year: Late 1920's
Scale: 3 1/4 x 2 1/8 x 2 1/2"

I would like to know more about why this is titled "Head." The title alone makes me spend some time looking and wondering how Gargallo created such a beautiful piece out of wrought iron. Where did his inspiration come from?





Title: Mask of a Young Woman
Artist: African
Medium: Wood with traces of Polychromy
Year: Late 19th to early 20th century
Scale: 11 1/2 x 6 3/4 x 6 1/4"

This sculpture intrigued me and had me wondering who really created it? We know only that it is African. I would like to know who the woman is and why they chose to make a mask of her.




Title: Metaphor and Movement
Artist: Robert Motherwell
Medium: Paper and acrylic on upsom board
Year: 1974
Scale: 48 x 36"

The title of this work immediately had me wanting to know more about it. I like that it is a collage of paper and acrylic, but I am struggling to see where the metaphor lies. I felt like I was beginning to grasp the idea of movement and I really enjoyed the colors.

Color Theory and Emotional Effects

A color's value, hue, and intensity each affect our emotions in different ways. Combinations of colors can make us think of different things and the lightness or darkness of a color can change our mood and the mood of the painting we're looking at. Bright, intense colors have a more vivid reaction that pale, dull colors. When we think of blues it may be calming like the ocean and reds may have us thinking of violence. Shades of yellow can take your mind to the happy days of summer. Different people may have different emotions for the same colors. Blues may also make a person think of birth, as in our society when we associate blue with the birth of a baby boy. I find it fascinating that simply by changing the value of a color, adding black or white, it gives you an entirely new color and can completely change the mood and appearance of a color. A dark, bright red has a very different emotional feel and intensity to it than does a pale, light pink. When I think of the difference in those two colors I have two extremely different ideas of what they could represent in my head.

In the color video the idea that made the biggest impact on me in regards to color was that artists often look at what they are painting not as a scene, such as a nature scene, but as separate individual colors. Van Gogh said in the video to look at everything as colors instead of objects. Instead of seeing a tree, look at it and see long streaks of browns and different shades of greens. Perhaps instead of seeing a pond as water, look at it as a patch of blue mixed in with the other colors. I really felt as though I could walk outside and just see colors all around me after hearing that, as opposed to seeing houses and cars.

The feelings video, I enjoyed that they described feelings and art as a battle ground between God and Satan and the use of color in art depicted feelings that led to a view on either side of the battle, using shades of blues, whites, and yellows to highlight God and his goodness. The use of color in any painting makes one think about what emotions the artist is trying to get across. It's the idea that artists choose their colors based on the emotions that they which to evoke from their audience that intrigues me.

Elements and Principles

Creating the pictures for this slide show required much more searching than I originally thought. I spent the day looking at all the tiny details of everything around me and thinking "does this reflect what I'm looking for?" It almost felt as if I was looking at everything for the first time because I was trying to see my world in a different way. I thought that the pictures for Unity and Balance were the most difficult, but I kept thinking of family for Unity so the picture of a friend of mine at her wedding seemed perfect and the whole picture really comes together nicely and gave a great effect. Balance was one I struggled with. I couldn't figure out how to capture balance in a photo. My favorite element to photograph was Proportion because I thought the picture of my friend's hand with her baby's hand was absolutly beautiful. Movement was also interesting. We see things moving around us all day long, so deciding how to capture the right kind of movement to photograph as art took some thinking. The photo of the dog was one that I felt made your eyes wander around the picture. I often thought about what I would want to see if I was looking at a picture of a certain element and modified my thoughts to what I could find around me.