Experimenting with Tones

1. I actually really enjoyed it! I did not know that blue and red were not actually primary colors, and it was interesting to see how easy it was to mix the actual primary colors together and have them come out right.

2.  Although I sketch often and hardly ever paint, for this project I liked using the acrylics better. I feel like there are so many more opportunities with the colors. There are an infinite number of colors that can be mixed to be created in a work. When shading, I had trouble. It was easy to press down too hard, and then I could not just erase it. I had to make the Value Scale three different times until I got it right.

3. For me, the most important discovery was of endless opportunity. Although shading was not my strong suit, with both the pencil and the acrylics, so many different shades/colors can be made. Also, it needs to be precise. Too much of one color can dominate, although I found it was easier to fix the colors than it was the shading.

4. I thought the videos were helpful! All I really learned was the actual primary colors and how to make a Value Scale and Color Wheel step by step. However, I had never done these things before and it was a pleasant experience.

How Colors Effect Emotions

1. Colors effect emotions in many different ways. Most of our responses to color are transmitted by our brain. Something that is majorly contrasted catches our eye quickly because it is ‘loud.’ It draws attention to the viewer because there is a difference and two or more parts of a work are standing out, against each other. Warm colors may have a more positive response with some people because when using temperature, people often think weather, and many people like warm weather. I, however, like the winter, and love to see cool colors being used in paintings. This is a response I am having based on what colors have meant to me in the past, before I saw the painting. Most people are also drawn to stronger colors such as neon because they are emphasized with their brightness.

2.The aspect that most intrigues me is how our minds place color with certain objects, and that is how we feel they should be. When those things are not the colors they should be, we begin to become confused and think something is wrong with them. On the website when I was experiencing with the emotional responses and flipping through the pictures, the thing that really got me was the blue pasts. I did feel weird about it because it was something so out of my normal. It definitely provoked an emotional response out of me, and I think it is crazy how just a simple color change can do that.

3. With the Color Video, I realized that what anyone feels about color is based on who they are. Not everyone will feel the same about a color or a work of art, it is all personal. When the woman decided to paint her painting in the beginning of the video, she talked about how she liked the colors and there were a nice combination of them and it felt calm and peaceful to her. To me, the spot looked dull. Maybe if it had meant something to me or if it had reminded me of something that was important to me, I would have felt differently about it. Or, perhaps, if I were there in person and not just through a video. I do believe that certain colors give almost everyone a general sense of feeling. Like for example, light pastels and earth tones are pretty calming and I think most people would agree that they are more calming then say hot pink.

4. The paintings in the Feelings video, some that I have personally seen at the Louvre, are more or less defined by their color. The royalty are in lighter colors and the more plain people, per say, are in darker colors and less flashy outfits. When seeing these works you can get the feeling of importance and power just by looking at the clothing of the royalty. By looking at the clothing in the painting of that of the Mona Lisa, you get a more natural feeling and a more calm sense because her clothes are not covered in shiny accessories. You also get the feel of mystery, because she does not wear who she is on her sleeve, but just gives her artist a slight smile.

faithlalafaithlalaxo27's Fundamentals of Art Inquiry slideshow on Photobucket

The Elements

The photo I took to show the element of line was a photo of two birds flying together. They are following each other, and the photograph makes your eyes follow where they are going. The two birds created a line.

The photo I took to show the element of value was a photo of a bathroom window. This photograph shows light and dark. The frame of the photo is very dark, due to the brightness of the sun shining through the glass window.

The photo I took for shapes is a photo of hands making a heart. The lines of the shadow come together to form the imperfect shape.

The photo I took for forms is a picture of the city of Buffalo taken from City Hall. The buildings are all three-dimensional shapes shown in architecture.

The photo I took for space was a photo of my friend looking into a revolving door. The area between him and the door is minimal. Because they are so close, his reflection becomes visible, which makes the closeness even more visible.

The photo I took for color was a photo of weeds against a brick garage that has been painted over with a bright blue. Because of the difference with these two colors, it is easy to see how they differentiate.

The photo I took for texture is a photo of a grasshopper sitting on my friends finger. Because of how close this photo was taken, the threads of his sweater, the hairs on his fingers, and the texture of the grasshopper's body are all plainly visible. His fingers appear smooth while his sweater appears to be rough.

The Principles

The photo I took for balance is a photograph of the sanctuary in my church. It is an example of symmetrical balance.The pews, carpet, organ, wreaths and wooden planks are the same on both sides, creating an upside down V shape. Because of this symmetry, it makes sense to the viewer.

The photo I took for contrast is a photograph of my rain boots, with already contrasting colors of white and black, against gravel pavement and bright green grass. Each of these three things stands out so strongly because of how the colors contrast one another.

The photo I took for movement is of a duck swimming on the lake. the ripples in the water show movement and allow the viewer to understand that the duck is the thing making those ripples because they are surrounding it.

The photo I took for emphasis is of a sunset at UB. The dark clouds high in the sky at the top of the photo and the dark paved parking lot at the bottom of the photo help the middle of the photo to stand out, the beautiful yellows and oranges and reds of the sunset. These colors are brighter and strong, therefore they stand out against the dull and darker colors.

The photo I took for pattern was a photo of me standing on a dog with the sun on my back, creating a shadow of my legs. This shadow appears on the wooden planked created a nice repeated pattern in the background of the main focus.

The photo I took for proportion is a photo of an ice cream cone with a park in the background. The proportion of the ice cream cone is much larger than the biker behind it because it is closer to the camera. It shows that the dessert is the main focus, but also the scenery of where I was and what was going on around me.

The photo I took for unity was of a wall in my bedroom covered in photos. These photos all perfectly fit together with one another like pieces of a puzzle, and appear to be in harmony.

Aesthetics Blog Posting

1.       Some key concepts I learned from the first video were that Aesthetics is the philosophical study of art and beauty and that many people have many different theories on this topic. Also, art forms are each very dynamic, so there is no proper definition for art.

Some key concepts I found interesting from the second video was how scientific viewing art really is. All of the sensory input and thought processing that goes into viewing a work and understanding it. Certain things we like stimulate our brains to look closer or want to see more.

Some key concepts I liked from the article were how people are so much quicker to look at a painting when they recognize something from everyday life. When they see something that they understand, they feel good about looking for something more. I also like how the article mentioned that many people connect symmetry with beauty because a lot of times when something is symmetrical, it means it’s alive. That is a very interesting concept that I never before explored.

2.       From the video, the philosopher’s theory I most connected with was Kant whose theories came to be during the age of enlightenment. His thought on what was beautiful was that the judgment of these things can’t be rule based. He said that it was all based on feeling. When one thinks something is beautiful, it is normally due to strong feelings they have towards it for whatever reason. Also, he also states that no school in the world could teach someone how to make a masterpiece. One’s own creativity can’t be learned.

3.       I liked a lot of what Changeux had to say. Something that really stood out to me was when he talked about bottom up realism and top down abstraction. Someone can look at a painting of a tree and just see it as a tree, which is our bottom up processing. Our brain is letting us see something for what it is. However, maybe if we look a little longer, we will start to maybe see things hidden in the picture, or that the tree is also something else. Or it could even be just a tree, but there could be a message the artist wants to portray with that image, and we can see that we use our top down processing. It allows us to think abstractly and not just simply see what is there. During this process our brains are making use of the information we are receiving.

I thought Ramachandran was a little over the top, however I did like how he pointed out that a lot of art is not meant to be realistic. Many times people will say that something doesn’t look like it’s supposed to, but that’s because it’s not. Many artists like to create abstract pieces that will capture viewers’ attention. They deliberately exaggerate features or distort images. I liked how he also said that people seem to like things more when they are farther from realistic. People tend to think that the closer to realistic something is, that maybe the artist messed up the work. But with someone like Picasso, people adore his work because they can see it is meant to be that way.

4.       The videos and article relate to the text because they explore how to look at art and how to determine what we think is art and what we think isn’t. They also explored single artists and why they painted the works they did or constructed what they have constructed. It’s fascinating to look at something and see it as a mere painting, and then to get inside the artists head and see so much more. It is interesting to learn about an artists’ life and their past experiences. It helps to get inside their head and think more about not just what they painted but how they painted it. They also all talk about beauty and how beauty connects with art and how they can somewhat be interchangeable but also on completely different spectrums to some people. Plato found no art in writing, but some people feel as though writing is art, but they do not think it is beautiful. I like how all of the different sources gave away the reality that art is different for everyone, which is why it is so hard to make statements about it.

5.       I liked the article much more than the films. It was much more upbeat and I liked how it brought science into making art but also kept it interesting and kept the theme of it art is a lie or not. The Picasso quote at the beginning of the article caught my attention right away. I thought they added depth to the reading because they explained some things that weren’t in the reading but were about some of the same artists and what not, and they gave a lot of information on how humans see art and why we like what we do. I feel as though the book goes more in depth, but the videos and articles added some interesting details.

Introduction to Blogger and Gmail

1. The process for setting up this Blog was relatively easy. The directions were very straight forward. It was nice that I already had a personal Gmail account, so I did not have to set a new one up.
2. In this course I expect to learn more about the history of art, more about the use of art materials, and more about what kind of artist I am.
3. I am actually very excited about taking an online course. I am self motivated and feel that this will be a positive experience for me.

-Faith Reed