Project 2: Albright Knox Visit

Artist: Jean-Francois Millet
Title: Les Falaises De Greville
Oil on Canvas

Artist: Vincent van Gogh
Title: La Maison de la Crau (the old Mill)
Oil on Canvas

Artist: Willem de Kooning
Title: Gotham News, 1955
Oil, enamel, charcoal, and newspaper transfer on canvas

Artist: Marc Chagall
Title: La Vie Paysanne (Present life)
Oil on Canvas

Artist: William LeRoy Metcalf
Title: Pelago - Tuscany, 1913
Oil on Canvas

Artist: Albert Gleizes
Title: L'homme au hamac (Man in a Hammock)
Oil on Canvas

A.) Which artworks make an impact or impression on me? Why?
Two pieces of art that really caught my attention, and made me pause on them were Vincent Van Gogh's painting Titled "La Maison de la Crau" and Albert Gleizes' "L'homme au hamac" First, Van Gogh's panting stopped me in place because of his incredible ability with the strokes of his paint brush. Many of his passes are clearly visible, and its even more remarkable how he blends the colors together to create the image. The way the mountains in the background look, as well as the greenish tint in the sky. Van Gogh was known for his distinct ability with a paint brush, and now seeing one of his works close up you can really tell how his style of painting is remarkably different than that of any other painter.
    Another piece that really caught my attention was Albert Gleizes painting of "L'homme au hamac", simply due to his technique at creating his visual. At first, it was hard to make out the man as well as the hammock, due to the way it appears that pictures of other objects seems to make up the overall picture. But once I saw it, it made me appreciate the work that much more. Again, the different style technique used with this particular piece made have to really focus on the bigger picture, and not just the sharp lines of the polygons or triangles that are visible. 
 
B.) Which artworks do I feel a connection with? Why?
Two pieces of art I found a personal connection with was Jean-Francois Millets painting of "Les Falaises de Greville" and Willard LeRoy's painting of "Pelago-Tuscany". Both of these pictures I stood and stared at for quite a length of time and felt they spoke to me in many different ways. First, both of these painting are of a landscape of another place. Landscape pictures have always held a special place in my heart, for the soul purpose of my belief that when an artist paints a landscape, they are simply capturing beauty in its natural form. Second, They both remind me of a place secluded, beautiful, and without complications. Being a simple minded man, seeing a view like the view shown in "Les Fallaises de Greville" would be a view I would happily see every day for the rest of my life without any hesitation. Waves crashing along a shore bank with water would be a dream view of mine. Lastly, both pieces of art encompass a sense of harmony. the water in "Les Falaises de Greville appears to move in harmony with the coastline of land, and "Pelago -Tuscany" has the road move in harmony with the mountains in the backdrop. These two pieces, along with Claude Monets painting of "Water Lilies" which could not be photographed, were amonst my favorite pieces within the museum.
 

C.) Which artworks would I like to know more about? Why?
 Two pieces of artwork that I would like to know more about, as well as the artists, would be Marc Chagalls painting "La Vie Paysanne" and William De Koonings "Gotham News". First, Marc Chagalls painting stumbled me in the sense that I couldnt really decipher what emotions he was feeling when he created this painting, nor as to how his drawing of a peasant really depicts the life of a peasant. Second, "Gotham News" was another one that stumbled me a little bit, simply do to the chaos on the canvas. I feel like with as many tools he used to create this work of art, it was, in some aspects a little too much I feel. Although even though I could not fully comprehend this piece of art, I still found it to be moving in a way, and that is why I chose it.

Module 5: making a logo

1. Discuss what you thought about creating your logo.
I had a lot of fun with this particular assignment, I found it gave a great reason to draw something I have always had an unusual talent for drawing, dragons. Fantasy and dragons has always fascinated me, and over the course of my lifetime I have come to draw really good dragons with my experience!  With it, I expanded my creation with him blowing a type of fireball, which spell the words "Love, Faith, and Hope" which are 3 values I live by. This type of logo is my own personal logo, which holds significant value to me.

2. Describe the process: creative thinking skills and ideas you used in the logo creation.
When I was creating this logo, I got the idea of the dragon because of my fascination of dragons and fantasy growing up, and the idea of the words inside the fireball were simply my personal values I hold dear to myself.

3. What was the most important discovery you made in the creation of your logo?
One primary problem I had with creating the logo was the tail of the body going into different directions. This was incredibly difficult to accomplish, and took me some serious time on my brown papered sketchpad, as well as a lot of research on the designs of the bodies. 

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 think what I learned most from the material was the importance of color and to try bring the attention of the viewer to what is most important in the image. In this particular case, the important thing to focus on is obviously the fireball in the dragons talons. These being the things that matter most to me, therefore it should be something that shows a more significant value than the rest of the drawing.

Week 3 posting

1. Describe Color and it's effects on emotions. Use the appropriate vocabulary of color in your posting.
Color plays a crucial part in human emotion. It is when an object absorbs light a specific way, it triggers certain emotions in each human. Certain colors associate differently to every human. For example, for me, when I think of the color red, I think of evil. Anger stems from evil. How often have we heard someone associate a color with an emotion, such as "man, you're red like a tomato right now, you must be furious!" It is these types of points associated with color that play such effects on human emotions.
2. What is a theoretical aspect of color that most intrigues/fascinates you? Why?
I would have to say the number one thing I find most interesting in the aspect of color is how many different ways color can be interpreted differently from person to person. When I think of the color Blue, it brings to mind big blue oceans, or clear blue skies, both of which are a comfort to me, which in turn makes me happy. However, to a friend of mine, the color blue strikes him very differently. As a young kid, he had a blue dirt bike which he rode often and loved deeply. Then one day he got into a horrible crash with it, and to this day believes that buying a blue motorcycle is a bad omen, and needs to be avoided like the plague. People have different emotions for different colors, and it is this concept that most fascinates me.
3. In the Color video, what made the biggest impact on you in regards to color and it's effects on emotions?
The number one thing that made the biggest impact on me regarding color in the video with effect on emotions was clearly seen in June Redfern. The entire time you can see the emotion in her face and she struggled with each color, which can actually be seen in her work as she goes along. She poured emotion onto the canvas with every fell swoop, and although she worried about not getting it right the whole time, the end result was still a beautiful piece of art.
4. In the Feelings video, what made the biggest impact on you in regards to color and it's effects on emotions?

I think what made the biggest impact on me was the overall message concerning feelings and emotions displayed through art. Whether it be using light colors to tell tales of happiness and prosperity to using mostly darker colors to feel a sense of darkness, dispair, and sadness. Art tells a story, and behind every story, there is emotion. The challenge when studying art is to determine what the artist was feeling as they created the work of art that they did. Colors help drastically with creating that emotion.

Module 2 Questions

1. For each video and article list/discuss the key concepts you learned.
 In Aesthetics: the Philosophy of the Arts, there were several key concepts that were identified as well as many keynote individuals who created the fundamentals of the word "Aesthetics" One such person was Alexander Baumgarten, who created the word, and the true meaning of how art must have a sense of beauty within it. It also shared how Emmanual Caunt expanded on Baumgartens philosophy

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

Within 18th century England, the proper form of aesthetics was founded, which was the first modern system of the art. This was believed to be founded within nature. Joseph Addison was considered to be one of the most influential people of aesthetics within papers he wrote concerning "the pleasures of imagination" which began the works of modern theories that we commonly use today.


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?
 I found it particularly interesting how Changeux and Ramachandran discuss how art and science meet is within the human mind. I believe this is particularly important within art because when a person views art, it sparks a sense of passion and creativity within themselves, which in turns tend to create the desire to create art.

4. How do the videos and article relate to the readings in the text?
 There were several points that were made in the videos that related to the text, however they were covered a lot more in depth through the video and with a visual presentation made understanding the dynamics of the points they made that much easier to understand

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?
 While I did find the information very informative, I had to break these videos up into several sessions due to my busy schedule. I found it difficult to have practically two hours to dedicate to just watching the videos, however the visuals and descriptions provided were of great value in terms of information.