Logo

1.       Discuss what you thought about creating your logo.

I tried to think of things that described me and what I was known for. It was a challenge to keep things simplistic like logos are rather than extensively detailed like I like to do. This was something I had to really keep in mind. Colors also presented a problem because I didn’t want to use shadowing and I couldn’t change it to a bunch of different shades or too many different colors. To solve that problem I decided to use colors that are often found in logos and together, in this case, blue, yellow, red and a small amount of black.

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

The first thing I did was look at other logos, none in particular, just a variety of different ones that came up on google when I typed in logos. I then compiled a list of things people think of when they think of me. Big ones were being smart, art, my dog, my glasses, history, England and loyalty. So that was what I decided to work with in the creation of the logo. I knew my dog was a big one since I talk about him like he was my child and my glasses were the other. These were easy enough to show in an image. But I wanted to work with other things as my first sketches show. The first sketch is a little too detailed and is cliche for a student so it was scrapped. The second was my initials with glasses which sounded good in my head, but not on paper so I threw it out. The third was a mix of my dog, love of history and initials. The final is the head of my dog, although more blocky so it is more doggish than it actually, my glasses and an exclamation point to show an idea or intelligence. The color is backwards of my dog, he has  a blue collar and yellow fur so i switched them in the logo and the red looked good with the rest. 

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

I discovered it was difficult to portray all my ideas in a simple piece. Also some colors don’t go together right if put together in a specific way. It is also very difficult to portray things like loyalty and other traits in an image. 

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?

 The thing I learned was it was very important for the image to be pleasing to the eye. Also that the simpler and easier to recreate the better. The reading material and PowerPoint were useful, but the videos were a little dry, and boring, though some parts were helpful.

Art Gallery

A.)   Which artworks make an impact or impression on me? Why?

The first artwork that makes an impression on me was “The Mariana Piccola, Capri”. It was painted with oil by Albert Bierstadt and was done on canvas in 1859. It made an impression on me because the Marina Piccola Capri is a real location known for its beautiful beaches, but in the painting the beach at first looks peaceful, but then you see the pointed rock, that looks more like a ship and the rocks near the coast, which could lead to destruction of ships. These images paired with the grey clouds, gives you a feeling of hardship and work, rather than rest and relaxation. It is just very different from what one thinks when they think of Marina Piccola Capri.

                The next artwork was “Untitled” by ARTURO HERRERA, and it was done in 2006 in graphite and coffee on paper. It makes an impression because it is almost creepy and dark, even though light colors take up a large portion. The more you look at it, the more you see hooves and legs as if it is depicting deer, but the  black slashes throw you and how you feel off. It leaves and impression because it could be happy, but because of the strategic position of the black, it completely changes the meaning.

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

I connected with “Etude Pour Le Pont De L’Europe”, which translates to The Europe Bridge, by Gustave Caillebotte, done with oil and in the year 1876. This one caught my eye because the grey tones and heavy coats, but sun shine depicted in the image reminded me of Buffalo in the winter. We can have extremely cold temperature, yet the sun still shines. Which in my head is what this image is showing, a mid-winter scene.

        The next one I connected with was “White Barn” by Ralston Crawford, done in oil in 1936. This was chosen because it reminds me of my great aunt and uncle’s dairy farm in Pennsylvania, a place I have many fond memories of. Especially since when you go on the hill in the field that pictures looks very similar to their house, only lacking the trees they have.

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

The artwork I would like to know more about is “Temple to Albers”, by Richard Joseph Anuszkiewicz, painted in acrylics in 1984. I want to know why he chose this particular color scheme because although the picture doesn’t show it, in person it moves as you do it. I want to know if that was intentional or if it was a happy accident that that happened with the image. I just have questions.

               

                “Traits, Plans, Profondeur” by František Kupka, painted in oils, started in 1920 and finished in 1922, was interesting to me. It is interesting because it looks like many things, for instance a flower, or a peacock. My first though was a stain glass window, but more options become open the more you look at it. So my question is was there an original image in mind that was changed? Is that why it can look like so many things or was that intentional?

Module 4: Color Wheel and Value Scale

1. 
   It was an interesting experience to do. I realized that the value scale was the harder of the two because you had to be careful how darkly you colored so it would flow properly, and that it took a little work to be sure that the second last one would look light enough to naturally flow into the white. For the color wheel, it was interesting seeing the way that Cyan, Magenta, and yellow worked together to create other colors, that look closer to what a person knows.
2. I liked working with the pencil. This is because you have more control over it than with the paint. Acrylics dry very fast making it hard to change things or fix mistakes, they also are harder to control due to drip factor things like that.
3. 
   The most important discovery was how the colors worked together. This is because you are taught that red, blue, and yellow are the primary colors, so they are your base more often than not, and the image often comes out darker or not quite how you want. But with cyan, magenta and yellow, it lightens the work up to show other colors and not limit yourself to a darker image. In it you can use much brighter colors making for lighter scenes.
4. Like in the previous question, I’d say learning about the colors was the most important. I feel like people understand gradient due to the fascination with people turning their pictures black and white, so they see and understand shades of grey, but most people are still under the impression of the three prescientific primary colors being the primary colors, which is now considered wrong. The videos were interesting in that it helped me to complete the project, but other than that they were very dry, and somewhat hard to pay attention to at times.

Project 1

http://s1377.photobucket.com/user/Toby573/library/Project%201
This project was on studying the elements and principles of art. These are the things which an artist uses to make their art and to allow for people to understand the meaning of their art. For this project we had to take these elements which are color, pattern, texture, emphasis, proportion, balance, unity, value, space, shape, movement, line, form and contrast, and take pictures which represent them.  This was an odd project because you had to look at things merely to find a single element of them. It was this that took me  a little longer to do, but I eventually got into the mindset once I really understood the concepts I had to display.

For movement I used my nephew playing with Salem, the black dog, to me this was the obvious to use because he is constantly moving, so what better to represent that very concept.

Next was pattern, which I took a picture of my sister’s favorite Vera Bradley pattern called “Indigo Pop”.

After that is Proportion, for this I took a picture of my nephew and my father. I had my father hold him behind his back to give it a different look than just him holding my nephew in front of him.

Contrast came next, for this I used the main contrasting colors, which are black and white. I took a picture of Salem laying on a piece of white cardboard.

Value is a picture of my General Zod figure that I put in a suit because his black armor would not have showed the variation that the brown and white suit does.

Balance is my brother’s room, he collects Halo figures and has them set up in a balanced matter, so I simply used that.

Texture is a couple of my mom’s crocheted blankets, a couple regular blankets and our smallest dog Macy. I chose these because they all have very different textures to one another.

Colors are my nephews Thomas the Train trains which come in all different colors, so I set them up in a rainbow fashion to show as many colors as possible.

Unity is a picture of the flowers my dad got my mom for Valentine’s Day and they are the only things that look like they belong together in the house, so I just used them.

Space is my Russell Crowe Figure against white cardboard, I figured to just show him with a huge empty background would show space very well.

Form is supposed to represent geometric figures so I just took a picture of one of my mom’s random decorations, I think it is a candle but I could be wrong.

Lines are a picture of the tile in my bathroom which is composed of squares and rectangles which are all completely made up of lines.

Emphasis is a close of my dog, Toby. I focused the camera on his brown nose which is different from his yellow-white fur, so it is especially emphasized in my picture.

And lastly is a picture of the rug in my brother’s room which is fiancée picked out, I made sure to add her bag and the dog crate in there to give the impression of more shapes. That is also why I made sure 

module 3

1) Color is caused by how light is reflected and absorbed by the object. Certain colors make us feel a different way, as does colors that are put together. For instance intense red is usually danger because it coincides with fire or blood, yet if you darken it slightly it is a color used to express love and affection, like a rose color. The same with blue, a light blue is relaxing like the summer sky but you darken it and it becomes a more ‘sad’ color because it matches colors like black, which we match to depressed feelings. Black is used to tell about hopelessness where yellow is often used to show hope and happiness.

2) The theoretical aspect of color that intrigues me most is the color harmonies, and how the mixing of certain colors cause certain feelings. For instance a person can paint the happiest scene in the world, but if it is done in cool colors it is immediately assumed that it is a sad scene, because of how the colors flow together to make us feel. Not only how colors make you feel, but how certain colors can bring out the most intense colors. Such as how blue and orange make each other look best because they are complementary colors.

3) In the color video how the artist painting changed made the biggest impact. When she started I agreed with her when she said that it looked violent and angry. I think this was due to her using such dark blues and vibrant reds. And then the finished product was softer, gentler and I believe this was due to how she used lighter colors instead of the stark shades and white whites. By blending them to a softer shade it gave it the gentler more appealing look she wanted.

4) The thing that made the most impact was when he explained how the Marat image was sad. I compared it to images such as the “The Crucifixion” by Carl Heinrich Bloch, which shows the death of Christ, although he is dead there is a yellow aura around him symbolizing the light and the hope of his resurrection, just as the narrator said. Where in contrast “The Death of Marat” by David, although there are similarities in how Marat is composed he is surrounded by darkness symbolizing the end and that his light has been extinguished.  Bloch’s invokes a feeling of hope and redemption, where David’s is mournful and foreboding. Both these emotions are caused by the colors the artist used and I did not realize how a death picture could be so hopeful until I compared the two.

Module 2

a)      What the brain draws from: Art and neuroscience

i)        The brain reacts to art due to different receptors that make us recognize patterns such as faces and symmetry.  It is due to this recognition that makes people see art and understand what it means. If the artwork is the illusion of something that the brain recognizes image then your mind perceives it as such.

b)      CARTA: Neurobiology Neurology and Art and Aesthetics

i)        There are reasons why some pieces of art have more meaning than other to specific people. The mind recognizes art and finds some art more appealing because of Neuro receptors in the brain. Art is considered appealing as long as it meets certain standards that the brain is looking for such as the grouping of certain colors, contrast of lighting and causing attention to a single cue which ‘excites’ the brain.

c)       Aesthetics: Philosophy of the Arts

i)        Throughout history art and aesthetics and what makes art has been explained in a variety of different ways. Many great thinkers have attempted to explain what makes a great work of art and why humans are drawn to art. These different thoughts are broken into different periods ad explained by the thinker and their ideas.

2)      The philosopher's theory on aesthetics I feel is most important is Avant-Garde theory which was promoted by Tolstoy which states a person should not define what a work of art is but the more usefulness of studying the idea behind the work of art.

3)      I think the Changeux and Ramachandran idea of art was interesting and actually very expressive of how we view the arts. The most interesting thin was Ramachandran’s explanation of how the brain treats portraits as a problem solving equation almost and that it is partial why we like looking at art because there is self-gratification on when we understand the art and its meaning.  

4)      The videos and articles relate to the reading because the reading is introducing what art is and its meaning. That is what the entire beginning of the book, why artists make art and what it is.

5)      The films and article are interesting, and express more clearly what the books attempts to explanation. They do this by the visual movements present in the presentations. The lecturers express their ideas by showing what they mean to say with examples they use and how their ideas relate to the idea of art and what art is.