Why do people make art?

When asked the question, "Why do people make art?", many thoughts come to my head. However, if I try to put myself in an artists shoes or anyone else who enjoys art, I think the reason that they enjoy making art is because it is another way for them to express themselves, rather then saying it out loud. There are many ways you can share your feeling or emotions, whether it being for poetry or a painting. Nevertheless, creating art is very different from writing or poetry. People could sketch a rainbow with a bright sun and that could represent a happy feeling but others could draw flowers dying in pot with a black sky surrounding it. There are many different ways people could share how they are feeling in just a simple drawing. For example, the drawing that is shown to the right with the two rhinos staring at each other with other objects in the background, makes me feel that the artist in this painting was feeling angry or crazy. Rhinos represent themselves as wild animals and also filled with anger, but also I would not know if the artist was trying to persuade the viewer if he was feeling a different emotion.

Reflecting On Four Hour Project

I feel like this project was different from others that we have done in the past because instead of doing a project that we got assigned, however the class had the opportunity to create any assignment we wanted to do. We have been focusing on proportion and emphasis in all of our recent projects, but this time we could focus more on our work than what we have been learning. This impacted me because I was very excited to make my own self-portrait  throughout the first term of art, and I finally had the opportunity to do it. I tried my very hardest, by looking in the mirror and seeing my skin tone and all other specific details on my body that I could relate to on my paper. During my process I had some "bumps in the road", but I overcame them and my final product turned out very good. Along the way, the difficult parts I experienced were that I mixed some paint with other colors, which led up to messing up my skin tone, as it turned red rather than a beige/tan color. Also, apart from painting and sketching out my self-portrait, I had a hard time cleaning up at the end of each class. I was so caught up in all my terrific work I done, that I sometimes forgot to clean the paintbrushes properly and wash the tables, as it led to a big mess at the end. I learn from my mistakes that after doing my work I have to clean my mess and not let others clean the mess that I caused. In conclusion, the final piece came out how I liked it to because all the colors from my skin tone to my hair was correct and all my hard work payed off. I made everything in proportion and attempted to make the drawing like you were seeing my face in real life. My favorite thing to do in art is to draw myself and I got to do that in a good amount of time, which I was very happy about! This was my favorite "short project" out of all the others we were assigned and I hope we have the opportunity to do the same thing next term! 

The Book Project...progress and planning

The original plans for The Book Project is that I am attempting to try tell a story of a chinese women who got slapped from the leader of her "group" and then left on her horse to start a new life. While she is on her journey, she goes through different towns, trying to find a place where she wants to settle. Finally, the women comes upon a trailer where a mother lives and they become very good friends. So far, the challenges that I have faced are that it is difficult for me to put all the "rules of balance" within each scene, such as proportion or emphasis. Also, the two pictures that I have chosen are hard to  make story that is easy to understand, so I am trying to make the whole story very simple and basic. However, the part of the project that is going well is that even though my story is somewhat basic, it is also creative. I thought very hard on how to make a good story, and I think the outcome is going to turn out well. 

Drawing the Human Figure from the Inside Out

The goals for todays class drawings were to draw different classmates in the class, while they were in all kinds of positions that were difficult to draw. Ways that I achieved these goals were to start from the center of their body, the waist, and work my way down by drawing the legs and feet so I knew how long the body is. Then, I drew the top of the figure, stomach and head, so I balanced the sketch out, instead of drawing different parts of the body at different times. When it came to the finish drawing, it didn't look anything like the person, since I had to work very quickly, but also because I didn't focus on the little details that were involved in their posture or outfit. In some drawings, I didn't sketch out if their knees were above their head, or if a piece of clothing was hanging loose. Next time, I could focus more closely on the person while I draw, than my own paper, so I could get every little detail within my drawing!

Shades of Gray

The goals of todays drawings were to first grab a piece of charcoal and spread the whole piece of white paper with the charcoal. Following, you had to grab a piece of paper towel and wipe it against the paper, so that the charcoal that was drawn on the paper turned lighter. Then, we looked at different figures arranged in a certain way and we erased to make the shape of each figure. For example, since there was a pot in the center of all the objects and erased in the center of the paper so that there was a good balance between everything. After erasing, we could use pencils or certain types of crayons to make the erase spots more detailed. However, after looking at the other students drawings I realized I could have done a better job through out the process. One example is that I could have looked more at all the figures and how were they arranged before going right into drawing because I didn't have enough room to add everything. Also, I should have noticed more of the colors and lighting because other objects were darker than others and some were transparent. Next time, I know to look more at all the figures and less at what I am drawing! 

Studying Nighthawks

1. -This painting is called Nighthawks

-The Artist is named Edward Hopper

- Hopper is from Nyack, New York

- The painting Nighthawks was made in 1942

- The medium that was used to make the work was oil on canvas

2. My first impressions of the painting was that I pictured a calm theme going on through the artist's head when he was drawing this picture. By the picture, it looks like a cafe that is on a lonely street with not many people in it. The cafe seems to look like it is in a city with the buildings behind it. When I first looked at it the thing that caught my attention is the inside of the cafe where the white is because it looks like thats where all the attention is and it is very bright compared to the other colors in the drawing.

3. Nighthawks shows people sitting down in a downtown diner in Greenwich Village at night. The painting can refer to the term 'night owl', which is used to explain "someone who stays up late." It is one of Edward Hopper famous paintings, as many people could acknowledge it in art today. He started painting this right after Pearl Harbor, as it was an event that had feelings have depression all around the world, just like the attitude in the painting. The painting includes three people lost in their own unknown thoughts.

4. The artist uses the principles of design in some ways. He contrasted the white in the diner with the other colors in the painting. The white really stands out from the other colors, since it is so bright and the other colors are dark and dull, which doesn't catch my attention ask easily. Also, Hopper shows asymmetry in his painting. There is no balance and if you cut a line through the middle, nothing would be even on either side of the painting. In addition, I think that the artist is grouping the guy in the black jacket, and trying to emphasize him . There are two people across from him that are in a conversation, and then a lonely guy who looks like an outsider and unhappy.

Balance

Symmetric

Radial

Approximately symmetrical 

Asymmetry 

Reflecting on Found Object Sculptures

After the process of hammering at all the objects I chose to work with of creating my "Found Object Sculpture", I looked at all the figures to see which stood out at me the most. I noticed that I had a red candle that was in the shape of a cylinder, which could be a head of a person. Also, after ripping up my flashlight inside was a spring which could work for a neck, eye, or hat, but I chose it for the neck. Then as I was building all my pieces together I noticed I had a women and the only thing I needed was hair, which my classmate found inside a tape recorder that looked similar to black curly hair. However, before making a women out of my objects I had a tough time of thinking of something that I could make from putting together "junk". I first started off with an alien, since my figure had two wires on top of its head, and big eyes that were alien-like. Then someone gave me the idea of a rain-deer, but that only lasted ten minutes since I didn't have all the materials that would work to make it look like a rain-deer. Then I finally decided to go down the easy path and not stress myself out, and make a women with different materials. Meanwhile, after looking at all my classmates sculptures, I realized that I could have been much more creative and spent more time thinking of what to make. If you look closely, the body of the women is a barbie dolls body, and instead I could have took time to "play" with different objects and see if I could put them together to make something that would look like a body. If I could do this project again, I first would bring in objects that could make my sculpture grab someone's attention more easier. I would of also created something completely different that would have made someone stare at it for a couple seconds and then realize what the sculpture really is.

The Principles of Design

The Principles of Design- Help artists organize shapes, lines, forms, and colors communicative effectively.

Balance: is when the visual "weight" of an artwork feels equally distributed.

Symmetry- if you draw a line in the middle of shape it is the same on the right and the left

Approximately Symmetrical- Almost symmetry

Asymmetry- Opposite of symmetry

Radial- A line that you can draw in many places and it will be the same on either side

Emphasis: Putting a special focus on something or someone, when one element in an artwork appears to be more important or attract the most attention

Unity- is the feeling that all the elements in a work belong together

Variety- is achieved by introducing some differences into the picture to increase visual interest

Contrast- Something is very different when it is around it

Placement- Where artists place things matter, always thinks about things where go.

Grouping- When an artist decides to take a bunch of elements and put them right around the thing that they want to emphasize.

Rhythm and Movement: How the artist guides the viewer through a work of art

Repetition- The same elements, alternating elements, and with progression

Alternating Elements- Switch elements, like a pattern 

Progression- A repeated element that changed in some way and gets a feeling of distance

Leading Lines- Lines that help you travel through the painting

Implied Movement- Makes like that it has been moving

Optical Movement-When there some kind of repetition going on and an allusion.

Actual Movement-  When a piece of art can move without touching it

Proportion:The size relationship of the parts to one another or to the whole thing. (Colors,Shapes, and Forms are examples of proportion)

Shapes, Colors, and Forms- All to evoke emotion

Installation- An artist puts a lot of stuff in their work and talks about it

Reflecting At Mid-Term

Through this term of art principles, I think I have made a huge improvement of not only my artistic ability, but also of my performance, process, and participation in the class. As an artist, the first thing I do now is to not pick up my pencil and draw, but rather to think of something that would make my sketch look amazing. When working on different projects I notice that I have become more creative and have a wider range of ideas and thoughts going through my head. I ask myself, "Can I make this drawing have more colors", or "What is it I have to do to this painting, to get someone's attention easier?". Meanwhile during class, when getting assigned a project I am able to follow the directions through the whole entire assignment. For example, when doing the project of creating lines into a story, I was able to make different lines into metaphors and then use them to make a story. As for my process in art, I am learning everyday about the tools more, and the basic concepts of the class. Lastly, I am participating more with my classmates and asking them questions based on what we are doing in class that day. I am not afraid to speak up and either ask a question or answer to my peers or teacher and have a better friendship with them! So far, I think I am doing well in Art Principles, but there are certain "places" where I can be better in and I am willing to take that challenge! 

What's in the Sack?

Today you made a drawing of bags filled with different materials.

In your own words, describe what the goals for today's drawing were.
How well did you achieve these goals? Give specific examples from your process and/or from the finished drawing. You might even describe what challenges you faced.

Today in class the goals were to draw from a scene of bags that were either over trash cans, or other items that were placed right in front of us and to visualize that if a person was looking at your drawing that they would be able to see all the lines in the bags crinkling and the figures in the right order, like I saw it. However, the challanges that I faced was that I didn't know if my objects were to big or to small, so I kept erasing and the final product turned out to be a big mess and a blob of black dirt. Meanwhile, I did work as hard as I could and if I had another chance to do this project I would of concentrated more on all of the figures and how they were arranged, instead of how I was drawing them on my paper

The Changing Still Life

Today in class we had to look at different objects and draw them, but in a limited in amount of time. The teacher put all kinds of objects on a table and we had to look back and forth from the table to our paper, to make sure we were drawing the correct figures in the right order and if she added something new to the scene we were drawing from. Three things that I had to do to accomplish this goal was to work quickly, because if I didn't then I would of been far behind and could have missed an object in the drawing I was sketching. The second thing I had to do was concentrate, since I had to focus on the placement of each object and if they were overlapping or far apart from each other. The last thing I had to do in order to achieve this goal was to listen carefully to the teacher, since this particular activity had many instructions, and if I made a mistake during the process, I could have made a huge mistake and messed up the whole sketch. 

The Potential of Found Objects

The reason why the artists chose the objects they did to make a certain object is because they wanted to do challange themselves and do something different from making a painting that was in their head and rather finding different items within the world and see what they can form. The designs that people make by doing this particular project can come out very interesting and catch many peoples attention. In my opinion, when I always see different paintings in different places, I find them all the same. However, if people started to find objects and do something with them, like make a dog, or a person, etc, I would be more intrigued. So, in the objects that were shown before, those artists were determined to find random objects and put them together to form that figure.

Reflecting on my First Critique

The positive feedback I got back from my story collage is that my group liked the story that was showed on my collage. The story caught their attention very easily and they really understood what was going on. Also, they also liked all the different colors and lines that surrounded the different pictures within my story. However, the critical feedback I got back was that I could have cut my pictures out more neatly because each picture was cut out not very proper, and I could have done a better job if I focused more. Otherwise, my group really liked my story and they didn't tell me any other critiques! It felt good to get feedback from my classmates because I know the critiques that I get, I will take in and do a better job the next time. 

The Work of Ingrid Calame

The work if Ingrid Calame does seem familiar because it looks similar to the painting we have been doing in class. For example, like the project on the pour painting, many of Calame's work looked very much like the images of the pour painting assignment. Ingrid Calame is an artist who does her paintings and designs by looking at stains or a clutter of things in the world. She isn't the type of artist who thinks of an image to paint and makes it perfect on a piece of paper. Instead, she goes out into the real world and looks for stains within the ground that catch her attention. If she sees something then she will sit down adjacent from the picture she is attracted to and trace it out, then bring it back to her office. After, Calame then colors in the traces she created with all different kinds of colored pencils. After starting, she creates a big picture full of all different colors that looks like a map, but really it is a huge painting of found images within the world. Calame makes her drawings thew ay they are because when she was a little girl she always wanted to draw maps of the world, and that she has the opportunity to go around and do something different, she chooses to do that. However, instead of making a real map, she makes a map of found images that she finds on her own and traces! The image that I have chosen got my attention really easily and I love all the colors. Also, you would never know that there are found images in this painting that Ingrid Calame created.

Activities Over the Past Week

In class, over the past week and a half we have described a work of art with the postcards, collaborative drawings with the penguin, pour paintings, and mapped the still life. Meanwhile, the thing that all these activities have in common is that we had to either draw or create something, but we to base it off directions or something that was already created. For example, in all of these activities, we didn't have the option to draw a painting that we wanted to, but instead we had to draw something that was unintended to be. As in for describing a work of art with the postcard we had to follow the directions from someone else, without seeing a postcard. For the collaborative drawing with the penguin, we rotated around the room and kept on drawing from another persons, without knowing what their main idea of their art piece was suppose to be. For the pour paintings, my partner and I just mixed different paint together and dropped paint on a piece of paper to see what kind of figure would show up with us just splattering paint. Lastly, with the mapping the still life, we were able to draw something that was right in front of us, but we had to draw it as that a person knew where exactly everything was. In my opinion, I really liked all these activities and I thought that my art ability got better each day.

Re-visiting observation/description activity

When I looked at the drawing that the person drew of the postcard I attempted to describe, it didn't turn out how I wished. However, the part that worked was that she drew small bushes in one row, on the left side of the paper. The part of the drawing that look like the actual postcard is the grass going in all different directions because since the postcard was a picture of a farm, there was a lot of grass, so she drew a lot of grass all over the page. The part that was missed in the drawing was the trees all around the farm and different size hills going off into the distance. I think they did not draw these objects because I described them to specifiaclly and it was to hard for her to draw these figures. The part I would do different next time if I was to do this activity would give less information on the directions on the drawing on my postcard, and go right to the point, so I can make it easy for the person who is drawing from my directions.

Re-visiting my pour painting

The images that I observed in my pour painting  were:

• A tornado
• A fish
• A volcano
• A mama bird spitting food out
• A tree
• A cloud
• A river
• Alien blood

Giving Up Control: Pours

The process of creating paintings through pouring paint was that you pour a couple colors of watery paint on a piece of paper and then it will turn into large circles or blobs. Then, you take the paper and move it around, so the colors can ix together and form a shape or figure. After, you can grab a paint and see if you can make your original shape and se if you can make it more real. It felt better to give up some control over the shapes I created because I got to see how the watery paint turned out, by just pouring it on the paper, rather than using a paintbrush and creating my own drawing and knowing how my shape turns out.

Collaborative Drawing

In the exercise in class today, I started with my drawing, which was two penguins in a marathon, just entering the finish line. Then I got up from my seat, and continued my other classmates drawings from what they started on. I first did a picture similar to a experience of Wizard of Oz, when Dorothy was spinning in the tornado in the air. Instead, a penguin was spinning in the tornado, and then I added different objects surrounding it, like an apple. Then, I came across a police chasing a penguin, and I added to the picture children tackling the penguin, as they were trying to stop it from getting away. Lastly, the last picture I had to add different designs was a picture of a penguin facing the opposite direction from a slug shell. The figures that I added was a head to the slug, rain coming down to make it have more pictures, and there was a pattern in the shell, which I added to make it a continuous pattern. Overall, I thought the exercise was very fun and I learned a lot from it!

Blog #1 by: Spencer C

What makes someone an artist? (An artist is someone who...)
What does it mean to be creative? (To be creative is to...)
Describe at least 3 or 4 things an artist needs to be creative and productive. (An artist needs...)

An artist is someone who can not only draw or pain pictures extremely well, but has a creative mind. They can come up with many ideas if they were offered an assignment or write down a few ideas, and make a picture. Most artists just need either paint and a paintbrush, or a pencil and crayons, and still make a great sketch. To be creative is to have a wide range of ideas and thoughts, and not only make a drawing out of them, but a poem, or essay. People who are creative can go very far in life because they can use their skills of being imaginative with many different things and activities. In order to be creative and productive an artist needs a wide range of ideas to draw different pictures, materials so they could use them to sketch pictures, and lastly they need previous experience so that they know somewhat of being an artist and what to do.