What I've Learned from Art

Throughout this course I have learned to purely appreciate art a great deal more. Previous to this class I didn’t even bother to look at art and what the artist was trying to convey. I didn’t bother to look at the colors or the lighting of the paintings. I didn’t look at the implied lines or any of the shapes. Now that I have learned these terms I feel that I can appreciate art more because I can now see the emotion to be conveyed. Although I have learned that there really isn’t a way to know exactly what is being conveyed in a piece of art, one can always go deep into their own thought and think about what the artist is trying to show. My favorite unit was the ones on space and color and lines. This is because I felt it gave me a bigger view of what is being shown in art. The color has a lot to say in a painting. Color shows such a great amount of emotion, even if the painting is just in black and white. This is because of how the lighting is changed.

Personally I have always had a hard time appreciating old fashion art. I have always and still am a sucker when it comes to modern art and bright colored pieces of art. I am majoring in Landscape architecture and to be honest this class was very hard for me to push myself in because of how into the outdoors I am. I am much more interested in gardens of art and waterfalls and outdoor beautys than paintings that are hung on walls. Although after taking this class I have chosen to minor in interior decorating, because I feel that I would be able to incorporate these two jobs together, because they both go with art. This will also give me the pleasure of being able to appreciate paintings and indoor art a great deal more.

I definitely think that my art visit will stick with me. This is because I had never visited an art museum before and it gave me the experience to go and view something completely new. I also think that many of the learning units will stick with me, because they have taught me to appreciate art much more than if I wouldn’t have taken this class. Without taking this class I wouldn’t have been able to explore this new part of my adventure to what I plan to spend the rest of my life doing. I know that art with stick with me forever and that I will remember the experiences I have encountered while doing the little task needed to pass this course. I hope to take another art class in the near future, and it will hopefully be a hand on art class so that I can use a lot of the things I have learned in this class to make something beautiful. Thank you for the great experience! My view on art has changed more than I thought it ever could.

Art Visit

For my Art Visit I chose to visit the Crocker Art Museum is Sacramento, CA. I went on Wed. June 25, 2008 at about 10:30 am with my boyfriend. It was very quiet when I visited, which made it kind of nice because I was able to really take in the art. At the Crocker Art Museum I visited all the galleries, but the two main ones that I viewed were Tsakopoulos Gallery, which was contemporary art, and the Cowell Gallery, which is a special exhibition.

While visiting these two galleries I found two pieces of art that were my favorite. I will talk about the Tsakopoulos Gallery first. My favorite piece of art in this gallery was the New Acquisition. This was a piece of art by artist Andreas Nottebohm and was made in 2005. This was a beautiful massive aluminum plate. It was Oval in shape and really caught my eye because of how unique it was. This piece of art was about 68 X 96 in. This piece of art was very unique, because when you would look into it, it made everything seem 3D. I would love to have something like this is my house, but a little smaller. This was so cool and I stared into this thing for about 10 min.

The other piece of art that I really enjoyed was a Painting by Fortunato Arriola. He was born in Mexico and lived from 1827- 1872. This was a beautiful painting of the beach and was painted in 1866. This was an oil painting that was about average sized. I really enjoyed this painting, because of its beach scene. I am a beach lover and am moving to live on the beach next year in San Luis Obispo. I also find that I like this piece of art because it is bright and the light in the picture really sucks the viewer in. I got a feeling of wanting to go to the beach because of how much emotion this painting conveyed.

I thought that seeing art is person was much more effective than viewing art online or in a book. I think that this is because I could get up close with the painting and be able to look as close as I wanted to see all the great details. I could also see the texture in the painting, which makes a huge difference while viewing art. I think that it helps to convey the emotions and meaning of the picture. I also enjoyed viewing art in person more than online or in a book because I was able to see them in their actual size. While reading the book or looking at art online it often looks dual and small. When I saw the art in person I was able to see the actual colors, instead of a blend of colors that I have to guess. I love to see the bright and vibrant colors that really bring the picture to life.

I thought that the Art Visit was very good for this class and was a great way to get us students to actually go out and view art. I personally had never been to this museum or any art museum for that fact. To be honest I don’t really enjoy museums and this one wasn’t my favorite, but because of this class I was forced to go out and view art, which was a great experience for me. I personally have a hard time liking to view art that is not modern. My major is landscape architecture and I find it hard to be interested in art that isn’t outdoors, but going to this museum helped me to appreciate the art that decorates a museum and see the true beauty in it. I thought that this museum was better than I expected it to be, mainly because all of my friends talked it down to me. I regretted having to go and view the museum because my friends said that it was boring and a waste of time, but when I got into the museum to view the art I was blown away by how different I thought it was going to be.

I personally really liked the contemporary art gallery, because it is a lot more like my style. I also really liked the set up of the museum and how open and quite it was, because it was easier for me to concentrate and really take my experience in. The one thing that I didn’t like very much is the ground level floor, because I didn’t seem to find any piece of art that I enjoyed and I felt very uncomfortable because of how low the ceiling was. I know that sounds weird, but I spent literally 2 min down stairs, because I didn’t like the environment. Other than that I felt that visiting the Crocker Art Museum was a great experience, I don’t know that I plan to visit it again, but it was good for me to get out and visit an art museum for the first time. I hope to visit other art museums in the future.

Conceptual Art

What is conceptual art? Well my definition of conceptual art is that it is the way for a piece of art to convey its concept to the viewer. I also think that this can be anything that a person sees, because there is a meaning behind every piece of art that needs to be conveyed. I think that conceptual art means something different to everyone. This was proved by the interviews that we read this week. The interviews both viewed conceptual art different. Conceptual art is the way that an artist gets either their feelings out, or a way to get their viewers to feel a certain way.

I personally really enjoyed this learning unit, because I felt it was very different and unique. The piece of art that intrigued me the most was Lick and Lather by Janine Anton. This I believe is a very conceptual piece of art that many should look into. This piece makes me wonder what is trying to be conveyed, but I think the concept has to do with beauty. It goes back to our last learning unit in a way. I think that this picture is showing us that we are all different, but beautiful in our own way. Although, we all have our flaw, it isn’t something that we should worry about. This piece of art is showing us that no matter what color, race, or flaws we have that we are equally the same.

Conceptual art has really intrigued me and I honestly hope to experience more of it. I will now know what it is and be able to form my own feelings about it. Although art is not a big part of my life because I don’t find enough time for it, I have became so intrigued by this topic.

Two Worlds Collide

Aziz and Cucher have talked about how much technology has taken over out lives. They show how it affects us in many ways. These ways are things such as socially, physically, and psychologically. They have seen that we go out of the way to make ourselves something that we honestly aren’t. They use an interesting skin growth called Dystopia. This is something that they use in their developed photos to show how person hood relies on the body. They focus on mutation, anxiety, and transformation. They have taken the flaws of people and created photographs to show us how much digital photos are harming us today.

It is ridiculous to see what our world has come to. We have an increase in eating disorders, anxiety, and depression, and this is because people are not happy with how they look. When people watch TV or look at any magazine they are flooded with images of people that look nothing like their real self. People look up to famous celebrities because they look beautiful and flawless. The truth is that they have just as many flaws as the rest of us. They are photo graphed and then the image is downloaded onto the computer to be mutated to something that is flawless.

I personally think that this is a big problem in our society today. This is something that could easily be fixed, but we all know that that will never happen. People need to learn to be happy with how they look and not worry about what others think. The only thing that matters is what you are meant to look like. When you walk around town it is obvious what people really care about how they look. It is the people who have on a bunch of makeup, are dressed in really nice clothes, and the people that have the perfect tan, etc. This is obviously unrealistic, for no person can be that perfect. It is really unfortunate that TV and magazines has had an impact like this on us. If it weren’t for the fact that people wanted to look exactly like their favorite movie star or singer there would be a lot less problems with depression, anxiety, and eating disorders.

The image that everyone seems to want is the skinny, tan, tall, sexy model. Most people don’t realize that many of the models seen in photographs and mutated to look as if they are the way they are. Not one person is natural in a model picture and it is sad to say that they probably never will. It is a wonder why people develop such disorders. These problems often start at a young age and can last a life time. It is rare that people completely grow out of the stage of not caring about what people think. If people would stop making fun of people with how they look and mutating images of people to show them looking perfect then maybe out society wouldn’t have so many problems. People should just think about who they really are and not change themselves to be something they aren’t.

My Favorite Painting

Artist: Sandy Ibach
Date: 2005
Painted in Venice, Italy
Title: Canals of Venice
Type of Painting: Water Color

This painting of Venice is one of my many favorites of Artist Sandy Ibach. I really enjoy this painting, because it reminds me of my trip to Italy last summer. Since my trip to Italy I find myself really enjoying art that shows what other countries look like. Also because of my trip to Europe I now see that many of the pictures of Italy are realistic. I never realized how different things looked in different countries. Sandy Ibach was born and raised in Northern Ohio and remembers beginning to draw and sketch as a child. She also remembers when she became old enough to read the Sunday paper and reading the enticing advertisements that said “CAN YOU DRAW THIS?” This gave her a challenge and mission to complete the drawing task. She would then beg her parents to her parents into sending in her work to get feedback on how she was doing. For a long time she got nothing, but finally one day she got a letter back that said “KEEP DRAWING… you have GREAT potential.” This is when she began to tell everyone that she was going to grow up to be an artist. Sandy then went into Junior High School and her passion for art became interrupted with her new interest to science. Soon she found her art becoming a part of her science, when she would bake her clay diagrams for her science class and then paint them. This is the point in her life that she defiantly knew art was what she enjoyed most. In 1991 Sandy graduated from the University of North Texas with a degree in Fine Arts. Painting and Drawing was her main emphases and she was lucky enough that through her many academic friends and professors she had the opportunity to visit many countries that many don’t get the privilege to experience. This is when her passion for art came into full swing. As she began to visit all these beautiful countries she began to paint the surroundings as a memory to where she has visited. This is why I chose this painting of hers, because it takes me back to the memories of that month I spend in Italy. From the year 1991 that she graduated through today she has been to a great number of countries to do painting. She enjoys painting mainly water color paintings, but also enjoys doing ink painting. Sometimes she also does Gauche painting. The characteristics in this painting are very detailed and there is a great deal of light in the painting. There is also a great deal of texture in this painting.

http://www.sandyibach.com/paintings_gallery/images/Venice.jpg

Thomas Kinkade

After reading all of the great information on Thomas Kinkade and viewing many of his artistic ways I have decided that he should not be viewed as the most collected living artist. I think that if people knew how Kinkade mass printed his paintings that people would be much less wanting to pay the large amounts of money for his paintings. I think that this is very disrespectful to all of his buyers and very unfair. All that Kinkade cares about is making as much money as possible, which makes his very rude to his fans.

He has been investigated by the FBI and is known to use other artist for his money making business. He has other artist that he hires to apply paint to prints in order to make reproduction of his original work. This is horrible because this takes no artistic talent at all, it is others talent. On average one in ten homes feature a Kinkade painting. The really upsetting thing about this is that he has touched almost NONE of them!!! This is so unfair to his fans and is a total waste of money that his buyers are spending on his paintings. His company Media Arts Group Inc. has also been investigated by the FBI for unfair dealings with Thomas Kinkade Signature Gallery Franchises. It became very obvious that Thomas Kinkade left out very very important information. Later Thomas Kinkade was found of fraud after forcing gallery owners to take extremely expensive unsalable items. This makes him a very unrespectable artist.

Not only does he not follow the law, he has a very bad attitude. He uses Christianity as a way to take advantage of his buyers. How is this right? How can someone who uses Christianity be looked upon as respectable? This has got to be one of the most wrong things about him in all of the readings. All that Kinkade cares about is making the most money that he can. The fact that he has involved religion in his work has gotten many people involved. Thomas Kinkade has been in trouble with fraud and many other things. This has made him very wealthy, but I don’t get how he could be happy with himself knowing all the things that he has done wrong. I hope that one day he realizes how wrong he is and gets knocked into shape! One of these days he will pay for all of his wrong doing. And hopefully he will lose many of his customers so that he will have to suffer with all of his wrong doing.

Analyze That

I really love this picture and I think that it is absolutely beautiful. I feel that in this photo that the girl is supposed to be the focal point, but yet the implied lines are directing the eye to the girl’s feet. This is because the implied line is implied by the girl’s eyes looking down toward her feet as the ocean water reaches her feet. In this photo one will see that time and motion is applied from out key terms. Time is show by the great deal of sunlight beaming down on the girl. Motion is show by the wind blowing her dress. This is seen, because you can see when you view the image that she is holding her dress to keep it from blowing around in the wind. You can also see how light affects the picture. Towards the back of the photo it is much lighter, because there is a lot less light, compared to around the girl were it is much brighter and has a great deal of light. This is also seen by the shadow that is coming from her body. Chiaroscuro is used to make the girl look like she is a real live person and not just a painting. I believe that the horizon line is considered the line where the water meets the sky. The main hue in this photo is blue. This is from both the sky and water. The hues are definitely different shades of blue, and these happen because of the different light being shown. Another hue that is very obvious to a viewer is the reds. This is shown in the red object she is holding. This also causes her white dress to have a shade of red to it, because the red is reflecting from her object in her hand. I feel that this photo helped me to understand my terms from the past two weeks a little better!

Analyze This!

Magic!

I chose to take a picture of the beam above my garage. I chose this because I knew I would be able to see a shadow and different times of the day and hoping that it would give me a good difference in color. The first picture was taken at about 8pm and as you can see the shadow is going off to the left and is fairly drawn out. In this picture there is a fairly low saturation. The hue in this photo is fairly dull, because there isn't much of anything to it. The second picture I took was at about 7am. In this photo the shadow is a lot less drawn out and is going to the right. In this picture the hue is a orange color. I feel that this photo has a much greater value than the one from 8pm because it is a lot sharper with the colors. The last photo I took was around 5:15pm and in this photo there is no shadow seen. The photo has a much darker hue. When I look at this picture I feel almost lazy or something. This is because the colors of this photo are so dull. This project of taking the pictures definitely helped me to learn the light and color unit. It really showed me how much light can make a difference with color and how different the photo can look with a difference between the hue, value, and saturation.

Line and Space

Throughout this week, while learning about line and space, I have been looking at the things around me and relating to how they connect to our learning unit. Although the picture i have posted is not something that i saw this week, it was from my trip to Europe over the summer, but this pictures shows a lot of stacking lines on the stairs. These horizontal lines show a depth of going distance from bottom to top. I have also realized that throughout the day I see uncountable examples of contour lines. These are lines help to suggest volume and/or mass. The past few days I have become very aware of the different lines we have learned this week and also the spacing and vanishing points seen in everyday life. I continue to learn and explore through my everyday encounters.