Shades of Gray

Today in class, I really liked this drawing activity. I liked it a lot because we got to use many different drawing utensils. I really liked how we got to use the different type of charcoal. Overall, I was not so much satisfied but not mad at my work. I think that the proportions of my picture don't make much sense. Overall, I also liked working with the background and then you got to erase. Also, it was MUCH easier to erase on the different paper. I hope we do this again!!

Studying Nighthawks...

1)
Night Hawks by Edward Hopper
America
1942
Oil on Canvas





2) I feel as if I have seen this painting before and that it is just a painting of a common scene. I am drawn to the bright white wall paper in the diner place.

3) Edward Hopper is a man who was born in Manhattan, New York. He started to paint right after the attack on Pearl Harbor. This painting is painted to show the urban life in night time. It also shows how lonely the open streets and urban life can be.

4) Hopper uses many Principles of Design, one thing he uses is contrast. There is contrast because of the brightness of the white wall in the diner and with the dark outside of the diner. Another thing that Nighthawks uses is emphasis. Even though the diner is not right in the middle of the picture, it still catches the eye of the viewer.

Finding Images that are balanced

The Japanese Bridge by Claude Monet

Something that makes this painting balanced is the symmetry with the reflection of the bridge and bright colors.
"Tête de Femme" by Pablo Picasso
This picture is balanced because of the amount of almost symmetry.

Mount Sainte-Victoire- Paul Cezanne

This picture is balanced because the trees and hills are all so wide spread it just causes you to look at every part of the picture.

Starry Night- Vincent Van Gogh

This picture is balanced because all of the stars flow together creating a balanced look.

The Principles of Design

The Principles of Design- are rules; which help artists organize shapes, lines, forms, and colors to communicate effectively. Also to create a sense of unity in the piece of art.
Balance- when the visual "weight" of an artwork feels equally distributed.
4 Types of Balance- Symmetry (same as it is on the right and left), approximately symmetrical (almost symmetrical), asymmetry (opposite of symmetrical), radial (the same if you divide it anyway).
Emphasis- When one element in an artwork appears to be more important or attract the most attention. You can do it in 3 ways: Placement, Contrast (something is really different than what's around it e.g. color, shape, etc), and Grouping (when an artist decides to put a bunch of elements they want you to focus on).
Rhythm and Movement- how the artist guides the artist through a work of art. Artist do this in 5 ways, repetition (same elements, alternating elements, progression (element is repeated but changing, *makes the illusion that it has distance*), leading lines (lines in the picture that you travel through the painting aka a path), implied movement (when the artist create movement in the picture: body position, how things get affected by movement), optical movement (when you repeat a line or shape that create an illusion), and actual movement (when artist make things ACTUALLY move).
Proportion- we are talking about the size relationship of parts to one another or to the whole.
(Color, Shape, Form) You want it also to convey a story behind the art...think about how it looks and possibility to create a story or emotional component.
Unity- a feeling that everything in the picture works together somehow.
Variety- can happen by introducing differences into the picture to increase visual interest.

Reflectiong on Found Object Sculpture

For my F.O.S I made 'Poppin and Lockin Bunny". This sculpture is of a cool bunny. I started with the major purple back part. I thought it looked like a hippo, so I tried to make one. Later on it somehow became a cat. Then I found various pieces that made it into a bunny. Finally it all came together...I really liked this project it was VERY fun!

Reflecting at Mid-Term

Thus far in Art Principles, I think that I have been doing a swell job. I have really been enjoying art principles. I think that in art, I have been a student who has been involved in the work, and dedicated to my art projects. I think as an artist my work has grown, such as it has many stages. One piece of art that had many stages, was my found object sculpture. I started out my animal as being a hippo, then it progressed to a cat, and finally it ended up being a bunny. I think this shows that my project has evolved in many ways from the beginning to the end. As in participation, I believe that I am someone who puts out ideas, and then seeks other people's opinions in order to conform my small idea, into a bigger idea. I think that I do offer out good ideas, and they are used in bettering the discussions we have. Overall, I hope I will improve on the areas that could use mending and hope I keep up the good work.

What's In the Sack

The goals for today were to work from very vague structures then go into detail, to use light and dark verses each other, and to practice your drawing skills. I think I did okay with achieving these goals. I think that this was a very difficult project for me because I am not someone who really likes to draw. I say that I did complete the goal, but also could have enhanced my performance with the goals. For my process, I just sort of started to draw and tried not to stop. Exciting and very difficult exercise.