Self-Portrait

                                                                    Inspirational Portraits:

My media picture and self-portrait:

1. Why did you select the inspiration pieces?

-I went to the Burchfield Penny Art Gallery and found a few portraits but nothing that I could relate to because I did not know what these individuals looked in real life. I then decided to look online at the website provided and found a ton. I enjoyed these ones because it was people that I knew and was familiar with.

2. Why did you select the media to create your self-portrait?

-When drawing I usually prefer to work with charcoal because I think it is much smoother and blends nicer but for the portrait I decided to use pencil. I think drawing yourself is one of the hardest things to do so I knew I would be picky and erase a thousand times and want to change everything so I chose pencil. It is much easier to erase and is not as dark so the lines are not as visible when you do erase.

3. What challenges did you face in creating your self-portrait and how did you overcome them?

-The hardest part about drawing the portrait was the mouth. I did it at least five times and it never looked right. I am not a very good drawer but am very picky so when something does not look the way it should it drives me crazy. The mouth did not seem to look right no matter what I tried but I finally overcame this problem by taking a couple other pictures and viewing my mouth a few different angles. It still is not perfect, nothing about this portrait is perfect, but it is similar and looks realistic now.

4. How does this piece represent you?

-This piece represents me because it is me 100% natural. I have no makeup on, my hair is not done, and I am not really dressed to impress. I felt this is the way to do a portrait because it shows the true individual. It also has my favorite necklace drawn in and this is something that is very special and meaningful to me so it represents me well.

5. What elements and principles of art did you apply in this work?

-I applied line to the hair and texture, shading and lighting to make it look 2D, and chose to only do it with a black and white value to make certain features really stand out.

6. Did you enjoy working on this project?

-I enjoyed working on this project but it was very difficult. I truly think drawing yourself is one of the hardest things to do and it took a lot of time and patience. Made me realize how much work goes into every self-portrait ever done.

7. What do you think of your final artwork?

-My self-portrait is far from perfect but I did my best. I took my time, corrected the parts that looked completely unnatural, and really put a lot of effort into it. For someone who is not a talented sketcher I think it turned out pretty good!

Project 5 Reflection

1. Which projects did you review?

- Love Finds You Happiness by Nick Sagliani

-Art in The New Age by Kathy Rondinelli

-The Perfect Day by Claude Monet by Lauren Mallo

-Faces in Art by Katie Mooar

2. Why did you select the Exhibit you critiqued?

-I selected the exhibit done by Nick Sagliani because I chose a very similar theme and so I was very interested to see how he set up his exhibit and how mine was similar to his.

3. What challenges did you face in writing the critique article and how did you overcome them?

-The challenge I faced was trying to figure out how to describe and analyze the exhibit. With it having so much included it was hard to describe it as a whole because it was so big. I overcame the problem by separating his exhibit into three different “topics”.

4. How do you feel about critiquing your peers work?

-I really enjoyed it. I know that these individuals are very similar to me with the understanding of art and we have all learned the same thing so it was neat to see how each one of us went about it and how we described and set up our exhibit.

5. Would you like to read the critique your peers wrote about your Art Curation Project?

- I would be interested in reading what other wrote because it would make me realize how to improve my work and what they thought of it.

6. On a scale of 1-10 how would you rate your finished article and why?

I would rate my article a 9. It included everything that needed to be included and I went into depth with many of the parts. The only thing I am unsure on was the analysis and description part and that is why I took one point off.

7. Did you enjoy working on this project?

I thought this project was a lot of fun and made me realize what professors have to do and how much work it is. Also, makes you realize just how much time is spent on an exhibit and this was only the beginning steps.

Art Criticism Video Blog

1. For each video list/discuss the key concepts you learned.

Greenberg on Art Criticism: An Interview by T. J. Clark

-TJ Clark discusses art criticism and the issues with modernist painting

-Clark interviews Clement Greenberg on many topics

-Clement Greenberg’s career and where his work is located

-His work focuses on art theory, art journalism, and aesthetics

-not a very serious individual

-Very intelligent and insightful about the common characteristics of art and history

-They discuss America’s Post WWII boom

 Greenberg on Pollock: An Interview by T. J. Clark

-Another interview done by TJ Clark dealing with Greenberg’s career

-Focused more on the working methods and money

-Brings up a lot of older work done by Pollock

-Greenberg observes Pollock’s studio

-They consider Pollock an outsider but looks as his work as a practical approach

-Views many of Pollock’s works

An Introduction to the Italian Renaissance (Giorgio Vasari)

-The life of Giorgio Vasari

-Discusses how many artists used Vasari’s methods and grew off of them

-Vasari and other discuss many artists and discuss their work

-They select a few pieces that relate to the Roman Renaissance

-Talk about balance, perspective, and realism

-Shows many examples of many artists

The Critics: Stories from the Inside Pages

-Discusses the travels of Dr. Dwight DeWerth – Pallmeyer

-he interviewed many along the way

-Interviewed fill critics from Good Morning America, Time Magazine, Nashville Scene, and Fresh Air

-He studied the form and value of others art work

-Looked at how careers began

-All the passion and love that goes into each carreer

The Colonial Encounter: Views of Non-Western Art and Culture

*This video was a bit confusing and hard to understand*

-Starts off discussing the World Fair

-Shows many pieces of artwork including pictures, films, and posters from the fair

-These pieces make up collections all around the world

-They show the Western Prejudice and art consumption over the years

Jackson Pollock: Michael Fried and T. J. Clark in Conversation

-Focuses on conflicts between TJ Clark and Michael Fried

-Both had views on painting and sculpting

-The two argue over works of Jackson Pollock

-They see some similarities but also many differences

-They suggest Pollock switch to more abstraction

-Both very intelligent and make great points

-Show many great pieces of art work done by both artists

2. Do the videos relate to the creation of your Art Criticism project? If yes, explain how. If no, explain why not.
-These videos really related to the art criticism project because many of them gave examples of how to view art and how to analyze it. They gave examples of how others view and look at art work and gave me a great understanding of how I should look at art work done by others.
3. What is your opinion of the films? Do they add depth to understanding of art criticism?
-I really enjoyed these videos. They were very beneficial and gave great examples for our next project. I was a little bit nervous on analyzing others exhibits but these videos gave me an understanding of what I would be doing and also showed me how to view others work. They added depth because they explained many artworks and argued/criticized many artworks. Great videos!

Project Four Reflection

When starting this project I was a bit concerned about not being able to find a theme I enjoyed or paintings to the theme I picked. I started by browsing the web and jotting down different paintings I liked that could fit into different themes. I narrowed my option down to nature and romance for the themes. I found many paintings that I really found interesting for both but decided to stick with romance because I can connect with that one much more. I started by just going through many websites and saving pictures I liked. I ended up with about 100 pictures but many were very similar and some were very farfetched. I found one website that I loved and ended up using it for almost all of my images. The images that this website had were all clear, unlike many others, but also had a lot of a similar style and lay so nicely next to each other. I then separated all of my images on slides and decided how I wanted to set it up. Figuring out which order I was going to put the images in was the hardest decision. I wanted to lay them out so that it flowed and did not want any images that were really similar to be right next to eachother. I ended up putting them in order according to date (past - present) and then all the unknown ones were put at the end. I then decided I wanted all of the horizontal images on the right and the vertical images on the right. I am a very organized personal so I like to keep things simple and would have them all flow nicely, rather than sporadic and different for each slide. After I decided on the theme, images, and layout I moved to interpreting and describing each image. This is where I had the most fun because each picture was so different that it kept me interested and excited to write about each. After finishing all the descriptions I moved to the background and colors. I originally was going to go with a light red background color to match the love and romantic theme. After testing it out I realized I hated it because it took so much away from the images. I then moved to a few other colors before trying out black. I found the background as one of my last options. I tested it out and loved it. The black makes all of the paintings pop and stand out and the design on the lines pulling to the right makes the eyes want to keep moving to the next slide, similar to how an exhibit would be. I had a lot of fun with this project and found it to be very interesting and very beneficial.

Week 13/14 Video Blog

1. For each video list/discuss the key concepts you learned.

The Lowdown on Lowbrow: West Coast Pop Art:

-Influences by comics books, movies, music, ect

-All of these things can be referred to as pop surrealism or Lowbrow

-Explains where Lowbrow started and how it grew

-discussed/gave examples of hundreds of pieces that were created throughout Lowbrow

-Abstract expressionism

-Female artists rise towards the end of Lowbrow

-Interviewed Williams, Petrucci, Nason, and many more

Displaying Modern Art: The Tate Approach:

-Explains how museums and galleries are forms

-The start and development of Postmodern Era

-Explains the importance of display/placement of art

-How themes are created

-Students get to see Tate holdings and the importance

Bones of Contention: Native American Archaeology:

-Discusses the remains of Native Americans

-Shows archaeological sites all over the US

-these sites make up essential museums

-These findings sometime cause problems with scientist, historians, and museum groups

-Shows a survey of native American archaeology

George Eastman House: Picture Perfect:

-Explains details of Eastman house

-Oldest picture museum

-He made Kodak

-This house focuses on art, technology, and pictures

-shows how the house was made and what went into the process

-Big place for tourist

-Can find it online

2. Do the videos relate to the creation of your Art Exhibition project? If yes, explain how. If no, explain why not.
-My theme is romance so it is easy to have art relate to it. There were a few images that showed pictures that would fit perfectly in my theme and I have wrote them down to see if I can find them and research them to see if I want to use them. So yes, they related because they gave me more examples of images to use.

3. What is your opinion of the films? Do they add depth to understanding of the art concepts you practiced while creating your curation project?
-I really enjoyed the films this week. They were a little more upbeat than some in the past and it was nice to be able to connect to the movies a little bit more. They do add depth because they gave me a few more ideas and really expanded on some ideas I have had. It showed new themes that could be available and so I was thinking of combining some themes also.   

Video Blog

1. Explain why you selected each of the FOUR videos you choose from the selection listed above.

Abstract Expressionism and Pop: Art of the ’50s and ’60s- I chose this one because I really enjoy abstract art so I thought it would be really interesting to see it combined with expressionism and pop/

Hockney on Photography – I love photography and really wish it was something I learned more about. I find it to be a lot of fun and so I really was interested to see how photography was explained in this video.

Andy Warhol: Images of an Image – This video seemed a bit different but really sounded interesting. It appeared as if a lot of thought goes into explaining and understanding something as complex of a picture within a picture.

The Art of Henry Moore- I do not know much about Henry Moore so I figured I would learn more about him.

2. For each video list/discuss the key concepts you learned.

Abstract Expressionism and Pop: Art of the ’50s and ’60s

-American art and European art were combined to create abstract expressionism

-It was accepted in the beginning and thought to be popular but later rejected

-Rejected by Pop art

-Pop art did not like it because it seemed to interact and was similar to Pop art

-Shows many examples of both Pop art and Abstract expressionism.

-A few artists were Kline, John, Warhol, and Frankenthaler

Hockney on Photography

-Documents much of David Hockney’s life

-He is known for his painting but is also very skilled in photography

-He started taking pictures in 1970 at college

-He focused on the nude

-Much of his nude collection was not shown to the public

-Shows many pieces of his art work and explains them each separately and shows how they all relate

Andy Warhol: Images of an Image

-Andy Warhol was introduced and his focus in art is claimed to be offensive

-He explains his thoughts on mass media in modern America

-Shows how pop art relates to his style

-Spends a lot of time on the Ten Lizes painting and explains just about every detail of it

The Art of Henry Moore

-Shows many examples of Henry Moore’s work

-His work was not of common everyday lives but more unfamiliar things

-Shows how his work developed and each step of the way, including sketches

-Shows the sketches of WWII

-Shows pictures from all over America

-Explains and gives much detail about all of his work

2. How do the videos relate to the readings in the text?

-The readings are not directly related to the text but do connect in certain ways. They each expand on the ideas mentioned in the text and also tie other aspects into these topics. They provide much more information and give many more examples.

3. What is your opinion of the films? How do they add depth to understanding of the readings and art concepts?

-I enjoy the films. There are a few that can be a bit confusing but they really do help better my understanding on many topics. It puts things into different perspectives which allow me to really understand each detail. They also tie everything together.

Art Gallery Visit 2

Step 1: The exhibit

Questions about the exhibit:
1. What is the title of the exhibit?

            -I chose to focus on the Alexander Calder Exhibit.
2. What is the theme of the exhibition?

            - The theme of both of these exhibits was symmetric and contemporary art.

Step 2: The Gallery

Questions about the physical space:1. What type of lighting is used?

            -The type of lighting was different throughout the whole art gallery. In this particular exhibit the lighting came from above and each piece of art had a light shining down on it.
2. What colors are used on the walls?

            -The color on the wall was a basic white but each piece of art was in a tan frame.  
3. What materials are used in the interior architecture of the space?

            -There is no major architecture used throughout this exhibit. It focuses mainly on the paintings      hanging on the wall with a few little attractions in the middle.
4. How is the movement of the viewer through the gallery space?

            -The movement was very symmetric and kept the viewer moving from one piece to the next.

Step 3: The Artwork

 Questions about the artwork:1. How are the artworks organized?

            -The artworks are organized by dates. They go in order from oldest to most            recent and hung side by side.
2. How are the artworks similar?

            -The artworks are similar because they all use black, white, and red as the main      color with the primary colors used in between. Each of the paintings are also all      symmetrical
3. How are the artworks different?

            -The artworks are different in size and the colors all vary.
4. How are the artworks framed?

            -The artworks are
5. How are the artworks identified and labeled?

            -The artworks all have a separate plaque located to the left of the image that has    all of the information about the specific pieces of work.
6. What is the proximity of the artwork to each other?

            -Each piece of artwork is located side by side with about 2 feet in between each.

Artist:  Alexander Calder

Title of work:  Untitle

Media: Oil on canvas

Date: 1947

Size: n/a

1. Be receptive – This image is very symmetric with many symbols. It also only uses the three primary colors, plus black and white. This piece is also very contemporary.

2. Description – This image has a design that runs across the bottom that starts with the color blue at the bottom, then black, then red, then yellow, then red, and then orange again. There is also a large block of red at the top that have what appears to be a white seashell on the left and two circles on the right. The two circles on the right are light colors and one is dark colors.

3. Formal analysis – This art piece is very symmetric and uses the three primary colors. It gives great examples of pattern and lines. It also gives a few examples of shapes and symbols. Texture is also exemplified in this picture with the white sea shell.

4.  Bracketing – This piece also reminds me of a beach. It appears to have the water at the bottom with it running into the sand. It then shows a sea shell and two circles, one would be the sun and one the moon.  

5.  Interpretation - I feel as if the artist was trying to show the stage between the sun setting and the moon rising. It appears as if the water is calm, the beach is quite, the sun is dimming, and the moon is rising. Each of these appear as dusk sets and the night hits.

Artist:  Alexander Calder

Title of work:  United from the portfolio “Magie Eolienne

Media: Lithograph

Date: 1972

Size: n/a

1.   Be receptive –This picture is very symmetric and only uses black and white with the primary color red as the accent color. This is also very contemporary.

2.   Description – I see 12 circular objects that all have a spiral middle. They appear to have black and red lines coming out from the bottom of them. The black and red lines are cris-crossing and there is also a red design at the bottom.  

3.   Formal analysis – This piece of art has many principles and elements. It has a pattern throughout the whole picture and also uses values of black and white. It has many examples of lines and also is symmetric.

4.  Bracketing – This piece reminds me a lot of flowers in a field. It appears as if the circular objects have a pattern that resembles a rose. It also has black and red stems and appears to be in a field with the designs at the bottom.  

5.  Interpretation – I feel as if the artists was trying to give the viewer a sense of relaxation. The image appears to be very welcoming and has that warm feeling of relaxation and calmness. The flowers give it the welcoming feeling and the design at the bottom gives it the calmness.

Artist:  Alexander Calder

Title of work:  Balloons

Media: Lithograph

Date: 1973

Size: n/a

1. Be receptive – This piece of art is very symmetric and focuses on the three primary colors plus black and white. This piece is also contemporary.

2. Description – I see 8 circles, five are red and the rest are either blue, yellow, or black. There also are blue lines at the bottom of the image and also lines coming out of each circle.

3. Formal analysis – This image is very symmetric. It also uses the three primary colors and gives great examples of lines. Texture is also exemplified in this piece with the circular pattern in each of the circles.

4.  Bracketing – The objects in this piece remind me of balloons and a river at the bottom. Also, it appears as if the yellow circle is the sun.

5.  Interpretation – I feel as if the artist was trying to depict the end of a party that occurred on the beach. The yellow sun seems to be setting, the water is calming, and the balloons have been let go.