Value Scale/Color Wheel

1. I strongly disliked creating my value scale, I found it very difficult. I decided to use charcoal which I had never used before so I had to get used to using that before I could create the scale. I did many trials of the scale before I found one that I thought looked good.







I really liked making the color wheel! I found it really fun to play with the different colors to create the other four colors. I think it was smart for us to create the color wheel because we learned first hand how to create these colors, which I thought were un-creatable.


   2. I enjoyed working the best with the paint, because I found it more fun and to be honest, much easier than the charcoal. It was really fun to become an artist of my own color wheel and create it, I have never really painted before so it was a fun new experience for me!


 3. I think the most important discovery of these creations was learning that making the colors red, and blue was possible. I was always taught that you start with the basic primary colors red and blue, I never knew that it was possible to make your own primary colors. I also thought those were the few basic colors that couldn't be created.


 4. The most important information I learned from watching the videos was how to create the value scale, and how in depth it can be to create one. The color wheel was easy enough that I could figure out how to make it without having help from a video. The value scale I struggled with. Watching the video allowed me to learn how to hold the charcoal and apply even coloring throughout each section. The videos in my opinion were very informative and interesting. I learned a lot of interesting facts from the color video, and the painting and printmaking video.

Elements/Principals of Design

To be completely honest, I LOVED this project. I love taking pictures so I was all about this project! When I was reading the chapters I tried to think of pictures I had on my computer that would be examples of the elements/principles of design.

When I sat down to start the photo planning I printed out the list of the element/principles and I wrote down next to each one of them what I wanted to take a picture of. Luckily this summer/fall I was able to go on a couple vacations and take some really cool pictures. I started there. I knew I wanted to use the sunflower as color because I remember focusing on the yellow pedals when I took it this summer. When I went to Pennsylvania this fall I was playing around with my dads digital camera and I got the tree picture, which I used in the balance example.

After having those two images done I moved onto the other "easy" ones, the examples I could think of right away. Having Valentines Day this week I was able to use those roses for a perfect example of movement. I was able to think of line, shape, forms,texture, pattern,and repetition right away. The rest I struggled with.

I thought long and hard on what to take a picture of for variety, my initial thought was to take one of an assortment of pens/sharpies but when my mom was baking this weekend something clicked for me to pay attention to all of the spatulas...creating the picture for variety. I had a hard time thinking of something to use for emphasis, but when I walked into my computer room I saw the golf balls on the wall (which my dad collects) and I knew I could use it.

When I thought about what to use for space I first thought to take a picture of two painting on our wall which have a space in between them, but when looking through my photos on my computer I found a picture I had forgotten I'd taken this summer in Roanoke Island, North Carolina at The Elizabethan Gardens I immediately switched my idea for space and put that picture in. I then came across a picture I took looking up the staircase at the Ocracoke Lighthouse in Ocracoke, North Carolina. I knew I could use that for rhythm. Then I found a picture I took in Lancaster, Pennsylvania of a beautiful flower and pumpkin display (which I thought about switching with color) but I chose to use that for proportion.

I struggled the most with the last principle, unity. At first I had a picture of a couple holding hands, but I didn't like it, I didn't know what to use. I'd only ever thought of unity in paintings, so I had no idea what to use it for in photography. I settled on taking a picture of my full fruit bowl, but I'm still not sure it's a good example!

Little did I know that all these pictures I had been taking for the past year were categorized into these elements and principles. Here I thought I was just playing around and trying to take nice pictures for social networking, but I was able to reflect on these pictures and learn something from them!!

Color Theory/Emotional Effects

1.
Color has a very strong effect on our emotions without us even realizing it. We sometimes recognize emotion because of the color displayed. Color and the effect on our emotions are said to be cultural. In America we recognize red with love, and joy...but it can also explain hate and anger. We see blue as calming, sad, or depressing. Yellow is generally happy. Depending on the culture you were brought up in determines how you feel when looking at certain colors. In America red and green bring joy because we recognize them as Christmas colors, but for Van Gogh in Europe the red and green expressed tense environments  In art many times we separate the colors we see into the warm and cool colors, which reflect directly on our emotions, the reds-happy, the blues-sad. Artists also display their emotions through the colors they include in their paintings. (ex. Van Gogh combined harsh color combinations to display his hatred) Not only do they display their emotion in the paint, the paint brings our their emotion.

2.
The theoretical aspect of color that most fascinates me are color harmonies. Color harmonies usually only include a few colors within a single composition. I think color harmonies bring out the emotions in the art work. Color harmonies and emotions go hand in hand in the art world. When using color harmonies it is all about how the colors are going to react with each other, the same way we look at art to express feelings. When looking at art we are influenced by how we feel based on the colors that are included, the ability to blend and use these colors brings out our emotions. I also think that artists use color harmonies to express themselves, an artist who paint in monochromatic harmonies and only in blue may be painting to release stress, to calm oneself, or to calm their audience. Color harmonies fascinate me so much because of this connection to the emotional aspect of art.

3.
In the color video the biggest impact on me in regards to color and emotion was the fact that colors reflect on each other. Colors reflect on each other, producing stronger or lighter colors. Color reflect off each other in paintings, just as they do in the real world. Since colors reflect on each other they have the ability to keep the painting alive. The colors work together, we don't see just one color, we see many different ones, even if they are the same color. Through the reflection we can see these same colors differently. Going along with this idea that colors reflect on each other, I found the fact that paintings can be changed by just one color very interesting. When looking at a picture one color can make the painting fall apart or pull it together. It's not how much of that one color you use, but how it reflects off the other colors and portrays different colors that way.

4.
In the feelings video the biggest impact on me in regards to color and emotion was the development of Renaissance era. Renaissance means rebirth, which is what happened to art during that time period. Art took a change of perspectives, from faith to reason. Through this change of reason released feelings. I like the creation of this period because it's when artists began to develop ideas as to why use certain shapes, and colors. These shapes and colors were now being used to evoke their audiences emotions and feelings. I think the Renaissance and Enlightenment period had the greatest influence on art because artists were finally developing art based on their feelings, and their audiences feelings.

Video/Article Review

1.
 In Jean-Pierre Changuex lecture he discussed the discovery of some art topics such as the discovery of tools, symmetry, symbolism, and artistic composition. He also went into detail about how these ideas have developed into what we know today. He also expressed his ideas on what art and aesthetics are. He gave four examples to define his idea of art and aesthetics. He expressed that 1, it is a work of art if it includes artifacts  production, etc. 2, it has to be distinct from language being nonverbal works. 3, it has to have esthetic efficacy staggering the effects on emotions and reason. 4, it is art history which means it is renewal without progress. Changuex also told us his rules of art which are novelty (surprise), consensus partium, sharing  a message, and schematisation. He ended his lecture by discussing the evolutionary origins of art and aesthetics which are sexual selection, group selection, inter-subjective communication & social bonding, and by-product of brain evolution.

In Vilayanur S. Ramachandran's lecture he focused on the 8 universal laws of aesthetics. Those 8 laws are grouping, peak shift principal, contrast, isolating a single cue to optimally exile cortical visual areas, perceptual "problem solving", symmetry, abhorrence of unique vantage points and suspicious coincidences, and art as metaphor. Ramachandran focused his lecture on explaining what a few of these 8 laws mean. He explained that grouping is when your mind groups points in art to detect camouflage and living things  He explained that peak shift principal is when you pick out characteristics and you identify with them. He also explained that his law of isolation a single cue is simply the meaning "less is more" in art.

In the Philosophy of Art video they focused on the philosophers who have expressed interest in art, and aesthetics. The video discussed the development of aesthetics. It went on to tell us that in the 18th century aesthetics was developed, Baumgarten coined the word aesthetics. The video explained how art was developing through the century's and how by the 20th century we had entered new eras of art. The video concluded by saying that art is always expanding and we will continue to understand art as it continues to change.

In the CNN article it discussed how the human brain was wired for art. The brain is wired so that we can make sense of lines, colors, and patterns on a flat canvas. The article went on to explain how/why our brain recognizes some examples within art. Our brain recognizes lines by outlining an object. Line drawing dates back to the stone age people and it allows us to identify objects by the use of "lines". Our brain also identifies  faces. Our brain can recognize a face and then allows us to trigger emotional responses. Our brain identifies with 2 streams in our visual system that allow us to see color, recognize objects, and navigate our environment  Using colors and shading allows us to trick our brain into thinking its seeing in 3D.

2.
The philosopher that I found most important was the 19th century German philosopher Gerog Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel. He believed that there were three eras of art eastern (symbolic), classical, and romantic. He also believed that through art you were able to express what you may become. He believed in symbolism which I believe is in all art. He also paved the way for the expression theories. People believe he was the turning point of aesthetics because he rejected the representational theories of art. I believe that without Hegel art wouldn't be the same as it is now. He believed in symbolism which is such a major idea of art.

3.
To be completely honest I was confused by Changuex's ideas of aesthetics. To me he seemed to explain more of the history behind aesthetics whereas Ramachandran gave us examples of aesthetics and how our brain connects with art. Ramachandran expressed to us how it was that our brain connected to the laws of aesthetics. The part of Ramachandran's lecture that I found most interesting was his 2nd law, the peak shift principal. He explained that our brain picks out characteristics that allow us to recognize it in different circumstances. He used the example of the baby seagull recognizing the red dot on his mothers beak, the seagull was able to recognize the red dot on a wooden stick as well. The seagull didn't recognize with the mothers beak, but just the red dot on it. The point in Changuex's lecture that I found most interesting was his rules of art, in particular one rule. His 3rd rule was that art shares a message. I agreed completely with that rule because when I think almost all art is made to display a message from the artist.

4.
The videos and the article related greatly to the text we read. The videos discussed why we have art and what it means which was discussed in chapters 1 and 2 of our book. The whole idea of aesthetics in the videos and article was expressed in every chapter of our book that we read so far. In chapter 2 there is a whole page dedicated to aesthetics, but the idea is somehow examined in every chapter. In chapter 2 we begin to examine what art really is, how its expressed, etc. The whole idea of aesthetics is the philosophy of art, studying art to understand it. I think the videos expressed everything we read in chapters 1-3, it just gave us more examples to connect to.

5.
I enjoyed all the videos and articles. The only complaint I had about the CARTA video was that Changuex kept loosing my interest (could have been because I was having a hard time understanding him), but I really enjoyed Ramachandran's lecture. I like that he gave us specific examples of his laws of aesthetics. Also I enjoyed that he added humor into his lecture. I also really enjoyed the Philosophy of Art video because it explained the changes in art throughout the centuries. I also like that it gave examples of philosophers of aesthetics, I think it was easier to understand the concept of aesthetics with the ideas from the philosophers. I liked how the CNN article was broken up into sections so we could read separately how our brain responded to different aspects of art. I think if I was to only read the text and not watch the videos or read the other article I wouldn't have the understanding of aesthetics that I do now. It is a very complex idea, so the more examples and research we are given, the easier it will be to understand.