module 9 hand drawing

1.) It was easier than most of the other subject matters that we possibly could have had but I still had trouble because I'm not very artistic, clearly. You would think since we use our hands everyday we wouldn't have trouble drawing something so simple but I did.
2.) I chose to use pencil because I'm more familiar with holding and using a pencil rather than charcoal. I also couldn't find any charcoal to use to draw my hands.
3.) Drawing with my non-dominant hand was super hard because I never use my left hand to do anything. I use my right hand to do basically everything. It felt very weird using my left hand to draw and it made me feel somewhat disabled in a way.
4.) My drawing of my left hand isn't good but it is definitely better than the drawing of my right hand.
5.) I would definitely not use my non dominant hand to do more artwork in the future because it would most likely turn out to be a disaster.

module 9

For this assignment I chose to watch "The Drawings of Michelangelo" and "Albrecht Durer: Image of a Master". I chose these films because for this assignment I wanted to focus more on artists rather than a general type of art.
The first video I watched "The Drawings of Michelangelo" showed some of Michelangelo's first drawings that he created. Throughout the film they discussed how he drew, some of the techniques he used, and how his style or art changed over time. He started by drawing then evolved to many other forms of art.
The next video "Albrecht Durer: Image of a Master" showed how Durer used his artworks to express his religious beliefs. He mostly specialized in painting and he also did self portraits. People believed that Durer was very important to the art culture because of how he expressed religion through his paintings.
The videos are related to the readings in the way that they both talk about the artists, Michelangelo and Durer, and their importance to art. The reading emphasized how important they are especially during the Renaissance. The reading also shows some of each of the artists' works.
I like both the reading and the videos, but I would prefer to watch the videos over reading the textbook. The videos help you visualize the artists and their work and understand them better.

Module 8 Video Review

1.) I chose to watch the video called "Late Gothic Art and Architecture: England, 1400-1547" because it was the one that stood out to me the most out of all the videos, even just because of the name. The word "gothic" in the title really intrigued me in some way because most of the time, things that are gothic are interesting to me because they are out of my norm.

2.) Key Concepts
 "More Human than Human"
-Our minds would not be the same if we didn't have imagery and symbols to help communicate our thoughts. It helps distinguish us as humans and not animals because they are not as able to make out some images and symbols. We see these in real life as advertisements and as symbols on signs for example. This is considered art. Worship is inspired by the past, present, and future's art and architecture.
"Late Gothic Art and Architecture"
-Churches are what are inspired the most by gothic architecture and art. Gothic art is mostly focused in the churches' stained glass windows. The churches thought that if they had these nice looking gothic stained glass windows they would attract more pilgrims and which would therefore bringing more money.

3.) The textbook and both of the videos both state that art is so essential to human life and how fit shapes how we live our lives. The textbook goes more into detail about the essentials of art in our lives and the videos both have a more broad explanation on why they think the way they do about that subject.

4.) I enjoyed both of the videos  and howe they explained everything to you about the different art and architectures. I do though, wish that they would have went more into depth about these topics in the videos more because some things I had a hard time understanding what they were trying to get across. Overall they were both good videos and contained good information for the most part.

Module 7

In "Frank Gehry: Architecture is Art", they show how buildings and all the different types of structures that exist in the world are designed. They are designed around the fact that there are things such as wind, rain, hail, snow and all other weather elements that they need to withstand. Gehry experimented with different designs for the structures.

In the video "Prairie Style", Frank Lloyd Wright creates a new style of living called prairie style. It gave houses a whole new look and gave people more space. People enjoyed this and felt like this could change their lives. Everything was in a horizontal set up to make the landscapes seem wider.

The videos and textbook relate in the technical ways such as their use of vocabulary and explaining things to the reader/viewer. I got more use and understanding from the videos because its easier to understand because you actually have someone explaining to you what their theories are.
In my opinion I liked both of the films because of how detailed they are in the architecture of buildings and the history. I chose to watch both of the videos about the architects because I was interested in what they had done with architecture.

Module 6 video review

Through the Eyes of a Sculptor
-The sculptor needs to take into consideration before creating their artwork, what it is going to look like and what environment it is going to be in for the rest of it's existence. They need to have basically rough drafts for the sculpture and need to test out the different possibilities that can happen. The process of making a sculpture is actually very complex and requires many people, many different molds, and many holes.

Glass and Ceramics
-The methods of glass blowing and pottery making are very similar because they are both done by hand and are both very fragile. They both require a spinning motion of the objects to complete the artwork and in the end need to be fired to make sure that the final artwork is hard and sturdy.

The textbook and videos are similar in the way that they explain the process and materials for both art forms. The textbook is basically just a written version of the videos and the videos  just show everything visually more in depth.

I personally like the films because of how in depth they explain how to so these different artworks. The people telling you and explaining how to do all of these things really helps you understand more so how to do it rather than just reading out of a book.

Project Reviews

The two blogs I picked for this assignment were:
https://artbymoyi.blogspot.com         AND       http://kbartinquiry.blogspot.com

For Project #1 I enjoyed the photos that were chosen to go along with the elements and principles. You could tell that they all had their own special meaning and they had reasons behind why they picked that element or principle. I could see some other elements or principles that could have been used for their photos but overall I enjoy the ones that they picked.

For Project #2, Neither Moyi or Kelsi picked any of the same artworks that I picked that I had interest in or that I wanted to learn more about. I think it is almost impossible to pick some of the same artworks because there are so many in the Albright-Knox Art Gallery that it gives us many more options to choose from.
I was most interested in an artwork that Kelsi chose by Dan Flavin, called Untitled (to Donna). I really like the fluorescent lights that are in the shape of a square, using the primary colors. I would like know who Donna is though. Is she the artist's sister, mother, wife, girlfriend? Who is she and why did he dedicate this artwork to her.

The comments on my projects basically just agreed with how I viewed the elements and principles and also agreeing with me on why I wanted to know more about the last two artworks that were in Albright Knox. These comments weren't that valuable to me, even though I do appreciate them, only because they don't criticize me and try to make me a better artist.

Logo Design

-Creating my logo wasn't too hard. I incorporated my initials into the design and then just a basic outline of a flower. Recently I've been obsessed with flowers and I'm even getting a tattoo that has flowers. I think I liked doing the sketches the most because I was able to use a pencil and doodle what was going through my mind.
-During the process I was trying to think of something that I enjoy thinking about or something I just like in general. Flowers is what I came up with because whenever I'm bored I will doodle flowers on a piece of paper or basically on anything that I am able to get pencil to show up on. I then used my initials because I thought it would give a personal touch.
-The most important discovery I had was that I overthink about things too much, such simple design took me a while to think of because I couldn't really think of what would describe me the best. That is what took me the longest.
-I think the most important information was how they showed us the designing process of a logo and how much actually goes into making a logo for a company, because it needs to be original for copyright reasons and then how much creative thinking goes into that because it is hard to think of something without being tempted to go off of someone else's ideas. I liked that the video was very informational about graphic design. I hope videos in the future are more like this module's.

Albright Knox Art Gallery

For this project I went to Albright Know art gallery, and it was my first time every going into this place. I can't believe what I was missing out on. This art gallery is so big and there are so many beautiful pieces of art. One art work that made an impression on me was:

This artwork had an impact on me because of how big it was. This piece went from the floor to the ceiling and then across the whole wall which was cool to me. It made me think about how long it must of taken the artist to create this piece. I was thinking probably weeks or months. It must have taken a lot of patience for him to finish this.

Artist: Jackson Pollock

Title: Convergence 

Year: 1952

Media: Oil on canvas

This artwork also had an impact on me because of how different everything in the piece is. Everything in the artwork is super unformed and it looks like the instruments are alive. It is interesting to me because it makes me wonder if the artist was under the influence of something while she created this or if that is just how she likes her art to look.

Artist: Joan Miro

Title: Carnaval d'Arlequin

Year: 1924

Media: Oil on canvas

I feel like I had a connection with this artwork by Andy Goldsworthy because you can actually walk along with the artwork. I think it is cool that Goldsworthy actually carved into the sidewalk at the art gallery and is able to be interacted with.

Artist: Andy Goldsworthy

Title: Path

Year: 2012

Media: Granite

I had a connection with this artwork because I am so familiar with this portrait of Frida Kahlo. Throughout middle and high school we always have been taught about Frida Kahlo in art classes and have been shown many of her different portraits that she painted of herself while she was on bed rest. It was nice to see a painting that I was familiar with and knew some background on.

Artist: Frida Kahlo

Title: Self-Portrait with Monkey

Year: 1938

Media: Oil on Masonite

An artwork I would like to know more about is this one by Nancy Dwyer. It is pretty self explanatory why I'd like to know more about this artwork, it's because it is interesting to me as to why she painted the words "kill yourself" and as to whom she was directing this painting to? Also I'd like to know why she made all the bubbles around it to make it seem like a nice thing to say to someone??

Artist: Nancy Dwyer

Title: Kill Yourself

Year: 1989

Media: Vinyl Paint on Canvas

I would also like to know more about this artwork because I'm confused as to why it is good enough to be in an art gallery. I'm not saying that it is bad or anything but it is just lines on graph paper,something that literally anyone could do. I'd like to know what the artist did that made this piece so special.

Artist: Paul Sharits

Title: Frame Study 15: Study for "Specimen II"

Year: 1975

Media: Ink on Graph Paper