Week Sixteen - Blog: Reflections of AED 200

1.     What were you expectations for this course and where they met?

I definitely believe that my expectations of this course were met because when I first started this class I did not know much about art. I did not know artists names, what they were famous for, types of artwork, how to set up an exhibition, what an exhibition was, what to look for at an art gallery, or how to approach starting my own artwork.

2.     Now that you've been through this course, What is art? How would you define it now compared to your intial posting?

In my first post I wrote, “Throughout the semester I hope to learn anything about art. I do not know much about art as of right now so this course will sure teach me may things.” I have learned that art can be categorized into many different things. After taking this course, I define art as creative pieces made by someone who has something to express through physical artwork. Some artists may have a very strong message to express through art, while other artists might just create artwork to show off their work. I believe that art is absolutely important life in one way or another.

      Who was your favorite artist in your original posting and who is your favorite visual artist now? If there is a difference, why do you think so? If you have the same favorite artist, why do you think so?

      After taking this course, Andy Warhol is definitely my favorite artist now. His piece, Campbell's Soup Cans' reliance on themes from popular culture helped to usher in pop art as a major art movement in the USA. I knew about this piece of art prior to taking this class, but I have learned about pop art particullary through Andy Warhol’s art and how important it was during that time and what kind of messages he was trying to deliver.  

4.     Now that you've completed this course, how do you feel about taking an online course? Is your answer the same as it was in your first posting? How is it the same or different?

I am glad that I took this online course because it was a simple way for me to get interested with art on my own time. Every time I went to the art gallery for an assignment I did it on my own time so I could take the time to actually look at the art and critique it without feeling rushed for time. I also wrote in my first posting that I was nervous to take an online course because I have never taken one before and I did not know how difficult it would be. This course was pretty simple to understand electronically, and I would refer this course to other students in the future.  

Week Fifteen- Art Gallery Visit #3: Self-Portraits Art Making/Material Exploration

Ham, Myung Su
Korean Museum

George Washington
Gilbert Stuart
The White House 1797

Yawning
Joseph Ducreaux
European Art and Design
The J. Paul Getty Museum
1783

Original Picture
Ralph Wilson Stadium
2013

    

Drawing

Reflection Journal

1.Why did you select the inspiration pieces? 


          I chose each of these inspiration pieces for a different reason. First, I picked the Self- Portrait by Ham, Myung Su because it is a modern painting from the year 2000 that shows a lot of color, which attracted me to the piece. Secondly, I chose George Washington, by Gilbert Stuart because it is a traditional self-portrait that helped me understand which features are important to drawing a self- portrait. Lastly, I chose Yawning by Joseph Ducreux because it is a funny spin on the self- portrait idea. When I first started thinking about this assignment I thought that all self-portraits were very serious, but after seeing that painting I realize that any action can be made in the artwork as long as it represents a human being.

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

                 I chose to use pencil to create my self-portrait just because I think it is the easiest media for me to use and I am the most familiar with pencil. Pencil is the one instrument that you can erase when you make mistakes, and I knew this assignment would be difficult for me so I needed to make use I could fix my mistakes. 

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


          The demensions of the head were really difficult for me. The shapes of my eyes and the proportion of each eye were difficult for me to get right. Another area that was extremely difficult for me was the shading because I didn’t know where to shade exactly and if I was shading in the appropriate places. The facial structure in general was something that I really struggled with and took me a lot of time to get the way I wanted it.  

4.  How does this piece represent you?

          This drawing shows my happy personality.

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


          This drawing shows the elements of balance because I had to make sure that the demensions of my head evenly. I also used the element of value in the shading because of the dark to light color pencil. I tried to use the principle of proportion when drawing my face so it looked realistic.  

6. Did you enjoy working on this project? 


          I did not like working on this project because I am not an artist so it was extremely difficult for me to do this assignment. I can be very creative but when it comes to drawing humans that is one thing that I am awful at. I think it takes a lot of time and practice to become good at self-portraits, and that is definitely something I lack.

7. Do you think of your final artwork?

          I think that my final product is much better than I expected it was going to be. I knew going into this assignment that drawing a self- portrait of myself was going to be extremely difficult, but overall I am pleased with my outcome.  

Week Fifteen - Video Review Blog

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

Greenberg on Art Criticism: An Interview by T. J. Clark- This film documents the conversation, spotlighting Clement Greenberg’s reflections on his career and its place in the wider arenas of art theory, art journalism, and the philosophy of aesthetics. While he frequently deflates the seriousness of many of his earlier pronouncements, Greenberg shares a number of insights on the relationship between art and history, the nature of value judgments in criticism, and what he calls America’s post-WWII “culture boom.”

An Introduction to the Italian Renaissance -Giorgio Vasari’s Lives of the Artists has been the basis of art criticism since the 16th century. This film cleverly illustrates how each great master developed techniques by building upon the work of his predecessors. The lively discussion between Master Vasari and his apprentice reveals the innovations of Giotto, Ghiberti, Donatello, Uccello, Masaccio, della Francesca, Botticelli, Leonardo, Raffaello, and Michelangelo. Images of selected masterpieces illustrate the Roman influence on Renaissance art and reinforce the concepts of perspective, balance, chiaroscuro, composition, and realism. This film helps people get an understanding on how artists and their artwork are different.

2.     Do the videos relate to the creation of your Art Criticism project? If yes, explain how. If no, explain why not.

             I do not believe that these two videos reflect the creation of my Art Criticism project because they are dealing with topics that are irrelevant to my project. My project had to do with Chinese and North American landscapes and Clemet Greenberg live and interpretations did not touch on my topic. Also, although the Italian Renaissance video was interesting to see it did not really have anything to do with landscape artwork in general.

3.     What is your opinion of the films? Do they add depth to understanding of art criticism?

The films taught me interesting information about the Italian Renaissance, like it was the earliest manifestation of the general European Renaissance, a period of great cultural change and achievement that began in Italy during the 14th century and lasted until the 16th century, marking the transition between Medieval and Early Modern Europe. Although I gained knowledge about the Renaissance in general it did not help add depth to my understanding about criticism. The other video with Clemet Greenberg talks about how he was the greatest art critic of the second half of the 20th century, Clement Greenberg was arguably the greatest art critic of all time. The video definitely helped add depth to my criticism because he talks about the right approach for critique, and where to start looking when critiquing artwork or an exhibition for this project.

Project #5 Art Criticism Reflection

1.Which projects did you review?

For this project I reviewed, Looking for Love by: Jenna Lettieri, The Harlem Renaissance: The Birth of African Culture in America by: Siggers, and 1920’S FASHION FROM THE MOVIE The Great Gatsby by: Todaro.

2. Why did you select the Exhibit you critiqued?

            I chose to critique Looking for Love by: Jenna Lettieri for a couple of reasons. First, her exhibition caught my attention right away just from the coloring of her slides and the title. Second, Jenna did a great job providing her audience with enough information about each piece of artwork to understand what the art is about. Lastly, the idea of romance really grasped my attention mainly because I am a female and love is constantly on my mind. 

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


            I did not find any challenges when writing my critique article for Jenna’s exhibition. She did a great job putting her exhibition together giving me plenty of information about each piece of art, which made the assignment very easy for me to give her a good critique.

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

            I liked the idea of critiquing my peers work because it gave me an opportunity to see what other classmates chose for this assignment. I was really interested in Jenna’s exhibition and I wish I would of thought about that topic to base my exhibition on. It is interesting to see students’ personalities through their finished slideshows, and I could see interests that my students have as well.

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


            I would like to read the critiques that my peers wrote about my project because I think I used a lot of personal explanations about pieces in my exhibition and I wonder if my classmates made those same connections. If they didn’t make the same connections, I would love to see what they thought about different pieces in my exhibition and how our two interpretations differ.

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

            I would give my finished article an 8. I think I did a great job complementing Jenna on a lot of different aspects to her exhibition, but it was difficult for me to give her any constructive criticism. I believe that her exhibition was great and everything that she chose for it worked well together.


7. Did you enjoy working on this project?

            I did enjoy working on this project because it allowed me to use my own creativity while still working with other artist masterpieces. It also allowed me to connect a little bit with my classmates by looking at their finished exhibitions and seeing different personalities in each slideshow. I am glad we did this assignment. 

Project #4 Reflection Journal

Reflection- Process of Art Exhibition
The name of my exhibition is... Any Landscape is a Condition of the Spirit

When I first read over the directions for this project I automatically knew that I wanted my exhibition to have something to do with landscapes. My reasoning behind this is because I believe that a majority of landscape portraits can have many interpretations and it mainly up to the audience to decide what is going on in the painting/ drawing. Art does not come very easy to me, but imagination is one thing that I am capable of doing. I figured if I chose to do an exhibition on all landscape portraits, then it would be easy for me to have interpretations of what the artists point was.

When I first started my research I just began looking at the websites that were given to us on Angel. The first group of paintings that captured my attention was Chinese landscapes. I was really interested in these paintings because they were very simple but I could still think of a lot to say about each painting. I loved the back ink and pale colors that were used in these paintings as well. Secondly, as my research continued I stumbled upon the North American landscapes and I was very impressed. My favorite season is fall and a majority of these North American portraits are county side views that make me think of fall. I absolutely love how the artists really touched on details with the nature all around the landscape. These landscapes gave me a sense of calmness and allowed my imagination to unwind.

Lastly I needed to put all of this together into a PowerPoint presentation. When I watched the videos about exhibition I got an understanding that everything is critical for the viewers eye to get the effect you are going for when creating an exhibition. Now we were dealing with PowerPoint so lighting was not something we could change. However, I chose to use a lighter green background to represent the nature aspect of my exhibition, but also left white space on each slide so the audience still focused on the landscape itself. I did not want the background to overtake the image that was the main purpose of the slide. I also chose to use brown lettering for my descriptions just to stick with that nature setting.