Exploring Value and The Subtractive Color Theory

1. My thoughts on the value scale were that it was fairly easy, the only problem was trying to get the shading right. My thoughts on the color wheel were that it was difficult. The instructions were unclear and the colors I have bought didn't work well. I did the best I could and it seemed to work but out of the two assignments this is the one I had the most difficulty with.
2. The media I used was a scanner. It felt as though the images came up better when scanned directly onto the computer.
3. The most important discovery I thought came out of the value assignment was the different values that came come from just one utensil. The most important discovery I thought came out of the color wheel assignment was how mixing just two colors together can produce a completely different color. Some of the colors I mixed together came out producing a color I didn't know was possible.
4. The videos on watercolor helped me the most with this project because of the important information it provided. In the video they said that texture of the paper shows through and that was shown to be true. It also provided me with new knowledge on how to use watercolors that I didn't know before. I felt and though the videos were very helpful in understanding both watercolor as well as the video showing me how to do the value scale.

Reflection of Project 1

During this project I took on a lot of creative and technological processes. At first I had to get a solid understanding for each of the elements and principles of art. After studying them, I then had to come up with ideas for how I was going to capture multiple photos which contained those elements and principles of art. This I found to be the hardest part because most of the ideas I came up with could have went along with more than one element or principle. Therefore, I had to get pretty creative with some of these photographs but luckily for me I had some picture from New York City on my camera that had some of these elements and principles in them. I had no issues with the technological aspect of this project and I really enjoyed doing this project it was fun to go around be a photographer for a day!   

http://s1016.photobucket.com/user/kasidyray/library/Art%20Project

Color Theory and Emotional Effects

1.          Color which is one of the elements of art is defined as an object producing different sensations on the eye resulting from the way the object reflects or emits light. Color defines lines, shapes, forms, and space.  Color plays a role on our emotions for many different reasons, and one being the color alone. Different shades of colors play with our emotions and we get a feel of what the artist is trying to portray. For example, black is a dark color so one might feel sad or gloomy where as a yellow might make someone cheery and happy.
2.       The theory of art that most intrigues me is that all colors are dependent on light. I didn’t know that due to light the colors we see are just a reflection of light rays. I find this most interesting because the colors we see come from something that can be changed which is light and in all color is just a function of light.
3.       In the color video, one point that stood out the most to me about color was that they stated it was hard to paint emotion. That was hard for me to believe because whenever I see a painting all I see is all the emotion it portrays and how all the colors work together to give you that emotion you feel when you look at it. What the viewer of the art work didn’t know that it took a lot of time and effort to get those emotions out there onto the canvas and it isn’t easy to just paint what you feel especially with many different colors. You have to get the colors to complement each other to get everything in sync.
4.       In the Feelings video, the point that made the biggest impact was the point he made about artists and how they use space to heighten feeling. Also the point when he said artists portray feeling through the use of light and shade. With using the space and using shade and light to ones advantage they can have many different forms of feeling going throughout their work of art. Also with doing so they are giving the view different emotions as they look at an art piece and all of those emotions one feels comes from the elements of art.

Video and CNN Article Review

1. In the " What the brain draws from: Art and neuroscience" article I learned that artists have figured out ways to create illusions that are not really there but make works of art seem more real. I also learned that artists add elements such as lightness and shadows to trick the brain into thinking an object looks three-dimensional or life like. In the video Aesthetics: Philosophy of Art Video I learned about the history of art and its philosophy through different philosophers.  In the video CARTA: Neurobiology neurology and Art and Aesthetics I learned how there are many different definitions of art and aesthetics by observing two different point of views. 

2. Plato said in the 4th Century B.C. " What is beautiful in itself is not this object or that one, but that which conveys their own nature". This theory means that not just one specific object or thing is more beautiful or meaningful than another, but rather the beauty in an object comes from the inside and the nature it displays and what the artist had in mind when they created it. 

3. I think that both Changeux and Ramachandran have very different views on the topic of aesthetics and art. Changeux stated that works of art are human productions, he also said that art is in constant evolution therefore he argued that there is indeed an art history. Changeux's most interesting point was the evolutionary origins of art and aesthetic he stated. They included sexual selection, group selection, intersubjective communication and social bonding as well as by-product of brain evolution.  Ramachandran stated that the goal of art is to distort the image to please the brain. He also stated the eight laws of art/ aesthetics which included grouping or "binding", peak shift principal, contrast, isolating a single cue to optimally excite cortical visual attention("attention"), perceptual "problem solving", symmetry, abhorrence of unique vantage points and suspicious coincidences as well as art as a metaphor. The most interesting fact he said is about the triangle process, being the three questions: what is the law, why is it useful and how is it useful. 

4. The videos and the article relate to the reading because they provide a more in depth understanding of aesthetics. 

5. My opinion on the films was that they were hard to understand and didn't provide me which as much information as the article did. I feel as though the article did a good job pointing out certain areas of art such as color and lines and made it clear as to how the brain interprets them. The videos did provide a more solid understanding of aesthetics to a certain extent but I feel as though the book did a great job explaining what aesthetics was. 

Blog Introduction Questions

1. The process for setting up the new Gmail account was super easy and straight forward. the process for setting up the Blogger account was a little confusing but having access to the powerpoint to guide me through it really helped.

2. I expect to learn about the history of art and certain artists that have changed the way art is viewed as time has passed. I also expect to learn more art terms to expand my knowledge of art.

3. This is my first time taking an online course and at first I was a little nervous but now that I know the expectations and how to navigate through the course I am confident I will succeed.