Value Scale and Color Wheel

Creating the Value Scale and Color Wheel was simple and fun. It was a good way of releasing the stress of everyday life and trying to exercise your creativity again. Being able to create something with your own hands is very satisfying. The Value Scale shows me how to create different degrees of the same color and how it would affect an image. To make the color wheel, it was interesting how I sometimes had to mix different colors to create a completely new color. I really enjoyed working with Value Scale the most. It's nice to see how the different values of a color can change the meaning of a painting and bring different emotions from the people viewing it. For me, one of the most important discoveries from these projects is that it is possible to have fun and release stress without having to turn on any electronic device. I was able to step away from all my electronic devices (phones, tv, computer...) while trying to complete this project. I see this as an important discovery because today we depend so much on electronics to be able to entertain ourselves and these electronics have the 'fun' laid out for us instead of us creating our own fun and distraction by using our imagination. The videos were very instrumental in helping me understand what I was suppose to do for the project and how it was suppose to look like when it is finished. I was having a bit of trouble understand some of the instructions on blackboard but the video definitely cleared some of it for me. The most important information I learned from the video was that you can use different colors and mix them together to create a new, totally different color. I already new this in some way, but it was amazing seeing how the person used yellow and blue to create a green color, for example.

Project #1: Elements and Principles Slideshow and Reflections

Hi everyone. This is my slideshow presentation. At the bottom of this post is my quick reflection on this project. Enjoy! Reflections All of the pictures in this project were taken by me. Some of the photos were taken recently but most of them are photos that I had stored in my digital camera from past vacations and trips. The picture titled "Lines" was painted by me for this project. The oldest picture that I used for this project is "emphasis." It depicts the space shuttle being taken to the Intrepid Sea, Air & Space Museum in NYC. I used tools like Windows Live Photo Gallery in some images to edit their lighting and effects. One of the photos which I edited to make it fit its element was "Value." I made the picture a bit darker to add more shadows and contrast. Overall the project was very simple and fun. It only took me about 2 hours to go through all my photos, create a photobucket account and post this blog.

Color Theory and Emotional Effects

The element of color is created when light passes through an object and it's reflected back to the eye. This means that we do not see objects, we only see light. Three property of color are the hue, which is the name we give to the color. The second one is the value, which tells us how dark or light the color is. The third property is intensity, which means the strength of the color. An image would not be able to portray the same amount of emotion if the image does not use colors. Different colors have individual and cultural associations. In our culture, we often see the color pink as feminine and blue as being masculine. Colors in themselves do not have a meaning or representation since they are just light. Our culture created the idea that pink and blue should represent each gender. It has been proven that men will usually find women more attractive if they wear red or pink. This is because our culture has attached into our brains that emotional response into that given color.

The most theoretical aspect of color that most fascinates me is the fact that we can only see color because of the light hitting an object and being reflected into our eyes. This would mean that in reality, color does not exist and it is just an effect created by our eyes. It really changed the way you look at the world around you and makes you see life and the human body as the amazing creation that it is.

The video "color" is very interesting. It shows how color is the most powerful artistic element. It is difficult to get an emotion out of your painting if it does not include colors. Colors can also make it easier for people to understand the message that the artist is trying to present.

In the "feelings" video, it impacted me how works of art can change a person's feelings towards an event or the person that is being depicted. Works of art has always been used to send a message to the viewer. In the past, many art works tried to depict religious figures which created an idea inside the person's brain of how that person from the past looked like and behaved. It also gives you the feeling of being there at the moment of the important event shown in the image.

Videos and CNN Articles review

The CNN article "What the brain draws from: Art and neuroscience"  talks about different techniques used by artist in their paintings. Artist try to trick the brain into thinking the image is three-dimensional by adding shadows and using different tones of colors. Works of art like the "Mona Lisa" have a dynamic quality which makes the painting change its expression depending on which area of her face you are focusing. I don't agree with how the article tries to persuade us into believing that we are somehow born with an idea wired into our brain of what beauty means. People build their own definition of beauty by persuasion and experiences. 

The "Neurobiology Neurology and Art and Aesthetics" video is about how art has evolved throughout the years and the effects which art has on human beings. The key concept that I have learned from this presentation is that art is not suppose to be realistic. It is suppose to be distorted and exaggerated to bring an emotion from the people. The CNN article seems to believe that art is suppose to be symmetrical and beautiful but the professors in this video seem to disagree with this idea.

Plato's theory on aesthetics seems to be the most important. Plato grew up during the Peloponnese War around 428 BCE in Greece. He was born during the classical age of Athens. He defines art as a skill used to make and do things. Plato seems to believe that the highest level of beauty, which he called "absolute beauty" is having a beautiful mind as well as a beautiful body. He believed that all beautiful objects needed to present unity and proportion within their parts. He gave us the definition of beauty which we use in today's society.
 
Changeux and Ramachandran scientific view of aesthetics and art are both very interesting. Ramachandran most interesting fact were his 8 laws of art. The most interesting fact in Changeux lecture was his discovery of composition.

Both the text and video talk about the history of art and its effect on humans. The text and the video helped me get a better understand of what aesthetics and art means. The video and CNN article seem to use science in order to explain art.

The films gave me a different view of what art is and how it should be done. The video has taught me that the word art does not have one specific meaning, but instead it can have different definitions for different people.

My first blog!!!

Hi everyone. This is my first blog!

To be honest, creating the gmail account was not as easy as it would be for most people. I don't use google for my e-mails. They require too much to create a simple account on their website. Though I never created a blog before, this was easier than what I thought if you follow the instructions.

In this course I expect to learn how to draw a picture. I was not born with this talent but I'm sure that with practice I will get better. I also want to learn how to better understand paintings from other artists. I want to be able to analyze their paintings and see the message and story behind them.

I really wanted to take an online course. I think classes like this would have been better in a classroom. You learn faster by watching the professor demonstrate first. Online classes are still good since it allows you to manage your time better and balance work and school with your needs. As the internet keeps becoming a part of our everyday life, online courses will be the future of schooling.