Week 9 Hand Drawing

Week 9 Hand Drawing:
1)  Using my hand was something we did in school years ago, easy.
2)  I used a pencil for this tracing.   It is easy to shade.
3)  Using my non-dominant hand was sloppy and messy.   Hand looks fat.
4)  Not really successful studies, very sloppy, I'm not a very good artist.   Does not really look like my hands.
5)  No way would i use my non-dominant left hand to draw.  Too inaccurate and sloppy.

Week 9 Video Blog review

I picked the first 4 videos, of the Renaissance with artist, based in Italy.  I did not pick the videos from northern European artists, not very interested in them.  The videos were a good complement to the text, which happened to be pretty good for Michelangelo and DaVinci.  

1)  Drawings of Michelangelo.   Before Michelangelo's paintings, sculptures, or architechure became art, he needed to make pencil drawings of everything.   michelangelo made drawings of the Pieta, David, the Sistine Chapel ceiling, the Last Judgement, the Medici Tomb, and St Peters Basilica, among others.   The problem is, he destroyed most of his original drawings.   Some remain for study.  Ghirlandaoi taught him to paint and draw, but his only signed sculpture was the famous Pieta with Mary and Jesus.   He had a great knowledge of the human body, as seen with the David Statue, made in Italy in 1501.   In 1508, he started the ceiling in the Sistine Chapel a very difficult job.   This again was started with drawings.   He then did the Medici Church architecture and sculptures, but he left it unfinished.  Michelangelo's private life was confusing, and at the end, he did crucifixion drawings before his death.

2)  Leonardo Da Vinci:  The mind of the Renaissance:   Yound Leonardo showed great promise in his youth, and was an apprentice in Florence.  He was many things:  a painter, a sculpture, architech, and engineer, a student of anatomy, a student of botany, and other sciences, a true "Renaissance man".   He loved machines and how to improve them.  He tried to be a military engineer by inventing war machines.   He painted the Virgin on the rocks, but it took him 25 years to deliver it.   He did some nasty human dissections, and made accurate drawings of them, including the muscles and ligaments.  In 1499 Da Vinci left Milan for Venice, where he helped defend the city from invading Turks, even designing a underwater attack system.  He eventually returned to Florence to paint the famous Mona Lisa.    He has a lot of engineering designs that were never created for real.   Da Vinci eventually moved to the Vatican in Rome, where he continued to work on inventions and research.

3)   Power of Art : Caravaggio:  What a strange video...very strange life of this artist.  The Renaissance was a time where the catholic church tried to keep it's power and faith with the people, and away from the protestants.   Protestants favored printed bibles, not paintings and sculptures.   Caravaggio was a painter that used street people as models in 1593 Rome.   He did not paint the classical styles with these poor people. The 'Boy with a Basket of Fruit' was of common people, as was the card game painting, done with amazing realism.   The Calling of St Matthew was about a sinner, not a saint, and was a sacred success.   The Martyrdon of St Matthew was basically a back alley fight.   The Beheading of John the Baptist was a scene of horror and cruelty, instead of beauty.  Caravaggio led a strange and tragic life.

4)   La Primavera, by Botticella.    This "Primavera" was beautiful painting of flowers, beautiful people, a magical, inspiring painting.   It was made in the 1480's by Botticella.   Venus and Cupid are in the painting, with other mystical people like Mercury.   The painting may originally been a wedding gift, even with the themes of rape and violence, which does not make sense.   It is difficult to understand the true meaning of the painting, with the 9 figures present, and it's erotic overtones.  The Primavera is a popular painting in moderns homes all over the world.

All the videos were pretty good.   I think the Caravaggio video was a little exaggerated with all the violence, and acting.

Week 8 Video Review Blog

1.  More Human Than Human....this was a good video.  Learned that the human body dominates the lives of people in art, but images don't really look like actual people, always exaggerated to look better.  The 25,000 year olf venus of Willendorf is worth 60 million bucks, it exaggerates pregnancy since it was so valuable then.   the Egyptians stopped exaggeration, they wanted consistency with art, it was a cutural value of theirs.   They used grids to keep drawings of people consistent.  The 1972 discovery of the Riace statues showed the greeks wanted perfect bodies, more god-like. These statues may be the greatest ever made. I like the mysterious music on the video when these statues were discovered.   Greeks tried to work with the Egyptians, but could not. Kritios Boy was realistic, but decided to be boring.   Since boring, artists went back to exaggerating. Even now a days, skinny unrelaistic models are the standard, same as bodybuilders.  This was really a great video, liked it a lot, especially the riace statues, never heard of them before.   better than text, as usual.

2.  Birth of the Middle Ages.  I have always been interested in the mysterious middle ages, so I picked this video, and the next 2 videos of the Middle Ages.  Middle age feudalism still exists today in Cameroon.  Japan maintained feudalism for a long time into the 19th century.   The Dark Ages started around 500 AD after Rome fell, after 8 centuries of rule.   No more official laws, ethics, art, stability, or learning.   Superstition was popular. Medieval fortified cities were started.  Some culture was maintained by monks. The Renaissance , or rebirth, was started in 1000 AD, and life improved, art flourished, many churches were built.  Thhis video did not add too much to the text, did not really learn too much from it.

3.  Art and Life in Middle Ages:  Luttrell Psalter.   I loved this video.   Geoffrey Luttrell in 1345 gave his unbelievable prayer book to the monks.  Very detailed writings and illustrations of life in the middle ages, but included confusing pictures of make believe monsters.   These detail pictures are priceless, show things like farming, planting seeds, harvesting, making clothes, milling, games and parties, acrobats, feasts, hunting with falcons, jousting, crusades.   there were also Bible scenes and 150 psalms.   Saints were shown, including how they died.   This was an amazing book, with amazing pictures.   Never knew it existed.  A great video.

4.  Cataclysm: Black Death Visits Tuscany.   A good video that described the horrors of the Black Death better than the book.  Talked about Siena and Florence in Italy, very prosperous cities with business, construction, a good life.   Then the plague hit in the the 1330's in China, and spread to Italy in 1348.   the plague lasted 7 months and killed half of europe.   Many people moved to the countryside to escape the Black Death.  The "horrors of hell" were drawn in artwork by bartolo to show the plague.  Incredible times, i like the video, learn more than the text.

Week 7 Video Blog Review

1. Key Concepts:
    a)  The Prairie Style Video did a nice job of showing Frank Lloyd Wright.   His Prairie style housing design changed architecture.  Previously, houses were segmented, with closed room, a Victorian style.   Wright's design was organic, of the landscape.   he like open, horizontal spaces.   The fireplace was the main center point of the house.  Many windows give a house an open look.  The Tomak house was the first one with open spaces design.   Many new houses now have open designs, instead of small rooms.   Fallingwater used the cantilever design, with live waterfalls in the design.
   b)  Architecture: Science of Design:   This video discussed skyscraper design.   Even though they are steel and concrete, they still sway in the wind.   Wind tunnel testing is done to help the design and prevent sway.  Sometimes trees can be planted to prevent wind effects.  Smart houses for individuals are taking over, instead of large apartment houses.  Smart houses have all the energy efficient devices.   Concrete is still the material of choice, as Greek and Roman concrete is still standing, it's found in all forms of architecture.
  c)  Classical Architecture:    Ancient Greek and Roman classic architecture is used today, seen in places like Washington DC, and even in WWII Germany.   Three Greek styles of Doric, Ionic, and Corinthian columns exist.   The Arch was invented by the Romans, and helped allow larger inside areas.   Prince Charles is leading the effort to get more classical construction instead of modernistic.  Modern architecture uses solar energy, energy efficient windows, and other smart technology.
   d)  Imperial Rome was chosen:   Rome was founded next to the Tiber river and the 7 Hill.  The Servian Wall was built around Rome as protection, then eventually the Aurelianic Wall.  Romans used stone for wall, bridges, and homes.    Aqueducts were great construction projects in those days, and brought water to the city.    Ostia and Portus were port cities and dock, used to receive and transport grain for the food supply of Rome.   Romans had to live close to work, since they could only walk to work, so they built interesting 5-story apartment houses.   Public latrines were constructed, and water was supplied with lead pipes.   That is one problem I see with Rome, is the lead poisoning potential.   Roman Palaces were great construction projects, as was the Pantheon temple (all the gods).   The Pantheon had a special round dome, and was rebuilt at least 2 times.  

2.  The videos related pretty well to the text, but as usual, they were superior.   Much easier to watch and learn for me.

3.  I like the videos, especially the Frank Lloyd Wright, and I liked hearing Prince Charles talk in the cameo.    I did not like the Science of Design very much, they spent too much time talking about wind tunnels and wind effects.

4.  I chose the Roman as the 4th video.   Mian reason is that I am 1/2 Italian, and I wanted to see something from my ancestors. 

Week 6 Installation Art

Step3 Questions
1.  What is installation art?  A space in a room, or outside, that can be entered, explorer, experienced and reflected upon.   Placement is in exhibition space where people are invited inside.  Most installation art is in a room.
2.  Materials are everyday, common place items.  Fabric, wood, lights, cloth...in my artwork, I used tin foil.
3.  Why make installation art?  It asks people to explore and experience.  This is different than simply looking at a painting, or sculpture.
4.  My favorite artist is definitely Christo and Jeanne-Claude.   They hung the Gates in New York City.  I will do a version of the Gates with my project.

Step 4 Questions:
A.  Yes, I loved the gates by Christo and Jeanne-Claude.  I want to hang a different material in one room, and see what happens.
B.  The element I want to explore is Texture and Pattern, such a visual texture, this is apparent in the smooth, shiny foil I am using.
C.  I will use sheet of tin foil
D.  The installation is above a couch in the computer room of my house.  It will partially enclose the couch, maybe even give a trapped feeling.  The shiny appearance may give a futuristic feeling.

4.  The installation is hanging tin foil above a couch, in front of a TV.   You can experience the art by going behind the tin foil barrier, and looking from on the couch.  You get a trapped feeling, caged in a way. 
5.  The shiney foil seems futuristic, like a science fiction event.   I will leave it up all day to enjoy!
6.  You have to plan by coming up with a general idea, then trying to find the ideal site.  I wanted to do something like The Gates.   If I did not find this perfect site, I would have selected a different project.  This ended up being a fun assignment.

Week 6 Peer Response Blog

1)  I reviewed the documents by Katherine Gruppo and Jenna Fanara, here are the links:
http://katieaed.blogspot.com/2010/09/first-blog.html
http://lostprofetsun.blogspot.com/
2)   Overall, both students did a nice job with the elements and principles listed with the images.  Katherine did a great job with 3-D "space" picture, and a black and white "Value" pic.  Jenna has some amazing phoots of the outdorrs for the elements.  All met the definitions.
3)  For Project 2, no, the images were not the same as mine.  It's a big museum, a lot of selection.  I like the Niagara falls picture, but did not like the scary picasso womans' head.  Both girls did a nice job with the photos.
4)  I had a lot of interestin the beauty of the element pics by Jenna Fanara...absolutely beautiful color and settings.  Must have been Letchworth park.  Up close pictures of colorful flowers were awesome.  She really captured the 'elements'.   And I liked Katherine's 'Value' pic a lot, really looked like a professional set-up.
5)   I liked reading my peers reflections, but I really liked looking at the pics...got more out the sheer beauty of the work they did.
6)  None of my peers added to my blog at this time.

Week 6 , 3 Video Reviews

1.   Thru the Eyes Of A Sculpture was a good video.   It described how Emmanuel Fillion started sculpting at an early age of 15.   He received a scholarship, education, and training.  Initially he worked with restoration.  He eventually became a master sculpture and moved to Malibu.  To make the piece of art, he needs to draw it first.   Then he makes a clay model, then he makes a plaster cast model.   He picks out a piece of marble, then a helper makes a 'rough carve'.  Fillion then finishes it with a file, and makes the final touches.   It's hard to appreciate the level of difficulty in doing this work, it is not described in the text.   They have to search for the limestone and marble, out in the mountains of Italy.   It was a very good video, I learned a lot about limestone, marble, and sculpture.

2.  Glass and Ceramics explained the glass making, and ceramic process.   Glass is made from silica, and is actually a stiff liquid.  It can be shaped into any form, and these days glass is being used in special energy saving applications.  Glass is also being improved as safety glass to prevent injuries.   Staind glass windows are made by starting with small-scale models.   Then full scale sketches used as a pattern.  Eventually you get a puzzle of glass to put together.  The final beauty depends on surrounding light.   The text does not do a good job of explaining as the video does, so much easier to watch a video.  It was a decent video, but maybe a little old and outdated the way it presented.

3.  The installation art video was interesting and a little weird.   Installation art manipulates space and perception, and forces the viewer to evaluate the art in a 3-D look.   It is called fashionable and trendy, but I call it a little weird.   Installation art "takes over and defines space" by the artist.  The invisible art of weird music playing for 1000 years is creepy.   Marcel Duchamp is funny by calling everyday objetcs as art.   Video cameras are now used inside darkened rooms, as art.   Yes, this video is also better than the text, explains everything better.  I liked this video the best of all 3.