Mask Project

 This is an African mask that really stood out to me. The use of colors beautifully blend together to make this amazing work of art. I like how the artist made the background color of the mask a darker, navy blue, to make the other colors brighter and stand out more. I personally enjoy the top part of the mask the most. The use of lines inside of the miniature circles looks very eye catching and almost, mesmerizing.  

I chose this mask because as I was doing some research it stood out to me. I noticed not only the different elements and principles of colors and lines but I noticed there is, what looks to be a bird at the top of the mask. That is my favorite part of this mask because I feel like there is a deeper meaning behind the bird. Possible it was the artists favorite animal? Maybe he resembled a bird? But in one way or another that bird was important to him and it was also a reasoning for why I made my mask the way I did. This made me think that I could add different words, and things to the mask besides just basic color that can also tell a story about myself.






This mask is one another one of my favorites and the first thing that caught my eye about this mask was the use of colors. The dark black background color really made the other purples and blues attract and catch the eye. Its use of light, lines and color really make the piece enjoyable to look at. Again, my favorite part of the mask is at the top of the skull, the use of color and lines automatically attract my eye and I believe the tops of each of these masks are the most important part of the mask.

This was my original sketch drawing of my mask. I put things on the mask that describe me. I added both of my favorite colors blue and purple. I did them in lines as well. I also wanted to put some words on the mask that describe me as well. Throughout the process of creating my mask I decided that I was going to make a Paper Mache. I used news paper, printer paper and magazine. I thought that by doing this not only could I create a 3D mask but I could incorporate my favorite colors and words that describe me as well.

Throughout making this mask I must say I did not think my finished product would end up this good. I did however, have some help from my girlfriend. I think my finished product was a success. It uses the different elements and principles of the differences in color, light, texture and some lines. My favorite part about my mask is that it is not only in my two favorite colors, purple and blue but the mask as a whole describes me. Some of the words on the mask say caring, smart, optimistic and even loud. I thought the process of making the mask was both easy and difficult, easy because I knew right away what I wanted to make my mask out of, but difficult in that I wasn't completely sure how to do it. I thought that the mask making was definitely a good learning experience for me because I did not know that I could create something that does actually look artistic. I am very proud of my mask and I hope you continue this project for other students in the future, it was a fun way to learn about mask making.

Module 10

The two videos I chose were "African Art" and "African Art: Legacy of Oppression". The reason I chose both of these videos were because I vaguely remember learning about African Art in high school, however, we did not go into depth about any of it and I was interested in learning more. Some things that I learned in each video is that African Art is very naturalistic. Also, they tend to focus their art on animals, mothers, and chiefs or those of power. They create all different forms of art, some of which include, paintings, sculptures and the most popular, masks. I learned that they were continuously finding new things to create their fabulous works of art with and I love the amount of detail each piece has in it. As for, the video in comparison to the text, I find that the video does a better job at describing everything and I personally think the videos have more detail than the book does, or at least I obtain the information better through the videos because they are more interesting. I actually enjoy watching the videos and I learn better from them than I would from a text book. I wish my other classes could figure out a way to do this.

To begin, I found it very interesting using my hand as the subject matter. I found that there was so much detail in my hand that I never paid any attention to until it was the subject matter of this project. I chose to use pencil instead of charcoal, I think it was easier for me to use pencil instead of charcoal. As for how it was using my non-dominant hand to draw my other hand, I found it to be very annoying to be honest. I found myself getting angry because the detail I was trying to draw with my non-dominant hand was taking a lot longer than it was with my other hand and I was constantly going back to erase. I think the hand that was drawn with my dominant hand was a lot better, more realistic and paid more attention to all of the detail in my hand. I think the other hand that was drawn with my non-dominant hand was still alright but definitely did not have as much detail. I believe they are both successful studies because they confirm exactly what you would think would happen, that the hand drawn with my dominant hand would be better than the one drawn with my non-dominant hand. I personally, would not use my non-dominant hand to drawn in the future. Although I found it to be a good experience, it was very frustrating to me because I was constantly making mistakes and had to continuously keep erasing.

Module 9

I chose the videos on Velazquez and Albrecht Durer. I chose these two because I knew minimal information about each of them and was interested in learning more about their lives. In the Albrecht Durer video I learned about his life and how he began and continued his artist career, from a very young age. I learned that his main focus was paintings, sketches and just basic drawings and he traveled around the world to find new things to paint. I thought his lifestyle was very interesting because he did not have too much to worry about. Nowadays everything is quick, from the minute you wake up to the minute you go to sleep we are always doing something and it is very stressful, I found that it was different back then. As for the Velazquez video I also learned about his life. I learned that he only had one friend, whom was the king and the main focus of his art, and one love his wife. I learned that his main interest in his artist career was painting and most of his artwork was of the king. Velazquez painted what he wanted, however, the king did make some recommendations as to how he painted him. All in all I think the videos are similar to the text however I think there are certain details left out in each of them. I enjoy the videos better because they add to my understanding and learning, and it keeps me "alive" while learning. I dislike reading from the text I find it very boring and end up having to reread what I just read to be able to understand it, I find with the videos I do not have to re-watch them to be able to understand it.

Module 8

1. To begin, I selected the video "The Measure of All Things Greek Art and the Human Figure". I decided on this video because it was about Greek art as a whole and not just specific portions. I also liked that it was specific about the Human Figure.
2.Both videos talk about the difference between realism and non realism. The video "The Measure of All Things Greek Art and the Human Figure", talks about how the artists have somewhat evolved and are becoming more realistic with their art and getting away from Egyptian art. They are making the art have movement and many of the sculptures are of women either pregnant or shown that they had already given birth. As for the other video, the host says that they sculptures are not realistic because many sculptures are paying attention to some things over others. For example, one of the art pieces had a main focus on the stomach and the breast of the women, but the women had almost no arms and had no face. I began to wonder if this meant something? Maybe like how back then women were not powerful and did not really have a say in anything, they were just viewed as objects and sexual possessions.
3. I believe the videos relate to the readings in that most of the generalize information is the same and both discuss the differences between realism and things that are not generally characterized to be realistic.
4. I believe these videos added depth to my understanding because even after reading I did not fully understand the meaning of realism. I thought any sculpture that had any resemblance to a human was considered to be realistic. However, after watching the videos and seeing the artwork and having the information and explanations as to why a piece was either realistic or not, helped my understanding of the meaning of realism.

Architecture

To begin, the two videos I chose were "Prairie Style" and "Architecture: The Science of Design". For the "Prairie Style" video, I learned many new things about Architecture. For example, I did not even know that Prairie Style was a type of Architecture. I learned that the house being built is more horizontal than other houses and there is a lot of attention to detail involved in architecture. I learned that with a Prairie Style house, one of the main focuses is how the windows look in contrast with the wall and surrounding area. Finally, I learned that architecture is not just the building of the house but the furniture, property, and landscaping all combined as a whole to make the architecture really amazing. The other video I watched was "Architecture: The Science of Design", from this video I learned that, like in the other video, architecture is more than just the building of the house and there is a lot more involved. One example, not only the property and landscaping but when creating architecture such as a building the weather is also an important part of the creation process. In the video they used an example where they were building skyscrapers and generally it was windier where they were trying to build, therefore, they put in trees to absorb some of the wind. All of this combined is architecture, the landscaping, the property choice, furniture, weather, location etc. Like I said in previous blog postings, these videos help me learn about the specific topic, in this case architecture, a lot better because I do not have to read I actually get to see the creation of architecture in the process while getting information on the artwork. I chose the videos because I wanted to learn about the Prairie Style architecture and what made it different from regular architecture types and I chose the other video because I wanted to learn the generalized version of Architecture as a whole.

Peer Review

http://kellygandt.blogspot.com/2016/10/first-gallery-visit.html#comment-form

https://kellygandt.blogspot.com/2016/09/photobucket.html?showComment=1475863862596#c6613263372296260494

https://emilyhirsch-art.blogspot.com/2016/09/photography-project-1.html?showComment=1475864771694#c8317599307698736795

https://emilyhirsch-art.blogspot.com/2016/09/module-five-project-2-art-gallery-visit.html?showComment=1475870788946#c4253250292289330049

1. For project 1 for both Emily and Kelly I agreed each of them chose the proper elements and principles for each work of art they chose to write on. I would have done the same. I personally enjoyed looking at each of the pictures that had chosen and reading about where each came from and why they chose to use that piece.
2. For project two I did not chose any of the same pieces of art as either of them. However, for Kelly, the 100 cans piece made an impression on me just like it did on her. And for Emily the Niagara piece had an impact on me because, I too, live in and grew up in Buffalo, and am familiar with the surrounding area and I think it is a beautiful piece of art with amazing detail.
3. I think that the process of reviewing each others art work projects was a good experience. It allows us to know what interests the other classmates as well as see the similar likes and dislikes that are shared between me and other classmates. I also think it helped me learn better because not only was I able to do the project and understand why I chose the specific elements and principles, I was also able to see the elements and principles in relationship with different pictures than I had chosen.