Blog 17:Almost Last Post of My HS Career ^_^

I think that there has been such an increase in numbers because of all of the things mentioned in the prompt. That people, obviously, want more things to be able to do with less money. It’s very difficult to be able to go to the theater or go to the movies, especially in New York where tickets for the movies are usually around $15 per person. Not including the higher taxes and then food and drink. It gets expensive around Sunnyland, IL when people go to the movies. I think I’d be broke if I lived somewhere else! I think that education and prominence also has something to do with it. People are learning more about art, and it’s getting promoted more so people want to see what all of the hubbaloo is about. A lot of new artists take everyday things and transform them into what can be nicely called conversation pieces. I personally don’t happen to like much modern art because of this fact. It doesn’t capture my attention, exactly to see a person made entirely out of used gum wrappers, but it certainly is a conversation piece. I’m not entirely certain what is meant by shows, if that means the artwork involved or if there’s something going on to showcase it, such as a band playing or the person travelling with his/her show. I know I have a love of museums, and a few museums have lowered prices, or had special days that are cheaper, and I love going on these days. I think there has been an increase in membership, because with art being “in” again, people want to stay “in the know.” And, art is amazing of course!

Reflection #16

Almost every person I know has dreams, and if they say they don't, I think they just don't remember them. I think dreams are art. Even though you/I can't actually see other people's dreams, they are so vivid some people wake up with a good or horrible feeling dependent on the dream or nightmare from the night before. I'm a good listener normally, or I used to be, so my cousin would tell me some of her dreams and even though some of her nightmares were horrible and kind of scary they were fascinating. Everyone's brains work in different ways, even if only slightly. I know that I've dreamed about kind of the same thing as a friend of mine, say the same event, but our versions come out completely different. It's like having too many eyewitnesses for an accident, each person tells a different version of what happened because they saw things differently and remembers details differently. Same thing with dreams. Some doctors say that our dreams are emissions of our subconscious and that is sometimes how we solve our problems and relate our fears to our conscious mind. I'm not quite sure what a raving demon in the middle of a schoolroom would tell my cousin's conscious mind or what that would say she was afraid of. Random demons appearing in a place that she hated? (She hated high school). When people put these down into artwork that you can visibly see, obviously it’s considered art, but even before that when you see it in your dreams it’s gorgeous. Some artists spend their lives trying to recapture what they saw in their dreams.

Reflection #15

I think that graffiti on public buildings is considered crossing the line. I don’t know how or why people think that they can destroy public property and could possibly think that everyone want s to look at the fact that they have “been there” or “done that” I happen to think it’s quite idiotic. On the other hand I think its only fair to say that no one would have really gone out and saw all of the artwork had it been in a museum like other people’s artwork. Most of the graffiti I know is done by the underprivileged children in what are usually considered ghettoes of the suburban cities; cities such as Chicago, the Bronx and Queens of New York. Graffiti is such a beautiful art. I personally am amazed at the care and intricacy that can be found in it, and most of the times it has to be done really quickly otherwise the ‘artist’ will be discovered. A lot of times the graffiti is considered tagging, which means that a person has a signature or a signature way of doing something and wants to show his or her artwork. The detail and the different colours and the shading that can be done I quite admire. The sheer size is also awe inspiring as well. When we had to make a cover for a sketchbook in advanced 2-d art class and incorporate our name inside of it, it took me seriously forever to figure out a way to make my name without making it look incredibly stupid. I respect what the taggers are trying to do, but I don’t think it should be on highly public property, like libraries or police stations. Subways are perfectly fine though ^_^.

Reflection #14

If I tell you watching kids is an art it sounds very creepy. But the watching isn’t the art, the kids are. Watching my nephews play is such a great experience. With young kids you’ve watched go from a squalling newborn to a child of six it is amazing. Going to the nursery to see the babies is such an experience. When you hold the defenseless newborn in your arms for the first time you count fingers and toes and look at its perfect little nose, the lush eyebrows, the blue veins underneath the skin, and the tiny fingernails all come together to make one baby!! Watching a baby crawl for the first time or roll over is such a beautiful moment! The unbalance of a baby is so weird. Such awkward proportions! The head seems so fat! The torso is the longest part of the baby but some babies (like my nephews) have such a lanky body structure that it looks just like a miniature person! Watching the wonder that comes over a child’s face is breathtaking. It is such an indescribable feeling to watch children play quietly and help each other learn and grow, it seems like there could never be any dissension in the world and that there should be peace all around. Children have such over exaggerated expressions they’re priceless. When an 18 month old is examining a toy for the first time the surprise they show when it lights up when they press a certain button or it makes a screeching noise when it is shaken up and down without your help is the best feeling in the world. Especially when said child looks up at you like you made it all happen. There’s so much detail that goes into each expression and most people don’t realize it. Every child discovers his/her hand at some point in time and can spend hours just staring at it. It’s fascinating to do and to watch a child do. So watching kids isn’t creepy!

Reflection #13

I don’t do much observational drawing anymore, no. I used to quite a bit, but then I realized that it annoyed me incredibly when things would move and not stay in their original position. I suppose this is why it’s so difficult and when you do it well why it’s so worth it to put it into a portfolio for review or for acceptance into college. I think that some of them are a little awkward in explaining how to do the portfolios. I agree completely 100% that an artist should master the basic mechanics of drawing before they try to fully incorporate their own style into it. It’s hard enough to tell sometimes what a person is trying to draw when they simply look at it and try to recreate what is in their line of vision. When their ‘vision’ gets into it sometimes becomes abstract. Which, can be a good thing but it takes years for most people’s abstract work to become “okay” to have, in my experience. Some people (like down at the riverfront shows) should not have their work shown because they haven’t quite mastered the basics yet, which is demonstrated a lot through observational drawings. I think it’s pitiful that people who have a lot of talent but no, how could I say, ‘training’ epically fail at being a good artist. You don’t have to have training, just a good grasp of what looks decent together. Quick sketches and thick lines a good drawing does not make. I can definitely see the benefits of observational drawing!

Reflection #12

Something that I see as an art form is the art of an argument. Not the stupid, screaming match of i-hate-you, but the impassioned and intellectual stimulation you can get from having an intelligent argument that gets quite a bit heated. I think all emotions are art, which other people have made art about; obviously--love, anger, etc. But I think what "non-artist" people choose to do with their emotions is inspiring. They argue, they fight, they hug, and make up. Have you ever seen an argument between two 'stodgy old' college professors get into an argument? It's intense. At first when the argument is just considered a discussion, then they start to fight more and eventually their hats or wigs start to fall off and their body quivers in indignation and their fingers are wagging so hard it's crazy. It's so great to watch, even if it's not true it's just a portrayal it still is magical. It's not something that is easily described, the look on the people's faces as they feel their emotions. Of course there are little things that are indicative of their mood such as widening or narrowing of the eyes, a flaring of the nose, compressed lips, etc. But more than that there's an energy about the that just suggests they love what they're doing and can't wait until the next time they do it, even if they are proved wrong by the person they're arguing with. I believe it's art because it's something you can actually capture, literally as an artist you can capture what someone else does with their energy and then as an artist you can take what you have and spin it in a completely different direction, so just because you say take a picture of the argument, I think the argument itself and the people involved are the art, not necessarily the picture.

Reflection 11

Torstein Nordstrand depicts everything you could think of that would be considered mythical. He creates golums, ninja type characters, dragons, ogres, goblins, elves, iron-man type warriors, magis, sorcerers, surreal real-life situations (someone tagging a brick wall), and skull hunters to name a few. He is from Norway where he lives currently with his wife and two daughters. His art is received very, very well in the art community right now. He is a freelance illustrator for one, and you can’t exactly make money doing that if you’re not received well, and he is an in-house concept artist and Funcom, which is a video designing company. One could argue that video games aren’t really the art community, but it can be depending on your definition of art (hence our other blogs). What drew me to his work was I was on a page listing a bunch of different modern fantasy artists and his name stuck out to me. I love his work because even if it were depicting more real life things such as a garden, his whole style of working is slightly fantastical. He works on the computer mostly in Photoshop; that is where he paints. He also dabbles in other 2-D and 3-D software programs. On his website it shows mostly 2-D as far as I can tell. I was initially drawn to his colors throughout his works which are muted and not very vibrant but all have a sense of urgency and vitality. I see this in most of his works online. His faces of people aren’t the greatest, but then again in real life they can sometimes be not so great as well. And I like that he depicts them accurately but with a sardonic twist.