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.

Reflection 10

I think a well made piece of furniture is art. I love the way the wood gleams in the light. I love the superior craftsmanship that goes into a piece. I suppose I should say that I think well made hand made wood pieces of furniture are art pieces. I would be one of the happiest people ever if I could make a piece of furniture, like a coffee table that is awe-inspiring. The sturdiness of the legs and the heaviness of the top counterbalance each other and create a fragile tandem with each other. Or the stout legs of a small coffee table. The scroll work that is carved by hand is so intricate that it seems like it would take years to make a leg look like that, and very extreme patience. Even if one worked with a lathe, I think it would still be difficult to accomplish that kind of detail. When someone works hard and puts a lot of blood, sweat and tears into something it really shows. The new and assembly line pieces that are mostly made today, because it’s cheap and affordable for the average joe don’t have the same appealing quality that handmade and older pieces have for me. Don’t get me wrong, just like today some of the pieces that are considered antique are very ugly but have all the characteristics I described above. To me, they aren’t aesthetically pleasing. I like small details with an over-all streamlined look. But, that’s art to me.

Reflection #8 (Cultural #3)

I, as did around 700 other students, attended Washington Community H.S.'s homecoming last saturday!! It was an intense expierence. That was the most students I've ever seen doing the same thing at one time by choice, not because it was required. It was quite interesting looking at all of the different choices everyone made on their outfits. I know certain people’s styles, when they are in school as well as when they are out of school. Certain people I’ve seen dressed up, dressed down, dressed every which way and yet their dress/semi-formal “tuxedo” choice surprised me. Everyone had a fabulous time, as far as anyone I’ve talked to (besides Charise D.) and if not, the night was still good. There was good food (salsa and chips) with a lot of soda to keep everyone pumped up to keep on dancing for school spirit!
I also participated in spirit week at school, which was amazingly hilarious on most days. Nerd day by far had to be my favorite day. I love seeing what people think of as geeky. It shows that as our generation gets older, what seemed cool even ten years ago or eleven is slightly geeky. I know, because as I looked at my classmates’ and underclassmen choices in geeky-ness I was amazed. I still see people wearing some of the things, maybe not all together and oversized, but some of the things I have even still seen being sold in stores!! It’s truly amazing what our class as a group can come up with. It’s what we’re being raised with, in our particular little group of WCHS. I love every minute of it though.

Reflection 7

On the cut and past website my favorite dada artist is John Heartfield. I love how his pieces are all in black and white and have such a striking contrast with each other and within the piece. It may just be the reproductions on the computer but it is quite grainy as well. I actually really like the way it looks, I do not like the color in the other artists' work. It seems too.. I can't think of how to explain it actually. It's just not the right colors or the ones I would of chosen I suppose, I do not think the colors work very well together. Of course, that's just not how my style is and it does not truly appeal to me. I love Heartfield’s because his is straight and to the point. His work is commanding in presence and even though it is a collage it is fairly simplistic. The images are stark and powerful. They speak to me. I am interested in what his social causes are because of his work, whereas with the other artists on the site that has work posted I am not as interested, the work doesn’t appeal to me

Reflection #6 (Cultural #2)

I went to the Morton Pumpkin festival last Saturday, in Morton Illinois obviously. It was an intense time. I have never been to it before, or if I have I don't remember so. It was quite similar to the Cherry Festival in Washington. There were a number of teenagers and young adults, with a few younger children there. I loved eating the pumpkin ice cream though! It was being served at the Morton Roller Rink, if that gives any idea of where the festival was being held at. I personally didn’t ride any rides so I couldn’t say anything particularly about the rides, but I did notice one that I don’t think we had at the Cherry Festival. It looked quite fun to ride on. Laura K. was intense about finding something pumpkin-y to eat, and she got her wish with some ice cream. Sammi P. said that there were more pumpkin foods at the festival on Thursday or Friday but Saturday was the last night for it I believe. It was incredibly tiring trying to walk around with having gone to Chicago earlier in the day, but it was fun nonetheless. I loved going to a different town and listening to people talk and seeing the crafts and eating the ice cream made by the local Morton-ites. I had a fun time breaking out of my comfort zone a little bit.

Reflection #5

Before I read this article and watched the film I felt pretty much the same way about color as I do after reading and watching the article. It didn’t tell me a whole lot of what I didn’t already know. Which is awesome; considering I learned most of what I know from my art classes! I learned some new terms for what I’ve already done before in my work but it wasn’t intentional I suppose you could say. It was just something that looked pleasing to me. Oooh maybe I have an eye for color! Who knew. I’m not sure how to explain how I use color in my own work. I mess with it a lot. I use varying shades and tints to get a good color combination. Quite often in my work I try to make the piece soft and easy and calming on the eyes, even when its reds I’m using. But I do like to have pieces that are jarring to the senses every once in awhile I can be mean like that. Pieces that aren’t at all what the viewer is expecting—it doesn’t look realistic at all but at the same time it does. I’m making them sound a lot more expressive than they actually are in my opinion. I don’t understand the author of the article’s view on wasted paints and getting the message across, exactly. If you’re painting or drawing for a specific person I understand you would want to get a nice reaction from them. I think art should be more about pleasing yourself, but I think that opinion is more only mine just because I’m not going to try to make a living off of art in the future. My color theory has changed in the past four years by becoming more complex. I (usually) know how to mix colors better and what tones to get in order to offset the other colors well. With my current project I sort of want to chuck it across the room because of the colors but Hey, it’s a learning piece for me. A new genre. Sometimes I think I would’ve rathered stayed ignorant of color theory and all its implications just because it gets so complicated in my head sometimes. But I’ve liked learning how colors blend and what they blend with to get good colors besides the basic “red plus yellow equals orange.”

Reflection #4 (Cultural #1) Chi-town!

art work--
restaurant--
back of random building--

I was in a beauty pageant over the weekend. It was an intense experience. Unfortunately, I couldn’t take pictures of all of the events so I only have a few! And I made no new friends. But that’s beside the point. It was the National American Miss pageant, and this is different from the pageants on T.V. (i.e. Toddlers and Tiaras on HGTV). NAM focuses more on the inner girl, the more well rounded All-American girl. This means there is no swimsuit and no required talent portion. Miss Teen USA focuses pretty much on the outer beauty of girls. The former reigning queen for Illinois in the teen division was in Miss Teen USA and she said it was incredibly shallow. Fun, but shallow. This pageant was all the better for that in my opinion. It was easier to focus on the girl as a whole, not just if she had braces or acne. I loved the whole vibe of the place as well.
We were staying in St. Charles, which is southwest part of Chicago. There were so very many Hispanic/Latino people there it was crazy! I loved being immersed in it. The town itself wasn’t populated much with them, but the hotel was and some of the restaurants. The beauty of the landscape was phenomenal. There was art all over the town, and two murals I took pictures of because they were just that awesome. One is on the back of a random building, and the other was on the back and sides of a restaurant. The detail and depth and the colors chosen were fascinating. I rarely like work that Mexican artists produce just because it’s so unrealistic and bright colors, but I truly liked it. It spoke to me what can I say. I think you’ll see what I mean when you dig the pictures. The whole town was amazing, andI'll admit, I acted like a typical tourist and used a TON of pictures!!

I almost forgot!! There was an art showing at the hotel upstairs, and the guy they were showing had some very modern, ecclectic tastes, but also some quite traditional pieces as well. The one I have posted is the one I like the most. I'm not quite sure what attracts me to it. Maybe how vivid it is and the explosion of color. It was selling for close to 4K.

Reflection #3

I agree with pretty much the whole article. Some people I know take pictures with the explicit purpose of putting them on Myspace or Facebook (i.e., me). Some people only drag out the old handy dandy camera for special occasions such as birthday parties, Christmas, Easter, Christenings, etc. Still others document their lives with pictures and images from everything: themselves in a restaurant, the random people around them in a restaurant, at a park, in the pool, everything. I happen to like the last part, because I don’t just want to remember the special occasions, I want to remember the dull and mundane things about my life as well. I don’t think self-portraits from cell phones and Myspace is a new genre of photography. I do agree, however, that it’s a trend with the younger generation because of its easy accessibility and it’s easy to post it to the world to see. I like looking at people and seeing them in different situations candid moments or posed. It’s entertaining and can sometimes provide people with information about a person; how they feel about themselves or how they want to be perceived. I don’t happen to like self-portraiture in my own work. I don’t like to stare at myself over-much unless I have a truly gorgeous picture of myself (and to me, that’s hard to do a lot of times). It does seem slightly narcissistic, but if I were doing it for the purpose of Myspace, it’s not for me to see. I put pictures up so people can see what I’ve been doing and how I’ve changed or special occasions. I don’t normally print out pictures anymore.

Reflection #2 Puppy!

People sometimes look at something with another person by their side and have differing opinions; looking at Machu Picchu, for example. One will say “Wow, that’s beautiful,” and the other person looks at him like they’re on drugs or something .
I happen to believe my dog is gorgeous. He is 2 years old and a Labrador. He is twice the size of normal Labs but just as playful. This makes for some very hairy and very slobbery encounters. I love the way he moves. A lot of times he’s very ungainly, wobbly, and falls down a lot. But that’s part of his attraction. It’s so interesting to watch him move. The way his muscles bunch together to do something as simple as sniffing the air to detect new scents. Pyro (my puppy) is technically considered a Yellow Labrador. I think he’s golden and white. His coat is multi-layered, as most dogs’ are. His hair is so many different colors on each strands it’s amazing. The detail that his body has is just beautiful. Even better, he has natural highlights and lowlights on his coat he doesn’t have to go to the salon to get! I love his big brown eyes that stare at you as if he knows exactly what you’re thinking. Pyro is becoming faster and more elegant in his movements now. He’s lost some of his puppy-ness. When he whirls at me for tugging on his tail he normally doesn’t trip all over himself to get me. He just instantly turns and “bites.” His ears make him seem like such a friendly and curious dog which he is. You can instantly tell he’s a sweetheart once you get past his sheer size.
He looks kind of like he put his nose in an electrical socket because he’s shedding but he’s still pretty!