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Essay / My lessons from Art 1000 pretty low expectations and I thought it would be a breeze. Not even a day into the course did I realize that it would be quite the opposite. The course was only 3 weeks long, making it very quick, meaning any student taking this course would have to put in some time and effort. Well, that's exactly what I did. Over the past three weeks, I've forced myself to dedicate at least 4 hours of my time to working on each assignment, and I can tell you that the work has paid off. Through lectures and Living with Art by Mark Getlein, I became familiar with the knowledge and definition of art. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”? Get an Original Essay The very first thing I learned in this course was that art is always the expression of the artist. Art is communication; whether it is the artist who shows us something, tells us something or makes us experience something. The first session showed me how to look at art by performing descriptive analysis. Work step by step from what you initially see in a room, explain its elements, make sense of those parts, and finally arrive at an opinion about it all. During the second session, I learned more about these elements going into the work. Formal elements, also called visual elements, are line, shape, form and mass, light, color and value, texture and pattern, space, time and movement. The principles of design are unity and variety, balance, emphasis, focal point and subordination, scale, proportion and rhythm. After learning about each of these elements and how they relate to the artist's work, it became easier to understand the meaning of each individual painting. During the third session, we were introduced to thematic categories and we began working in groups with our peers online. This became a common task for sessions five through eight, which gave us a great opportunity to share ideas and get feedback on our work. My group looked at the thematic category Imagination and Fantasy (Getlein's Invention and Fantasy) and established different themes for a specific chosen work. Throughout the process, we were introduced to the idea of surrealism. In the fourth session, our assignment was to examine the artwork Puppy by Jeff Koons and make the connection between the artwork and the materials used to create it. By doing this, I learned that material matters when creating art. He can do the entire piece; even by changing the medium, the way the piece is perceived by viewers can change. Third task of session 4, we had to watch the 1940s film Citizen Kane and establish possible themes and representations in the film. By doing this, I learned about everything that goes into a production and how even the smallest thing like a camera angle or sound can symbolize something much bigger in a story. As one can imagine, this is a lot of work that I have learned over the years. last three weeks. But without learning all this, I would be like the majority of art viewers who don’t “get it.” After learning everything I have, I appreciate art more, whether it's the art itself, the artist, or the artistic creation behind it all. There are many things to do for aartist creates a work that he communicates visually. Three of the most important things I learned that helped me better understand works of art are understanding visual elements and design principles, knowing the artist's background, and why the materials they use. For example, while watching Wilfredo Lam's The Jungle, I would never have understood it without learning about space, color and value. In this case, Lam specifically chose the colors blue and green in order to represent a nighttime or dark scene. I also would have never understood the way he integrates scale and proportion into his painting, as well as subject and theme. Lam used the disproportion between the shapes to create a precarious balance between the heavy top of the composition and the more open bottom. The subject of Lam's painting was based on the masks of Africa and the Pacific Islands, which he painted after returning to Cuba from Europe. Wilfredo Lam's experience of traveling and belonging to the surrealist movement influenced his artwork, which is an example of knowing about the artist's past and life to understand his work. The work of Piet Mondrian is another artist that I learned to “understand” you have to delve deeper into his earlier work. Piet's painting, Apple Tree in Blossom, is difficult to understand at first glance, unless you know his red tree or his gray tree. Mondrian developed his work based on the spaces of the painting rather than the trees themselves. He focused on purity and began eliminating elements of his work over the years. Besides learning the history of the artist and their previous works, another important thing is knowing the materials they use and how they relate to the work itself. Puppy by Jeff Koons was specially made from flowers to communicate happiness and security to viewers. He combined the two most sentimental visual images – flowers and puppies – to evoke a specific emotion in his viewers. The vibrancy and optimism of flowers is what made Puppy what he was. The concept and feel of Puppy would change if the materials had been replaced with marble or steel. I think being an informed viewer will have positive ramifications for a viewer beyond art appreciation. Looking at a work of art can be overwhelming and confusing, but it's not supposed to be easy. The artist spends years making these pieces, so for the most part it won't be thrown in your face; it will take time to understand. Taking the time to research and learn not only about the work of art itself, but also the history of the artist and how their work developed can make your experience with the work more intimate art. It’s an exciting feeling when you finally “get” the work. Linear Perspective Linear perspective is a technique used by artists in which the relative size, shape, and position of objects are based on lines converging at a point on the horizon. Thus, the shapes seem to decrease in size as they move away from us. When the lines converge toward the horizon, they disappear and this is called the vanishing point (Getlein 105). In The Tribute Money, Masaccio uses linear perspective by superimposing the characters in the painting, making some appear closer and closer. At the same time, a mountain scene is depicted in the background. He uses linear perspective to create the illusion that this landscape is distant and high, touching the sky. In The School of Athens, Raphael uses linear perspective by creating two walls that converge towards aopening to the sky. As the walls move further apart, they get closer until the door opens to the sky. Along with this, he uses the stairs to indicate that those at the bottom are larger because they are closer, and those at the top of the stairs are smaller because they are further away. Theme, composition, and linear perspective are all interrelated in Renaissance art. Early Renaissance art was dominated by religious themes. In The Tribute Money, Masaccio created a two-point linear perspective with the placement of Christ. The compositions of these types of paintings were balanced because everything was relatively symmetrical so that the lines converged toward the horizon. Leonardo da Vinci used theme, composition and linear perspective when creating his painting The Last Supper. The religious theme depicts the gathering of Jesus Christ and others sharing a meal before Christ was crucified. Da Vinci creates a one-point linear perspective by placing Christ at the vanishing point as Masaccio does. The composition of this painting is also balanced, with Christ in the middle and a symmetrical number of people to his left and right. There are four doors on the left and right sides of the path, converging towards the back wall with three windows. A great technique used by artists is the inclusion of the artist themselves in their work (class notes). El Greco's The Burial of Count Orgaz and Velazquez's The Menians do a fine job of achieving this. The presence of each artist in their works enhances the overall image and meaning of them. Like many artists, El Greco and Velazquez include themselves in their paintings in order to create a new perspective and include their own personal views on the story being told. In Las Menians, Velazquez can be seen in the left corner, looking directly at the viewer. The painting depicts a behind-the-scenes look at the Spanish court, including the king and queen in the background, framed or depicted in a mirror. Theories suggest that by painting himself and having the painting or mirror hanging in the background, his audience is watching from the perspective of royalty reflected in that mirror (Mental Floss). The Burial of Count Orgaz contains images of El Greco and his son. El Greco stands in the line of mourners left of center, while his son can be seen in the foreground, one hand on the long torch. On his son's pocket is the year he was born on his cover (Mental Floss). I think El Greco did a good job of including himself and his family, without interrupting or removing the artwork itself. The levels of reality in each of these images highlight the work thanks to the great know-how of the artist. There's a lot of realism that makes the paintings seem like they're depicting real people in real time. Another painting that demonstrates this is The Ashes of Phokion by Nicolas Poussin. In this painting, the landscape looks like a photograph. It looks so realistic that the viewer can almost imagine it in that moment. I believe there are several alternatives for artists who wish to include themselves in their work without including a self-portrait of themselves. I think a lot of artists do that without us even knowing it. Many artists may include elements in their paintings that symbolize certain aspects of their lives, which viewers would have no idea about if they had not delved deeper into the artist's life. An example would be van Gogh and his work creating landscape and nature elements. Although he does not include himself in these paintings, he has made it known that this type of work is what defines him and gives him pleasure. Create a self-portrait, 30(2), 380-381.
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