"Analyze That"

This picture titled, "Tree of Utah" was taken from Matthew Kerr's "Wacky World of Art Appreciation." Through the powerful process of reception>extraction>inference we're able to see this magical creation. I love it! I'm stuck between labeling it as abstract or representational. It clearly looks like a tree to me, so I'm going to go with representational as I remember the further away from resembling a real object, the more abstract the piece becomes. The positioning of the "tree" demonstrates a frontal vanishing point near the top just beneath the skyline. I think light and color play brilliantly together in this piece. The crystal blue sky and the bright colors of the "tree tops" set the stage for a gorgeous scene. In fact, the tree tops seem to behave as highlights reflecting the sun. The warm and cool hues of color seem to compliment each other so well. In short, I love this piece of art and would love to have it hanging in my hallway or entry way to our living room! It is simply fantabulous!



I found this wonderful abstract piece from Jenna Cossairt's Blog. I'm not a huge fan of art like this, but found the colors, lines and overall textures brilliant. I thought it would be fun to analyze. To me, it screams linear perspective. I appreciated the artist's incorporation of additional patterns into the already well patterned piece. It makes it more compelling to look at without overcomplicating or causing it to appear crowded. The pyramids on the left cast shadows that play tricks with the orthogonal lines. Again, I wouldn't purchase this piece of art, but it is definitley intriguing to look at!

"Analyze This"

BROCKY, Károly
Mother and Child
1846-50
Oil on canvas, 62 x 54,8 cm
Hungarian National Gallery, Budapest


http://www.wga.hu/index1.html

Watch the Magic

For this weeks blog assignment, I dediced to capture the spirit of Autumn! You'll notice as the lighting conditions change the saturation of the scarecrow's colors turn much more harsh. Of course, I can't imagine a happy scarecrow like this every looking too scary, but the colors definitley turn much cooler the more dark the picture appears. The sun does have a way of making things look so much more happy and appealing to the eye, doesn't it? Also, you'll notice the leaves of the bush and the tree stump. The difference is certainly visible to the naked eye. The highlights in the sunny picture contrast greatly against the shadows of the other picture. You can also see how the quality of light affects the color of the bark, the color of the grass and the colors of the scarecrow's clothes. And, the lighting in the first picture captures shadowing from the tree's leaves and the bush to the left and behind the scarecrow. For me, the lighting of each picture definitley sets off different emotions. The top picture is much more light and happy. The second is a little more dreary and could be considered haunting if the scarecrow didn't have such a happy smile, don't ya think?

What Do You Think?!

Sooo...I ran across this picture and thought it was not only interesting, but also relative to the lesson on lines and space. What do you guys and gals have to say about it? What do you think?!

P.S. I think I see a fish?!

"Line and Space"

Obviously, I didn't take this picture but found it fun and helpful in applying this weeks lessons and terms.

Leonardo da Vinci said, "The most praiseworthy form of painting is one that resembles itself." Week 5's lecture opened my eyes to how much lines really have to do with the way we feel or view an artistic creation. It all began when I was asked to look at a fun squiggly line and a jagged line. I was surprised to see how different I "felt" about each line without thinking twice or knowing why at the time. They truly did have moods of their own! As I marched on through my week, I payed close attention to how lines and space affected how I saw the world around me. I've been pretty sick over the last week and a half, so I haven't really had the chance to get out of the house, but I pictured visions full of linear perspective as possibly seen through the rear view mirror of my soccer mom van. As I've mentioned before, I take a lot of pictures and often play around with the different camera settings and have found that sometimes when I focus on a close up of an object or even one of my kiddos, the background appears to be a little blurry. Now, I can see how this might be a close relative if not indicative of atmospheric perspective. And next time we walk along the beach where the water meets the land, I can tell my husband we're following a contour line. He might think I'm a little loony, but it will be true! :) This class has really opened mhy eyes to a whole new world. The tree lines are no longer simple tree lines...I search for dynamic vertical thrusts as in Paul Cézanne, Chestnut Trees at the Jas de Bouffan, 1885-1886 I look in the distance beyond the trees for some kind of vanishing point. (And that's just one example!) This week has definitley opened my eyes to a new perspective, that's for sure!!