Art History Blog

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Final

Part 1:

My artwork was inspired specifically by my current aesthetic. I’m into coquette and vintage inspired pieces. I felt the teacup scene with the pearls captured this concept. To add my own special touch, I made paper cutouts that look like lace and match the vibe of the piece to expand the canvas. I aimed to use all color within this piece, creating highlights and shadows with different tones of colors. This piece also drew inspiration from the still life and renaissance lessons from this semester. I stuck to a cooler color palette inspired by colors of the book from class.

Part 2:

This piece was inspired by a recent trip I took with my mom to Madrid, so I made this piece with her in mind! She’s into abstract art, which is the style I aimed to convey. I used a contrast of bright and dull colors to make the piece visually interesting. Additionally, with the colors, I aimed to capture the most important aspects of the piece with brighter colors and surrounding those forms with duller colors. This piece mostly drew inspiration from the formal elements unit of this semester. I took into consideration the rule of thirds and utilized perspectives. I also took into consideration complementary and analogous colors.

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Love Attendance

"To the medieval mind, the closer a cloth was to the color of the raw materials, the cheaper and meaner it was,"..."Just as the precise color of russet has refused to remain stable, shifting significantly over time, so has its symbolism. From being a byword for the poor, after the violent social changes brought about by the Black Death, russet gradually gained a reputation as betokening honesty, humility, and manliness," (St. Clair, 246-247).

I decided to choose this quote because, first it is an interesting fact, and second the transition of the meaning of the word is profound. I also was surprised at this passage because, to me, the russet color looks similar to a maroon or deep red, which I would associate with wealth. So, to hear that this color originally represented the poor was surprising. Either way, the color is very beautiful.

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Love HW

My message expresses good luck and good vibes for finals! I want for whoever finds it to know that no matter how stressful finals can be, everything will work out. I also want it to be a reminder to slow down and take a breather. Hopefully I succeeded with that!

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Still-Life HW

My still-life depicts designer and luxury items, giving an over-the-top gaudy feel. I brainstormed what I wanted to depict with this assignment and settled on this, filled with materialistic items. I tried to work with color and perspective. This depiction reveals that our generation of society is deeply integrated in materialism and consumerism. These are not needs, but wants. For my morphed object, I made the watch into a face. I animated a bejeweled butterfly broach, pictured top right. Overall I am very pleased with the outcome.

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Renaissance HW

I drew my roommate Sophie for my renaissance assignment. She wanted to be princess inspired and gladly we had a crown laying around for her to wear! The renaissance component I incorporated into the portrait is a dramatic background. I was inspired by royalty - using the color purple and dramatic designs. The way it turned out, it reminded me of a vintage styled mirror.

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Attendance Prompt 11/14

"The second was to associate the color with power and royalty. In republican Rome it was a tightly constrained badge of status. Triumphant generals could wear a purple-and-gold robe; those in the field, pure purple,"..."Farther east, Byzantine queens gave birth in wine-dark rooms so that the royal offspring were said to be born 'in the purple,' thus cementing their right to rule," (St. Clair, 163-164).

I found this quote to be interesting because even though I knew that purple is associated with royalty, I didn't know the extent of its use. The most interesting part of this passage in my opinion is the fact about Byzantine queens. The way it is described, I can picture the "wine-dark rooms". It is fascinating that the color influenced practices in such a way, especially something that we'd usually need light for, such as giving birth. This symbolism with the color purple shows the scope of its influence.

[clucia14]

Community HW

part 1:

My portrait sitter was my roommate Sophie! She is one of the kindest and most considerate people I know! She’s always looking out for others while also being the funniest person ever - spreading smiles wherever she goes! :) Her energy is radiating! I’m so grateful to have Soph in my life! part 2:

My nature art was inspired by a yin yang! I made it with my puppy Gemma! part 3:

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Animals Attendance 10/24

"The reason for all this subterfuge lies in alchemists' obsession with creating gold, which to them was red, rather than yellow, and which they therefore linked with this new red pigment. Even more significant was the fact that making vermilion required the combination and transformation of two key alchemical ingredients: mercury and sulfur. The alchemists forging unlimited supplies of gold could not be far away," (St. Clair, 145).

I find it fascinating how much chemistry is involved with the evolution and mixing of colors. Particularly with vermilion, I find the relationship of the colors' association with gold very interesting. It brings a new meaning to the color.

[clucia14]

Animals HW

Octopus Facts:

An octopus has 3 hearts; one pumps blood through organs while the other two pumps blood through the gills

Octopuses can change to specific colors to camouflage to their surroundings

An octopus can lose arms and regrow them

Octopus blood is blue

Female octopuses can lay from 200,000 to 400,000 eggs

(All octopus facts from https://www.livescience.com/55478-octopus-facts.html )

Technological/Consumerist Images

Electric car - "The number of electric vehicles in use in the world increased from 113,000 in 2012 to 3,290,000 in 2018," (41 Fascinating Electric Car Facts | FactRetriever.com).

Lightbulb - There was more than one inventor of the lightbulb (The History of the Light Bulb | Department of Energy).

Bicycle - "If Americans double their bike use to 2% of all urban trips, they would save 3.5 billion litres of gasoline annually," (Biking Facts - I Love Bicycling).

iPad - Steve Jobs didn't like the idea of the iPad - at first (iPad trivia: 10 things you (probably) don't know about the iPad | Cult of Mac).

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Midterm

Part 1:

My first piece was inspired by my birth year in Chinese zodiacs. I was born in 2001 which was the year of the snake. So, I decided to morph my skull into a snake. Originally, I started out by using blue to make my drawing and decided to add orange for contrasting details. I drew in the snake scaley pattern into the head of the skull to represent the transformation of the skull into the snake. I chose to keep the background simple with negative space and a textured outline to place an emphasis on the snake/skull. This was a really fun piece overall!

Part 2:

Before I die, I want to see the Northern Lights! The Northern Lights (AKA the Aurora Borealis) are a phenomenon that I've wanted to see all of my life; hopefully someday this hope will come to life. This miracle of nature occurs when charged particles from the sun collide with the atoms in the Earth's atmosphere, thus lighting up the sky with color. The phenomenon earned its name "Aurora Borealis" because Aurora is the Roman goddess of dawn and Boreas is the Greek term for north wind.

To create my piece, I first used markers to make the background of color - I wanted to make background textured to reflect beams of light shining within the colors. I then created a silhouette of a mountainous scene. On the left side of the mountains, I drew a little polar bear and its baby for a fun touch. Lastly, I added stars and swirl patterns to reflect the whimsical beauty of the Northern Lights. I love how the colors of this piece contrast against the pile of leaves!

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Attendance 9/25-10/3

“One of her numerous vices was shopping, and it was one of her purchases from Cartier that unleashed this scandalous shade of pink onto the world… (St. Clair, 126).” This quote stuck out to me because I found the story of ‘shocking pink’ to be very interesting, especially since pink is my favorite color. The whole story was new to me. From Schiaparelli to Marilyn Monroe, this shade of pink made quite the impact. This may be my new favorite shade of pink.

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Birth HW

I was born on December 17th and I am a Sagittarius!

The owl associated with Sagittarius represents wisdom, as Sagittarius is known to be wise. The owl is a totem which represents wisdom. This is based on Native American astrology.

Sagittarius are associated with Jupiter because Jupiter is the planet of abundance. It represents optimism, a free spirit, and expansion; in short Jupiter represents positive energy which is associated with the attributes of Sagittarius.

I created my portrait in the colors purple, gold, and brown. Purple is the color associated with Sagittarius and I used brown and gold for contrast!

I included images of fire, the Sagittarius symbol, and stars. The fire represents that Sagittarius is a fire sign, the symbol represents a bow and arrow because Sagittarius is symbolized by the Archer, and the stars were to fill the space and give an astrological feel.

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Attendance 9/26

"Soon the acid yellow of the smiley seeped out to become the signature color of the dance-happy youth, euphoric one moment, insidious, chemical, and rebellious the next. Rave culture - or rather the drugs that were believed to fuel it - began to cause moral panic. 'Acid' could refer both to the subgenre of house music and to LSD, while this bright yellow also evoked the laser light shows of nightclubs," (75, St. Clair).

I chose this quote because I found the origin of acid yellow to be extremely interesting. It is fascinating that a color could have many origins and meanings. The transformation from the smiley to rave culture is an unexpected twist in the history of acid yellow.

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Finding Your Art Voice

I chose to draw a giraffe because it's my favorite animal and I feel like I give giraffe energy. I'm not very tall but they're kind and awkward animals which I feel I vibe with. Also, giraffes are herbivores!

My favorite type of music to listen to in the fall is alternative and jazz because they have warm cozy vibes. My favorite Halloween themed movie is definitely The Night Before Christmas.

I chose to illustrate images that are Harry Potter inspired since the first movie came out in 2001 which was the year I was born!

I chose Alicia Keys' "Girl on Fire" because I remember blasting this song when I was younger and feeling a wave of confidence from the lyrics!

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Formal Elements HW

Pictures of my nature walk:

Final product:

Three of the nature materials I used and researched were called the Beech Fern, Slender Yellow Woodsorrel, and Solidago Rugosa.

Beech Fern: There are multiple species of beech fern, native to different parts of the world. I found it interesting that beech ferns vary so much in species within its own type of plant family.

Slender Yellow Woodsorrel: This plant can be eaten! It's said to have a tart lemony taste. It also looks cute because it resembles clovers.

Solidago Rugosa: This plant is actually part of the sunflower family. I found this interesting because despite the yellow coloring, this species does not resemble much of a sunflower. It sprouts in bushes and has small yellow blossoms.

Overall I like how my piece turned out but wish I used a bit more grey shading! I drew a fairy inspired background to match the whimsical nature vibes.

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Attendance Prompt 9/11 - 9/19

"But it has symbolic affiliations with old-fashioned superstitions as well as an imagined future. In Scottish folklore a silver branch, covered with white blossoms or bearing silver apples, could act as a kind of passport into the fairy otherworld," (St. Clair, 45).

Out of this week's reading, this quote stood out to me because it painted quite a unique picture in my head. I found it interesting that a color like silver could spark such an imaginative story. It also reminded me of my childhood when I would create little fairy houses in my backyard or at recess or wherever I wanted to! I would use sticks, leaves, flowers, or whatever I found to make little homes for the fairies I hoped would occupy them.

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Viewing Art HW

Step 1 - markers

Step 2 - paint markers

Step 3 - magazine

Step 4 - final