25062011.

Actually I should have blog about this like a few days ago, but there are just too many assignments jumbled up all together, and I had a hard time sorting them out. Hehe.

Well basically Dr. Ray requested us to read and report about one of the books listed below:

Oddysey, Koran, Upanishads, Beowolf, Illiad, Epic of Gilgamesh, Lao Tze, Confucious & Mencius, Old Testament, New Testament, Bhagavad Gita/ Mahabharata.

& Yeah, I chose Old Testament. Not because the fact that I'm a Christian, but because that I've never really get to finish the 39 books in the Old Testament. Due to time constraints, I've just finished the front part of Genesis.

"In the beginning, God created the heaven and the earth." This was Genesis Chapter 1:1

Many people don't believe in God, but they believe in miracles. This is silly because I believe that there is this one God that controlled the whole universe and that created us humans and make all the things around us to happen, including miracles. In Genesis it was also stated that the first two humans, Adam and Eve are created by God, which is totally different from the perspective of the scientists that proposed that humans evolved from monkeys.

Someone tell me then, if humans evolved from monkeys, then where did the monkeys come from???

24062011

Visual/ Research Journal Guidelines:

1. Prepare a Visual / Research Journal
2. You may conduct your research in a group (3-4 students in a group) and share your information with each other.
3. However, eventually every individual (student) must have their own journal. (Professor Ray has requested that you publish your research (findings) in your blogs)
4. All of your Research & Development must be in this visual journal.

Week 3: Weekly exercise/ research

What you need to do… Collect visual samples and categorise (name) those samples. Samples that correspond to: Line, Shape, Texture, Colour, Value.

Line

Shape

Texture

Colour

Value

19062011

It's art criticism time! Our group chose van Gogh's painting this time. Enjoy! :)

Vincent van Gogh, Cafe Terrace at Night, 1888-09. Oil on canvas, 31.8 x 25.7 in (80.7 x 65.3 cm)

Description:

1. What is the credit line?
-A credit line is short list of essential information about a work of art. It consists of:
a. Name of the artist (in full).
-Vincent van Gogh
b. Title of the artwork.
-Cafe Terrance at Night
c. Year it was created.
-1888
d. Medium used by the artist. If there is more than one, it may be noted as “mixed media”.
-Oil on canvas.
e. Size of the artwork.
-80.7 cm x 65.3 cm (31.8 in x 25.7 in)

2. What do you see? What subject matter? What is happening in the picture (event)? Look closely.
-Stars, windows, round tables, chairs, buildings, tree, people, waiter, customer, doors, facade, night sky, yellow lantern, road, house, awning, paving stones, platform, street, shop, and walls.

3. What art ELEMENTS do you see?
-Line, shape, texture, colour, value

a. What lines dominate the artwork?
-The artwork dominates straight, curvy, and others such as horizontal, vertical, parallel, and implied line.
b. What shapes dominate the artwork?
-The artwork dominates organic shapes such as the table, awning and buildings.
c. What colours dominate the picture?
-The picture dominates cool colours such as yellow and blue.
d. Name the patterns/texture that you find.
-The patterns/texture that can be found in the art work is invented texture. For example, floor has a rough look.
e. What values dominate the artwork?
-The artwork dominates 2D value.

Analysis:

1. How has the picture (art elements) been arranged?
-Lines, shapes, and colours have been repeated in the picture.
2. How are the dominant lines arranged? Does it follow a particular direction? Are the lines repeated?
-The dominant lines are arranged vertically and it follows a particular direction.
3. How are the shapes arranged?
-The shapes are arranged asymmetrically, circular, grid and rectangle.
4. How are the colours arranged? Are the colours predominantly light or dark? Are they bright or dull? Is there a contrast in how the colours are arranged?
-The colours in the picture are predominantly 60% light and 40% dark. It’s bright. Yes.
5. How is the space arranged?
-The space is arranged overlapping and deep dimensional.

Technique:
1. How did the artist make this picture?
-Paint.
2. What materials did he/she use?
-Oil on canvas.
3. Why did he/she use that material?
-As seen in many of his drawings, he likes using paint.

Interpretation: Subjective view
1. What does this painting mean to you?
-A peaceful night where people are out enjoying their drink at the cafe.
2. How do the colours make you feel? (mood)
-Cheerful.
3. How does it feel? (touch)
-Like rough wood.
4. How does it sounds?
-Like minuetto by Luiqi Boccherini.
5. How does it taste?
-Like wine (Sweet).
6. How does it smell?
-Like perfume.
7. Give this work a title.
–Belle night (A beautiful night). The painting was painted in Arles, French.
8. Are there any obvious symbols/icons that you see?
-Organic shapes.
9. What do you think the colours symbolize.
-Yellow: happy, cheerful.
-Dark blue: quiet, night sky.

Judgment:
Imitative and Emotionalism.

Audience:
1. Who commissioned this work? Purpose?
-He wrote to his sister to express his excitement and passionate.
2. Who would appreciate this work?
-Artistes and cafe lovers.
3. Why would the people you have indicated appreciate this work?
-This painting gives them a sense of happiness; the day ends with a beautiful night.

Commendations: What is successful about the piece?
Successful in the way that:
-The artist manages to express what he sees in his painting by accurately describing the event, objects and the people.

Recommendations: How would you improve it?
-I think that it need not be improved, because the painting is very well expressed.

___________________________________________________________________

Slowly realising that van Gogh likes to draw at night. I love to do things at night too. Probably because it's really quiet and peaceful during night time and I can focus more on my work. :)

14062011.

Vincent Van Gogh. The starry night. 1889, Oil on canvas. 73.7 cm × 92.1 cm (29 in × 36¼ in)

*Picture credits to Google images.

We had this small discussion on this artwork during tutorials today,
using Mittler's model.
It was interesting to interpret the artwork using lines, touch, smell, music, texture and many many more aspects.

At the first look, I think that the painting conveys the meaning of a peaceful, starry night in a small town. The breeze plus the stars serves as decoration to the night sky, and it gives people a calm feeling.

BUT I was startled when Ms Clare explains that the cypress tree (the big black thing) inside the painting, which is a tree that grows in the graveyard, represents death.
& the tree is so big inside the painting that it almost take about 1/5 of the whole picture.
Van Gogh must be feeling really depressed that time. :(

Maybe this is what that's meant by: "What you see doesn't mean everything."

Hmmm.

13062011.

1st blog on history, 1st post for it.
Ta-da! Haha.

To be honest, I really hate history.
the word itself has the ability to make me fall asleep.
but then again, there's no loss in getting to know the famous people in the past,
so I think I will just get myself to LOVE it.

Eventually. :)


Below are the few questions that I need to answer:

1) What do you want from this course?

Actually, I dont even know how did I get into this course.
I mean, one year ago I was just a person that just completed SPM, not knowing where to go, and where to head.
Of course I have my own dreams and future plannings, but they're just to vague.
(I've always dreamed to create my own brand and... yeah, being successful)

ALL I know is that I dislike science & I dislike maths.
so the pointer points me into the field of Art and Design.

I wish to learn everything about art and design.
Yes, I would like to absorb every information that my brain could take. :)
Hence, I would like to spend this three years on gathering useful information about graphic designing as well as to pick up a few skills and techniques along the way.

2) What do you want to be doing in 5/ 10/ 20 years?

I would clutch on to my "I-wanna-be-a-designer" dream,
no matter how long it takes for me to realize it.
In 5 years time, I'll probably be around designing cool things to make people's life more colorful. :)

3) What do you hope to get from this particular class?

It was amazing to have an Ang Moh (what we called as a Caucasian) as my lecturer for History of A & D.
The thing I liked most about Ang Mohs is their perfect and fluent English.
it makes the whole lecture more clear and easier to understand.
& Dr. Ray is the one. :)

I hope that I can score well for this paper.
& when people asked me what I learned from History of A & D, I hope that I will have no problem in answering them. :)

4) Is History of Art and Design necessary do you think for your larger goals?

Hmmm. Never thought of this before.
But who knows? Maybe we will need it someday... :)

Ending this post with a quote from Dr Ray that I really like:

"History is TODAY :)"