Post 30: My 3 Best Arts of the Year

The three pictures I posted above are my favorites for various reasons. For the 6 Inspiring People Project, I drew and painted: One of my characters from my story, my mother, Dr. Oz, Maurice White, Chino Moreno and my bestest friend Jennifer Vu. I chose all of them because they all mean a lot to me in different ways. Maurice White and Chino Moreno are both singers, and their songs help spark ideas for drawings and stories. My mom is the best, so I drew her. Dr. Oz is cool because I like how he tells people how to stay healthy with alternative medicine. Lastly, I chose Jennifer because she's a cool person who helps when necessary.

For the next picture, Teen Social Issues, it's pretty self-explanatory. I created it to show the common problems of American teens in modern society. I was surprised how well it all came together towards the end. Lastly, for my biggest art project ever, Watch ME Watching You Lose Your Mind, is about both inner experiences, how I "think" and how media watches you.

Post 29: James Montgomery Flagg

I chose James M. Flagg as a groundbreaking 20th century artist because no one would've thought to create posters to help the army gain publicity. Also, he wanted to help the army get more recruits. Lastly, he wanted Americans to know that it needed our help. When he created this poster, Flagg knew that the wars going on the 20th century demanded help from the Americans. As a result, he wanted to inform them about what "Uncle Sam" wants. Uncle Sam is basically a personification of the United States. Without the encouraging messages, America probably would not have been as willing to join the army and fight.

Post 27: I Luff YouTube.

So I went to the very popular website, YouTube.com and did my usual thing, watch videos. I like YouTube because it gives me something to watch when there's nothing on television, something to listen to when I'm bored with my CDs and there's nothing of interest on the radio, and something to laugh at when I'm feeling down. I prefer to listen to music (not the music videos), and parodies of things, comically titled YouTube Poops. Random videos of anything is also pretty cool, but it's lame when people sneak in rick rolls and screamers. But usually it's pretty obvious to tell which are real videos and which are fake. YouTube is part of my identity because it fills the bottomless pit of boredom I sometimes fall into. But, even after countless hours of enjoyable videos of stupid people, funny parodies and music, I still end up falling through a crack and continue fall into the blandly colored pit of Boredom. I still love YouTube for all the great videos it has brought me over the last 4 years! :]

Post 26: More in-depth about No.25.

I think the artist was trying to say that they are illusionistic, open-minded and curious. The unknown artist is possibly illusionistic because they combined different types of brush strokes, colors and patterns into the artwork to evoke a certain thought or emotion from the viewer. I believe he/she is open-minded because the broad feeling I get from the art makes it seem as if there's a lot of different elements that could be linked together in some sort of way. Lastly, the artist may display their curiosity with colors because they mixed colors that usually don't look good mixed, and made it look nice. Such as the dark blue/purple-ish streak in the mid-upper part of the artwork, it collides with a streak of yellow and orange, and it blended well with the other colors. Furthermore, their map of the mind tells us that they are open to new ideas and techniques to authenticize their style and make it solely theirs.

Post 25: Explosion of the extinct once again.

Roses are red, violets are blue. I see a phoenix, part of a Xerces butterfly and a winged horse. Can you see what I see, too? I feel illusionistic, spacey and maybe even weirded out. Now, I wonder what that's about.

Post 24: Everything's bigger in good ol' TEXAS.

I would like to visit the state of Texas for three reasons: the big amounts of food, the interesting cultures and hot weather. One thing Texas is known for is their love of barbequed foods and big portions of it. In fact, they sometimes even supersize doughnuts (as shown on Man v. Food), and pizzas. Also, Texas' rodeos and events are all worth going to see at least once in a lifetime because they are full of fun and excitement. Lastly, since it is located in the southern area of the USA, it is much hotter than Chicago during this time of year. I would love to get out of this bone-chilling cold and relax with a plate of barbequed goodies in the sun.

Post 23: No one said ALL landscapes were pretty.

Disclaimer: The image of a shack in the foreground of a beach landscape greatly pertains to a story I'm currently writing for survey lit. So I decided to write a mini-story based on it! :)

Cedar hesitated a bit as he answered Kavana's droning question, "when can we hang at your place?". He looked into her glistening brown eyes and sighed, unsure of how to break the news to her that he lives in an abandoned shack. He's already told her too much. Too much about his brother, his drug-selling lifestyle and why he chooses to be reclusive. However, it still hasn't led to a common conclusion of a few insulting words from her. This surprised  Cedar, as he expected her to call him a dork, weirdo, loser, or his favorite--freak.

Now he's done it. He's said it. A little place on the shore, he says. Her eyes grow wide in surprise and curiosity. Kavana doesn't realize how nervous and regretful her new friend is, about how embarrassing his home looks compared to her normal house on a block of 8 other houses. Nevertheless, she insists that he show her his home, which is nothing she would have expected.

After traveling on foot for half an hour from the high school, Cedar and Kavana reach the shack. He points to it ever so reluctantly. Instead of screaming at him for what a bum he is, she gasps in surprise and runs up the stairs to inspect the interior. Instead of gagging at how dark and dreary it is, she jumps in excitement and begs Cedar to let her decorate it for him and his brother. She says she's always wanted to be an interior designer. This would be her first big project. What do you usually do here, how do you like waking up to the beautiful sunrises each morning, she asks as she continues to walk up and down the shore line with Cedar, now holding his pale, rough hand. A fifteen year old boy shouldn't have such rough hands, she adds.

"It's alright living up here, I guess. No heat or running water except for the restrooms and showers further down the shore. I've only been up here for 3 months, so I can't say how well this place would hold up in winter. Winters in Connecticut are the worst, so we'll see. Anyway...I do what any normal dude does here. Eat, sleep, play with my bro every now and then, swim and stuff. Are you serious you don't mind this place? You have to promise me you won't tell anyone, either." Cedar said softly, which made Kavana almost strain to hear him. She agreed to keep it a promise and told him her plans for it in the future.

Post 22: Kazuo Ohno

Kazuo Ohno was a Japanese performance artist who lived to be 103 years old. He used to dance the Butoh style dance, which consisted of emotional and experience-influenced dances. He was drafted into the China and New Guinea war and was captured as a POW for some time. After he returned to his hometown, he continued to pursue his love of dance and did many performances in Japan. In 2001, Ohno lost his ability to walk, but continued to make performances by doing slow, intricate movements with his hands and arms. He died of respiratory failure in June 2010. I chose to research him because he seemed to be very interesting, due to the fact that he was in the army for a long period of time, and used his experiences to create famous performance pieces.

Post 21: Inkblot

In this inkblot, l see a woman with a white shirt on, laying back into the darkness as her feet/boots go into the foreground of the image. In the foreground, I see black pants and black boots with 3 thick ridges in them on the soles. Towards the middle, I see the woman's torso, and she seems to have no arms. Further back, I see the shape of her face and the shadow underneath her chin. The black spots around her torso looks to be the darkness she's leaning into.

Post 20: DaDa picture

The picture above represents Dadaism because it is technically non-art, because it is not visually appealing. I chose this artwork because it stood out from all the others I glanced over online. The artwork is of a man's face being constructed out of random objects like a question mark, a different pair of eyes, a pasted-on mouth and a barber's razor at his throat. The artwork represents Dadaism because its dark, ominous and has an odd meaning behind it.

Post 19: Portraiture Experience

During the beginning of the portraiture project, I found it somewhat hard to find 12 people who inspired me because it was such a vague assignment. I eventually found these people and took some time to evaluate what they inspired me to do. On the other hand, the drawing step of the project was pretty easy. I expected it to be the second hardest part to do, right behind painting. After the pictures were completed, I learned how hard it was to create shades of brown. However, the painting step was the most difficult one, in my opinion. In the end, I learned a lot of new things and I'll be taking what I've learned here into future projects.

Post 18: Colors!

 

The picture above is from the anime Saiyuki, created by Kazuya Minekura. The colors she used created a nostalgic, peaceful vibe. She used many shades and tints within her artwork shown here. For example, Goku's face was shadowed by the straw hat, yet his hair showed the tinted highlights to indicate how shiny his hair is. Also, the different values create a more realistic appearance. The colors were used to create a joyful and somewhat nostalgic tone. The picture reminded me of how I used to play with my next door neighbor's sunflowers, and the colors make me think of the old care free days. 

Post 17: SPRITE Photo

Social: The woman in the background was trying to be social with the busy man.
Political: This shows how people are being overworked, even during their vacations.
Religious: The man is being faithful to his job by working on his vacation.
Intellectual: He may be going to an online college during his break on the beach.
Technology: The laptop is a piece of technology.
Environmental: The sun was being environmental because it was providing the people on the beach some vitamin D.

Post 16: Carrie Mae Weems

The Carrie Mae Weems photograph I related to was the one with 3 girls and a woman who was possibly their mother. It reminded me of how my family  interacts in a fun and playful way. In the picture, the girls are spending quality time with each other, which is what my family does on an almost daily basis. The greyscale color scheme reminds me of the old photos my grandmother has around the house. All in all, the picture itself may seem a bit morose in its nearly-expressionless tone, but I extracted positive memories from it, which is why I could relate to it so well.

Post #15: John George Brown (Artist)

The 19th century realism painter, John George Brown, was a great painter who focused on portraits of children. The picture I chose showed a black boy and 3 white boys having fun together playing cards. I chose it because it is the first picture I've seen that depicted blacks and whites in harmony. I find it to be a very realistic image, it's as if someone simply took a photograph. I believe the artist should be as famous as Van Gogh and Rembrandt because of his high quality style of painting. 

Post #14: Sweet Love Drawing

The found object I chose was this anime drawing of a man and a woman. I believe it is a reference to the well-known anime Sailor Moon. The names Usagi and Mamoru ring a bell in my head, and the girl's Japanese school outfit reminded me of Sailor Moon. I chose this object because of the very detailed drawing and the short and sweet words that accompany it. I could imagine how the artist felt when they lost this note, and I felt a bit sad, as I could feel his pain. It created some nostalgia to me because I remembered drawing a picture in this style for my mother on Mother's Day, and she still has it today. I could tell the man who drew this was in love with the girl he drew it for.  

Post #11/12: Chiho Aoshima

The image above is one of Japanese artist Chiho Aoshima's most well known artworks. Chiho was born  1974 in Tokyo,Japan. She is considered to be a very good artist in Japan. Her artworks have been showcased in many places outside of her home country. She is considered postmodern because of her painting style. Some may say her art is weird, and others may consider it to be works of beauty. 

Post 13: Nostalgia!

The image above is of a white 1993 Mercury Cougar. It's almost the same as the one my grandmother owns, but hers looks better. It brings nostalgia to me because it has been in my family longer than I have myself. It was the first car I drove, when I was apparently only a young child. I love everything about the car, and it will soon be mine when I'm old enough to drive it.