Untitled by Sarah Hoffman --Thanh Ngo

In this painting, the branches are outlined and dark lines are painted throughout the tree showing realistic characteristics of the tree trunk. The waves at the top and the tree branches show horizontal direction. The fins of the fish are outlined showing emphasis on the beauty of the fish. Linear perspective can be seen by the orthogonal lines shown by the two lines that mark the change in color of the ocean, as well as the tree branches, and the fish facing opposite directions all point to the vanishing point above the horizontal line marking the separation of the ocean floor and the water.

The fish’ orange bodies are circular, and the whole fish create triangles. The branches of the tree coming from the trunk and the implied line of the ocean colors also create triangles. This painting is volumetric and organic because it is 3 dimensional, creating a foreground and a background. The author wants to focus on the fish and the tree. The tree is the largest figure with its trunk set on the left side of the middle of the ocean floor. Each branch that overlaps another branch is larger than those behind them and the fish in the foreground is larger than the fish in the background in order to convey distance.

Linear perspective is used as discussed earlier. The small space at the vanishing point has no objects. The space visually projects creating distance and depth. Again, the fish in the foreground is larger than the fish in the background, creating distance.

Light comes down from the top of the painting, presumably shown by white waves, possibly caused by the sun’s rays. It casts shadows under the fish as well as the tree. The shadows are mostly dark with no color, and create a triangular shape under the small fish. Also, light casts down on the tree branches, depicted with white outline. It bounces off the tree onto the big fish and emphasizes the fish’ body. This fish is emphasized the most as it is in more detail with the curly lines in the head and its beautiful black fins.

Cool blue and brown dominates the color scheme. The big tree is a melancholy gray tone. However, the two warm bright orange fish complements the blue ocean floor, creating a more lively emphasis on how beautiful fish are against the ocean floor. Atmospheric perspective is used as the small fish in the background is blurred and its beauty is not emphasized like the big fish. Also, as we draw closer to the vanishing point, the dark blue color becomes blurred.

Painted on cloth, the surface is almost smooth, but not quite. Implied texture can be seen by the thin lines of the beautiful fish and the thick heavy strokes of the tree. Also, the thick strokes of the waves contrast with the thin strokes of the ocean floor, giving a pattern of thick at the top and thin at the bottom. This shows that the fish and where they live make the ocean beautiful.

This painting is asymmetrical because the sides of the central line are not the same. The huge tree is balanced by the light coming down from the top. The dark blue portions on the left and the right of the ocean floor are complemented by the bright orange color of the fish, creating balance. The big tree and the big fish are emphasized, showing the true beauty of the beautiful fish compared to a rough lifeless tree. The repetition of the use of triangles discussed in shape connected the foreground and the background, creating rhythm. The rhythm seems to create disparate parts because each triangle is used differently, one for creating distance, another to show the shape of the fish. Fast-drying acrylic paint is used making stroke flexibility possible and changes difficult. Flexibility helped make thick and thin lines. It gives a flat look with decently durable medium, looking the same as when she painted it.

Bougival by Maurice de Vlaminck Analysis by Jarrod Pinkerton

            I was initially attracted to Bougival by Maurice de Vlaminck because of the brilliant colors he used in the painting.  His choice of intense reds and yellows in the foreground lend to a lively mood, which transcends to the town behind the vivacious hillside.  The artist used vivid colors in the entire painting including the background in blue.  The town is small, but still depicts a bustling atmosphere with the bright red rooftops of the white buildings.  Vlaminck utilizes atmospheric perspective by painting the background in hues of blue and white as well as placing a small house in the background at the end of a yellow road.   These elements add depth to the to the painting and allow the viewer to focus on the vibrant colors in the foreground.  Vlaminck uses short, hard brush strokes to create the scene.  Every element of the painting is created in pieces by adding short strokes to one another and on top of each other.  This technique adds a whimsical feel to the artwork.  The trees in the foreground along with the hillside and shrubs are given some definition by outlining pieces of each element while the houses, mountains, and lake in the background have definite outlines.  This gives the viewer a sense of the constant change and ambiguity of life (in the sunlight), which fades to a more stable state during rest (background in dimmer light).

Most objects in the painting are flat, but the houses are painted in three dimensions.  What gives the painting its volume is the contrast of colors and the size of the object in the front and back.  The initial tree in the foreground is robust and vivid, while the lake in the back is much smaller although it still seems to be a large body of water.  Although many of the images have ambiguous form, they all come together in a rich explosion of color that takes the eye on a journey down a hill on which the sun is perhaps starting to set through a small village were the light had begun to fade and out onto a lively landscape filled with trees, mountains, and water.

The source of light is not depicted in the painting, but it seems to be the setting sun that is behind the artist painting the scene.  The texture of the painting is a bit rough since it is painted in oil using quick, short strokes.  The use of oil paints gave the artist a chance to work on the painting over a period of two years so he would be able to add to and mold the work until the depiction was exactly what he wanted.  Also, this medium is very durable, which allows the viewer today to see the same vivid colors one would have seen in 1905.  I believe Vlaminck wants the viewer to look past the rough exterior of the painting to see the cohesion of the overall piece.  The brush strokes and vivid colors by themselves would be chaotic, but they come together beautifully to form a serene and beautiful landscape

Paragone

Do you think one type of art is superior to another?

Answer:

Thanh: I don't think that one type of art is superior to another because both require great talent and energy on the part of the artist. Each type of art has their own uniqueness and do not show superiority.

Dennis: I do not believe an individual can rate a type of art more superior than another as the same amount of effort, creativity and diligence can be put into either type. Even though we may have a personal preference in one type it does not justify making claims as to which type is better solely based on our feelings and beliefs.

Ragale: As I said before, I do not believe any type of art is superior to another. Each one requires a great deal of mental and physical work. For a sculptor you have to create your masterpiece in front of you, while a painter has to create their art piece on paper. In order to do each piece of work you must have some sort of skill work within and you must be talented with your hands.

Minh & Jarrod: In conclusion, we come to agree that every art have it own beauty no one art is superior than other.

Do you think a discussion such as the paragone is useful?

Answer:

Thanh: The paragone discussion is useful because it gives arguments on both sides and helps one artist to understand what the other experiences, helping both to better appreciate each other's art.

Dennis: I believe this discussion was quite useful because it was quite interesting to read the opinions of other students regarding their experience and the assigned reading. It gave the project more depth.

Ragale: The paragone would be more useful to me if it didn’t showcase the arrogance of the artist. While I only read the one supplied by Leonardo, it would’ve been nice to read others to get their opinions as well.

Minh & Jarrod: In conclusion, we consider this discussion to be useful. The discussion open our mind to other idea and experiences.

How did your week as an artist influence your interpretation of this reading?

Answer:

Thanh: My week as an artist helped me realize that some of the arguments that Da Vinci brought up were not necessarily good arguments because both types of art should be much appreciated.

Dennis: Lastly, being put in the shoes of an artist opened up a whole window of respect for this refined skill. It was also quite easy to relate to the readings as some of the things explained were directly correlated with the work I had to do.

Ragale: My short lived time as an artist did not give me time to appreciate what Leonardo wrote. I was only able to experience one side of his argument and could not put myself in his shoes. My own experience made me appreciate what an artist does but I was not pleased to read about how they feel one art is better than another.

Minh & Jarrod: In conclusion, we are more closely relate to the artists and much more appreciative of their work after the project.

Did your group reach a consensus?

Answer: We all come to an agreement for question one; we do not believe an individual can rate a type of art more superior than another as the same amount of effort, creativity and diligence can be put into either type. Question two we also agree on, which we believe this discussion was quite useful. Question three we also agree on that we are more closely relate to the artists and much more appreciative of their work after the project.

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Standing in the Shoes of Renaissance Masters

Thanh Ngo

Leonardo da Vinci

In my sketch, cars are traveling forward through a street with buildings on both sides toward the sunset at the horizon. I chose to leave the image in black and white because I’m not good at coloring. I started this drawing by choosing a point where I want my horizon and then drew orthogonal lines around that point. This point became my vanishing point as I used the orthogonal lines to draw the street, cars, and buildings going toward that point. I showed atmospheric perspective by drawing objects that are in the foreground very dark and having them get lighter as they progress towards the background, the horizon. When the horizon is approached, every object, car, and building, the street, and the sun are drawn extremely light. To enhance the perspective of my drawing through scale, I drew cars and buildings that are in the foreground large and progressively smaller as they approach the horizon in the background. The car, the buildings, and the sun at the vanishing point are much smaller in scale than the objects at the foreground of the drawing.

Jarrod Pinkerton

Leonardo da Vinci

The city in the background is the vanishing point in the sketch. I used orthogonal lines coming from the vanishing point to make the road leading to the city. I made the tree and the road in the foreground darker to show atmospheric perspective. As the road approaches the city, it gets lighter. The tree closer to the city is lighter as well as the city itself.

Minh Nguyen

Michelangelo

At the beginning I thought it was an easy project, but when I put my hand on the peace of foam I don’t know where to start. It took me three tried to get the fourth one right. You have to have a very good idea of what to do before you even begin, if the idea is not there than there is a good chance of you messing up. I now understand the process of Michelangelo and even admire his work more. The object I have done is a bottle.

Ragale Russell

Michelangelo

For my sculpture I chose to do something that I thought was fairly easy. My subject was a Flat Screen Dell desktop computer. While at first this project seemed to be easy, I must say that after two ruined bars of soap I soon found out that it would be much more difficult. My first attempt was to try to achieve a 3-D effect with the bar of soap. I wanted my computer screen to sit up and have the keyboard sitting flat. On my first attempt I completed the computer screen but I could not carve off enough soap to get the keyboard to sit flat like I wanted it to. After cutting off too much soap the first time and cutting my soap completely in half the second time I gave up on that project. For my third try I decided to keep it simple. I carved out a computer screen and right underneath I cut out the keyboard. I decided to keep both on a flat surface to avoid any further mishaps. My finished product was not what I expected but it was the shape of a computer and would have to do for now. Michelangelo was able to create magnificent sculptures from marble. Even with a bar of soap I can acknowledge that this was not an easy task. From this project I now have a greater respect for his artwork and his approach to creating masterpieces.

Dennis Onabajo

Michelangelo

As soon as I put my eyes on the block of soap, I saw a tennis racket hidden beneath the layers. Often times artists express themselves in their art to reflect past experiences or desires. For me it was not a surprise to sculpt a tennis racket as it is something I have loved to do since I was a little child. I found it quite difficult to put my visualization which I had in my mind and make it a reality on the bar of soap due to the precision which was needed to create the 3d object.

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Vincent van Gogh 1853-1890

Vincent van Gogh was born in 1853 in Groot-Zundert, Holland.  His parents were Anna Cornelia Carbentus and Reverend Theodorus van Gogh. Vincent had three sisters and two brothers and was brought up in a religious and creative household.   Van Gogh’s first love for art began to show at the age of 16 when he went to work for the Hague gallery which was run by French art dealers Goupil et Cie. Van Gogh remained with this company for about 5 years and was relocated several times. While working for the art dealers, some of his early admirations were for realistic art painters Jean-Francois Millet and Jules Breton.  Even though he had a love for art work, he soon lost interest in dealing art and decided to become a clergyman.  In 1876, after leaving Goupils, van Gogh made several attemts to become a preacher.  Eventually, he turned to artwork as a way to get his message across. He studied art in Belgium before moving to Paris to live with his brother, Théo who managed an art gallery.  After Paris, he moved to Arles where he hoped to start an art school with his closest friend, Gauguin.  His bourgeoning plans for a progressive school for art were cut short when he and Gauguin began to have heated disagreements.  Vincent began to show signs of psychosis.  During a particularly emotional fight, van Gogh attacked his friend but ended up cutting part of his own left ear off.  After the incident, van Gogh's dreams of teaching art vanished.  Van Gogh suffered from epilepsy and his mental state slowly disintegrated to periods of dissociative states coupled with lucidity.  The last months of his life were spent with Dr. Gachet who was working to help Vincent with his physical and psychological problems.  While he was alive, van Gogh only sold one painting.  The majority of his now infamous work was created in a three year period toward the end of his life.  Sadly, on July 27th 1890 van Gogh shot himself in the chest and returned home only to die two days later on July 29th with his brother Theo at his side. He was buried in Auvers on July 30th.  Saddened by his brother’s death, Theo soon became sick and died 6 months later. Theo’s wife and son, Vincent Willem van Gogh, inherited Van Gogh’s paintings and later donated his work to the Vincent van Gogh foundation.

(adapted from www.vangoghgallery.com)

Sheaves of Wheat 1890

This painting was one of the last van Gogh

painted before he committed suicde. It was part

of a series. He painted the series while he was staying

with Dr. Gachet, who he also painted (in our text). He

was staying with Dr. Gachet for physical and

psychological problems. During his time with

Gachet, the fields were harvested and van Gogh

did this seires focusing on the wheat fields. This

painting is unique because it shows the wheat

stacks close up, almost like a family portrait.

Sunflowers 1889

Van Gogh is famous for his paintings of sunflowers. 

When van Gogh went to France, he wanted to look for a good 

artistic community where he could find his own place. 

This is when he began to paint the Sunflower series. When he 

first started painting sunflowers in Paris, France around 1887, 

his sunflowers were clips of flowers rather

than an entire vase of sunflowers, as in his paintings later on. 

He painted these inorder to decorate Paul Gauguin’s home. 

I wanted to concentrate on this painting of a vase

with 15 sunflowers because it shows depth beyond its simplicity. 

He used yellow a lot during this part of his life, a color 

that can give the effect of livelihood.

However, as this painting shows, yellow is used with a brown color that 

suggests an image of death. All of the colors in between yellow 

and brown are used as if suggesting all of the

stages from life to death. Incorporating all the differences in the 

petal structure, the colors of the centers of the flower, and the 

colors of the petals, this simple painting creates

so much balance that the theme of life and death is apparent.