Final Art

All self portraits by Edvard Munch from The Munch Museum, Oslo

1. Why did you select the inspiration pieces?

I liked Munch’s self-portraits because I like his style in his other paintings, which made me enjoy his self portraits more.

2. Why did you select the media to create your self-portrait?

I wanted to try using digital manipulation because I’m not really familiar with it, but I was hoping it would be easier for me to understand than trying to draw or paint.

3. What challenges did you face in creating your self-portrait and how did you overcome them?

I do not enjoy pictures of myself, so I chose one from when I was a child because it’s easier for me.

4. How does this piece represent you?

It’s a picture of me as a child.

5. What elements and principles of art did you apply in this work?

I tried to focus on the lines and colors to make something that was visually interesting and create a focal point in the center.

6. Did you enjoy working on this project?

Somewhat. I enjoyed trying to use Photoshop and ArtRage because I’ve never really used either one before, but without any formal training I’m sure I missed a lot of features that they have.

7. What do you think of your final artwork?

It looks a lot better than anything I could have possibly drawn, as clearly evidenced by the atrocious stuff I did previously (other than the mask).

Extra Credit Reflections

1. Which assignment did you ENJOY working on the best? Why?

I enjoyed the final project the best, because I liked poring through all of the art galleries online and looking for images that fit into my theme. In doing so, I found a lot of art and artists that I would never have heard of otherwise.

2. Which assignment did you ENJOY working on the least? Why?

I didn’t enjoy doing the self portrait, because I don’t enjoy looking at pictures of myself and trying to make art of it is very difficult for me.

3. How did you like using ANGEL?

Doesn’t matter too much, as ANGEL is done after this semester, but I think I still like it better than Blackboard. It seems simpler, but a lot of the information (other than Grades) isn’t as obfuscated as it is on Blackboard.

4. If you had the opportunity to change this course:

What would you keep?

I would keep the discussion boards because it helps keep everyone and everything linked together.

What would you remove?

I had a hard time with creating my own art most of the time, but I understand that it was part of the course and wouldn’t be feasible to remove. Some of the videos were a bit tough to get through, but that’s probably more to do with my ADHD than anything.

What would you add?

I would add a few more art appreciation projects, maybe replacing a few of the ones where we made art ourselves.

5. Would you recommend this course to your peers?

Yes, I would.

6. Please list any other comments you would like to share.

I enjoyed the class thoroughly, even though the amount of homework was easily 2-3x more than the other online classes I am taking this semester (Computer Programming & World History).

AED200 Reflections

1. What were you expectations for this course and where they met?

I expected to learn enough about the different forms and ‘eras’ of art that I could recognize them by myself. If I am able to retain what I know now, I should be able to think and speak a lot more intelligently about art with other people.

2. Now that you've been through this course, What is art? How would you define it now compared to your intial posting?

I will still stick to my original idea and define art as “anything that is made to inspire feelings in a person.” I’m staying with it because it’s succinct and it still makes sense to me.

3. Who was your favorite artist in your original posting and who is your favorite visual artist now? If there is a difference, why do you think so? If you have the same favorite artist, why do you think so?

In my original post, I chose Hieronymus Bosch as my favorite artist. Now I would say it is Ron Mueck. I think it changed because I was exposed to a ton of different artists and styles that I had no idea even existed. Mueck’s hyperrealistic, but bigger than life-size, sculptures of  people are very unsettling to me like a lot of Bosch’s work, but he is much more modern and not as well known at this time.

4. Now that you've completed this course, how do you feel about taking an online course? Is your answer the same as it was in your first posting? How is it the same or different?

I love taking online courses. The answer is the same because I’ve taken a lot of them in the past and I have rarely had any issues with them. This course was handled in a good way for an online course.

Final Video Review

An Introduction to the Italian Renaissance

1. For each video list/discuss the key concepts you learned
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Giotto was one of the first artists during what would become the Renaissance. Roman artists loved nature and beauty and liked to make very realistic art. After barbarians sacked Rome, the tradition of art was carried on by the Byzantine empire, but they stuck strictly to religious art. Giotto brought back the use of perspective in architecture to give a 2-d painting a 3-d appearance. Uccello did the same thing with people and animals. Masaccio brought back intensity and drama into painting.

2. Do the videos relate to the creation of your Art Criticism project? If yes, explain how. If no, explain why not.

It helped give some perspective into the beginnings of the Renaissance.

3. What is your opinion of the films? Do they add depth to understanding of art criticism?

The acting was pretty silly, but keeping it lighthearted kept me interested longer than a boring interview.

Greenberg on Art Criticism: An Interview by T. J. Clark

1. For each video list/discuss the key concepts you learned.

Staying open and receptive is important; art must be good; all of the best art of the previous 50 years was abstract art and that’s not Greenberg wanted.

2. Do the videos relate to the creation of your Art Criticism project? If yes, explain how. If no, explain why not.

Yes, the way he kept saying that all he wanted was for art to be good and to be open and receptive when criticizing art. I appreciated how he admitted to past mistakes and was open about why he said what he said in the past. 

3. What is your opinion of the films? Do they add depth to understanding of art criticism?

I enjoyed Greenberg’s candor and his friendliness throughout the video. If I were asked to picture an art critic, I would guess much more conservative and very bristly, without a smile on his face. Greenberg was the complete opposite and I enjoyed it very much. It did add a lot of depth to my understanding of art criticism, but I didn’t understand a lot of what he meant.