Logo

I've finished my logo design and I'm happy with the end result. Since I'm not trying to sell a product or service, I settled on just taking my initials and trying to present them in a manner that I thought was interesting. I'm assuming since I like it, it must represents something about my personality.

I Started with my three initials and then paired that down to just my first and last names. I combined the two into one symbol and then set it on an angle to give it some sort of flow. I then experimented with various symbols around it and settled on an outline. When the two letters are outlined the result looks like a combination of various geometric shapes. The various shapes give it a look of order while also showing variety.

As for the colors, I settled on a simple black symbol with a red outline. I've always liked the combination of red and black, I think it makes a bold impression. I briefly experimented with adding additional colors but I didn't like the way it looked.

Finally, I added a little half arrow along the top. I think this gives the impression of speed and motion.
One of the things I found most interesting about this assignment was the film on the Digital Animations logo. I thought it was very interesting to see that with the elaborate process involved with creating the logo, the final product was such a simple design. Five red circles doesn't seem like much.

Albright Knox Visit

I visited the museum the other day with my six year old daughter. It's been a few years since I've been there and this was her first trip. She enjoyed it very much and during the course of the visit these are some of the things I noticed.

 First, the paintings that made the biggest impression on me were the ones I didn't like. Electric by Edward Ruscha and Red Yellow Blue Painting by James S. Ely Fund just don't seem like great works of art. They look like something I could do and I'm not any artist. Carcass of Beef by Chaim Soutine looks like it required a great deal of skill to paint but I thought it was a disturbing topic to depict.

Three works that I really found interesting were The Cone by Alexander Calder, Urban Landscape Buffalo by Zhan Wang and, I know we saw this in class already, Wall Drawing #1268 by Sol Lewitt. I couldn't tell you exactly why I liked The Cone other than it made me smile when I looked at it. The Urban Landscape sculpture is strange in the way it uses pots and pans and other household items to form a landscape. It makes quite an impression as you enter the room and see this huge splash of silver covering the most of the floor throughout the room. I know we already saw the wall doodle by Sol Lewitt but I think you can't get the scope of the project until you see it first hand. Its quite impressive up close. I particularly liked the little electric warning voice telling me to stay away from the wall over and over.

The last three paintings I let my daughter choose. I told her to find three that she really liked and she chose Tow-Path at Argenteuil by Claude Monet, Peaceable Kingdom by Edward Hicks and Winter by Emile Pierre Branchard. I think she did a good job. I liked these as well. I wish I could go into more depth about what I find appealing about these but all I can say is they have very nice eye appeal and are soothing to look at.

Color Wheel and Value Scale

This weeks assignment on the value scale and color wheel was different. I'm not an art student so I'm unfamiliar with these concepts. To that extent it was interesting. I watched the video on making the value scale and thought the process was very detailed. My attempt was not quite so detailed. It didn't take me long and the results probably show that. I still think it looks pretty good for my first attempt.

  

My results for the color wheel are similar. The worst part is I had to go to two stores to find the paint. I liked this little project the best. It made me feel more artistic. Mixing the colors was reminded me of doing water color painting with my daughter. I thought it was interesting that the colors used were not the primary colors I would have expected. I didn't know that red and blue are too dark to be primary colors.

Color and Emotion

Color can effect emotions in different ways depending on the color involved. Red is an intense color and can represent fire, anger, danger or violence. Blue is the color of the sky and the sea and is serene and cool. Yellow is a bright color like sunshine and can convey happiness, brightness hope. The reasons for this are likely caused by the every day things these colors remind us of. Would we have the same response to blue if fire was blue? Would red have the same emotional effect if it was the color of the sky and the sea?

The most interesting technical aspect of color that I found while exploring the Elements of Art web site is contrast. The tool that shows you how a change in the color of the overlapping black and white strips over the gray background makes that background appear to change color is fascinating. The optical allusion is very convincing.

After watching the "Color" video I felt the biggest impact it had on me were the examples of Van Gogh and Rothco that showed how using strange color clashes and intense shades of red could convey a negative feeling.

The "Feelings: Emotions and Art" video was a little underwhelming. I thought it was overly dramatic. The main difference between the two artists use of colors, is that David uses some bright and intense colors like red in some of his works, while Goya's work is darker and more foreboding. I didn't like any of the works so the color schemes had little emotional effect on me.