Traditional/New Media

After seeing that photoshop can create portraits that seem to be painted with oil paint, water color, and other forms of media, I came across this piece. This is a piece that seems to recreate digital media  in a way that captures the original feel of traditional forms of media. I am unsure if this piece was created with photoshop, but needless to say, it looks like a digital masterpiece. I believe that this piece is titled Gravity Ryan Stone, and it was created by Zeronis.

Retrieved from deviantart.com.

Installations

I really enjoyed reading the section that Mary Stewart wrote about installations in art at the end of her textbook Launching the Imagination. I mainly liked it because I too agree that installations allow artists to be innovative in ways that I never thought possible. Installations really have "expanded means of expression" (Stewart 359). For example, this installation pictured, is three dimensional, huge, and it resembles an array of different objects. One viewing the object may think of a porcupine or a wave, while the artist may have intended the piece to resemble a sea urchin or a dragon fruit. Moreover, it is important to note that an installation packs many clues into an area that are visually stimulating and thought provoking.

Image retrieved from: LatianoInstallation.jpg

Emotion, Imagery, and Dogs

Mary Stewart in her textbook, Launching the Imagination, wrote a section about ad narration and useful strategies. These strategies include appealing to rationality, emotion, seriousness, humor, realistic connection, or exaggeration (336). As an example of an ad that plays on emotion, Stewart uses an example of a commercial that is meant to evoke emotion about a product that isn't an immediate need for people. According to Stewart, this commercial (which is displayed in Figure 14.29) evokes emotion because it shows the food from a dog's perspective, which is then meant to show that the food is "a manifestation of love for the dog" (337). There is a commercial that quickly came to mind for me which conveys emotion to a depth that shows not only the love directed from the owner to the animal, but also love is conveyed from the animal to the owner (because the owner buys the food). I really like this advertisement because it is so effective at an emotional level. The imagery is bright and enlightening while the communication is short, simple, and compelling.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iNUdeXKd6QU

Animation of Raccoons

Since I posed about animation yesterday, I wanted to study just how animation works. It is a phenomenal avenue for the creation of art, and after watching the video linked here: http://www.cgmeetup.net/home/making-of-raccoon-dance-party/
I have a vague understanding of the process each animated component undergoes in an animated video. After watching the video, it is clear that the raccoons start out resembling rats as the animators chose their placement and movement for certain scenes. Then the features of the raccoons and the backgrounds were elaborately created, which helped create a 3D effect due to shading techniques, and in the end, the animation process is artistically awe-inspiring. Additionally, I believe that this animation is new media art, because this was computer generated, and each detail of the final product is so refined that this is definitely a harmonious marrying of technology and art.

This image is copyright and was retrieved from: Computer Graphics & Digital Art Community for Artist: Job, Tutorial, Art, Concept Art, Portfolio.

Lilo&Stitch | Old&New Media

I remember seeing Lilo&Stitch when it came out in theaters in 2002. Since I saw it, it has been my all time favorite movie (leave it to Disney right?). I also remember that I always tried to draw sunset pictures for my parents (signed by me, of course) that resembled the sunsets in Lilo&Stitch. After researching the movie, I learned that there was both traditional media, and new technological media used in the creation of the movie. The background of each scene was created with watercolor, which is considered traditional media, while the characters were digitally animated by a computer and therefore are a new media creation. I think that the incorporation of both of these elements are what allowed the movie to be as visually successful as it was. Not only did the use of watercolor make the movie seem timeless, the use of computer animation made the characters come to life.

Multiple Image Structures

For this post, I would like to analyze an exemplified work in Mary Stewart's textbook titled, Launching the Imagination, that appears in the section that addresses "Multiple Image Structures" (322). On page 323, Stewart provides three works that were produced in a calendar and each picture pointed toward the same theme: a frog (323). She states that photos can be grouped by content, such the grouping of works that contain similar shapes, and the order of the photos can be unimportant (Stewart 322). Stewart does point out that the similar shapes that unify works, for example can be a pyramid pattern that is conveyed throughout each piece, however her example titled, "Frog Folio" (Figure 14.6), shows a frog at different angles, therefore the frog does not convey the same shape, but does convey the idea of the frog, which is meant to be the unifying point. In conclusion, both unifying shapes, ideas, and even implied shapes cause connections to meanings within images that would have otherwise gone unnoticed if not for the other images used as support.

Another New Media Artist: Anna Schuleit

Anna Schuleit creates an array of different works using more traditional forms of media, and installations. One of my favorite works that she has crafted is an installation called Bloom in 2003. This installation was "Created to address the persistent absence of flowers in psychiatric hospital settings" (annaschuleit.com). Schuleit blanketed the floors of a psychiatric hospital, which had recently closed, with over 28,000 potted blooming flowers, with assorted colors on each floor. Even the swimming pool contained flowers, while the basement was covered with a layer of sod. The intercom system played the recorded sounds of the hospital in the days leading up to its closing as viewers experienced the installation. 

I find Bloom intriguing because I don't see the installation as eerie. From my perspective, it seems as though Schuleit had created an atmosphere to be respectful and honorary of the people who had been patients or employees at the facility while it was in use. In a way, it seems like she intended to recreate the original feeling of the hospital with the recordings, but she was also showing that even that sterile and sometimes troubled atmosphere can enjoy bright colors, and natural beauty, which she represented with potted blooming flowers. 

 

Photo Courtesy Anna Schuleit

Photo Courtesy Anna Schuleit

Photo Courtesy Anna Schuleit

Film Music

Mary Stewart in her textbook, Launching the Imagination, asks us to consider the effects of sound in film (310). Stewart relays Aaron Copland's five points of the enhancement of film with the help of music. Stewart also refers to Copland as "a master of film music" before sharing the five points as follows:

"Sound can create a more convincing atmosphere of time and place . . .
Sound can communicate the unspoken thoughts of a character or the unseen implications of a situation . . .
Sound can serve as a neutral background, filling space between bits of dialogue . . .
Sound can build a sense of continuity . . .
Sound often heralds the beginning of an event or rounds it off with  a sense of finality" (310).

One may think that sounds in a film are merely the cliche building of music as someone in a horror film is searching through their dark house with a baseball bat after they've heard a noise, however this is probably never the case. There is a slew of impacting elements that film music can use to give the viewer a more profound experience of the particular film. Stewart shares these elements that Copland outlined in order to explain that sound can make or break the setting, provide insight for a particular character, provide sound during breaks in dialogue in order to maintain that audience's interest, can create unity between scenes and ideas that would have otherwise been interpreted as separate, and then the building of the music that points toward a significant point such as the beginning, end, or climax (310). Nevertheless, the next time we view a film, we should stay aware that the messages in the film are not only conveyed visually. Due to the major roll that music plays in films we should recognize that it has an effect on our understanding of the visuals and overall messages conveyed by the film.

Intensity

I especially enjoyed the description of the intensity in Mary Stewart's textbook Launching the Imagination. She uses two examples to convey the idea of intensity in reference to the "level of energy in a performance or the quality of observation of an event" (Stewart 302). Both examples convey a social critique and both play on the morals of all people. The example that I would like to point out is in Figure 13.21 Mary Lucier, Migration (Monarch), 2000. Lucier photographed the death of a Monarch butterfly after it landed on a human hand, and displayed the series of photos in Manhattan. The message is that the butterfly is in fact "fragile and transient" (Stewart 302). I found this quite interesting because it shows that the emotional intensity of art is a way of portraying propaganda. Therefore the passionate feelings that the artist feels while they create and present their work, evokes a compassionate reaction. This is especially a propaganda piece because Lucier displayed a delicate, beautiful insect dying after an interaction with a human, which is a critique on human and nature interaction. More specifically it suggests that people who live in the city have become ignorant to nature's needs. The butterfly's death displays a critique on human's relationship with nature, and this assumption is due to the intensity of Lucier's work.

Uniting Tension and Torsion

In Mary Stewart's textbook, Launching the Imagination, she addresses the use of tension and torsion. She states that tension stretches or bends an object and torsion creates a twisting movement (273). I find this very interesting because I thought that a twisting movement would just create another type of tension. So I wondered if torsion is a type of tension or if it is a concept all its own. The definition of torsion as stated by the Oxford Dictionaries is essentially how Stewart had described it, "The action of twisting or the state of being twisted, especially of one end of an object relative to the other" (oxforddictionaries.com). Neither one of these sources indicates that torsion is a subcategory of tension, however I would assume that because an object is stretched tightly (to create tension) around itself in a twisting motion (to create torsion), that the art could depict both concepts. I believe the photo below does this, even though it it titled, "Torsion Encounter", because it seems to be undergoing torsion due to the way the wood is twisting, however it also seems to be stretching as if it is falling victim to tension.

Art created by Stian Korntved Ruud

Associations of Properties

According to Mary Stewart in Launching the Imagination, "Every material has unique psychological associations as well as physical properties . . . [no matter the design] materials have meaning" (258). I feel that this is a true statement because the viewer of the art is supposed to assume that everything the artist did within their work was intentional. I feel as though this must be true for everything-- for example, this idea is not limited to installations or sculptures. When someone uses tools as simple as say, a pencil and paper, one can associate the properties of graphite with the earth and naturalness since it is composed of the natural element carbon, and paper also with the sense of naturalness since it is derived from trees. Or the graphite can take on a different meanings due to its metallic color that could signify coldness, hardness, or even outer space. The paper can also be made of cloth that signifies many different ideas for example, "to conceal" much like our clothes conceal our bodies or virtually anything that one may think of when they hear the word cloth. It is also important to keep the subject matter of the art in mind, in order to detect what the author intended to tell their viewer with their media choices.

Veteran's Day | Light

In honor of Veteran's Day, I'd like to make this post about the Marine Corps Memorial located in Washington DC. I visited this Memorial as well as others on Veteran's day in 2010. What I remember most about this particular Memorial was how it looked in the dark. As it turns out, it was one of the last Memorials we visited that day, and we were headed for our hotel just after we visited the Memorial. Evidently, the way the directed light was cast upon the soldiers showed that the people who designed the Memorial wanted to make the work, "spatially rich" by using specific light placement, as defined in Mary Stewart's textbook, Launching the Imagination (206-10). In this photo, taken by photographer James Seith, it is apparent that the light is cast up from the ground to illuminate the men from their feet. This allows the viewer to see the texture in the sculpture, but it also contains symbolic value. Light from the ground, regardless of if it originates from different angles upward around the Memorial, reminds the viewer that strength comes from deep down within us, and that despite the war within the world, America can unite and raise up (shown by the men also raising the flag as a team) as the light rises to illuminate their faces.

Colored Chairs

I really liked what Mary Stewart wrote in our textbook about color and the reactions that are evoked from certain colors. Following Stewart's explanation about red, yellow, and blue used on a Fisher-Price toy for children, she described a collection of chairs in Figure 9.63 (210). These chairs, made by Toshiyuki Kita, were an array of colored chairs that had different colored cushions that could be switched out to match any color of chair in the collection (210). When I saw the picture however, (before reading the description) I really felt as though some of the chairs could evoke an ominous feeling from the person about to sit on it, or even a happy feeling, or a disgusted feeling. The red chair with the black cushion seemed eerie, the pink chair with the red cushion could represent happiness, while the green chair with the yellow cushion didn't look so visually pleasing. Either way, if the chair's had different colored cushions than the ones described, then they would evoke a completely different feeling altogether. Amazing how chairs can be so thought provoking, and their colors, so intriguing.

A Comparison | A Freestanding Work is Also an Earthwork

After reading chapter nine in Mary Stewart's book titled, Launching the imagination | A Comprehensive Guide to Basic Design, I wondered which other degrees of dimensionality the, Spiral Jetty, made by Robert Smithson in Great Salt Lake Utah (shown in Figure 9.13) could possibly represent. The art by Smithson is described in the book as an earthwork because it ". . . is a large scale outdoor instillation" (Stewart 186). This artwork falls within this category because it, ". . . extends beyond the walls of a museum or gallery". I find that this description also identifies the Statue of Liberty. This statue takes up an abundance of space, so it is a large scale outdoor instillation and it also extends beyond the walls of a museum or gallery so it is technically an earthwork, but it can also be considered a freestanding work, because it is ". . . designed to be seen from all sides. . . [and the statue's positioning by raising the torch indicates motion which] bring[s] to life the inanimate [bronze]" (Stewart 184). So after this comparison, I wonder if some degrees of dimensionality may overlap for certain works.

Propoganda Assignment

Meet Apollo, or for the purposes of this assignment, meet this dog. This animal was domesticated by men, thousands of years ago. Now, people have cast these animals aside, and they still carry that longing and loving look in their eyes to make the people happy-- the people who made them so eager to please. So, this is a photo that portrays the love that a dog feels for the people who have cast him aside, and wronged him. This is a dog who still sits with a bandana of honor around his neck, that humans placed on him, to give him an outfit that would make him unique so that he would be adopted. He also sits, honorably in a round frame symbolizing that badge of honor he wears, hoping he might have the chance to be loved.

The composition of this poster is meant to be striking. I used red, white, black, and gray to portray the urgency of this animal's adoption. For this animal specifically, he was losing weight and was kennel stressed, and he needed to be adopted so he wouldn't die of voluntary starvation-- like many other animals in his situation. I wanted to make the focal point the dog and his question. His question is written in both capital and lowercase letters to show his confusion about how to write his question, but he still wants to ask it simply because he wants someone to love. He offers a reason to adopt him, not because he would promise to be good, but because he is biologically destined to love his human owner no matter what, and for many people, love is what they spend their lives searching for. 

Apollo, this dog, and other dogs like him are saying, "The search is over. I will love you forever", even if they struggle to organize their thoughts to persuade people to love them back-- it's all they want. It's scientific fact. 

Multimedia Artist/Our Propaganda Assignment

I figured I would extend a note to everyone who wanted to know a little bit about the multimedia artist that I explained about in class last Thursday. Her name is Paula Scher, and she is a postmodernist who has done a lot of work with logos and typography. I think that taking a second look at her work will help with our current propaganda assignment. Here's a link to her TED Talk. http://www.ted.com/talks/paula_scher_gets_serious?language=en
Checking out her works on google images could be helpful and influential as well. Happy illustrating!

Stereotypes

Stereotypes are addressed by Mary Stewart in Chapter 8 of her book, Launching the Imagination | A Comprehensive Guide to Basic Design. Almost every idea that a person conceives is technically based upon some type of knowledge made available by the presence or absence of a stereotype. I realize the last sentence contains an abundance of subject matter, however Steward provides a fantastic example that portrays this idea. She makes the connection that the icon of a broken wine glass placed on shipping crates to indicate it's fragility, is an example of a stereotype (Stewart 162). We make the connection that the contents of a container are fragile. The anticipated idea of "broken glass" indicates the expectation that the viewer will make an inference about the content in the box that may or may not be glass, however it is clearly fragile. Past experiences of seeing broken glass and noting that glass is a fragile substance, then applying this notion to a completely separate entity, is an example of the stereotype at work. So supporting the claim I made earlier, its plausible that the words written in the color red on documents are important because we associate the color red with emergency responders and stop-signs, which would be another stereotype. Or, the depiction of a whale on any canvas makes the viewer think of the sea because a whale is associated with the sea regardless of the background on the canvas. Regardless, people make associations based on what they know, so many ideas are based on stereotypes.

Shared Language and the Artist's Intentions

In the chapter titled "Constructing Meaning", in Mary Stewart's textbook titled Launching the Imagination, she provides an example of the importance of shared language (158). This is important in the process of gathering knowledge about art that depicts different languages, however, I don't believe that knowing the language on the canvas is always pertinent when it comes to understanding/appreciating the art. In the book, the example used to demonstrate this language issue is Figure 8.1 titled, "Haui-su, Detail of Autobiography, Tang Dynasty, 7th-10th centuries" (Stewart 158). There are brushstrokes on paper that create Chinese characters that "communicate specific ideas " (Stewart 158). The viewer may understand the specific message that the artist wished to convey. If the artist was aware that part of their audience would not be able to read the Chinese characters, then the onlooker would actually be absorbing the artist's intentional message. Stewart does touch on this by stating, "For those of us who know no Chinese, the calligraphy is visually enticing but conveys no specific message" (159). So, maybe the artist intended their viewers to draw their own conclusions about the work even if they wouldn't know the message. In fact, maybe the true messages in some of these language-oriented works of art, are strictly derived from the art's aesthetic rather than the language displayed by the art.

Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall in Portland, OR

This photo belongs to Quinn Wharton. I was able to download it off of the internet, although because I know it is copyrighted, I am giving credit where it is due. 

This is a photo of the Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall in Portland, Oregon. It is a historical landmark from 1930 that was renovated on the inside in 1983. 

I recently had the pleasure of attending this venue for the opening symphony of the season. Because this is a class based upon art and technology, I would like to address the functionality of this art as well as its aesthetic beauty. This is a room that was built with the ability to amplify sound as it leaves the stage and travels further across the room. This is, of course, a functional aspect of the space that many of the 2,000+ visitors attending a symphony would simply enjoy as part if their concert hall experience. The precise building of the structure, perfect numbers and balance, graphics made on a computer, and other technology that must have conjured the making of this incredible concert hall represents an advanced technological aspect. As a result the guests have a pleasant artistic experience while easily listening to their favorite symphonies. 

In coordination with it's functionality, the concert hall is aesthetically stunning because of it's color schemes and sheer details. These visuals allow the guests to take in both the music from the symphony, with the richly smooth sound, and smoother deep yellow lighting that creates lemony pools across the reflective surfaces for the guests to simply melt over. In other areas of the Schnitzer Hall, there are chandeliers that continue this lighting trend, while there is more yellow granite, rich red carpets, and black furnishings to solidify the concert hall's beauty. 

Vector Exercise

This is my vector exercise. I used the letters "U" "C" "B" to represent the future school I'd like to attend for grad school, which is University of California Berkeley. I wanted to take advantage of the shadow on each letter and create sharp objects to show the illusion of three-dimensional images. For example I wanted the viewer to especially feel as though the "B" in the center is jumping out of the screen. I used a lot of the eraser tool in the creation of this image as well as the selection tool to create the pointed edges of the different letters. I also chose vibrant colors to make the letters pop from the white background.

Art and Design

"Concept and composition are equally important aspects of art and design"(Stuart 125).
This is a quote taken from the summary page of the 5th chapter in Mary Stuart's textbook Launching the Imagination. There is something that confuses me about this statement. Is design not the concept and the art not the composition? I understand that there is a difference between art and design as it's plain to see that one denotes the other, but aren't the words concept and composition just stating the same things?

Brainstorming | Onslow Beach, North Carolina

According to Mary Stuart in the text book Launching the Imagination, "Color temperature can help create the illusion of space" (44). The contrast in the saturation of the girl's clothing and skin color to the lightness of the background of the blue water, sky, and blue tinted beach creates the illusion that the boy and the girl are small in comparison to the water. Later in the book, Stuart describes the process of Brainstorming that helped me to understand the composition of this picture (121). The photographer that took the picture intended to capture a moment of love, therefore, after thinking of all of the other potential connotations of that word, she captured a moment that conveyed many ideas.  The beach conveyed curiosity with it's many grains, footprints, and shells. The waves represented ongoing time, even when the two people on the beach stood still. Sand and water both represent land a sea creatures alike.The act of a photographer taking the picture brings about the idea of senses being used; eyes, ears, touch, smell, etc are all used. Although Stuart alludes to Brainstorming being a process of sculpture-making, I believe that a photo, being that it is worth 1,000 intentional words, is a strong representation of brainstorming. This photo taken at Onslow Beach, North Carolina, and although interpretation of all works are arbitrary, the artist almost always has an idea for each small detail, and that is where brainstorming comes into play.

Fractured Space

In Launching the Imagination by Mary Stuart, there is a definition of fractured space. According to Stuart, "[f]ractured space can be created when multiple viewpoints are combined in a single image" (96). This definition interests me because the view points may change to create fractured space, however the subject may move. The moving subject may also create fractured space, thus the view point, say where the artist with the camera takes the picture, is not changing but the viewer obtains the fractured space idea anyway.

Photomontage "Of Light and Bon"

This photomontage is called, “Of Light and Bon”.

I chose to use a set of photos all taken within approximately 5-10 seconds of each other. Scott Bunter, a local professional photographer, took the photos.  The photos are of my dog. Well, actually she was my dog, and that is precisely why I chose these pictures to represent her. She passed away on August 21, 2014. The photos were taken for my nineteenth birthday as a gift from my parents in October of 2013. My parents knew how much she was my dog, and how much I loved to see her enjoying life in her yard. It was her natural habitat.

The composition of this piece is not an accident. I decided to make the start in the top left of the canvas. Bonnie is facing to the left and turning to walk toward the photographer. For the purposes of this piece, I wanted to have Bonnie notice her family and walk toward them. Then I wanted her to walk forward as she always did. I placed the pictures at a diagonal cascading toward the bottom right of the canvas to show the pattern in which she walked. In her old age she rarely walked in a straight line.

Most importantly, and the most obvious element of this work is the opacity of the pictures. Because each picture was so flooded with natural light and a bright green background, it was easy to carry the opacity throughout each picture and capture Bonnie’s movement. She also stood out because she was a German shepherd mix, and her black back in contrast with her tan tail, belly, and face, stood out wonderfully. The first pictures are opaque at a level that makes Bonnie seem like she is just coming into the photo and traveling directly out of the light. Then she gets closer to being reunited with her family, is easier to see, and looks more realistic. As she moves closer and closer however, she remains out of reach because she is in fact, no loner in this world. This fact is represented with the opacity of the last pictures of her becoming lighter and lighter in opacity.

There is an abundance of negative space that I left white as a representation of Bonnie’s purity. She only knew how to love and never lied or caused trouble on purpose, unlike humans. Dogs in general are this way; dogs are pure and only mistaken as hateful when they are scared. Therefore, there is white space to depict her innocence. She had also passed when I made this photomontage, so in representation of the beautiful and pure place that I hope she resides within now, I left rich amounts of white space on either side of the photos.    

Photo Collage

The photo collage created by Kevin Sprague, displayed and analyzed by Mary Stuart in her book, Launching the Imagination, was used to demonstrate patterns and grids in art and is the topic of this post (p. 73). I'd mainly like the point out that the flow of the piece is steady, and that it is a great example of a source incase anyone is having a harder time developing their very own photo collage. I read Stuart's passage and studied the example. Both elements helped me to understand how to correctly compose my own collage with strong use of backgrounds, patterns, lines, etc.

Proximity Based Upon Perception

I really enjoy the fact that art is all simply about perception. There are manipulations done by the artist in order to make direct points however, art is what we make of it. I noticed when I was reading Mary Stuart's, Launching the Imagination, a topic she addressed was proximity. She used the painting of Creation of Adam by Michaelangelo to make her point that "[c]areful use of proximity can create tension" (Stewart 70). Then she indicates that less than 6 inches of space separate the men's hands in the painting (Stewart 70). The perception that there is tension felt between the viewer and the subjects within the particular art is arbitrary. After all, one may understand the close proximity as a simple gesture of light and kind enlightenment or help that may not be strong or tension filled at all. If Michaelangelo wanted to really created tension with proximity, he may have had the hands in the painting touch to create a tension between the senses for the subjects as well as trigger emotion from the individuals viewing the painting.

Temperature and Color

We've all heard it!

• "Oh don't buy a black car, it will be too hot in the summer!"
• "You're going to be hot if you wear that black shirt today!"
• "My car has a black interior, it will be hot to get into!"

I think you get the point! So now, after reading Mary Stuart's, Launching the Imagination, I am utterly confused about the cooling and warming effect of colors. In reference to the term temperature in chapter 2 Stuart states, "Try leaving six colored squares of equal value on fresh snow on a sunny day. By the end of the day, the warm-colored oranges, reds, and violets will sink into the melting snow, while the blue and green squares will remain closer to the surface" (p. 44). My confusion pertains to black's ability to absorb heat while blue' and green have an inability to absorb heat in comparison to the warmer colors (orange, red, and violet) that do absorb heat. I know that was a mouthful. However, how can black (due to my experiences) and orange (from the statement in the book) both have the same effect of absorbing heat? If a black square was placed on the snow, would the black shade absorb the heat like our cars and clothes do? Or would the black only absorb the heat without letting the heat transfer to the snow below? Is black a warm color or a cool color? I think I will test my questions in comparison to the warm colors in December when I have fresh snow available to me.

Responses to Color

Color. Color has many functions in this world. To me, one of color's main functions is to evoke a response from the viewer. I don't mean a feeling, but rather a different kind of response. For example, in American culture light blue evokes a calm feeling, but a light blue label on a bottle of disinfectant spray with bright blue letters that read "Warning" evokes a response to be cautious of the product. Sometimes we learn from the words rather than the color however, the response to the bright blue warning portion on that bottle of disinfectant spray may be providing the reader with such an intriguing package that they are impressed with its overall "look". Moreover, the bright blue hue color causes the reader to not over expose themselves to the spray, but the bottle's inviting aesthetic inspires the reader to enjoy the product's uses. All in all, the reader has an ultimate response to the label, which is an array of feelings and actions.

According to Mary Stuart in her textbook, Launching the Imagination, she explains the difference in value and intensity (p.44-47). This imaginary bottle that I am basing this entire post on, has to have a hue that catches the consumer's eye on the shelf, but is still light enough to draw the reader's attention to the bright blue warning on the label. In other words, the hue of the bottle would be tinted with white, while the important lettering would be the regular hue of blue (Stuart p. 45). This way, the warning stands out while not over powering the aesthetic of the bottle's label.

Self Portrait

This is a blatant representation of my hobbies, as well as a subtle representation of who I am. There is a rigidity to my movements when I exercise, as well as to my mind and actions in other activities. The reason for the entire piece being black and white is to demonstrate this rigidity in its rawest form for the viewer. I inverted the color of the main image to make the white area, and changed the brightness and contrast of both pictures incorporated, to really portray my statement. I really enjoy weight lifting and number of other types of exercise. This is depicted by the white image with a girl to the left doing a bicep curl. Note that there is only half of myself showing, as this is a representation of only half of who I am. I also enjoy feminine activities which I represent in the bottom right of the image where I am shown in a black dress. Again, I presented half of myself to the right, because my other half is on the other side of the image.

Using Shape Analysis

In chapter one of Mary Stewart's textbook, Launching The Imagination, she discusses the topic of using shape. She uses an example that is not only an artistic creation, but it follows the "play on words" notion very well. The example is Figure 1.48 and is an ad that discourages cocaine abuse called, "The average high induced by cocaine lasts thirty minutes. The average death induced by cocaine lasts slightly longer"(p.20). The figure contains a small vertical white space that has small black letters that read, "The average high induced by cocaine lasts thirty minutes." Immediately to the right the rest of the ad it is black. The blackness contains the white words, "The average death induced by cocaine lasts slightly longer." The contrast between light and dark could symbolically create the idea of light in life, and darkness in death. The darker portion is also a longer rectangle that seems to make the ad play more on its dark shading and less on the title of the chapter's section, which is "Using Shape" (p. 20).

Figure/Ground Reversal Analysis

According to Mary Stuart in her textbook, Launching The Imagination, she states, "Figure/Ground reversal occurs when first the positive then the negative shapes command our attention"(p. 13). Then Stuart uses Figure 1.33 in the book to exemplify this type of figure and ground. Figure 1.33 in the book is titled, "M. C. Escher, part of Metamorphosis II, 1939-40" (p. 13). In this book, the figure is a photo of wood that has black and white lizards morphing into hexagons on a grey background. In the text the reader is prompted to interpret the picture from left to right. However, when I analyzed this picture I thought that the movement was from right to left, rather than left to right. I interpreted the photo in this particular way because the movement of the lizards seemed to morph from the hexagons, as if they were walking away from them, as they developed rather than turning into them. I think I interpreted the photo from right to left because I tend to see things that move away from simplicity (the uniform geometric shapes) and toward a more complex creation (the crawling lizards).