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Art Literacy Narrative

Art Literacy Narrative Essay

Blake Green

Ms. Davidow

Philosophy of Art Composition Section

10 October 2018

The Eight Year Old Journalist

At this point of second grade the average kid has mastered writing consistent sentences that communicate what they are trying to portray. In the least boastful way possible I remember my teachers always praising my advancements in the art of literature. I took their words to heart, to the point where I was convinced up until my adulthood that I would pursue a writing career. If you ask me about that now, I shudder with cringe as I remember all those nights spent slamming my head against the keyboard desperately trying to continue creating ideas for poetry. Even then, it was a time in my life that was no less important than others, this is a memory of a little boy and his first experience with praise from a teacher he appreciated about a book he created.

Sitting in my blue plastic school chair, I noticed my hands start to cramp, I guess that’s what happens when you expect someone with hands the size of little cup coasters to write an entire book. I thought to myself “look at us we’re in the second grade and writing a whole book of ten pages how crazy”! Little did I know I would grow up from writing ten to writing two hundred, but that’s besides the point. My teacher was named Mrs. Wendy, I only remember her name because when she taught us the days of the week I would laugh because it sounded like Wednesday. My eager motivation built from the moment she sat us down in a circle on the magic carpet and told us that we would be writing and coloring a book based on whatever we wanted. I look up from my naked book and everyone pulls out their coloring kits and start feverishly scribbling outside of the lines and getting it all over the table. I feel really weird because when I looked down I was holding a pencil and writing my introduction. I thought to myself “why am I different”? My first instinct was to gravitate towards the writing, and not the “fun part” which was glueing glitter and drawing unproportional stick figures. None of my classmates decided to point fingers at me yet so i’m in the clear. I look down and see that my mother had put me into a very practical outfit today, a pink shirt with some blue overalls and sketchers, if that doesn’t scream journalistic fashion then I don’t know what will. After a long and hard thought process that lasted about 30 seconds I decided what I wanted my book to be about, it would be called “My Weird Nightmare”. Quickly I filled up the first page with my table of contents and it was smooth sailing from there, before I could even remember to breathe the class bell went off. I looked down and was filled with instant sadness, I only managed to fill up about 2 pages of the story, and all I wanted to do was continue. Sudden noises invaded my ears forcing me to lift my head, my classmates were screaming with joy as they chaotically packed all their art supplies. Me being the slowest, I was the last to leave. The last thing to put into my overweight red JanSport book bag was my novel, but before I could even attempt to escape to lunch Mrs. Wendy approaches me. “Can I see that for a second”? I swore up and down that I was in trouble for not writing more pages, or maybe it was because my cover severely lacked rainbows and stickers. She opens it and begins to read, my tiny palms sweat as I shift my legs. Finally after what seemed like years she closes the cover and gets down to my eye level, with the brightest smile a teacher ever gave me says “this is such a wonderful story so far, can you do more, I can’t wait to read the rest”! So then it hits me, a sudden overflow of pride and absolute inspiration, I thought “maybe it isn’t so weird that I went straight to writing and not drawing, could this be my calling”? We slowly converse as I finish packing my now approved book and head to the door, on my way out I will never forget what she told me. “When you get older, promise me you will become a writer”!

Theory of Writing Essay

Blake Green

Ms. Davidow

FIQWS 10113

10 Dec 2018

Theory of Writing

Writing is a universal expression through any language that can be used any way we desire. This means that everyone has their own individual definition of what writing means to them. Although there are written rules and guidelines so certain types of writing, whether it be an essay format or stanzas of a poem. Despite these “rules”, it’s the only common factor in all writing. Even when following them every person finds a way to make it different from the last. When taking into consideration peoples speaking patterns or use of vocabulary, we find a pattern in that person of why they write. Me personally, I write to express my deepest opinions or emotions. Over the years i’ve discovered that it is extremely difficult for me to say what i feel and mean. But when I wrote it was as if i unlocked an untapped hidden oasis, and the words fell like a waterfall. I would be able to vent or love or plan through just a few written letters.
Although i’m making this discovery sound like the breakthrough of a lifetime, I would be lying if i said there weren’t just as many difficulties. Writer’s block had never shown itself more before this point. To swallow my pride I admit my writing is not what it used to be. Nights spent awake reading old poetries and diary entries only left me with more questions. What’s changed? My motivation, the same reason I gave up my dream of years of wanting to become a freelance writer. Sure I may have the ability or the “talent”, although I believe anyone can write, but I lacked the motivation and consistency. If you know, you understand that things cannot be derived from pure emptiness. So I always wait for a form of inspiration or just for mental health reasons, which is why some of my works are not successful.
Now that there is a brief overview on my theory of writing, how does that apply to all of my works in the class? Especially in the beginning. Starting at the brink of the semester we did an assignment called “Art Literacy Narrative”. Along with this was a reflection paper that was based on developing our theory of writing. In the beginning my theory of writing had the same overall idea, that “writing is essential to the human psyche” and is a form of self expression. As well as anyone can write about anything they want. There was a significant change in my attitude with writing, in the beginning I had described all these new strategies I was expanding on and perfecting. However in present time, I can say my last few essays were not my best works, I either went off topic or did not fully expand on. Although my hope was to improved, I seemed to struggle more. I have an inclination that these changes are mostly due to personal reasons and not academic.
Now to tie it all together, I will compare my four major assignments and looking at the unfortunate downfall that occurred. Starting with the “Art Literacy Narrative” essay, it consisted of me choosing a major memory of my experience with writing. For me this was very smooth and almost immediate with my writing process because I reflected on the same event many times before. Since it is a key memory that I use when describing my relationship with writing and career. I ended up getting an A on the assignment, and didn’t experience any writers block.
Next was the “Describing a Work or Art” essay, which consisted of me choosing an art piece and writing about it based on the “Art Asking Questions” study page. It was graded as very well done and my description of the piece was correctly done. Although it was done correctly I did have a bit difficulty with this, I remember taking the whole day to write it and taking many breaks in between. It was the first time I ever examined a art piece to such a full extent, so I took my time carefully following the guideline questions and watching video tutorials.
Then was the “Art Analytical” essay plus a reflection, which consisted of choosing an art piece, art period, and artist. Then writing about the artist’s life and how it influenced said painting. Now, this was a disaster. Although I did get a B- on this assignment I did it completely wrong. For some reason since the beginning I was very confused on what to do, despite the assignment sheet and getting advice my brain just could not grasp it. This was one of the worst cases of writer’s block and writing experiences in my life. No exaggeration. I didn’t understand the prompt, did the wrong research, sited it incorrectly, and wrote an entirely different essay. However after a conference I finally understood the prompt after weeks. That’s a writing phenomenon where I experienced my first real challenge and failure.
Finally, the “Two Genres” assignment, which is similar to the “Art Analytical” essay, except instead of research you create two genres to communicate the same message to a specific audience. Same as the analytical essay I began to experience difficulty understanding the prompt, however after a conference I immediately grasped it and was able to form a proper proposal and so on. There was a slight improvement from the analytical essay because I grasped it faster. Right now in the process of writing it I have a steady pace. I chose a poem for one genre because I am comfortable with it since I use them a lot when expressing myself. For the second genre I chose a video to challenge myself, to see if I can successfully express through words instead of writing. In a sense, I am challenging my own theory of writing.
Looking towards the future, I have both accepted and realized that I find writing difficult sometimes. Knowing this, I plan to find solutions to my personal reasons that can essentially boost my motivation to be more successful with my work. Along with challenging myself, because I know there is more untapped potential I can discover. Further expanding what my theory of writing means to me.

Analytical Essay

Blake Green

Ms. Davidow

FIQWS 10113

12 November 2018

Analytical Essay

The artist of this painting is Georges Seurat’s, a french post impressionist painter. Creating this at age 27, he had a short lived career, making multiple nutritious pieces including this one. He spoke on how this piece was inspired by when he left school to escape to the La Grande Jatte Island, and observed the general area. This specific area portrayed is adjacent to the river Seine, and the citizens are the wealthier population. My thesis for this piece, is that simply the artist is not trying to portray any hidden message or interpretation, that the painting is just there in literal existence.
To begin describing this painting I will begin by discussing its scale; of the background, the multiple figures drawn, and all other factors such as the animals and landscape. The framing itself is of moderate size, 6’10” by 10’1” feet, making it observable from a regular distance. Due to the amount of figures both people and animals it’s fair to suggest that they take up about ¾ of the painting. Noticing that the figures standing towards the front and the lower right appear to be larger due to the illusion of perception. Using composition they stand closer to our view versus the figures in the back, making them appear larger, this is due to distance and not that they are actually larger figures.
As a comparison for example, you could point the lower right corner to the lady standing adjacent with a man holding a dark colored umbrella. Notice how both of them are drawn at a larger scale compared to if you were to point out the lady just in the middle of the painting holding a red umbrella. Showing that on this plain hill, the lady in the middle is of farther distance from us, compared to the lady and the man in the corner of the painting. This can also be seen when looking at the boats in the water. The boats that are faced towards us and headed the same direction in the water, appear larger than those farther back in the water behind them. If you are not sure about comparison with size, another tactic to tell the scale of the distance is paying close attention to the detail. Notice how the lady and the man at the corner of the painting have far greater detail when compared to those smaller and farther back. For example, with them you can point out the details of their faces, the curves of their eyes, nose, and lips. However when looking at the figures positioned farther, it almost appears as if they don’t have any faces, because their heads are blank. You can only notice a circular shape indicating it is a head with a hat on top. This proves distance as well because the farther something is away from you, the harder it is to pinpoint certain details due to our perception not being long enough. This is done using atmospheric perspective.
Besides the distance, there is also a comparison of the people and their surroundings. Based on the numerical view it has a realistic approach, where the people are of accurate comparison to the size of the trees as in real life. Same with the animals, boats, and inanimate objects such as blankets or umbrellas. Now to take a closer look at the figures clothing, with this we can determine the age period this was painted, or attempted to replicate. This painting was created in 1884, knowing this we can begin to look back in historical fashion. If you were to search “the fashion of the 1880s”, you will notice that the clothing styles that pop up are a direct match to those in the painting. The men are wearing items such as top hats, canes, golf hats, formal pants, or suits. While the women wear traditional dresses that have a rounded bottom with bonnets, umbrellas, with formals tops such as sweaters. Same with the children depending on their gender. A small detail worth noting is the lady again in the corner is holding a leash with a monkey, which was big back in the 1800s especially in France. It was a sign of sophistication and wealth.
Back to scaling, there is no specific shape that corresponds the the outline of the painting. Due to every figure being spread out in a natural way, almost a everyday manner captured in the essence of the painting. While there isn’t any layering in the background so to say there is a split, between the water and the hill. The hill overcome by greenery takes up majority of the painting, leaving only a small side piece for the water to be introduced. Far off into the water appears to be a concrete wall that most likely separates this lake from the main streets. Along with far off into the hill, it appears to be overcome by a mass amount of trees. There is hardly any sky visible, majority of the right is taken by the shrubs of the trees, leaving only a small space on the top left corner. Even with the little amount that’s given you can see that it is a clear blue day with white puffy clouds.
Despite the unevenness of the background, there is an even distribution of mass amount of people laid across the hill and the water. Now for the smaller details in each part of the background which are called forms. The water, is a clean blue with ripples and shadows that bounce off the people and sail boats in the water. The majority of the water is inhabited by these factors, including some greenery that bleeds from the mainland. The far part of the water that separates from the main road, you can see small buildings of mainly white color with more greenery behind them. Now for the hill, you can notice it is a hill due to the small desperation in between the water and land there is a white area that indicates the greenery sits on top of a layer of rocks that hold it above the water. Large portions of the ground is covered with shadows possibly due from the overcats of the tall trees. And marjory of the people gravitate towards these shaded areas, showing an abundance of them gathering in the shadowed areas away from the sun.
While this portrays a relaxed scenery, majority of the people do not appear to be slouched or laying down. If they are sitting they remain in a fixed proper posture, same while standing. This could be due to the time period of the 1880s and their mannerisms that are even portrayed in this painting. While the painting itself is flat, there is a three dimensional outline that is done using shadows that bounce off people towards the ground, and even on the people themselves on their arms and legs using contouring. The coloring as well appears dull, not much contrast, majority of the figures appear to be blurred despite smaller detailing.
We ask the question, “so what is Georges Seurat’s trying to portray with this painting?” Back to what I said earlier, I personally believe that Seurat’s wasn’t trying to portray any hidden meanings. Not only I but another modern philosopher critic anmed Ernest Bloch shares the same idea. Perhaps the only view this painting has is purely political. When examining it, you can see that it is almost created like a photograph, what you see is what is said. It’s realistic, there is no abstractness to it, so no need for interpretation. Considering he just painted the wealthy french population on the island near a river, this represents the societal point of France in the 1880s. You can also see that the paining is not for interpretation because nothing stands out, it appears bland. There is no deep detail and all the colors and contours appear to fade into each other, lacking any uniqueness. The work of art is generally a representation of the robotic nature of the painting.

Two Genre Poem

Blake Green

Ms. Davidow

FIQWS 10113

12 December 2018

Two Genre Poem

My name is George Seurat
You’ll never catch me on the dot with your clock
I’m always moving swiftly with my ideas
Coloring them and letting them sing through my dots
Millions and billions of dots lay before me
up close they whisper to me as individuals telling me the secrets of how they’re so beautiful
But stand afar and see her as a whole
The others and I, all outcasts in France
Oh what a glorious city but such lonely people!
We rise together hand in hand
Poverty and royalty shall come together in art
We will fight for our rights to freely express
In the era of France 1886
The impressions we make are a gateway for things beyond us
I may have ended so soon but others like me shall carry this boat
Take a professional art class or don’t, it doesn’t matter!
What matter is that your mind is yours and no one else’s
I am George Seurat and I speak through my brush
Hear my objections, my voice, my riots!
My fellow brotherhood stampede through the alleys
Bashing the soldiers who stole their rights to join me
You will never see me pick up a sword
But fully expect me to use my ultimate weapon
The power of idea, and self expression

Two Genre Video

Could not upload if you want to see it I can email it

blakemaxgreen@gmail.com

Two Genre Reflection

Blake Green

Ms. Davidow

FIQWS 10113

14 December 2018

Two Genre Reflection

Starting with my Research Essay, I am going to recap what I wrote about. In the beginning of it I described the painting for a good portion of the essay. For the second part of the essay I went off of both mine and another art philosophers interpretation about the painting. Then later for my Two Genres Assignment I went more in depth on the artist himself and the influence of the time period on his art style. Although I know know I should have done that in the first place with my Research Essay.

To answer the first follow up question, for both genres I chose the audience of fellow college students who are taking a history, art, or video course. That way they can already have a direct connection to the creations even before watching them. A big problem I experienced when creating the video especially was figuring out how to make it as interesting and eye appealing as possible. I spent around 10 hours experimenting with the format of video placing and selecting certain images that stay consistent with a theme. My mindset was that there is a huge expectation already in place because of the audience, so my goal was to try my best to meet those expectations. So it was quite a challenge for myself. To overcome these I would refer back to what kinds of youtube videos I watched, and how I could learn from those on what kinds of formats made it more entertaining for the audience.

For the second question, my process was equally extensive as my Research Essay. I spent many hours on both projects, however the only difference is the outlining process. For the essay I organized my information into a template and wrote notes on the articles, books, and videos I skimmed through. Then separating the essay into sections and writing each part then putting it together at the end. However with both genres I did not lay out anything. I just dived into it and compiled a bunch of videos and images and recorded my script. After everything was collected, most of the hours went into laying it out. Carefully placing the images to line up with the music and the dialogue, and deleting what was left over.

Next, the third question is why I chose the genres I did. They are on opposite spectrums, one is a poem and the other a video. For me poems are something I am most comfortable with doing and a lot of my creative energy gets put into them. For years I specialized in them and decided it would be both an easy and enjoyable process for my message. Then the video, which was a huge challenge for me. I never edited or recorded full videos like this before. I wanted to prove to myself that I could both write and create a video which could be appealing to those who don’t like reading as much.

Finally, the fourth question the rhetorical practices I used for the video and poem was a mix of imagery, humor, and logic. In order to make the information more appealing to those who don’t like history as much, I used humor through a light hearted script and some easy flowing images and video clips. I believe the mix I used was effective and practical.

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