Colors, colors, colors

I have always loved colors and think I'm pretty good at picking out complementary colors for outfits, document designs, and other things. But after reading this whole section on colors, it makes so much sense that they tell you not to pair up certain colors when you're doing a PowerPoint presentation, like putting orange text on a red screen. Because it's a pain the butt to read! And now I know why: Simply put, our eyes aren't that skilled. This section on color had a lot of really good information. My favorite part was the afterimage test. I've done this before with a picture of Jesus but never something that is in color. So seeing the blue square show up on the paper made me go "whoa!" like a little kid watching a magic show. Pretty neat.

Lines and Texture

In reading the first chapter of Stewart's text, I am amazed because I had no idea that there was so much emphasis on line width, length, etc in the design of a piece of art. But based on the examples in the book, I can see what a difference it makes on where the audience's eye is carried. One piece I particularly liked is Dugald Stermer's portrait of Bertrand Russell. It would be really neat to add texture like this to a picture in photoshop.

Purposeful Art

Well it seems that I am really bad at blogging about our textbook readings so I'm going to try to catch up here in the next few days. Reading through the preface and introduction, one thing that struck me the most was this quote: Furthermore, the best way to have a good idea is to have a lot of ideas. This is my first art or design type class and I'm really nervous about just straight up sucking at it. I always thought artists and designers just get one great idea in their head and make it a masterpiece. However, it makes a lot of sense that they actually go through a brainstorming process to come up with many ideas and choose the best one. It's not just a random thing, it's purposeful. I hope that I'll be able to do the same throughout this semester with my projects.

An Attempt at Art

So this is my first Photoshop exercise. Up to this point, I had only edited photos with the limited features built into Microsoft Word so my experience was quite limited. I took several hours looking up layering tutorials online to figure out how to get things to look somewhat nice. I think this turned out pretty good. In an attempt to come up with some deep meaning for this self-portrait, I actually found it hard because I'm more of an "open book" type person. So this photo tries to reflect that image of myself, with a pretty, relaxing beach scene in the background. Any thoughts?

Technology Abuse Education?

 http://digitallife.today.com/_news/2013/01/07/16397103-mom-goes-viral-with-sons-iphone-code-of-conduct?li

I got my first smart phone, an iPhone 3G, five years ago when I was a Junior in high school. I'm not sure how I would have felt about my mom making me sign a Code of Conduct before I got one... But yet I see the types of things my 12 year old brother looks up on the internet and posts on his Facebook account and I think hmm, maybe that is a good idea! The mom in this article pointed out that in Europe and Asia, many schools are teaching kids about internet abuse when they are in 3rd or 4th grade. Looking at the vast range of social media outlets and the rising issue of cyber bullying and "Weiner"-esque slips by politicians, maybe Americans should get taught better digital media skills at an early age.

Intro to Blogging

Just getting this blog set up. It's a little confusing but I think I'll figure it out soon. Follow me and I'll follow you back!