What i learned

The first couple of weeks in class we pretty much learned what art was and how to visually
look at it. I learned that art isn't just paintings and sculptures and that it can be
something as easy as a pattern in a lake (Robert Smithsons Spiral Jetty) or something
expensive and complex as Christo and Jean Claudes Central Park Gates. I also learned that
art doesnt have to be exact and that artists sometimes paint or draw out of their eyes ala
Albert Bierstadts Rocky Mountains. We also learned that there is a psychological and
physical process involved when you look at art, and that nobody sees the same exact thing
when you look at a piece of art. That held true time and time again when i would analyze a
piece of work and come up with what i thought it was and later learn that the artist had
something else in mind. My visual literacy wasnt and still isnt quite right though im trying
to get better every day! I did however learn about some of the different styles of painting
and decided that the impressionist paintings were my favorite time and time again and that
if i happened to win the lotto i would want to add a Monet to my collection.

In the middle weeks of class we started to get really technical about the works of art, and
we started to analyze the line and space and the light and color. There were many technical
terms that i will probably never use or remember but i still did learn alot from it. I will
always remember and will always look at the hues and shades on paintings and try to decipher
how or why the artist used the color wheel to achieve his desired results, or how
effectively Van Gogh used complimentary colors in his paintings. And though i am not very
good at defining the correct way of using lines i try every time to advance my vision or
knowledge of the linear perspective and see that the work is balanced.

The last two weeks of the class showed me a different side of art. We looked at camera art,
printing and sculptures. I was really interested in camera art and how they can manipulate
the pictures to make them look more desirable or if they want less desirable, and didnt
realize how many of the pictures that we look at have been altered. Even the big magazines
did it! When we got into the sculpture chapter i learned that i am only a fan of traditional
sculpture and not into some of the more thoughtful crazy pieces. I like Michelangelos works
but not alot of the strange stuff.I will take with me alot of knowledge that i did not think would happen in this class.

I look at art differently than before and want to add some of the paintings to my wall that
ive seen because of this class. Replicas of course. I found that after i read a chapter i
would go back and research one of the artists that i liked and look at their other work.
Before this class i didnt have a care in the world when it came to art and now i do. Ill
never be an artist myself, but at least i can appreciate and see what somebody else meant
for me to see; even if its only sometimes.