Journal Entry 2

Its important to teach the elements of design because children need to know the basics. The elements of design are line, shape, color, space, texture and pattern. When I was in elementary school, I worked with line, shape, and color the most. Space was stressed but not until late into my elementary life. In all honesty, I cannot remember any art projects that I did or worked with, other than making a giant super bowl ticket for art class the week of the super bowl. The idea of the project with the create something unique and also fill most of the space and give a lot of color.

Journal Entry 1

My definition of art is that art stimulates our minds and brings out all of our creativeness. Art can be demonstrated through painting, coloring, or even acting. Clements and Wachowiak's definition of art is "Art is more akin to poetry which distills the essence of an experience through expressive and discriminative choices."

My past experiences with art weren't the greatest. Growing up, art was not something stressed and it was only done once a week. I will admit, I am not a fan of doing art projects, but by no means am I shy to do them. Compared to the Qualitative Art program the authors suggest is very different from the art education I received in elementary school. They want children to do more to further their abilities in art. My teachers just tried to give us something to do.

Eric Carle Collage

In this collage, I created a catepillar from the book The Very Hungry Catepillar by Eric Carle. This is something great to do with children in grades K-2, because they love stories and enjoy creating their favorite characters. Plus children enjoy anything where they can get their hands messy.

Safari Art

For doing something like this with children, I would try to incorporate a lesson on safari animals with children in grades K-2. I think that the children would respond well with this, because children by this point in their life respond well with stories.

Starry Night

Starry Night is about the stars and the bright sky overseeing a field on a perfect night. There is one dark ugly tree that stands out, but a ugly tree cannot take away the beauty of a starry night. It is like God is overlooking everything there, and even though there may be one flaw, he doesn't let that ruin the beauty of a starry night over an open field.

Elements and Principles of Design Compositions

My piece was on balance and texture. I used each concept of the piece to bring out both warm and cool colors to make the piece stand out. I wanted to use a varitey of markers, crayons, and colored pencils to add a balance of light colors, and also more vibrant darker colors. I am always though my toughest critic and looking at my piece, I know I could've done way better. I thought I did a good job in balancing out each part of the piece, but I felt I could've done so much more to the piece.

My Footprint

My footprint descibes me in good detail. The golf ball on the heel of my foot lets you know that golf is a big part of my life. I've been playing this game competitively for about 10 years now, and have no desire to stop anytime soon. Next is the baseball. I have been involved with baseball since I was five. For last three summers, I've started coaching and love every second of it. I get a big thrill from coaching this great game. In the middle is a blue start. The star is the logo of my favorite professional football team, the Dallas Cowboys. I am one of the biggest fans you will ever meet. The green tree lets you know that I enjoy the outdoors. My past summer jobs have been working outdoors and I absolutely enjoy that. I don't think I would like working indoors all year long. Lastly on my foot is the logo of the University of South Dakota and Northern State University. As you can tell, I am a student at NSU, but what some don't know is that I'm a transfer from USD. I started my collegiate golf career at USD, and although it was just for one year, I loved that year very much and it was tough to leave.

Dog Lying in the Snow

Franz Marc
Describe the Facts: There is a dog with yellow fur in the center of the painting. Also there is a white/snowy ground. Green Trees and dark colored rocks surround the dog.

Analysis The Design: There is emphasis on the dog lying on the ground. The yellow coat on the dog makes it stand out more, while the other colors in the picture are quite dull. All of the objects in the painting circle around the dog.

Interpretation The Meaning: The artist may have been sad when he created this painting because I get the feeling he wants for us to have simpithy for the dog. It appears the dog is alone in a wooded area, and is bleeding.

Judgment: I like the painting because its simple and there is really no confusion. Nothing else in the painting draws your attention besides the dog.