Color Survey

When I took the color survey, I found that I related the words to color. For expensive, I picked green since money is green and you need a lot of it for something expensive.  For the word dependable, I chose dark grey since that is the color of my car and it has been very dependable.  My favorite color is purple and/or lavender.  When I was growing up I really liked the color blue and when I was comparing my survey results with the results of other people, I noticed that blue is a common favorite color.  When I had to pick the color for happiness I thought about frozen yogurt and how the colors are so vibrant! So I picked berry red as my happy color.

In class when Angelica Vasquez talked about the colors that were used when printing, I was surprised. I had no idea magenta was used! So that was something new for me to learn.  In our textbook, I liked how Chapter 8 discussed the color wheel and the culture with color. (p.120) It was a nice refresher to talk about color and all the different ways to get new or unique colors from mixing them together.  In the photo(s) above, I picked the lavender flowers to show my favorite color and as you can see there is a hint of blue in the flowers and in the yogurt all the blue from the berries adds so much flavor to the yogurt.  So adding and mixing colors to get the perfect balance of colors works great. Well, for the most part.  Some colors won't work with other colors.

 

Commercial Photography

Anything that has LOTS of colors and is creative in commercial photography is something that will catch my attention.  I especially find that facial and make-up products use fruit and sometimes they make them appear “edible” in the photos.  I found this commercial photo online which is showing lipsticks in the form of popsiscles and they have added a “melting” appearance to give it a realistic comparison to ice cream.  And all the warm spring colors they use are so pretty.  I don’t wear make-up, but this photo makes me want to go out and buy some of these shades of lipsticks.

Another photo I found online was a facial cleanser that is being placed into the water with raspberries surrounding the product.  I have seen many commercials with face cleansers that involve splashing water on the face, but I assumed that in photography the water splashing was photo shopped since it looks so perfect.  All the water droplets are in a perfect pose.  I learned from our guest speaker, Jim Wend that high resolution camera are being used for those photo shots and that it takes a long time to get that perfect picture.  Also, Jim explained that lighting is very important. Lighting can drastically change the look of a product and during a photo shoot it is important that the lighting is just right.  Another photo I found was one with ice cream and paint brushes.  I’m not sure which of the two they are trying to sell, but I wanted to buy both once I saw how well the colors worked with the bright lighting in the picture.

 

 

Besides lighting, colors, and using a creative approach to marketing these products in commercial photography our textbook discusses the ethics of when you should and shouldn’t alter or edit a photo.  Any news or documentary photos should stay true to the photo.  “…strictly adheres to the principles of truth, accuracy, fairness, and balance.  Such principles are necessary to maintain viewer trust that such images are factual and reality-based.” (p.144) This makes complete sense that we know when to create a photo that will be used for marketing to consumers and then when to keep the integrity of a photo for news or photojournalism.

All in all, I found that I am easily convinced to buy something based on marketing techniques as long as they use warm colors, make water look “cool” and use the right lighting :)    

 

 

Animoto Video

 

I went through a lot of brainstorming for this assignment.  I had so many ideas and my mind could not decide on one idea versus another.  I had actually ‘settled’ on a topic, but then today, I changed my mind.  I wanted to make my Animoto video on my journey as a returning college student.  This past December, I graduated Alverno with an AA degree and I was invited to attend a rehearsal dinner and  graduation.  I contemplated whether I should go.  After many people said, “Go! You’ve earned it.”  I agreed.  I showed up for the reheasal.  I checked in and was given a sheet of all the graduating students’ names and was given a seat number.  The names are arranged in alphabetical order (of course) and based on what type of BA degree you completed.  My last name starts with a C, so I am familiar with being toward the beginning of lists.  As I looked at the sheet of names I didn’t see mine and then I quickly realized that I wouldn’t be under the BA Degree list.  I continued to look for my name and finally I saw it.  There in black bold letters I read – Associate Degree and my name and one other girl’s name were listed.  The rehearsal itself was absolutely wonderful.  Everyone was so polite and friendly.  When my name was called, I stood up and everyone clapped.  It was really a special moment for me.  But at the end of day, I knew I had to go back and get my BA degree because that was the degree I wanted to get from Alverno this whole time.  

 

 When I first started school, I didn’t think about my anticipated graduation date.  I knew it was going to be a lot longer than the typical four year time frame, that I was used to hearing about.  But that was okay, because I was a part time student who worked a full time job, with a life outside of school.  I decided I had to come back to school since Alverno informed me that they were starting an online program and sunsetting the weekend program.  This would be a good time to get back into school. It doesn’t matter how long it takes a person to finish college or how old you are. Don’t give up on your dreams: it’s a cheesy saying, but true. That was how I finally decided to pick my Animoto topic.    

My Art Appreciation

My Art Appreciation

I’m going to be honest.  I love going to museums and learning about our historical past, but I am not a huge fan of art museums.  I absolutely enjoy looking at artwork, and analyzing the colors, shapes, textures, and the stories that each art piece has to tell.  But I spend less than a minute with each artwork and then move on to the next art exhibit. In the online article “Art of Slowing Down” the author asked a question: what if people slowed down?

 

I went to the Sacagawea Art Collection during the week and had planned to pick an artwork (less than a minute) and leave.  But when I saw this oil canvas painting by Shelby Keefe, I slowed down.  I know that there were elements from the painting that captured my attention, but I was not entirely sure what elements or how to express the connection I felt.  In Chapter 5, we learned of different elements that are seen in art (p.44).  Color is very important in paintings because I’m drawn to soft warm calming colors that give life to the picture.  This oil canvas had simple, yet expressive colors. When you first see the painting you notice that there are big gray/white clouds that are surrounded by a dark shade of blue, maybe to give the impression that a storm is nearing.  There is appears to be a shadow from the clouds that is hovering over the mountains, trees and the river.  The trees are a wonderful deep green, which helped me to envision a real forest: the smell, all the crowded trees, green leaves, and the rocks that meet the river.  Further back, I noticed the sky is lighter blue with smaller clouds, perhaps an indication that the storm will not be going in that direction.  Chapter 5 also discussed the focal point element (p.51) and to me, it is all the beautiful, white formed clouds.  The clouds caught my attention and helped me visually organize the picture to understand that I would view the painting from the top where the clouds were and work my way to the Earth, where the river flowed quietly, the mountains are numerous, and the trees stood still.

 

Finally, I think this painting has the element- unity (p.58).  The sky, the clouds, trees, rocks, river, and all the colors unify this picture to tell a story of Earth and Mother Nature. The possible storm in one area of the sky, but calm and quiet just a short distance away, in the same sky hovering over the same Earth.  It helped me to make a connection by seeing how beautiful nature is. 

 

Does anyone have a favorite artist or art piece that they could recommend? I’d like to visit some more art museums this summer.

 

Christy