Symmetry and Gestalt

Tonight we are going to talk about symmetry and gestalt. These two words are words you will need to become familiar with, understand and utilize as you go forward with any sort of art you create. We will talk about what symmetry, asymmetry and the difference between positive and negative space.

We will also learn about gestalt. We will learn both what it is and why it is so important. Gestalt can change the feeling one gets from looking at a work of art, poster, advertisement, etc. We will explore the ways to use gestalt to evoke emotion, visually stimulate and please the eye.

Read and complete the exercises for chapter 3 - Symmetry and Gestalt in your textbook or online.

HOMEWORK:

To better understand the principles of symmetry and gestalt, I want you to complete exercises 2-7 in your textbook. (pp42-50) Compile all of these exercises on a single 8.5 x 11 page in Adobe Illustrator and save it as a .pdf. Please use the following method of naming for your document: lastname_symmetry.pdf You will have the rest of the class period to complete this, but if you don't get it done, please finish it for homework. It will be turned in on Wednesday, September 7th.

Searching and Sampling

Today we will be learning about searching for images online and when you can (and can't) use them. If you already have your books, please turn to chapter 2. If you don't have your book yet, you can open up chapter two in the Digital Foundations Wiki.

Read the chapter carefully. Take special note of the sidebars! I will be giving you a quiz on this information. It will be open-book, so you may use the website or book to answer the questions. But take your time, there may be trick questions designed to throw you off! Read carefully!

Image use is an important element of graphic design. Knowing the rules is very important! Please do your best to read this chapter carefully and take your time on this quiz. Quiz papers will be due by the end of class today.

Learning basic file management

Today we are going to learn about basic file management. We will be discussing some Mac OS features as well as starting to learn some Adobe features as well. This may seem elementary to some of you, but I assure you, learning the correct ways to deal with file management is crucial. At the end of tonight's class, you should feel comfortable navigating through most of the basic functions of the desktop environment and creating a new document in Adobe Illustrator.

Once you are familiar with these processes, I want you to use your creative talents and make a new illustrator document. You can create whatever artwork you feel comfortable with, as long as you use Adobe Illustrator to do it. Don't worry, these aren't going to be graded on aesthetics. I simply want to see that you are able to create a document, add elements to it, compose (and recompose) your elements and properly save the document. We will be turning these in during our next class.

HOMEWORK:

• Create a letter sized (8.5x11) document in Adobe Illustrator

• Use your creativity and Illustrator to create some sort of artwork

• Properly save your document in your network drive with it's name in the following format: lastname_first_project.ai

• I will be checking these documents at the beginning of class on Monday.

Welcome to ART 133 - Visual Arts Foundations

Hello everyone! Welcome to ART 133! As you'll see, this blog is where you will find all of the important information about the class. I will post all homework here, as well as links that can help you with classwork, homework and general learning. Please check here often!

As we go through this semester, my goal will be to instill more than just knowledge of the Mac OS and the Adobe Creative Suite CS5, but to also give you a more broad understanding of both digital and traditional art.

So, for your first assignment, I want you to pick a piece of artwork. Any artist's (that has been published, or shown professionally) work will do, but pick a piece that you personally enjoy. Once you have that in mind, I want the following from you. It will be due on Wednesday.

Make sure to have ALL of this information!

Please print out your info w/a pic of the artwork.

• Look for a large sized image of the selected artwork (at least 800 pixels wide)

• Tell me the name of the artist

• Tell me the title of the work

• Tell me the date the work was created

• Tell me the media used to create the piece (wood, oil, collage, etc.)

• Tell me what style it is in.

• Write down (computer document) what attracted you to this piece. Avoid terms such as "I like" when describing it. Talk about it's elements, construction, media and possibly even the artist as a person.

Bring all of this, on your flash drive, to class with you on Wednesday to turn in.

Here's mine, to show you an example:

• Jasper Johns

• Target

• 1958

• Oil and collage (newsprint) on canvas

• Pop art and/or neo-dadaist

• Target is the main element, yet it leads nowhere. Attracted to the bold colors. Mixed media resulted in interesting surface texture on the painting. Used conventional materials in

unconventional ways. Jasper Johns did not finish college but served in the Korean war.