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"Oh NO!" in the sketchbook

FIND and PRINT out (for your sketchbook):

All of the “mistake masterpieces” mentioned in the article. I count 11!

Print them out (small so they'll all fit!), and make an “Oh NO!” (Heading) double page spread in your sketchbook.


 * Include credits (artist, title, year)
 * Explain a bit about what the mistake was that made it famous.
 * Include an example of your own, where a mistake was turned into a success; if you don't have an art example, any kind of example will do.
 * Include a couple of the mentioned examples from science, as well.

__**Due Friday, Oct. 14. 40 points.**__

**Read:** [|Paintings That Shouldn't Work] an article about Elizabeth Condon's work.

//The Tower of Babel//, oil painting by Pieter Bruegel the Elder, 1563; in the Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna
Click here to read an interpretation of this painting.



//Europe//, oil painting by Jacek Yerka, 1995
Click here to read about Jacek Yerka. //Here is an artist's statement on this painting, as taken from his book **Mind Fields**:// //I follow the news. I sang the praises of the Human Race when the idiotic Cold War came to an end, when the Berlin Wall came down, when we ceased to be a divided world. I thought we were on the cusp not only of the millenium, but of a new rationality. I was wrong. As usual. This story reflects that dismay.//

//Do not duplicate information already on the table!//
(unique characteristics from //Europe//) || //Tower of Babel// and //Europe// COMPARISONS (Shared Characteristics) || //Europe// CONTRASTS (unique characteristics from //Tower//) || it should be crumbled and it looks so distant from the rest of the world which is sad in my opinion. L.W. || ﻿ ﻿They both look like they differ from everything else around them and they both look like ginormous forms of architecture. L.W. || ﻿ ﻿Tower of Babel looks as if it has begun to crumble while at the same time it looks like it's still under construction. L.W. ||
 * //Tower of Babel// CONTRASTS
 * Europe is defying the laws of gravity when

Aug. 25, 2011:
To ALL AP Studio Art Students: FLA-PASS provides free access to databases licensed on behalf of the State University and Florida College Systems to high school students enrolled in accelerated courses (Dual-enrolled, AP, IB, and AICE). Only students enrolled in DC or AP classes are eligible.

There is an application process : you can download or fill it in on line, print, sign, get parents signatures. Students must have a valid home e-mail address to access the databases. Once you turn in the completed application to me, you will be entered into the system and can then begin researching with all of the wonderful resources available. Information about the program, databases (very extensive!), and the application can be found at:

http://www.fla-pass.org

==//**Click here to download the FLA-PASS eligibility form. **//==

**This will be good and fun for both 2D portfolio people, and Drawing people, alike.**

 * 1) == **Look at the following four pages carefully.** ==
 * 2) == **GOOGLE artist Paul Klee.** ==
 * 3) == **Then, have FUN and in your sketchbook, do exercise 1 at the end ! Use any type of INK pen.** ==

**DUE FRIDAY 8/12/11, beginning of class.** Feel free to upload some of your work back to the wiki, but it's not required!


Aug. 10, 2011 __**Click on the link below, then click on the image of "Life". Explore the painting and read all of the text.**__ Picasso's "Life"

__**Add your responses to the questions below (and sign your name, and color code your answer to be different color than others') :**__ 1) What do you respond to in paragraph 1?

I like the fact that even geniuses such as Picasso had struggles with technicalities in his art that he had to study and perfect. I can sympathize with how truly difficult it is to draw (or paint) people, and I generally avoid it. Yet his art it still beautiful because of his attention to details, trying to make it look natural, which it what gives it it's aesthetic appeal. //Emily Byrski//

That point that interested me was the fact that he went from a classicist to a abstract artist. Being a more classical painter/drawer I know how difficult it can be to loosen up a style that you're used to using . //**Camryn Callison **//

I felt very inspired that Picasso struggled with proportions of people relative to the space of the composition. In a sense, Picasso addressed this through putting the curled up man in the background. Initially, I did not even notice the curled up man--he feels almost omnipresent in the most obvious sense. The man is made with thick lines, less detail, and the area surrounding him looks darker than in the rest of the painting conveying the sense that he is further away from the main subjects. Additionally, I believe that Picasso’s placement of the people on one line is more of a strength of the piece. The angle of observation indefinitely emphasizes the subject matter. ~ Nicole Rockower

**I definitely agree with Nicole. The horizontal placement was his attempt to make things easier on himself, but in a sense actually made the painting far better than if the woman and baby had been behind the couple, and vice-versa. I sympathize with Picasso seeing as proportion and perspective is one of my biggest weaknesses when even I've tried to delve into those aspects of art, however, Picasso refused to give up which is definitely motivating. -Autumn Hutton**

I believe Picasso made the people he painted along one horizontal line because it was definitely much easier for him, like Autumn said. I believe he did this also for the fact he was in a deeper state of depression and he couldn't be bothered to attempt at something that would stress out him mind more or make him upset in the fact he couldn't achieve the proper composition he might have wanted by using correct proportion. - Ashley Gioiosa

I was entrigued by the fact that Picasso was actually a lot like us! I honestly thought that he was a gifted person from the beginning. I feel like an idiot for thinking so! But I totally get that he was stumped on how to get the human figure down. I've pondered that in my day and now I've figured out that picasso was a normal artist rather than just a pinnacle of artists(though he was one). I can relate to him though because when I started really getting into drawing, I would always put people on a horizontal line, too. - Luke W.
 * I think it is very interesting that Picasso spent three years of his life painting while being depressed. His photos reflect that, and it makes for a very expressive feel in every one of his photos. Because I am not very good at drawing, I give him a huge amount of credit for continuing to create art, even through his depression. Because blue is my favorite color, I also find it quite fascinating that he made such an impact on the art community just by focusing on one single color for three years. **


 * - Tim DeGilio **

﻿I really am fascinated by Picasso's blue period and how he used the blues to really evoke his emotions through his paintings. I like how Picasso made his thick black outlinging on figures, to me this gives there shape more emphasis and dramatic. Also the different shades in the backgrounds really gave the back a texture and without that texture i do not think the painting would be as interesting. ~ Bri Burkhart

**Picasso probably learned so much and had emotions and perhaps actions that were all new to him through this traumatic event. He took advantage of his different way of looking at things when he painted, it was a way of really feeling it, the hurt, in a way it probably felt good, trying to understand it more, his emotions and the reason his friend killed himslef, with embracing this through his art instead of running away from it, im sure he grew wiser and more indepth of his art,ohp! and there cometh the rose period. ;)**

**-Nicole w**

2) How could Picasso have changed the composition of "Life" to make a triangular composition? Would it change your interpretation of the painting, and how?

If he had placed either the easel further back or the figures forward, so that they weren't on the same linear plane that they are, it would be more trianglular. It would have made the painting less intimate, I think. As it is, everything feels connected, if there had been more space, that might not have been the feeling. //Emily Byrski//

If the women with the child and Casagemas were come how connected it some way. Like with their arms then it would make a triangular composition. But if he had done that then it would have as much of a melancholy feel but instead maybe a more friendly feel I guess . //** Camryn Callison **//

Picasso could have made this composition more triangular by bringing the people closer together and having the negative space create the triangles. I think this would have changed the mood that the painting creates (isolation in togetherness). ~ Nicole Rockower


 * If either Casagemas or the woman&child were either moved forward or backwards, we would get a sense of the three figures being at different heights. Their heads would create the triangular composition regardless of whether the figures were "in reality" the same height. It would definitely change our perceptions of the painting by creating an even further feel of isolation and somberness. -Autumn Hutton **

To create a triangle composition, I feel he could have brought the head of the women with the baby and placed it against the man's head, as if they were leaning onto eachother for support in their sorrows. This would have added more of a deeper sadness to the painting, but I feel the fact that they are somewhat isolated might give a stronger sense of sadness. - Ashley Gioiosa

A triangle composition could've been made by Picasso adding another person just on a different horizon or in the background somewhere. In my opinion, I like triangle compositions but the piece was strong enough in its meaning on its own. It's just that if he put another person in the background, it would draw away from the piece in itself because the couple showing the love that his friend could've had and the prison woman with her baby pretty much shows me that she has hope for the future because of having that baby live a life that could learn from her mistakes. At least that's what I got out of it even though I did sense the sadness in it too because of the colors, of course, and the fact that these were things that could have been rather than that they weren't. - Luke W.
 * If Picasso had moved the woman on the right to the very back of the painting, a triangular composition would have been created. However, this change would drastically effect the look of the painting. Right now, my eyes are constantly moving around the painting looking for the main subject, and I cannot seem to understand what look Picasso was going for. Placing the woman in the background would work much better overall because the viewer's eyes would be less likely to stray while looking for the main subject. **


 * - Tim DeGilio **

<span style="color: #d90202; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 90%;">I think that to make "Life" a triangular composition Picasso could have moved or created a person in the middle that looks like there further back giving it some dimension. I would not do this however and would keep this painting how it is because he causes my eye to draw to what looks like a picture of a curled up person in the background giving it a desperate and depressing feel. Also with a triangular look it would cause me not to look around the picture as much for extra details because instead of it being kind of broad as it is now it would become more condensed. ~ Bri Burkhart

3) Using your textbook, //The Visual Experience//, read Picasso's Artist Biography on p. 461. -Many hail Picasso as the most important 20th century artist, and //"Les Demoiselles d'Avignon"// (fig. 16-32) as possibly his most significant work. But how do people arrive at this assessment? What do you think should be the main criteria for judging quality and importance?

<span style="color: #0ae6d0; font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','Book Antiqua',Palatino,serif;">The thing that makes artists truly memorable is when they break the paradigm, they go against the norm, and that's what Picasso did with his Cubism movement. I think the "criteria" for judging the importance of art is novelty, skill, attention to detail, aesthetic awareness, but all of that is generally ambiguous. I mean, beauty is seen differently to every person, but truly great art is appealing because it is able to show the viewer the way the artist views the world. It gives insight into their thoughts and perceptions, thus the most effective art is universal. <span style="color: #ed1d8b; font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','Book Antiqua',Palatino,serif;">//Emily Byrski//

People most likely arrive at this assessment because the art was fairly unique and almost shocking to the art culture at the time. I believe that the most important element of quality would have to be how strongly the composition conveys emotion through the use of color, subject matter, and overall style. However, I do not believe that quality always directly correlates to the historical importance of a work. I feel as though the importance of the work is more determined on how revolutionary and radical it is relative to the time of its creation. ~ Nicole Rockower

<span style="color: #0000ff; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;"> When it comes to people saying one piece is better than another is just personally preference, but also a lot of people only go eye deep. Meaning that they only see what in front of them and not what everything represents. The reason why they would have come up with this assessment for Picasso's piece is because nothing else was like it. As for judging the quality and importance of a work it depends. I would judge the importance and quality of a piece by, one, the reasoning behind it because the reasoning behind a piece can make all the difference. A piece can look beautiful and very appealing but that's not the most important thing to me. Two, I would judge it on the though put into the piece, where things were placed, why they used that color, and why they chose that subject. <span style="color: #00ff00; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;"> Camryn Callison


 * I don't think there should be a "main" criteria when judging something. There are many things that contribute to a great, quality piece. In Picasso's "Les Demoiselles d'Avignon" the fact that it can be interpreted in many ways is just one of the ways his painting is of spectacular quality. The words women and beauty have almost always been synonymous with each other, and the fact that Picasso was able to show the beauty of women by purposefully showing their flaws is impressive. I think shock-value also is a fair way to judge something. Clearly if it impacts your emotions in anyway, the piece has importance whether someone likes it or not. -Autumn Hutton **

For judging quality and importance, I feel you should have an open mind and take in everything. Don't focus on one thing such as the anatomy or how it isn't 'formal', but instead take it for what it is. Everyone has a different style, and with Pablo's Cubism works, it is definitely a style you need to take in with an open mind because it doesn't have proper anatomy and it is anything but formal! If you are judging a work of art, you shouldn't judge it based on content you don't like, but how well it conveys the message you were going for. - Ashley Gioiosa

People arrive at this assessment by lots of practice and to actually listen to people criticism and put it into effect if you like it. You have to be able to take chances and do what you have to do no matter what anybody says; I am one of those people that needs to do that because I don't do that enough. The main criteria for judging quality and importance should be how much effort somebody put into their work, how set apart the piece is from everything, to make things interesting, and to put your heart into it or else it's just gonna be another piece of crap that somebody's gonna fling to the curve. And you don't really want that to often. - Luke W.
 * <span style="color: purple; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 8.5pt;">Art is a very subjective thing, especially when it comes to paintings. Regarding Picasso's works, they were well-received because he broke the mold of the artwork that was common in the early 20th century. While there are certainly technical ways to judge quality and importance of artwork, each person on this Earth has their own ideas, their own viewpoints and their own opinions on what makes a particular work "good" or "bad." I am certainly not an art expert in any way, so I completely understand why and how people would judge artwork in a certain way. **


 * <span style="color: purple; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 8.5pt;">- Tim DeGilio **
 * I guess he could have just tilted the characters to lean into the shape, In doing this, the focus on the emotions seperate the characters (canstansas being highlighted through his own unique posture wouldn't have been as strong **
 * Nicole W **

Check out this link for one very cool concentration idea from a student:

[|http://www.princetonol.com/groups/iad/artroom/Nicole/Nicole4.htm]

Be sure and read the instructor's comments underneath the artworks // : // // "Over 20,000 portfolios are submitted each year. What will make yours stand out?" //