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Final Project

Title: Lily of house corgi, first of her name, protector of the pergola

I decided to do a portrait of my dog Lily. She has been through a lot this year being diagnosed with an autoimmune disease she went from blind with brain swelling to almost one hundred percent back to normal with the help of chemo once a month and lots of different medicine. So, I thought she would make a fantastic final project! 

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Sketchbook 4

1.    When Jackson Pollock first started doing art it was very non-representational and abstract. Then when he studied with Thomas Hart Benton you could see his great influence on Pollock’s art because he mixed in some of Benton’s realism art with his abstract. You could see more detail of people and shapes rather than just splatters of color. After he stopped studying with Benton he removed all imagery and made his famous “drip” paintings when he was as sober as he had been and was in the peak of his artistry. But, he began drinking again and that’s when his career plummeted. I think that a lot of Pollocks art came from his childhood trauma with his mother and when he was sober he had more time to reflect on those traumas. That caused him to really channel his feelings into his work because he wasn’t numbing his feelings with alcohol. When he was under the influence of alcohol he just didn’t care about anything or making art.

2. 

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Virtual Sketchbook 3

For my virtual sketchbook 3 I chose the painting Meeting of Abraham and Melchizedek by Peter Paul Rubens. Its medium is oil on canvas with a giant beautiful gold frame around it,  was done in c. 1625 and it has lots of texture when you look up close. The piece of art is very big, a lot bigger than I thought it would be from seeing the images online. It’s specifically 175 1/4 x 224 3/4 in. (445.1 x 570.9 cm). The painting uses lots of red tones and some black to depict an episode from Genesis 14:17-24, where the patriarch Abraham returns, and has won, from the battle of Dan. Melchizedek. In the top of the painting it is soft and uses lots of whites and blues to show what seem to be angels over everyone because they are taking a gift from the High Priest.

Towards the bottom there are lots of golds to show to riches of the church. The subjects in the painting are Abraham and the High Priest. Central figures of Abraham and Melchizedek are perfectly balanced by Abraham's soldiers on the left of the piece and the servants of Melchizedek on the right side. It has a decent amount of contrast between the light blue sky and light angels behind and the dark red and black of the clothes of the soliders.

When looking at the painting at The Ringling Museum of Art I was honestly in awe of its size. I don’t know how someone could create something in such detail and at that scale so long ago. Also, the creativity is amazing there was so much thought put into the painting on every detail. It made me feel very small compared to the size and the image of what seemed to be after a battle with the soldiers in the back made me feel a little bit sad thinking about a lot of loss in the middle of everything. When I noticed the other side and the offering of the bread it made me feel a little more at peace with what was happening. I think the bold black and red also make you have a more dark feeling, and the lighter blues and whites of the side where the High Priest is makes you feel a little more peaceful. 

The painting has a lot of religion in it and was commissioned by Infanta Isabel Clara Eugenia, Governess of the Southern Netherlands (1566–1633). It was supposed to be a gift for Descalzas Reales in Madrid in 1625. The tapestry was supposed to be hung for Good Friday and Corpus Christi, it had a lot of meaning for the Poor Clares who related to the bread and wine of the Mass that Catholics have at their sermons. As Abraham and Melchizedek look at each other their eyes lock and it seems as though they have seen each others thoughts. 

I chose this painting because when I was walking through it’s size was massive and when I really looked at it something in it spoke to me. The importance of this of art to society would be  mostly because of religion. The fact that it was so important to so many catholics with the bread and wine being shown and that it was supposed to be hung on First Friday would make it so important. Religion is a very common thing and very powerful so having a piece based solely on that it would make it very meaningful to a lot of people. 

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Virtual Sketchbook 2

1. JOURNALING

Unity

The appearance of similarity, consistency, or oneness.

Unity is an important principle of design that gives the artwork a sense of cohesion or coherence.

An example of unity to me would be the design of my kitchen, the countertops are all one slab of granite that flows cohesively with the white cabinets. 

Variety

The opposite of unity; diverse elements in the composition of a work of art or everyday life.

Using different elements in one.

An example of variety to me would be using different textures/colors together, the walls of my house are a light blue/green up against dark wood accents. I have some smooth textures and some rough textures also. 

Balance

An arrangement of things achieving a look of equilibrium between opposing forces or influences.

Balance is like having symmetry 

An example to me is my photo collage wall, to have balance things need to be somewhat symmetrical on both sides of the wall. 

Symmetry

A design (or composition) with nearly identical form on opposite sides of a dividing line or central axis.

An example of symmetry to me is when I do a haircut I have to make sure it is symmetrical on both sides

Asymmetry

Lack of symmetry.

An example of asymmetry would be an asymmetrical bob which has one side longer and one side shorter. 

Symmetrical balance

The matching of left and right sides of a three-dimensional form or a two-dimensional composition.

An example of symmetrical balance would be a government building which is usually completely the same on both side if cut down the middle. 

Asymmetrical balance

The various elements of a work are balanced but not the same on both sides.

An example of asymmetrical balance would be, again, a collage wall because they can be different on both sides but still have balance. 

2. WRITING AND LOOKING

Lavinia Fontana, NOLI ME TANGERE

Fig. 4.8

This presents a difficult balancing problem, but Fontana solved it with a few ingenious steps. First, she gave the center of the composition strong weight, with Mary’s large figure dressed in warm colors; above Mary is a glow in the sky. These anchor the composition. Christ occupies the right foreground, but he does not disrupt the equilibrium of the whole, because he is balanced by the higher and more massive tomb on the left. The small figure in red just outside the tomb also helps to balance the strong figure of Christ.

3. CONNECTING ART TO YOUR WORLD

A personal experience of how color has affected me is that I am a hairdresser so I took a large amount of time in hair school studying color. I use it in my everyday life when mixing hair color and trying to find the tone I was to achieve by mixing opposing colors to get more of a neutral color. I also mix to achieve a more warm hue or make it more intense or less, whatever my client wants to be the outcome. If I had to choose a color scheme for my life it would be blues and greens, they are my favorite and I surround myself with those colors. 

4. ART PROJECT - ARTISTS CHOICE

I chose the paint option, I actually went to a painting class and this was one of the options that I really liked, to me it is like a shining tree in the very dark night, and that even in the darkest nights you can find beautiful things. I can relate to it because I have, like everyone, been through some tough times and found light in the dark. 

5. PHOTO/DESIGN -

Group 5

In the first photo the event is someone's wedding, in the second photo it is one of two photos ever taken of the Supreme Court in session. In my opinion, these two photos represent photography being used as a witness because the photographer had no insight in the photos, they weren't staged and were just taken as life is happening in that moment. It represents the story to the reader because it is pretty clear what is happening in each one, a wedding and a courtroom.

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Virtual Sketchbook 1

WRITING AND RESEARCH: Hi! I'm Kayla Kunz, I am a returning student to SCF and hope to be in the nursing program for the fall semester. I got art piece number 2, Marcel Duchamp 1917 Fountain.Found object. My initial thoughts were that this looks like something very "sterile" and could be used for filtering or some sort of plumbing. It isn't very inviting and kind of makes me feel awkward. 

  5 facts about my assigned art work:

- It focuses on the spring of 1917

- It is in fact a urinal 

- It was on display in New York 

- One of Duchamp's most famous works

- The original piece was lost

 When I first looked at the piece of art I saw something from a bathroom so, to find out it is in fact a urinal from 1917 that didn't really change my perspective of it. When I read urinal I was thinking to myself "okay that makes sense so I wasn't that far off", The urinals today surprisingly look a lot different then the ones from back in 1917 so when I saw it I had a slight clue but I wasn't 100% sure. It was though very surprising to me that they would have a urinal on display as art to represent the 1920's. 

2. ART AND WRITING:

I chose this piece of art because I made it myself and the quote is something very meaningful to me. The media is wood and paint, it serves as a reminder that there are always good things to come in life and my relationship. I think it is beautiful because I put a lot of work into making it and I think the quote really suites my life and what I love about it. 

3. WRITING A SELF PORTRAIT:

Hi! My name is Kayla Kunz and I am 25 years old, I’m a female, I was born and raised in Sarasota, FL., I am caucasian, for fun I usually like to go on the boat with my husband, I am not a member of any organized group, I am a hairdresser at Shine Hair Design Studio, what makes me uniquely me is that I am Russian, Irish, Italian and English (i know its an interesting mix) and I have 1 full sister and 1 half sister, I have been married for two years now and its been great! We have a house and 3 dogs Lily (corgi), Milo (dachshund), and Molly (retriever mix). I actually do love art and some would say that being a hairdresser is an art form. My parents have been divorced my whole life so I’ve never known that aspect but I have had some pretty great step parents in my life whom I love. I really like decorating and cooking I’d say those are some of my hobbies. 

4.