Art Introduction
Art Docent Lesson by Beverly Gilbert
Our first art class this year was an introduction to art. We asked questions such as “What is art?” and “How can art be useful in whatever you decide to do when you grow up?”. We talked about the importance of developing our right and left brains and how those people who we consider to be geniuses have strong mathematical and logical skills as well as highly developed creativity. The following is a summary of our discussion:
• What is Art and who are Artists? Everyone who expresses themselves via visual art, literature, drama, music, verbal presentation, dance etc.
• What different kinds of art can you think of? Eg. Visual art, musical, Literary, dance, design, etc. Webster’s Definition
• Why is art important? Expression, enhance creativity, spark interest (relate seeing star wars led me to a job creating space planes, reading a book), document history (photos, cave drawings, story tellers), create serenity (fountain or a peaceful photo, painting), invoke action (like disturbing photos, drawings, books), give pure enjoyment (a novel, musical, symphony, a bracelet), pay tribute (memorial).
• Importance of Left Brain / Right Brain development. Examples of genius: Einstein, da Vinci, Ben Franklin, Socrates, A. G. Bell, etc. – all had highly developed right and left brain function
• Why should we learn to draw, and develop visual art skills? No matter what you decide to do, the ability to relate your ideas to others is very important. If you are an engineer and design a new rocket engine your design is useless unless you can convey it to other people. An architect may design a new house, but must first present his or her design concept in a sketch to win the contract. An archeologist, a journalist, a teacher must convey what he or she observes, knows or suspects to others. Writing, drawing, speaking, singing, playing music, dancing etc. are all methods of conveying the images, thoughts, ideas and designs in your head to other people. Your experience in nearly every job will be enhanced if you develop your skills in expressing yourself.
• What do you want to be when you grow up and how can art help you?
Project
We form pre-conceived notions of what things look like (Left Brain), but sometimes don’t really look at the object (Right Brain). Observation (really looking at something and attention to detail) is critical to art.
• Blind Contour of hand
• Blind Contour of partner’s face
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