Christian Art

After Constantine's acceptance of the Christian Religion, the Roman's religion changed and also their artistic styles. Constantine's willingness gave us a harbinger of what kind of art would we have in the middle age. But not most of the people of Rome accepted this changed at first. The paintings that were produced and expressed by artist on this time of confusion showed rage and anger of the big sudden change of everything. Over time they have accepted everything and started building church for Christ. They built the city with grand buildings and architectures with big domes filled with artistic designs.

I am most intrigued with the Christian Atr's paintings because it all tell tales of Christ Jesus from his birth until his glorious sacrifice to save us from our sins. Some paintings justify the story others for me quietly mocks the existence of the religion. There were lots of hidden meanings and symbols. I remember the famous painting of Da Vinci which is the last supper, like in the early christian art you will see symbols with meanings, but there is something more. My former classmates and I were researching and found out that if you form the painting in pentagon shape you will see witchcraft signs and creepy symbols. It was a fun and scary experience.

Today most of us think that Christian Artworks are not as glorious as it was before. Maybe because we have largely lost respect and reverence of Christian art. But I still think most modern artworks of today modifies the true meaning of christian art.

Classical Art: Greek and Roman

The art of the ancient Greeks and Romans is called classical art. This name is used also to describe later periods in which artists looked for their inspiration to this ancient style. The Romans were so fond of the Greek work of at that they try to have one of their artworks or to at least have a copy of it. Greeks' country may have been conquered but heir artistic styles remained.

When I was a child I was very fond of the Greek mythology. I studied all the stories of their gods and goddesses and I was also very amazed by their mesmerizing artistic style, they were kind of creepy and fascinating at the same time. I loved the Greek mythology because their story have many mystical creatures and beautiful goddesses. Most of the games I played were all related to Greek mythology. I remember playing "god of war" on PSP, it was about the protagonist Kratos who wants to save his brother from the gods. I also fancied the selfishness of gods in their story, their mischievous plans against each other were unbelievably rude and wonderful. I guess if I have continued to fancy their artistic style and stories today, my artistic style would not be manga influenced but rather realism or naturalism.

I did not pay attention to Roman gods because theirs is the same as the Greeks only the names changed. Until recently when we were given a task to report our leader chose me to report the roman art history. As i studied their history i realized that i have been very foolish to ignore the Roman's art. And even though the Romans were known to be mere imitators of Greek art they still have contributed wonderful ideas on architectures. In comparison of the two, i think the Greeks were more artistic than the Romans since they were the original, but we do owe the Romans a debt of gratitude for interpreting the art of Greeks.

My Artistic Style

I'm not really fond of drawing until just recently, I was much more interested in creating or writing stories, but unfortunately I'm not really good at putting imaginations into words, I'm better at expressing them through drawings. I discovered my talent in drawing when I was just a kid, my teacher asks us to draw a large type of animal and I drew an elephant and all my friends were like praising my drawing and it really inspired me. My dad also tells me that my drawings are brilliant and that I should keep it up, but you know puberty hits me and I lost my interest on drawing, which kind of makes me wish I should have just kept practicing because I really wanna be good at it now and I'm gonna make it a major career. I guess right now my artistic style is clearly manga/anime influenced because I really love watching anime shows. Now I'm currently practicing to draw more realistic stuffs because honestly, MOST (not all) anime characters they all have the same faces just different hair, colors and clothes and I'm kind of getting tired of it. I want to sketch realistic characters but I don't want it to be super realistic like the one they make on portraits of real people, I still want it to look a little anime, so basically its like a Realistic Anime Drawing. I find realistic anime drawings sophisticated, sexy and mystically beautiful.

Right now I can't say that I'm really good at drawing (YET!) but I know it's never too late to practice and be better. I believe that if you're passionate and focused about a certain thing you will reach your goal. It's also alright to take a break sometimes to freshen up and shake all the stress away. Me, I try to daydream and slack off all day sometimes, everybody needs a break. Also try to stay inspired, find an inspiration to keep you motivated. And lastly always think out of the box and yes its okay to have childish imaginations :D-- It's just like what "Giorgio De Chirico" said-- "To become truly immortal, a work of art must escape all human limits: Logic and commonsense will only interfere. But once these barriers are broken, it will enter the realms of childhood visions and dreams." (P.S. --- pictures shown are not mine. credits to owners)

The Mona Lisa and The Starry Night

Art is a language completely different from English, French, Chinese, or any other normal spoken language. The language of all the arts is feeling: emotion, intuition, and form or idea without words.

Mona Lisa is the most recognized painting in the world painted by Leonardo Da Vinci. The said painting had caused so much speculation which has led to million interpretations. But why has the picture become so popular? The woman in the painting is Lisa Gerardini wife of a businessman named Francesco Giocondo. In the artwork, her smile is the most controversial part, it is often described as "mysterious". One article said that while Leonardo was painting Mona Lisa, her husband went inside the room and Mona Lisa flashed her husband a lustful smile which Leonardo captured. A theory by Dr. Lillian Schwartz of Bell Labs suggests the Leonardo painted himself, and she supports this by digitally flipping the picture which showed the face features perfectly aligned. Another article states that since Leonardo Da Vinci is said to be "homosexual", he painted the Mona Lisa to express his feminine side. Whatever history lies behind the making of the famous Mona Lisa, the only thing were sure of is that Leonardo Da Vinci wanted it there.

The Starry Night, painting of Vincent Van Gogh is one of the most well known artwork in the modern history. The painting shows a beautiful bright night sky with swirling clouds and a brilliant crescent moon, below it lies a small peaceful town. The way it was painted and the cool, dark colors that's used really brings back childhood memories. The swirling detail of the painting makes it look like its alive and moving. But what really makes it captivating is the massive dark structure on the left of the painting which gives an even greater sense of size and isolation.

One way to approach a work of art, or "discover" it, is simply by just opening up our own feelings and emotions. We can try to figure out the mystery behind it or we could just admire it and get lost to its brilliant colors and emotions. It is by such imaginings, such empathetic sharing, that we discover the emotional roots and feelings of the artist or performer himself or herself.