Assignment:

Message no. 6: posted by Deborah Vess (IDST_2310) on Sat Aug 19, 2000 20:09 Subject Assignment on color, line, shape, texture, and rhythm in the arts includes attachment

You are a famous poet who has gone to the museum for a day. Among the many art works you are privileged to see are the three contained in our online gallery as an attachment to this posting. Look at these three paintings. You will find Raphael's Alba Madonna and his School of Athens and, finally, a portion of Picasso's Guernica.

One of these paintings makes a deep impression on you, and your poetic mind is stirred. You sit down,pull out your pen and paper, and begin to express your feelings through poetry. Before writing, you will probably need to first consider what affect the painting has on you; for example, if a painting produces feelings of harmony and regularity for you, you might perhaps use a short, regular meter, lines of the same length, and a regular rhyme scheme. Your finished product should be a short poem which expresses through the poet's use of meter and language the affect created by the painting's use of colors, lines, shapes, textures, and rhythms.

Record your poem here, and then try toexplain how your use of meter, feet, rhyme, and language captures the affect of the painting. In order to do this well, you will, of course, have to explain not only the reasons you constructed your poem as you did, but also the painting's use of color, line, shape, texture, and rhythm. Does this painting have a rhythm like your poem does? Think about the movement of the work, to where your eye goes, what draws your attention, and why as possible examples of rhythm in painting). Does your poem create the same affect and if so, how? Does the painting have a particular color? Does your poem capture that and if so, how? Does the painting make use of horizontal,diagonal, or vertical lines? How does your poem capture this use of line? What shapes are predominant in this painting? What affect do these shapes create and how does your poem duplicate this affect? Is the texture of the painting dense or light? How does your poem capture this texture?

Finally, did these three paintings all create the same affect? Did one or two of them seem to differ from the others in the affect it produced? Why or why not?

I can't wait to see what you come up with!

Message no. 168: [Branch from no. 6] posted by student 13 on Thu Sep 07, 2000 19:14 Subject re: Assignment on color, line, shape, texture, and rhythm in the arts

Mother of all

Upon whom we call

Poised and reverent

Smooth and content

Can you guess which painting I wrote about? Well, it was Raphael's Madonna. This painting was just so calm and well, reverent. The other Raphael painting was also kind of calm and relaxed. The third painting was anything but calm and relaxed- it was busy and energetic! The color most seen in Madonna was blues. There was the dress and the sky. The color blue just seemed to stand out. It made the painting have a cool and relaxing feeling. The line used most was straight lines- both vertical and diagonal. This makes everything seem organized and in sync. The shapes I saw most were triangles and crosses. The arrangement of the 3 people were in the shape of a triangle, as were the hills in the background. One of the children was holding a cross and the Madonna's shoes could make a cross also. The texture seemed light and smooth. When looking at the painting the first time, my eye went directly to the Madonna, basically the center of the painting. She was the largest figure and the most beautiful, so my eye was drawn to it. I feel that my poem captured the calm, cool, collected feeling the painting gave off. I used iambic meter so the poem would flow well and the lines are almost the same length. The words I used demonstrate the straight lines in that they are not energetic and chaotic words, but calm. I'm not sure if my poem conveys the shapes of the painting. It makes kind of a triangle shape? The three paintings were not alike! The first two were similar. They were both relaxing and both used straight lines. The third painting created chaotic feelings. It was very busy. Your eyes just darted everywhere.

Message no. 200: [Branch from no. 168] posted by Deborah Vess (IDST_2310) on Sun Sep 10, 2000 23:19 Subject re: Assignment on color, line, shape, texture, and rhythm in the arts

I very much like your written anaylsis. Your discussion of color, line, and shape with the Madonna is quite good. Now, for the poem. Although you are correct in asserting that it conveys the relaxation of the painting, if you analyze it carefully, you will find it is not iambic all the way through, but in fact, has a wide array of feet. The lines are, as you say, roughly the same length. Would you want to change the poem? Do you think the use of many different kinds of feet creates some instiability?

Message no. 220: [Branch from no. 168] posted by student 25 on Tue Sep 12, 2000 17:15 Subject re: Assignment on color, line, shape, texture, and rhythm in the arts

A circle of wholeness,

mother and child

Colors of "fun-fun", "du-du", and "pupa"

The mother's fire,

covered by a robe of coolness

Down to earth and practical,

sitting on the ground under a kind sky of blue

A child with cross in hand---

a relationship of love and trust

I tried to use a laid back, relaxing happy form in writing this poem. My lines are mostly long, not short and choppy. And i tried not to use periods as they represent a stop in flow This was a very relaxed drawing. All of the pictures did have different feelings becuse of their color and shape usage

Message no. 295: [Branch from no. 168] posted by student 29 on Thu Oct 12, 2000 18:37 Subject re: Assignment on color, line, shape, texture, and rhythm in the arts Dr Vess I hate to say this but I couldn't download the paintings, or rather I couldn't get them to display after I had downloaded them.... I'm sorry.

Message no. 169: [Branch from no. 6] posted by student 21 on Sat Sep 09, 2000 01:17 Subject re: Assignment on color, line, shape, texture, and rhythm in the arts

Relaxed and blue feelings

so true sweet, smooth, and happy too.

I chose Raphael's Madonna. His painting depicts a quiet, slow, and relaxing tone. The color blue is used. Blue gives the painting a cool and soothing feeling. The people in the painted form a triangular shape. There are many lines used, horizontal and diagnol; from the mountains, to the horizon, to the cross in the little boy's hand, and more. The painting shows love and togetherness. My poem uses iambic meter in the first two lines. The poem has a quiet and slow tone. The three paintings definitely did not have the same rhythm and tone. Two were the same in the effect that they left a calm and relaxing feeling and the other painting was loud and electrifying.

Message no. 170: [Branch from no. 6] posted by student 18 on Sun Sep 10, 2000 18:57 Subject re: Assignment on color, line, shape, texture, and rhythm in the arts A Mother's Love calm and understanding sympathetic and soothing comforting I chose to write about Raphael's Alba Madonna. The poem seemed to capture my eye because of its color, use of line, and texture. My poem seems to reflect the poem because i used words that are calm and relaxing expressing the mother's love for her children. The colors used in the poem were cool colors which suggest a sense of calmness and relaxation. Rapheal used alot of horizontal lines like in the background and the use of horizontal lines on the ground. These lines make your eye follow the picture slowly unlike with the use of vertical and diagonal lines which make your eye move more rapidly and create a sense of craziness and distress. The texture in the painting was smooth and even suggesting a sense of calmness, also. The first two paintings by Raphael seemed to suggest the same things, but Picasso's painting was quite different because its use of line, color,and texture made my eyes go in all directions. Picasso's painting created a sense of craziness.

Message no. 198: [Branch from no. 6] posted by student 19 on Sun Sep 10, 2000 22:45 Subject re: Assignment on color, line, shape, texture, and rhythm in the arts

STRONG! REVOLT!

Where to go??

looking - dashing - running!

curious....confused...mysterious...

light vs. dark?

good vs. bad?

no where to rest....

Well, I hope that it is obvious that my painting of choice was Picasso's Guernica. This painting evoked in me a sense of urgancy. I didn't understand fully what was going on in the painting, but I could sense that it was frantic. My eye darted from one distorted object to the next. That inspired the form of my poem. There is no documented meter or feet. There is no ryhme, no reason to this poem, and the same is true for this painting, I believe. The fact that there is no consistant shape or line I believe is also captured in my poem. The stark contrast between the dark and the light is represented by the contrast in speech and silence represented by my short, choppy words and statements. And the business of the rhythm of the painting is reflected in the short, quick words of the poem. I picked this painting out of the three given, not because I thought that it was the most beautiful, but because I believed that it made a VERY strong statement even though I am ignorent of what the intended statement is. This painting, instead of creating feelings of tranquility; made me think and raised questions....

Message no. 201: [Branch from no. 198] posted by Deborah Vess (IDST_2310) on Sun Sep 10, 2000 23:22 Subject re: Assignment on color, line, shape, texture, and rhythm in the arts

Great job. This painting, by the way, was about the affect of war on Spain. You can see the horrific images and get the feeling of utter horror. I like your poem. It's choppy lines really do capture the affect of the painting. Great job.

Message no. 199: [Branch from no. 6] posted by student 4 on Sun Sep 10, 2000 23:19 Subject re: Assignment on color, line, shape, texture, and rhythm in the arts

A Time of Genius

A Sense of Harmony

with Chaos Underneath

I chose Raphael's School of Athens. I used a Haiku because I wanted it to be short and to the point. Haiku's generally observe minimalism and directness. The painting features a forum where intellectuals come to debate and ponder ideas in a very calm setting, but on closer inspection, the painting is anything but calm as the style, colors and lines would suggest. This painting is full of a mixture of both soothing and nervous colors. The picture makes use of straight, horizontal (figures' heads) and vertical(pillars) lines. The blue sky in the background brings your eyes to the main point of the painting; that of Aristotle and Plato arguing in the center. The togas that the two philosophers are wearing are also the brightest colors in the room, that of red and blue. There are some colors not with the color scheme such as yellow, but generally all of the colors are very dark. There is a definite sense of order in the painting, and a symmetry which is pleasing to the eye, but if you look closely, you can tell that the painting is not symmetrical at all. You will also notice that this painting does not convey a calm atmosphere for almost everyone is arguing with each other. The same goes for the other two paintings. At first glance at Raphael's Madonna, one would think that this was a calm, soothing picture, but there are distinctive horizontal lines, which in music, display a sense of agitation. the final painting, done by Picasso, is outright uncomfortable to look at. the shapes of the figures are in white and are directly surrounded by darker colors, contrasting the two. there are no smooth lines that would convey tranquility.

Message no. 202: [Branch from no. 6] posted by student 6 on Sun Sep 10, 2000 23:35 Subject re: Assignment on color, line, shape, texture, and rhythm in the arts

agony facesripped openbyterror pain searching forasavior suffering butnever findpeace misery noone findstheend anguish lineandlight streamtogether struggle yetnothing iscontained despair thefallen cannotrise death

Picasso's Guernica is not a soothing, gentle, and calm painting like Raphael's Madonna. Nor does it have the symetry, balance, and order that the School of Athens has. Guernica is chaotic and wild and invokes a sense of terror in everyone that looks at it. Picasso's use of lines and color pull you in all directions and one cannot focus on a certain object without being pulled to a different one. Because his lines go everywhere and create a distressed feeling, I chose to use single words and short phrases without using form, rhythm, and meter in order to make my poem reflect the instablity of the painting. Shapes pile on top of one another in the painting and lines run through each other while my words do the same. There is no real beginnig or end in his painting and there is no place for your eyes to rest like in the School of Athens, where you focus in on the center and work out. I chose not to use any punctuation in my poem to keep it from having any brakes or pauses. Even his use of color is on the verge of chaos. His use of lightand dark is not balanced. There is a lot of white on the right side and along the bottom of the painting that nearly throws the painting off balance. My poem is also off balance with more words on the right side of the poem. Picasso uses lines and color to create a describe a chaotic and distressed world and I hope that with my words I hope I have created that same chaotic world.

Message no. 208: [Branch from no. 6] posted by student 28 on Mon Sep 11, 2000 17:45 Subject re: Assignment on color, line, shape, texture, and rhythm in the arts

The Poem (No name yet):

I can see the hunger in their eyes,

I can see their soul in their eyes.

Ponds of emptiness staring at me,

reaching out pulling my clothing wanting, begging, and pleading.

A rider of the apocalypse struck at them a moon ago.

Swept over them like a giant sword.

Cutting away their loved ones.

Blood, fear, and Chaos I see.

I can see the loss in their eyes,

I can see their soul in their eyes.

I guess I chose to write a poem about one of my favorite paintings, Guernica by Picasso. I wrote a personal experience poem I could say. I served, as a peacekeeper in Bosnia while the war still was raging back in 1993. I saw and experienced many horrible aspects of war during my six-month mission. I used emotions of loss and fear to describe how I saw people in Bosnia. The painting Guernica is expressing chaos and loss and total fear. It is a very vivid painting and personally I have looked at pictures of this painting many times because I find it fascinating. There is no color but black, white, and gray. There are dark emotions of war, chaos, and death anxiety. I tried to use two slow meter sentences and then confuse them with lot of emotional words in a row to create distortion. Well, I hope I did because I am not a professional poet. But, as I said I used words to express the horror of war and loss instead of meter because I feel I cannot master it in my non-native language. I think a person has to have years and years of extensive language studies to master to change tone, meter, and sharpness of a foreign language. For that I apologize, but I hope the distortion and the irregularity at times in my poem came through somehow.

Message no. 214: [Branch from no. 6] posted by student 16 on Mon Sep 11, 2000 23:28 Subject re: Assignment on color, line, shape, texture, and rhythm in the arts

Scattared chaotic

bright yet confusing

unsoothing unrealistic unbalanced

not quite sane

yet still considered art?

After comparing Picasso's Guernica to Raphael's School of Athens and Alba Madonna, it was easy to understand the great difference between the two artists. While Rapheal paints actual sceens with real people and balance, Picasso paints abnormalties and irregularaties. This is why I made my poem abnormal, uneven, and unbalanced. Raphael's paintings are soothing and comforting to look at, while Picasso alarms, alerts, and shocks you. Picasso's use of irregular lines, shapes, and colors gives you an uneasy feeling. Raphael uses colors that are soothing to the viewer, such as blues and geens. He also makes the rythem of his paintings smooth, so that everything seems to flow togethor and have a calming effect. Picasso, on the other hand, uses colors that stand out and catch your attention. His rythem is disruptive and abnormal, and that is the rythem that I tried to convey to you the reader.

Message no. 215: [Branch from no. 6] posted by student 24 on Tue Sep 12, 2000 14:51 Subject re: Assignment on color, line, shape, texture, and rhythm in the arts

confusion...terror....

upheval total chaos...

where do we go from here?

my poem talks about picasso's guernica. the poem like the painting reflect each other because they are both very confusing. neither one of them really make any sense. the poem uses a combination of no meter to iamb meter. this was because like the painting the poem also is everchanging. rhyme is non- existant in the poem. i don't think that any of the paintings created the same effect. they all have a mind of their own.

Message no. 222: [Branch from no. 6] posted by student 22 on Tue Sep 12, 2000 19:23 Subject re: Assignment on color, line, shape, texture, and rhythm in the arts

Trapped in terror!

Running...Searching...Exhausted...

No where to escape!

Fear..Chaos...Anxiety...

Death knocks!

The poem I wrote was based on Picasso's drawing. As soon as I saw the painting I felt very confused and terrified. The poem I wrote has no rhythym or rhyme to it. Every line reflects the chage that is constantly reflected in the painting. The poem uses several words that create tension, this is based on the diagonal lines that I saw that cut through the figures. The color that I saw as predominant was white. White is a symbol of cold characteristics. The words; trarred, fear, and death reflect a cold enviroment. The irregular poem reflects the turmoil and inconsistency that the animal and human figures represent. Picasso's painting looked like a seen of death and fear for many people ina small place. There was not any open space left in the picture. I showed the compactness by describing a maze through words like; searching, escape, and anxiety. I chose this painting because of its uniqueness. The other paintings seemed to depict harmony and completeness. Many colors used in Raphael's paintings are characterized in Yoruba culture as Du du. Du du is a color category that reflects a down to earth,and practical situation. Each of Raphael's paintings show a peace and stable enviroment. On the contrary, Picasso presents a horrific scene.

Message no. 226: [Branch from no. 6] posted by student 26 on Tue Sep 12, 2000 20:50 Subject re: Assignment on color, line, shape, texture, and rhythm in the arts

Have you seen my paintbrush?

I do beleive the bathroom is down the hall

Would you accompany me to the rush?

I have heard he is very much a gall

Would you answer one question my friend?

I have nothing more to say on the matter

Did I leave my paintbrush back at the end?

Please, please no need to flatter.

Myu responce is towards Raphael's "School of Athens". When I looked at the "School of Athens" piece, I recieved the feeling of many different conversations happening in one place at one time all around me. This is the reason that none of the lines really go together in a logical sense for it is like being in a room surrounded by talking people and catching snippits of each conversation taking place. There was an order though in the fact that there are three main clusters of people in each important area below the middle of the piece: the group in the archway, and each group at the bottom of the steps. the two groups at the bottom of the steps combined with the figure in the middle make for a triangular shape that drags my eyes to and from these three areas. starts at the figure in the middle, then goes down to the kneeling scribe in the white robes to the left at the bottom of the stairs, and then right to the hunched over man in the green robes. Even though my eyes are going in the same area, I see more of each area each time I am brought back to it. My poem has that with the paint brush theme in how when the paintbrush speaker is returned to, there is more to his story. I kept somewhat of a rhyme scheme going because of the symmetry of the building and how balanced the painting is (which is also why every other line is either a question or starts with "I" except for one). The reason for the final line to only go with the rhyme scheme and not the "I" starter is in the fact that, I wanted to disrupt the order a bit because of the fact that some figures are erect while others in different positions, some still, some mobile. Another reason for the different "conversation" lines is that it gives a sense of confusion which a single individual would have had had he been alone in a scene such as this. I sure would like to know where the paintbrush is though, I would kind of like to get back to my artwork. Now then, the end of what? A hallway? I beleive it adds to the confusion of, what is going on here? Stanley Curtis Barrett

Message no. 228: [Branch from no. 6] posted by student 30 on Tue Sep 12, 2000 21:28 Subject re: Assignment on color, line, shape, texture, and rhythm in the arts

Sharp, Points, Razors,

Confusion setting in,

No point of reference.

The Picasso painting is the painting that made me express the most feelings. I felt that the painting had no specific point at which to look at, but rather your eyes are directed everywhere. He uses vertical lines and points which make an uneasy feeling such as confusion. As a poet in an art gallery I found this to be the one painting that sparked the most feelings and allowed me to write down on paper. The meter I used makes the reader uneasy feeling to. Accented words in a row is a way to create confusion and uneasyness. Morgan Stallings

Message no. 235: [Branch from no. 6] posted by student 3 on Wed Sep 13, 2000 00:00 Subject re: Assignment on color, line, shape, texture, and rhythm in the arts

Black and white,

up and down,

Pain all around me,

cries for help I'm sinking,

perhaps the source of this frown

Does anyone hear me,

feel what I have felt?

My poem attempts to catch the mood and feeling of desperation found in this work. The use of black and white creates an ominous mood. Black is traditionally a color reserved for the eerie, and the white sets a background and brings the feeling out. Sharp shapes create uneasiness, and seem to strike the viewer.

Message no. 398: [Branch from no. 6] posted by student 6 on Thu Dec 14, 2000 00:20 Subject re: Assignment on color, line, shape, texture, and rhythm in the arts

sadness..despair...

everywhere I look there is Death...

suffering is now the way of life...darkness takes over the light....

they say, fight ot flight...

I'd rather leave...

Anything to save my baby....

He took his last breath and this scream will be mine.

The poem is about "Guernica". I chose to do the poem from the point of view of the mother who had just lost her baby. When I was looking at the poem, she seemed to be the loudest part of it, so to speak. PIcasso black and white and gray to emphasize the hopelessness of the situation. He purposely distorted figures to evoke violence. The jagged lines and pieces of pictures represent terror and confusion. It has a pyramid format. The slain fighter with the broken sword imply defeat. I chose to use broken, choppy meter to convey the broken and jagged lines visable in "Guernica". The words that I chose have the same desolate tone as the piece. I didnt want my poem to rhyme because I feel like rhyming is too perfect to convey the sheer chaos and helplessness that these people felt. Rhyming provided too much order; there was no order to the massacre at Guernica.

Message no. 179: posted by student 5 on Sun Sep 10, 2000 20:32 Subject Kimberly Tarver

I once was so confused

God's love I did refuse

My life was turned upside down

With my head down I walked around

Wondering what is wrong with me

I figured I nto myself was I trying to be

One day I finally saw the light

And I decided to let Christ into my life

I can really associate myself with Picasso's painting because when I look at the painting I see such confusion. He used a lot of zig-zags. The shapes seemed to blend into each other. When you look at the picture, you are confused with what the object is suppose to be. I use a really simple rhythm. I used this type of rhythm so people can understand what I felt. Sometimes with a lot of rhythms, feet, and meters the audience lose sight on what is the poet is trying to say.

Message no. 205: posted by student 9 on Mon Sep 11, 2000 09:36 Subject Paige Segars

Beauty, patience,comfort

Understanding, unconditional

Loving mother forever.

I decided to write about Rapael's "Alba Madonna"(in case you didn't know :-) This painting just stuck out to me. It made me remember all the times I spent with my mother as a child. It reminded me of the safety and warmth I always feel when I am near my mother. In my poem, I used very short lines. I used mostly adjectives to describe my mother as well as relating it to the mother in Raphael's painting. I decided to use short simple lines because I think that they can symbolically show how a mother loves her child in the most simple form, unconditionally she always looks over the mistakes you might make. Raphael used many soothing colors and images. The blue sky, the green grass, and the ashy mountains, all created a sense of comfort in me. I was completly relaxed when I was analyzing this particular painting. He also gave the characters in his painting certain images that they portrayed. When I observed the painting I first saw the mother lovingly looking at her children. I also thought it was very interesting that one of the children was holding a cross. This also gives me a sense of comfort because God is a very important part of my life. He shows me comfort each day. When I first observed the painting the focal point for me was the mother and then my eyes traveled to the children. I think that the perspective I have about this painting shows that I am very close to my mother and that her support in everything I do is very important to me. In conclusion, I felt like all the paintings created different feelings. The first two were similar. They created a sense of relaxation. The last painting was not my favorite. It made me feel uneasy and confused. I am not a spontanous person, so I felt like the last painting was very chaotic!!

Message no. 206: posted by student 10 on Mon Sep 11, 2000 16:16 Subject Jennifer Wright

Mad - Deranged!

Violent - Harsh!

Barbarous - Untamed!

If you can't guess I chose to write a poem about Picasso's Guernica. I chose this painting because it brought out a sense of chaos in me which I guess I am experiencing in my life right now. This painting is very busy and has no certian line that pops out at you when you look at it. When I looked at this painting I felt sense of craziness, nervousness, and wildness. These feelings are represented in my poem by using synonyms that describe these feelings. The contrast of colors in this painting between dark browns, blacks and white is represented in my poem by the short choppy words and lines. There's definately a sense of chaos in this painting. These three poems weren't all alike. However, in both of Raphael's paintings' there is a sense of calmness and relaxation. But in Picasso's painting there is definately no relaxation, there's craziness, nervousness, and wildness.

Message no. 207: posted by student 31on Mon Sep 11, 2000 16:59 Subject

showing learning teaching knowing

In his Painting,School of Athens, Raphael makes use of all the primary colors. While the shades of yellow and red used are dark, there are many different shades of blue. I believe he does this to portray a balanced mood. The predominance of blue creates a calm emotion. The use of red and yellow allows the blue to represent calm instead of depression. The focal point is very apparent due to the fact that is dead center of the painting. Everything revolves around the two men in the center. Possibly they are the teachers. The horizontal lines creatd by the stairs and by the men standing side by side intersect with the vertical lines created by the pillars and the men standing upright at the "teachers". The arches in the cielings get smaller due to perspective. These smallest arches encircle the center two men. Raphael wanted to make sure we saw them. The prodominant shape in the painting is a triangle. The top point of each triangle seems to once again be the two men. They create a triangle with the two seperate groups of men on either sides of them, as well as with the men sitting on the steps. Once again the painting is very balanced. The rhythm represented is an even, soothing one. It allows eye movement to be drawn across the entire page, not jump from one spot to another. All the men seem to be studying and talking in soft voices. Nothing is eradic or a surprise. I believe my poem shows this. The use of iambic meter causes it to be calming. Each of the words is roughly the same length and similar in sound representing balance and regularity. No surprises, and no overwhelming emotion.

Message no. 212: posted by student 30 on Mon Sep 11, 2000 22:15 Subject poem paragraph

My 3 lines of poetry is this:

The magical stars up above,

Are all I think of,

When they sparkle in my eyes.

I tried to include some rhyme in this short little poem I put together. I started out with the first line being unstressed, stressed, unstressed, etc. The second line is stressed, unstressed, etc. The poem does not have any meaning specifically to me, but it does have a rhthym and rhyme. It includes the spects of a short poem. Morgan Stallings

Message no. 213: posted by student 14 on Mon Sep 11, 2000 22:41 Subject Madonna/poem comparison

Gentle, kind, and loving

That's a mother's way.

Gentle, kind, and loving

It's something no one can replace.

As you can probably tell, I wrote about Raphael's Alba Madonna. This painting was the one of the three paintings that I liked the most. It is very calm and soothing. The picture is smooth and flowing. For the most part, the painting uses horizontal and wavy lines. The horizon creates a sense of a horizontal line, and the river is a wavy line. The Madonna and two children have an implied rough triangular outline around them and 1 child is holding a cross. The painting contains a pretty good bit of space and, therefore, has a light texture. I isn't very busy. The painting seems quite ordered. The soft colors found in the painting also add to the soothing feeling. The painting is full of blues and earthy colers like tan. The pinkish shirt that the Madonna has on caused my attention to be drawn to her and the center of the painting, but after examining the picture, I noticed the countryside-like background, which also has a soothing effect. The Madonna is also the biggest object in the painting. My poem also brings about many of these same feelings. All of my lines are between 4 and 6 words long, and I repeated the first line so that the poem would flow and emphasize those calming words. The light colors in the painting are represented in the poem because it is slow, and the words used are nice words. The words do not jump out at you and cause excitement. The cross seen in the painting is represented in the poem through its reference to relationship, which is one thing that crosses symbolize. All of the lines in the poem are horizontal to each other, which also corresponds to the painting. I chose to write about this painting because I enjoy looking at soothing things. I love to relax, and this is exactly the feeling that I got when I saw the painting. I also think a good mother/child relationship is essential. The Madonna in the painting seems to care for the children, and the children seem to admire her. The three paintings definitely created different effects. Raphael's Alba Madonna and School of Athens were both rather relaxed, although the School of Athens was a much busier painting. Both used the soothing blues and tans. But Picasso's Guernica really jumped out at me. It created a sense of fear and confusion. Everything was mixed up and ran together. The painting made me think of demons and beasts. It reminded me of someone's worst nightmare. It's black and white color also created a feeling of contrast. I did not feel relaxed at all with this one.

Message no. 218: posted by student 7 on Tue Sep 12, 2000 15:41 Subject

Crazy, Werid, Strange

Many emotions race through my viens

Opening my eyes to joy and pains

Carrying my away

But grounded I stay

Neat, Interesting,

Work of Art

When I looked at Picasso's painting I felt confused and compelled to reason with it. The artwork is filled with tons of emotion. It has jagged lines that create a rage sensation. It has distored figures of humans and animals that capture the eye. The background of the painting is gray and not very busy at all, creating a calming effect. These are the two main emotions that I got from the painitng. Through these two emotion I tried to write my poem reflecting them. That is why at first you just have chopped up words then it flows with the ryhum the you see chopped up words again. So the struture of my poem coorletes with the overall appearence of the painting. Now, my word choice has to do with how I felt when I first peered into such an emotionly twisted piece of art. The words I choose flow from the frist emotion I felt to the very last one. In refernece to the other paintings done by Rapheal this one stood out and caught the veiwers eye and made you think. The other two paintings made you think, but you could see where the artist was coimg from. In Picasso's you have no idea where he is coming from, there is no reason are diretion in his work. Which isn't a bad thing but a dividing line that allows the viewer to make their own route and theory with the art. I am not one to analyse art but through looking at the difference in the line , shapes and texture of the three painitngs you can see the difference between them. The tow done by Raphael have smooth lines with soft colors. Then Picasso has craggy lines and mishaped figures with little to no color at all. Through looking at just these elements it is easy to see the difference.

Message no. 230: posted by student 34 on Tue Sep 12, 2000 23:19 Subject Picasso

What are these creatures, Beasts?

Why do they murder?

Chaos everywhere and no means to put a stop to it.

Mystery, What is reality?

Will we ever know?

I chose this painting because I really liked it. There is really no meter or rhyme scheme to my poem, because I saw no pattern to the painting. It looks as though these beasts have murdered the man lying across the bottom of the painting, that is why I ask about murder. It looks to have a very warped sense of reality, because the creatures are like none I have ever seen before.

Message no. 231: posted by student 1 on Tue Sep 12, 2000 23:20 Subject

red, yellow, green

on the scene

cabbies never know what i mean

all this traffic makes me mean

I chose Rapheal's "School of Athen's" because it was chaotic and reminds me of a traffic jam in New York City. Last summer I went to NYC and actually experienced the traumatic event of a downtown Manhattan gridlock in a cab. Luckily, I was with my dad who was able make out what the cabbie was saying. I also liked this painting because I think it is a parallel to my life. I'm not the most organized person so if I were to paint it would probably look something like this. The poem is pretty simple but is the best I could come up with. I hope you enjoy this cheesy poem as much as I enjoyed Rapheal's painting.

Message no. 232: posted by student 2 on Tue Sep 12, 2000 23:20 Subject Jessica Ross

Chaos Terror Fear Pain sheer devastion War

I chose Picasso's painting. I immediately thought of war upon seeing this painting, why I do not know. All of the lines, colors, shapes, and distortions that encompass this work are unsettling and warlike. I chose not to use any meter because I feel like the painting has no form or pattern. I am very interested in what this painting is actually about.

Message no. 233: posted by student 20 on Tue Sep 12, 2000 23:42 Subject

A mother's love is always there Tender,

caring and there to share

A mother's love is like a flower Blooming,

her love is like a shower

As you can tell I decided to write about Raphael's painting Madonna. This poem just struck me in a way. It is a very calm and soothing poem. I think the blue colors in this poem help to create those senses as well as making me feel relaxed. The green grass and the gray colored mountains helped to create that feeling for me too. Many of the lines used in the painting were straight. There was vertical lines and horizontal lines. The shapes that I saw were triangles and crosses. The most prevelant shpae to me was the triangle because the three people helped to create this shape. It gives a feeling of stability as well. The cross shape I noticed was the cross that one of the childen was holding. I think that the texture of this painting would be smooth and light... not harsh at all. When I first looked at this painting, my eye went directly to the mother figure because she is so calm looking and she is at the top of the triangle. I wrote this poem because when I look at this painting, I think about my mother. I am pretty sure that I wrote it in iambic because it flows really well. This painting gave me a sense of security, the same security I feel when I think of my own mother. I think that the first two paintings were somewhat alike just because they both used soothing colors and were calming. The third painting, on the other hand, was nothing like the others. It was very hectic and conveyed a sense of business and craziness that the other two didn't. I really enjoyed this assignment because it made me think of my mom... so I am going to go call her now! bye :)

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