Habits of the Creative Mind
In-Class Exercises on Looking & Seeing
Left-Handed Portrait of Hannah
New beginnings, naturally fell for art.
Flash Fictions- 6 Word Narrative
Reflection of Queen Elizabeths I & II Activity
Image Detective Exercise in Looking Worksheet
The “process of looking” is a way of changing the manner we look at pictures. The portraits of the two queens at a glance appear as two ordinary portraits of royalty. However, when the similarities and differences are pulled apart the significance of each portrait and its impact is made evident.
The first step was to see what the similarities and differences reveal about the time periods and the status of the kingdom. In these similarities, it was easy to point out the items that have a cultural significance including the orb, the ermine coat, and the crown. Seeing these items in both portraits provokes the curiosity that all humans share and leads us to research the symbolism behind these items. Besides research, we can also compare their body language in each of the portraits, such as Queen Elizabeth I’s stern and almost intimidating grip on the orb. In order to get a closer look, several techniques were used in order to reveal the secrets behind the portraits and the photographer, or painter’s, purpose of the portrait. Rule of thirds is to bring out attention to the intersections instead of the middle and it did just that. While looking at photographs closely now, I use the rule of thirds in order to pinpoint exactly what the photographer wanted to make known. Lines also play an important role in drawing the audience’s eyes towards someone or to a certain object. For example, the flags on the walls in the church lead the eyes on a path towards Queen Elizabeth II’s face since she is the main focus of the portrait. The difference lies in that her portrait has a background yet lines in Queen Elizabeth I’s portrait still manage to have the same effect regardless of the fact that she has no background. The lines of her ermine coat and her hair draw the attention of the audience up to her goddess-like face.
Prior to the class day, we closely looked at the two portraits, I would look at a picture for a couple of seconds and disregard any detail. The following activity, which was two portraits of Queen Elizabeth II in 1968 and another in 2007, had more of an objective to look for the meaning behind each portrait. For instance, when told to look for similarities and differences, I used the techniques listed above such as the rule of thirds and following lines. By using these techniques it became easy to not only point out evident details but also the purpose or thought behind the portrait.
Five Day Ten Minute Observations
09/10/19
When did this bamboo plant appear on my window sill? It reminds me of the bamboo plant my mom has home in the kitchen by the sink. I kind of miss her, even though I only recently moved in on Sunday. She thoroughly thought about everything she could possibly do to make this dorm room feel like my home. I think she purposely didn’t tell me about the plant because she wanted me to find it and immediately think about her. Luckily for her, it worked because all I can seem to think about is how she has the same one home and the deep thought she put by bringing one to college for me. As I wrote in my planner my assignments, I looked out the window and there I saw it on the ledge. A bamboo plant in a water bottle with no water. Don’t plants need to be in water or is bamboo an exception? The plant looks sad. It has brown spots and it sort of looks like its dying, yet other bright green spots indicate it’s as strong as ever. About this plant, is there a significance behind it? I have always heard they bring health, wealth, and strength to those in a new home. Most plants and flowers have meanings that originate from history, romance, novels, and other means. Bamboo, however, is not as common.
09/11/19
Everyone knows red roses represent romance and white roses represent purity. What does the bamboo plant truly represent in all of our eyes? Why isn’t its meaning known? This poor plant has been isolated from others and truly, I always associated it with pandas. Bamboo plants are supposed to bring luck and wealth according to my research. This bamboo plant is just sitting on my window though, and I am a college student so I am not sure what wealth it will bring me. I have yet to ask my mom whether or not she put it on my window sill but honestly, it is something that she would do. The bamboo plant looks like it had been ripped off another plant, perhaps the one in my kitchen. It jagged along the bottom and it’s missing a few leaves. In addition, it has yellow spots here and there, but nothing drastic enough to assume the plant is dying. I keep the blinds closed behind it for privacy purposes and I hope that the darkness where there is no one in the room is not detrimental to its health.
09/12/19
I finally asked my mom whether or not she brought the bamboo plant from home and she told me she didn’t. In that case, what could the story behind this bamboo plant be? What about the story of its previous owner? I moved into this dorm room in Bouton two weeks into the academic semester so did someone leave that the last semester? The bamboo plant does not look old at all, in fact, it looks like it is in perfect condition for being abandoned for the entire summer. Imagine an empty dorm room with a bamboo plant in a water bottle on the window sill. Well, I have a theory that the previous owner packed their bags and moved out of room 322 in Bouton as fast as they could, leaving behind their good luck plant. If that theory is not true then the previous owner left their bamboo plant to share wealth and strength with the next occupant, which is me, to find. Some leaves of the bamboo plant were plucked off because you can see the empty stems all around the bamboo plant.
09/13/19
Today when I came back from class, the bamboo plant was missing. It was no longer on the window sill nor on my bedside. My immediate logical explanation was maybe my roommate moved it to somewhere else in the room. I glance down for a second and I see the bamboo plant on the floor and the water bottle in the middle of the room. The window was left open and the wind was definitely gusting through the window. The bamboo plant just lied on the ground and oddly enough, it had more brown spots. It hadn’t grown since I moved in and now it is just on the ground. In that case, I picked it up to place it back on the window sill and it felt like smooth branches. It has an oddly hard structure and it’s rough in the segments that are brown. I find it even odder that pandas eat bamboo since its so hard. Pandas eating bamboo is the equivalent to humans eating branches. I expected bamboo to feel like a thicker version of a flower stem.
09/14/19
Day five and I finally decided to add water to the water bottle and open the blinds. I always saw pebbles in the water at home but I do not have any pebbles here at SUNY New Paltz. The gold tie around the bamboo plant holding it together shines more than the sun outside on the gloomy fall day. The gold tie has several knots with a strand sticking out. Whoever set this plant up did not was it dying or falling apart anytime soon. I have bad news for them though. The plant has brown spots everywhere, more than usual, and the leaves have turned more yellow than the leaves outside.