Art Making/ Exporation #1: Value Scale and Color Wheel Assignment

1.) I really thought making the Value Scale and Color Wheel were kind of annoying projects. First of all, I can just find one online or in the textbook so what is the point of actually making one; I've blended paints before and I didn't need a Color Wheel to do it. Second of all, I can barely tell the differentiation between at least three of Values; making this thing was next to impossible for me. I'm relieved to say that I actually enjoyed myself; it really wasn't as awful as I was worried about it being. I've always loved to paint things, so actually painting the color wheel was pretty fun. The Value Scale turned out to be very difficult for me; I was expecting it to be a little challenging for me, but not like this. It kind of reinforced how quickly I really am losing some kinds of vision, and that wasn't very fun.

2.) I definitely liked working with the paints more than the pencil. First reason why is they're bold and I can see them very clearly; sometimes I can't exactly tel colors apart, but I can always see where I'm painting. Pencils, not so much; they're so controllable but there can be such little contrast that I can't tell where I'm drawing. Second reason why I like paints better is, I like brushes! Brushes are so interesting and fun for me to use; much more variety than the standard pencil! Plus, the effects that brushes can make are super pretty, and incredibly versatile. Makes it a much more interesting and fun medium to work with!

3.) The most important discovery for me was definitely the lack of contrast vision I have. It has always been a struggle for me to see slight variations of the same color; shades of blue and black have always been particularly hard for me. However, I was usually able to tell if I saw a series of them, like the Value scale; my eyes would adjust to each as having a border around them because the colors don't match on either side. This time, while trying to create my own Value Scale, I couldn't get the shades right for each square. I had to go down from black a few blocks, then come back up, darkening each block more. My eyes just were not getting what was going on. The middle section of my scale still looks like one color to me; my husband checked and assured my they looked different so I could be done with it. I was not expecting that kind of challenge, and it was kind of upsetting news.

4.) I really did not know that Cyan, Magenta, and Yellow made Red, Blue, and Green. I knew that CMY was the new print standard for high quality printers, and I knew it was widely used across the the digital world. What I didn't know was Cyan and Magenta made Blue. That blew my mind and changed the way I look at colors; seriously, it really caught me off guard. It also made making the Color Wheel make a lot more sense, since my eyes kept trying to see the blended colors I was used to; Orange, Green, and Purple (which did happened for the Magenta/Yellow blend, it dried very orange). I enjoyed the videos this module and watched them a couple of times; they were entertaining to watch and I learned something too!