Operations Management Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2750 words

Operations Management - Essay Example Unlike in projects, in operations one has to typically stick with his or her decisions. In operation management, there is permanence in operations. A continuous process in the shop like purchasing and selling of goods is regarded as an operation. The good features that can be adopted from project management can be combined with operations management so as to have a better and efficient style of management (Olivia, 2011:59). According to Wilson (2012:178) asserts that operations can be analyzed at three levels; flow between processes, resources, and operations. Operations management involves the planning, organizing, directing, and controlling the process of bringing together people, materials, equipment, and methods so as to accomplish a wide range of operational tasks in the most cost effective way. At every point of operations management, knowledge and deliverables are typically transferred for the implementation of delivered work. Its occurrence is through the transfer of project resources to sound operations towards the end of the operation (Arnas, Jabbour, & Saltorato, 2013:89). The paper is will be going to discuss the sound operations management for organizations so as to efficiency and strategic purposes and how improvements of operations are required to maintain quality and remain competitive in a globalised environment. Operations management Efficient management of operations is of very utmost importance for both the survival and success of any firm. To ensure that the organization remains competitive in the global business environment, it must ensure a cost effective operations management process within the organization. Moreover, the management team is to be familiar with the world class operational guidelines and is to implement them to be effective. The operations management process includes: examining relevant operational activities; designing and organizing products and services; initiating and maintaining product or service selection; developin g cost effective operational processes and methods; evaluating the suitable equipment used in the operations; developing cost effective operations planning and control systems; and finally developing and implementing a material and supply chain management (Meredith & Mantel, 2011:117-118). Seemingly, many tasks we do everyday appear to be easy to handle but they are really complex in nature, but the repetitiveness and their familiarity hide their complexity. As a consequence, most real world problems require complex methods at first exposure, but their sophistication is hidden as they become familiar (Slack, Brandon-Jones, & Johnson, 2011:458-470). Operation is a transformational process that adds value such that the value of the output has a financial value that is greater than the sum of inputs. The recent advancement in technology has enabled the enhanced the carrying out of various operations (Waltes, 2005:162). This is attained through an integrated value chain. It is a set of activities that create and ensure the delivery of products to the consumer. The traditional value chain comprised of the manufacturer, wholesaler, retailer, and finally the consumer unlike the new chain which comprises of manufacturer, e-retailer and the consumer (Kousholt, 2007:90). The internet based operations promotes; more efficient processes, an expanded supply chain, low cost of materials, better decision making frame work, more efficient processes, expanded supply chains, globalization, and new ways of doing business. The benefits of the internet based businesses have various

INTERPOL etc. communications between international law enforcement Essay

INTERPOL etc. communications between international law enforcement agencies - Essay Example These law enforcement agencies are to some extent, geographically restricted in their ability to apply law enforcement powers. The LEA may be capable of applying its powers within a nation, for instance, the US Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, or within a partition of a country, such as the Australian state's Queensland Police, or, across a group of nations, like global organizations such as the Interpol. These law enforcement agencies that operate across an assemblage of countries help out in law enforcement activities, rather than directly enforcing laws by smoothing the progress in the sharing of information necessary for law enforcement between other enforcement agencies within different countries. In the forefront of battling international criminal elements is the Interpol. Founded and established in Vienna, Austria in 1923, The International Criminal Police Commission works for the objective of instigating global collaboration of criminal police forces (Deflem, 2000, pp. 601-640). Essentially, the ICPC was instituted as an international cooperative set-up of national police organizations with systems for worldwide telegraphic and radio communications and a journal published on a regular basis which conveys significant information among its member-states. By 1940, the Commission embodied more than 40 states, which included many known European powers like France, Germany, and Italy as well as some non-European countries, such as Bolivia, Iran, and Cuba. Basically, the International Criminal Police Organization-Interpol is the only worldwide organization of its kind with 177 member nations of which the General Secretariat is located in Lyons, France. The most important task of Interpol is to prop up police forces and the services of its member countries in their effort to thwart crimes and to carry out criminal investigations as competently and successfully as possible. So as to provide this support to member countries, Interpol conducts all its activities within the following three fundamental functions (UN, 2006, PP. 2-4): Secure international police communications services The essential prerequisite for worldwide police collaboration is to enable police personnel to communicate with each other safely and in real time globally, So as to give the international law enforcement community the best channels of communication, Interpol has crafted and executed a high-tech, global communications structure, commonly dubbed as the I-24/7. It facilitates the transmission of significant data about individuals and crimes, including photographs, fingerprints and DNA profiles, to its member countries, in a safe method within a matter of seconds. Currently, 183 of its 184 member countries are connected to this system. Operational data services and databases Once law enforcers can communicate globally, they need access to information to aid in their investigations or to take the necessary steps to deter transgressions and felonies. Hence, Interpol developed and maintains an extensive array of global databases, covering major data like names of criminals and suspected individuals, search requests for wanted persons, fingerprints,

Critique of a research paper Essay Example for Free

Critique of a research paper Essay Issues that are to be studied during a research are usually expressed in a statement referred to as a research problem or research question (Lawn et al 2010). The researcher needs to have enough knowledge concerning the field in which he or she wants to contact a research in order for him or her to be able to come up with a research problem which is strong enough to be studied (Manzoni et al 2009; Partridge Dickey, 2009). The researcher is supposed to come up with ideas which have not yet been researched on or which needs further development for him or her to be able to come up with a researchable topic. In most cases the research question or problem helps the public to have better insights in the studied field and even fills some knowledge gaps that may be existing in that field. Thus researchers are supposed to do thorough research to know what has already been researched on for them to be in a better position to make some improvement on the knowledge that exists. The problem to be studied should be significant to the general public and the professionals in the field of study. According to this study the research problem was: the impact of poor essential newborn care practices on neonatal mortality in rural Karnataka. This research problem is relevant in any medical profession since it addresses an important issue, which affects many healthcare systems in the world (Lawn et al 2010). As outlined in the paper many neonatal deaths occurs yearly resulting from careless or lack of knowledge on how to take care of these neonatal. Even though the authors point out that some research has been performed on this research topic, they point out the need to understand the local settings of concerned regions for better interventions to be undertaken since child birth is often tightly linked to traditions of concerned communities especially in the developing countries like India. Thus their research problem is still relevant given that no research has been done in such settings. Research design The case study research has employed both qualitative and quantitative research design. In qualitative research designs, answers are given to experiences related to humans (Kain, Gardner Yates, 2009). Concepts like grounded theory, ethnography, case studies and phenomenology are covered in qualitative research designs (Manzoni et al 2009). This study used interviews to collect data. The interviews were recorded in text form which is a characteristic of qualitative research. Thus the research qualifies to be described as qualitative. The concepts covered in the study were ethnography and grounded theory. This is because in the paper, the researchers consider different ethnic groups found in rural Karnataka. Furthermore, the participants were interviewed on various cares they offer to neonatal after birth hence this cover the grounded theory concept since giving care is a social responsibility. Therefore the researchers were trying to answer the question on how different birth attendants carry out their services to newborns in rural Karnataka. Quantitative research involves collection of data in numerical form. The authors claim to have used this design to obtain preliminary data for carrying out qualitative research. Even though the authors state that they used quantitative research design it is not clearly stated the data collected since the paper only talks of administration of questionnaires of which we are not told the kind of information that was to be collected. Justification of use of both qualitative and quantitative research designs From the authors’ point of view, the use of quantitative design was aimed at providing evidence for need to carry out the qualitative research (Lawn et al 2010). It is also pointed out that the quantitative research confirmed earlier research on the same issue on neonatal mortality. Thus it seems the quantitative research was done to also confirm earlier studies on mortality related to newborn. On the other hand, the use of qualitative design is justified. This is because; obtaining data such as on breastfeeding, place of delivery, delivery hygiene, cord cutting, cord care, asphyxia and thermal care can only be done using qualitative methodology. Recruitment of study participants Recruitment of participants was based on pregnancy. All those who were pregnant and those who became pregnant during study period were allowed to voluntarily participate in the study. The study employed proactive research design for sampling purposes. This was used to prevent recall biases, which are common in retrospective research designs. Data collection Interviews, focused group discussions and questionnaires were used to collect data from eleven villages within rural Karnataka (Kain, Gardner Yates, 2009). The method used to choose these villages is not stated in the paper and thus we do not know whether it was done using statistical methods or not. Interviews which were done were semi structured (Partridge Dickey, 2009). They were thirty nine in total with thirteen targeting mothers who had delivered recently, ten targeting grandmothers, nine targeting birth attendants and seven targeting informants. The interviews to mothers lacked specificity in time frame especially to mothers who had delivered and therefore could have been prone to errors. In addition the authors do not outline on how they come with the different numbers that they administered the interviews to. Thus, the numbers may not be statistically significant. The five different questionnaires were administered to pregnant mothers at different times. Three of the questionnaires were administered prior to parturition, one was administered within five days after delivery and the last questionnaire was administered during postnatal period. It is not clear on how those involved in the delivery of the questionnaires knew when the mothers had given birth to administer them on time. In addition, the significance of the number of questionnaires administered is not justified statistically. Eight focused group discussions were undertaken in the study. Of these, three were among groups of mothers, two were among elders and one was carried out among birth attendants. The group discussions may have been exaggerated by some participants and therefore some of this data may be unreliable to some extent. Furthermore the choice of the number of discussion and the number of participants in the group discussion is not explained hence may be statistically insignificant (Jatana et al 2010). Data analysis From the paper, the authors state that they carried out framework in the analysis of their data. This is a type of data analysis is majorly used in the analysis of qualitative data. The versatility of the method allows it to be used in different qualitative data analysis. This method allows organization of data into structured transcripts. Credibility, auditability and fittingness The truths about the findings as judged by participants constitute the credibility of the study (Lawn et al 2010). This study is credible to some extent given that the source of data used to make the conclusion is not one, that is, pregnant mothers, birth attendants and grandmothers are utilized to get credible data (Kain, Gardner Yates, 2009). However, the choice of the numbers of those involved in interviews, group discussions and the number of questionnaires administered raises credibility issues on the research. Thus, clarity is required pertaining these issues in related studies. If the information presented in the report is accountable then the research is auditable. The coherent of the report determines the auditability of the research paper. The authors of this paper tried their best to remain focused on the problem issue. Thus the paper is auditable. If the participants are faithful then the paper is fitting. From the excerpts from the interviews presented in the paper, the participants seem to be real in relation to daily realities. Thus, the paper is fitting. References Lawn, J. , Mwansa-Kambafwile, J. , Horta, B. , Barros F. Cousens, S. (2010). ‘Kangaroo mother care’ to prevent neonatal deaths due to preterm birth complications. International Journal of Epidemiology, 39(Suppl_1): i144-i154. Kain, V. , Gardner, G. Yates, P. (2009). Neonatal palliative care attitude scale: Development of an instrument to measure the barriers to and facilitators of palliative care in neonatal nursing. Pediatrics, 123(2): e207-e213 Jatana, K. , Oplatek, A. , Stein, M. , Philips, G. , Kang, R. Elmaraghy, C. (2010). Effects of nasal continuous positive airway pressure and cannula use in the neonatal intensive care unit setting. Archives of Otolaryngology Head Neck Surgery, 136(3): 287-291.

Implementing an Attendance System in 3AAA

Implementing an Attendance System in 3AAA Henry Brown Carry out a systems investigation on implementing an attendance system in 3AAA: Brief: Pyus Pyxidis have taken on a project to investigate the possible attendance systems to be used by 3AAA academy staff. The investigation should allow myself as an employee of PP, to research possible service providers, programs and ways of implementing a new attendance system for 3AAA. What is currently used?      Ã‚   Before starting my research into different products and services I needed to first find out what current media/service is used by 3AAA to conduct their attendance checks for pupils in their colleges across the country. The use of a hard copy may also limit the speed of passing the information along to the next representative in the company which you may not get with an online based system. When researching the new alternative I shall keep in mind the simplicity factor as well as the effective layout used. End User Investigation: The first stage to my investigation was to interview Andrew Maddison, the Leading Member in I.T. at 3AAA. I approached the interview in an organised way by using a question sheet which was prepared earlier. I highlighted important questions to ask Andrew so that I could make the most of my time with him. Fig.1. shows an image of the first page of the completed question paper. Below is a manuscript of the interview paper. Q: What would be your most valued feature in your current of documenting attendances? A:Needs to be simple and easy to understand. Keep the current format. Q: How much time is required to input your data into the document? A: Around 20 minutes. However, data has to sit around for up to 4 days before it is sent away to head office. Due to this no immediate action can be taken if there is a problem. Q: Does the time taken need to be addressed and or shortened? A: This could be dealt with by bringing in an online system. Possibly cloud based. This could be used with many different administrative rights to allow the right people to view the data. This could be achieved by using an independent online service. Conclusion: There was a lot of useful information gathered from the interview. Some of the main points drawn suggested that a cloud based service may be the best way to go with the project. This would also aid product function and efficiency in communication as well as speed and ease of implementation across the whole of 3AAA. Investigation of Services: This section of the investigation focuses on the service that would best suit the project. I will take into consideration price, ease of use and reliability of the service. In this section I looked at 5 of the top cloud based services which all had their positives and negatives. I worked the 5 down into the two best services to further compare which will aid in choosing the best option. The two options which I narrowed down where Microsofts Azure service and Amazons AWS. Microsoft Azure: Positives: Negatives: -Control: MA allows you to have access and Active Directory on the service. This allows more freedom and control. The service also allows for multiple administrative users who can all create amendments and have an input into the system. -The long-term trajectory is not very clear. There are possibilities of Microsoft not fully committing to the service down the road. -Platforms: Rival platforms and operating systems are supported on this system. -Microsoft are not innovators in the industry for this service. -Lifespan: Annual upgrades are in effect and will allow the service to work and run for a prolonged amount of time. The system should be supported for the next 10 years if not longer. -Open source applications do not have the same amount of support as Microsoft applications which can make it difficult in fault finding. Pricing: Microsoft Azure has been the cheapest option with both quoted prices being lower than AWS. The drop in prices over a two-year period shows how Microsoft are finding more efficient and cost effect ways to run their service. Amazon AWS: Positives Negatives -Features: The service offers very similar things to Microsoft Azure. -Outages: This service has a history of outages and can be unreliable. -Scalable: The service will allow for expansion very easily as it is like paying for water or gas. The Service can expand with the businesss needs. Speed: The download speeds from the service can sometimes be slow unless extra amounts are paid. -Costs: Can eliminate large IT overheads and be more cost effective by using this service. Transactions: These can become expensive and the user may even need to pay for activity as well as additional storage. Pricing: Conclusion: After an in-depth comparison of the two services I have decided to choose Microsoft Azure as my service provider for this investigation. I have based my choice on both features of Azure, the cost and the prospect of prolonged support. Azure offers a more competitive pricing package as well as offering better support for the site. The uptime and SLA packages are far superior to AWS making MS AZURE the right choice for the Register platform. MoSCoW Method: The MoSCoW method is a prioritisation technique used in business, project, web, analysis and a much larger array of management. The Method is very effective at helping the project leaders/managers in prioritising the most important factors. The work of prioritising the most important sections will help in the success of the project. For example if the priority of a project is to create a simple and effective design of a website that chooses function over aesthetic, then this can be easily highlighted in the MoSCoW method to make it easier to follow. So the project would show Must have: A well-functioning engine on the website to insure that the system functions to a high standard. Should have: A budget of  £200,000 or less. Could have: Offline features. Wont have: An instant messaging service. E.g. This method is good for working with time constraints as it allows the project manage to pick the most important aspects which MUST be completed. This then allows for other important but not as pivotal factors to be added to the other sections such as SHOULD and COULD. Many projects will say that they would like to have at least 60% effort put into the project as a minimum. (Even if time and resources are short the effort cannot drop below 60%) As the scale moves down to lesser priorities then 100% effort would be needed to achieve the lower options. Fig.7 (2017). 4.bp.blogspot.com. Retrieved 17 January 2017 (M) Must Have: These will be the fundamental requirements needed to ensure that the project can be a success. These areas have been highlighted by the client as important and integral functions. Priority Requirements Specification 1 Simple and easy to use Keep design simple yet still stylish as well as keep the tools/buttons as clear as possible. 2 Permissions for different staff This is to prevent unauthorised access to certain files, settings and other areas which can be effected. 3 Encryption and Security SSL level encryption will be used to protect the students data and the system will be locked down to prevent an unauthorised access or hacking. 4 Homepage and Dashboard This will be used to make it easier to navigate the website and improve the function (S) Should Have: These requirements are not as important or as critical as the ones previous. They are still an important part of the project however they are not critical. Due to tight time frames Should specifications can be held back till another time or fit in after the Must have been completed. Priority Requirements Specification 1 The budget of the project should be  £200,000 Keep costs down where possible and meet deadlines to ensure no further costs are added due to delays. (Client specified to keep below  £200,000 if possible) 2 The project will have a 6 month timeline The client needs the system to be up and running by the end of August 2017. 3 The system will use both off the shelf products and custom made services The blend of custom and off the shelf will ensure that the system will suit the specific needs of the client as well as help to keep the cost down at the same time. 4 Colour coding system will be used for present, Absent and Late etc. This will show an easy to understand visual representation as well as written e.g. P,A and L will be used to represent the different options as well as the colours. (C) Could Have: Requirements in this section are to be done if the right resources are available and if the client decides for more options. These are not as important as the other two sections above and are only to be attempted once the two previous sections have been completed. Priority Requirements Specification 1 Vibrant colour scheme Colour scheme will make it easier to navigate and add a more aesthetic feel to the site. 2 Colour coding Colour coding within the register itself will make it easier to read and understand. 3 Dropdown menus This would make it easier to navigate the site and reach the different areas faster. 4 Flag inactive users The administrator can be informed of inactivity of users. (W) Wont Have: This requirement is something that is not necessarily needed for this project and will ultimately be decided by the client stakeholders in the future to see if it is needed in an extension of the same project. Priority Requirements Specification 1 Instant messaging service This is an expensive and time consuming service to create and set up. 3AAA already have ways of communicating so this wont be needed. Lifecycle: I have chosen to use the Agile Lifecycle model for this investigation as it has many useful features which would insure a successful implementation of the service to 3AAA. This project would need a tailored plan to correctly implement successfully, the iteration feature in this lifecycle model would allow for safe checks and various demo releases to be tested before the system in launched. Fig.6. shows a detailed diagram of the Agile Lifecycle Model with the relevant sections and detailed iterations. The Agile development cycle would work extremely well to meet the needs of the project. The multiple iterations of the cycle will allow the development process to be as effective as possible. The cycle will be very effective for the projects timescale of 6 months as it allows the developers plenty of time and iterations to get the system working as effectively as possible. The agile cycle allows the project managers to break the project down itself into smaller and more manageable areas. This works hand in hand with the MoSCoW project and will make the project more scalable to the team creating it. The different sections of the MoSCoW theory will work very well with the cycles iterations to ensure each stage Must, Should, Could etc. are completed in the correct order and to a level which will meet the clients expectations. Design Function: I have designed the website to run on an array of Internet Browsers however I have used screenshots from Google Chrome as the service works best on the specific browser. Below are a series of screenshots from the Beta copy of the proposed Attendance System. Login Prompt: This would be the primary interface for the users to gain access to the service. The 3AAA member of staff would simply need to search for https://www.3aaa.co.uk/login/attendance-register in their browser to reach this page. The member of staff would use a unique login name such as J_Smith for example to login. The password would be customisable by the user to best insure security for that users online profile. (The password change feature can be found in the settings tab on the drop down menu at the top of the page.) Particular members of staff would have Admin rights to the service to allow for editing, new menus and features to be added. This means that the webpage can be maintained correctly and work as it should. Staff with Administrative rights will have a slightly different colour scheme to indicate the users rights on the page so that it would be easily to identify the different users. For example, an Administrative user would have a red band at the top of the page just above the drop down menu. Overview: Once the user has successfully gained access to the service they would usually navigate from the home page to the Register area via the drop down menu. Once in the Register area the page will default to the Overview section. The Overview section shows a detailed overview of the students in the staff members selected class. The data provided is the students ID number, Name, Days present as well as a chart to the far right showing how many days absent, present and if they were present in the Am and or PM sessions. Register: This section allows the staff member to input the data to the online system. It is easy to follow and use as the user can simply place a Y to present a tick and an N to show a cross in the wanted box. This service allows a real time update to 3AAAs records which will be stored on Microsoft Azure protected servers. The live update allows 3AAA staff members to receive updates from all of the colleges across the UK at the same time to keep their records up to date. Report: The Report section shows a detailed report of a specifically chosen learner from the academy/college. A full term for the learner can be viewed and displayed with further options to edit from certain staff members. This section shows a column with how many days have been missed by the pupil as well as days present. Different students can be selected easily and various information can be seen about the learner such as guardians, student ID numbers and DOB. Student List: This section shows the current pupils of the staff member. Much like the report section, details and information about students are displayed. Information about students can be altered in the Edit tab as well as new students can be added through this feature. Other sections are available such as Download, Comments and Edit, however they are relevant to this investigation and a normal feature which is seen on many different sites. Conclusion: The Beta is still a work in progress however I believe I have achieved the desired design, functional and usability features requested by 3AAA. I have followed a 3AAA colour scheme to fit in with other websites and products promoted by the company. The prototype/demo of the online system can be seen above. Below is a further update to the online system after the Agile cycle was followed again. The project was cycled another three times to refine the sites functionality and aesthetics. The site has maintained many of the positive aspects of the beta and prototype however the site has been created to appear more user friendly and more professional. See shots of the site below. Mobile Access: The site can also be accessed via mobile devices. This is to make the function and use as simple as possible for the users and students. The teachers can use this feature too however it is primarily created so that the students can access it whilst in break out rooms or when they are first entering the college so that the register times are as accurate as physically possible. This will allow for reports to be sent back to head office as soon as possible so that there are no delays.   The mobile site uses a very similar layout to the browser version however it is slightly adapted to best fit the mobile browsers and thus make the function and design more accessible to the users and students. Below is screenshots from a mobile device showing the site loaded into a browser. Implementation: In this section I will look at the ways I can implement this service across the company. I must investigate the ways 3AAA currently distribute data and follow a similar path. Due to fact I have based the attendance system on a cloud based service there will be no need for software packs to distributed around which many attendance systems are based on. This process can be fairly expensive and the problem of 3AAAs hardware in their sites could cause a problem. The auditing process would also be very lengthy. This confirms that the cloud based platform may be the best way to go for the system. The service is well looked after by Microsoft as it is part of package. Another added perk in the service is that more server space can be purchased easily if the site ever needed expanding. Conclusion: This concludes this investigation into a new attendance system for 3AAA. I have covered the customers requirements, researched a service provider, developed a function able webpage to use as an attendance system and described the implementation procedure I plan to follow. The system has been designed to make the day to day function of signing in/marking the register easier for both the teachers and students. The website can be reached by both computer and mobile devices to make it as simple as possible for the students to access the site to sign in and use it. The register will be implemented gradually by using both Medias at the same time to ensure that it is working correctly before finishing with the paper and pen copies. This will ensure that accurate registers are still sent to head office and the users and students can be integrated into the system effectively. 3aaa have over 50+ academy sites around the UK with thousands of learners who attend on a frequent basis. This means that the system must be as full proof as possible to ensure an effective transition in the academies. The ease of use of having the system on the students mobile devices will ensure that the sign in process is as accurate as possible due to the speed in which the students can access the site through a mobile web page and log on. This process will allow for an accurate time stamp as the learners arrive to site as opposed to waiting until they were behind their desks to log on to the desktop site which would not be until after college had started at around 9:15 and would give a false reading. The system would also have all the information needed for students to contact the academy and individuals inside the academy. The students can use options on the site to report illness or and general absences. This can also be done through their mobile devices as well as a desktop browser. This will allow for staff at the college to know if a learner will be attending or not as soon as possible and will avoid any delays for 3aaa. Reference Screenshots: References: http://www.businessnewsdaily.com/6730-best-time-and-attendance-systems.html https://azure.microsoft.com/en-gb/services/sql-database/ https://www.syntaxismyui.com/taking-attendance-with-xamarin-beacons-and-microsoft-azure/ https://xamarin.com/ http://www.slideshare.net/kcsq8/kuwait-computer-servicesibatimeattendancebrochureen https://xamarin.com/download http://npifinancial.com/blog/pros-and-cons-digging-into-amazon-web-services/ http://geekswithblogs.net/hroggero/archive/2015/08/12/sample-pricing-comparison-2-amazon-aws-and-microsoft-azure.aspx Www.Google.com www.3aaa.co.uk  Ã‚  

Harper Lees To Kill A Mockingbird Essay -- Racism Race Kill Mockingbi

Harper Lee's To Kill A Mockingbird The United States has been dealing with the issue of racism ever since Columbus landed on Plymouth Rock. The Indians were the first to endure harsh racism in this country. Pilgrims moving west ran them off their land wiping out many tribes and destroying many resources in their path. However, when many think of racism today, the issue of blacks and whites is the first to come to mind. African Americans have come a long way in today’s society as compared to the society their ancestors had to overcome. But just as far as we have come, there is still a long way we must go. Harper Lee, author of To Kill A Mockingbird, clearly depicts racism and what it was like in the nineteen-thirties through the trial of Tom Robinson and the only white man that supports him, Atticus Finch. The whole town of Mycomb becomes overwhelmed by a crime that a poor, â€Å"white trash† young woman named Mayella Ewell, accuses Tom Robinson, a black field laborer, of committing. This is very similar to the case of the Scottsboro Boys where nine black men were also wrongfully accused of a crime only because of the color of their skin. The fictional story, To Kill A Mockingbird, seems to depict actual events that happened throughout the nineteen-thirties in the south, during a time when whites dominated the legal system and blacks had no rights. The nineteen-thirties was a time of great hardship for many Americans in the south and around the country. The great depression was in full effect and was especially hard on those Americans who were involved in agriculture. The south played host to a higher degree of segregation than any other region of the country at this time. Many states and cities reinforced segregat... ...as usually taken care of outside of the courtroom, left dangling from a tree or beaten to death by angry mobs. â€Å"White Justice,† was the only thing that mattered to the white southerners during the nineteen-thirties. And that was the only thing that the blacks would get. Works Cited Braziel, Jana. History of Lynching in the United States. Chicago: University of Illinois Press, 1992. Lee, Harper. To Kill A Mockingbird. New York: Warner Books, 1982. Linder, Douglas. The Trials of â€Å"The Scottsboro Boys.† http://www.law.umkc.edu/faculty/projects/FTrials/scottsboro/SB_acct.html Martin Luther King, Jr., National Historic Site Interpretive Staff. â€Å"Jim Crow† Laws.† January 5, 1998. http://www.nps.gov/malu/documents/jim_crow_laws.htm. Stewart E. Tolnay and E.M. Beck, A Festival of Violence: An Analysis of Southern Lynchings, 1882-1930.

Visual Perception – Painting

Name: N. Mithun Kumar Vasu Deva Sarma Roll No: 201001072 Course: Space Time in Arts and Humanities Date: 17-11-2012 Topic: Perception of Visual Arts (Painting) ABSTRACT The task essentially is to consider what the art of painting essentially is and how it is perceived. One of the most curious questions which first arises is ? What is an Art Art: Art is a diverse range of human activities and the products of those activities. The word art can refer to several things: a study of creative skill, a process of using the creative skill, a product of the creative skill, or the audience's experience with the creative skill.Art is something that stimulates an individual's thoughts, emotions, beliefs, or ideas through the senses. Many definitions of art have been proposed by philosophers and others who have characterized art in terms of mimesis, expression, communication of emotion, or other values. Though art's definition is disputed and has changed over time, general descriptions mention an idea of human agency and creation through imaginative or technical skill. In medieval philosophy, John Chrysostom held that â€Å"the name of art should be applied to those only which contribute towards and produce necessaries and mainstays of life.The nature of art has been described by philosopher Richard Wollheim as â€Å"one of the most elusive of the traditional problems of human culture†. Art as mimesis has deep roots in the philosophy of Aristotle. The nature of art, and related concepts such as creativity and interpretation, are explored in a branch of philosophy known as aesthetics. Art, at its simplest, is a form of communication. As most forms of communication have an intent or goal directed toward another individual, this is a motivated purpose. Illustrative arts, such as scientific illustration, are a form of art as communication.Emotions, moods and feelings are also communicated through art. Here, we consider painting, a visual art and explain its perception. H ere arises the question, what are ? Visual arts Visual Arts: ?Visual Arts? is a term used for a broad category of different types of art. Visual arts include all forms of arts creative and haves expressive production in material. In simple words, ? Visual arts? are art forms that create works that are primarily visual in nature, such as Ceramics, Drawing, Painting, Sculpture, Printmaking, Design, Crafts, Photography, Video, Filmmaking and Architecture.These definitions should not be taken too strictly as many artistic disciplines (performing arts, conceptual art, textile arts) involve aspects of the visual arts as well as arts of other types. The current usage of the term â€Å"visual arts† includes fine art as well as the applied, decorative arts and crafts. Visual arts also include applied arts. The perception of these visual arts is a lot different from Visual Perception. So, we need to know the difference between the perception of visual art and visual perception of art. For this purpose, we explain what visual perception is and then show the differences between the two of them.VISUAL PERCEPTION: Visual perception is a function of our eyes and brain. We see images as a whole rather than in parts. However, images can be broken down into their visual elements: line, shape, texture, and color. Visual perception is the ability to interpret the surrounding environment by processing information that is contained in visible light. These elements are to images as grammar is to language. Together they allow our eyes to see images and our brain to recognize them. For most of the people, vision appears simple and effortless as it seems like a trivial operation.Our brain, however, has to process, combine and separate shapes, colors, shadows, object relations, and much more within fractions of a second in order to build a representation from its sensory input. Vision perception is ambiguous. For example, to see a painting, a piece of sculpture or a building take s a few moments. Other art objects may take a little more time. Most of the people appreciate (comment on) the object within moments of seeing them. But it is the product of an extraordinarily developed and complicated visual system. Visual perception helps a lot in the aesthetic experience of art.Visual perception of art vs Perception of Visual Art: The main difference between the visual perception of art and perception of visual arts is that in the visual perception of an art we explain how our vision sees an art and sends it whereas in the perception of visual arts we explain how our vision sees the art and the reason why our vision sees the art in such a manner. One important difference between the perception of visual arts and visual perception is the task of the observer. In everyday perception, the task of the observer is well defined, often by the action that the perception supports.As we watch the incoming traffic before crossing the road, our perception of the traffic is o riented to the extraction of useful information such as the recognition of a car and the estimation of its speed, while at the same time disregarding irrelevant information such as the make or color of the car. Once the task is established, one can define the decisions necessary to perform it, and if one so wishes, the efficiency of the observer in this task can be computed by normalizing the performance to that of the ideal observer for this task.It is more difficult to identify an appropriate task in the perception of visual arts. Without specifying a task, the question of how good one is at looking at a painting becomes irrelevant, and the notion of risk associated to an alleged wrong perception becomes meaningless. One way to identify a plausible task in visual arts perception is to return to the challenges of everyday perception. PAINTING Painting taken literally is the practice of applying pigment suspended in a carrier (or medium) and a binding agent (a glue) to a surface (su pport) such as paper, canvas or a wall.However, when used in an artistic sense it means the use of this activity in combination with drawing, composition and, or, other aesthetic considerations in order to manifest the expressive and conceptual intention of the practitioner. Painting is also used to express spiritual motifs and ideas; sites of this kind of painting range from artwork depicting mythological figures on pottery to The Sistine Chapel to the human body itself. Painting is the practice of applying paint, pigment, color or other medium to a surface (support base).The medium is commonly applied to the base with a brush but other implements, such as knives, sponges, and airbrushes, can be used. In art, the term painting describes both the act and the result of the action. However, painting is also used outside of art as a common trade among craftsmen and builders. Paintings may have for their support such surfaces as walls, paper, canvas, wood, glass, lacquer, clay, leaf, co pper or concrete, and may incorporate multiple other materials including sand, clay, paper, gold leaf as well as objects.Painting is a mode of creative expression, and the forms are numerous. Drawing, composition or abstraction and other aesthetics may serve to manifest the expressive and conceptual intention of the practitioner. Paintings can be naturalistic and representational (as in a still life or landscape painting), photographic, abstract, be loaded with narrative content, symbolism, emotion or be political in nature. Painting only can â€Å"describe† everything which can be seen and suggest every emotion which can be felt.Painting is not just mere impression of our thoughts but is composed of a number of elements like intensity, form, figure, filial, color and tone, texture, garnet, line, conduit, deformation, organix, rhythm and non-traditional elements. Some of the important elements are discussed below. ELEMENTS AND MEDIA Modern artists have extended the practice o f painting considerably to include, for example, collage, which began with Cubism and is not painting in the strict sense. Some modern painters incorporate different materials such as sand, cement, straw or wood for their texture.Examples of this are the works of Jean Dubuffet and Anselm Kiefer. There is a growing community of artists who use computers to paint color onto a digital canvas using programs such as Adobe Photoshop, Corel Painter, and many others. These images can be printed onto traditional canvas if required. ELEMENTS INTENSITY: What enables painting is the perception and representation of intensity. Every point in space has different intensity, which can be represented in painting by black and white and all the gray shades between. In practice, ainters can articulate shapes by juxtaposing surfaces of different intensity; by using just color (of the same intensity) one can only represent symbolic shapes. Thus, the basic means of painting are distinct from ideological m eans, such as geometrical figures, various points of view and organization (perspective), and symbols. For example, a painter perceives that a particular white wall has different intensity at each point, due to shades and reflections from nearby objects, but ideally, a white wall is still a white wall in pitch darkness.In technical drawing, thickness of line is also ideal, demarcating ideal outlines of an object within a perceptual frame different from the one used by painters. Color and tone: Color and tone are the essence of painting as pitch and rhythm are of music. Color is highly subjective, but has observable psychological effects, although these can differ from one culture to the next. Black is associated with mourning in the West, but in the East, white is. Some painters, theoreticians, writers and scientists, including Goethe, Kandinsky, and Newton, have written their own color theory.Moreover the use of language is only a generalization for a color equivalent. The word â⠂¬Å"red†, for example, can cover a wide range of variations on the pure red of the visible spectrum of light. There is not a formalized register of different colors in the way that there is agreement on different notes in music, such as C or C? in music. For a painter, color is not simply divided into basic and derived (complementary or mixed) colors (like red, blue, green, brown, etc. ). Painters deal practically with pigments, so â€Å"blue† for a painter can be any of the blues: phtalocyan, Paris blue, indigo, cobalt, ultramarine, and so on.Psychological, symbolical meanings of color are not strictly speaking means of painting. Colors only add to the potential, derived context of meanings, and because of this the perception of a painting is highly subjective. The analogy with music is quite clear—sound in music (like â€Å"C†) is analogous to light in painting, â€Å"shades† to dynamics, and coloration is to painting as specific timbre of musical instruments to music—though these do not necessarily form a melody, but can add different contexts to it. Tone describes how light or dark a color is. If the painting is going to be successful, you must get the tones right.In describing any form in particular light conditions tone is critical. You‘ll be amazed how dark those darks can be. Get the tone of a color right and it will make the form you want to depict. It will stay where you put it and add to the solidity and realism of the picture. Get the tone wrong, and it will jar the eye. A blazing highlight in a shadowy eye will jump out of its socket. Remember that all colors in your subject are affected by the same light. For example, if one side of a blonde head is in deep shadow, like the subjects suit, the hair is going to be very dark blonde.If you paint those bright tones from the lit side of the head in the shadows it will be just plain wrong. This may sound obvious, but people do it all the time. Your brain ? knows‘ that a dark blue suit is very dark in the shadow areas, but it also might tell you it ? knows‘ that skin is still the same value in the darks. But, it is not and your eye sees the difference. Colors have tones (how light and dark) and temperature (how intense). Warm colors tend to advance. Cool colors tend to recede. The interplay between warm nd cool not only creates believable form and space but is a pleasure to look at – a painting that is all cold or all blazingly hot tends not to work so well. EDGES: Generally our eye will go straight to the crispest edge in a painting creating a focal point. This is most often a point of high contrast where a light and dark meet. Make sure that edge is where you want it, up around the head. For example, in a human face, the dark of hair against the edge of a lit cheek creates a focal point. The artist can lead a viewer around a picture by the use of different types of edge.If it‘s all soft or all crisp there is no focal point and no one knows what they are supposed to be looking at! BACKGROUNDS: The question that arises is how much detail should be in a background? Too much in the background can be overwhelming. Remember, the background should stay back. The subject is primary; the other stuff while it may have emotional or historic significance is secondary. Control of edges here really helps. Simple color and shadow shapes can work well. This makes the subject the sole rendered object and focal point in the painting. Rhythm: Rhythm is important in painting as well as in music.If one defines rhythm as â€Å"a pause incorporated into a sequence†, then there can be rhythm in paintings. These pauses allow creative force to intervene and add new creations—form, melody, coloration. The distribution of form, or any kind of information is of crucial importance in the given work of art and it directly affects the esthetical value of that work. This is because the esthetical value is functionality dependent, i. e. the freedom (of movement) of perception is perceived as beauty. Free flow of energy, in art as well as in other forms of â€Å"techne†, directly contributes to the esthetical value.LINE: Line is a continuous marking made by a moving point on the surface. A line is the path made by a pointed instrument, such as a pen, a crayon, or a stick. A line implies action because work needs to be done to make it. Moreover, the impression of movement suggests sequence, direction, or force. In other words, a line can be seen as a distinct series of points. Line is believed to be the most expressive of the visual elements because of several reasons. First, it outlines things and the outlines are the key to their identity.Most of the time, we recognize objects or images only from their outlines. Second, line is important because it is a primary element in writing and drawing, and because writing as well drawing is universal. Third, unlike texture, shape and fo rm, line is unambiguous. We know exactly when it starts and ends. Finally, line leads our eyes by suggesting direction and movement. Line outlines shapes and can contour areas within those lines. Even though most of the art we see uses line only to form shapes, some artists allow line to call attention for itself in the art piece.TEXTURE is the surface ? feel? of something. When the brush strokes have been smoothened, a surface is seen as smooth, when left rough, its texture is seen as rough. COMPOSTION refers to the ordering of relationship. Artists utilize organizing principles to create forms that inform. Techniques are ways artists go about applying the principles of composition. BALANCE refers to the equilibrium of opposing visual forces. GRADATION refers to a continuum of changes in the details and regions such as gradual variations in shape, color value and shadowing.PROPORTION refers to the emphasis achieved by the scaling of sizes of shapes. VARIETY refers to the contrasts of details and regions. UNITY refers to the togetherness, despite contrasts, of details and regions to the whole. MEDIA OIL: Oil painting is the process of painting with pigments that are bound with a medium of drying oil—especially in early modern Europe, linseed oil. Often an oil such as linseed was boiled with a resin such as pine resin or even frankincense; these were called ‘varnishes' and were prized for their body and gloss.Oil paint eventually became the principal medium used for creating artworks as its advantages became widely known. The transition began with Early Netherlandish painting in northern Europe, and by the height of the Renaissance oil painting techniques had almost completely replaced tempera paints in the majority of Europe. PASTEL: Pastel is a painting medium in the form of a stick, consisting of pure powdered pigment and a binder. The pigments used in pastels are the same as those used to produce all colored art media, including oil paints; the binder is of a neutral hue and low saturation.The color effect of pastels is closer to the natural dry pigments than that of any other process. Because the surface of a pastel painting is fragile and easily smudged, its preservation requires protective measures such as framing under glass; it may also be sprayed with a fixative. Nonetheless, when made with permanent pigments and properly cared for, a pastel painting may endure unchanged for centuries. Pastels are not susceptible, as are paintings made with a fluid medium, to the cracking and discoloration that result from changes in the color, opacity, or dimensions of the medium as it dries. ACRYLIC:Acrylic paint is fast drying paint containing pigment suspension in acrylic polymer emulsion. Acrylic paints can be diluted with water, but become water- resistant when dry. Depending on how much the paint is diluted (with water) or modified with acrylic gels, media, or pastes, the finished acrylic painting can resemble a watercolor or an oil painting, or have its own unique characteristics not attainable with other media. The main practical difference between most acrylics and oil paints is the inherent drying time. Oils allow for more time to blend colors and apply even glazes over under-paintings.This slow drying aspect of oil can be seen as an advantage for certain techniques, but in other regards it impedes the artist trying to work quickly. WATER COLOR: Watercolor is a painting method in which the paints are made of pigments suspended in a water soluble vehicle. The traditional and most common support for watercolor paintings is paper; other supports include papyrus, bark papers, plastics, vellum or leather, fabric, wood and canvas. In East Asia, watercolor painting with inks is referred to as brush painting or scroll painting.In Chinese, Korean, and Japanese painting it has been the dominant medium, often in monochrome black or browns. India, Ethiopia and other countries also have long traditions. Fingerpa inting with watercolor paints originated in China. INK: Ink paintings are done with a liquid that contains pigments and/or dyes and is used to color a surface to produce an image, text, or design. Ink is used for drawing with a pen, brush, or quill. Ink can be a complex medium, composed of solvents, pigments, dyes, resins, lubricants, solubilizers, surfactants, particulate matter, fluorescers, and other materials.The components of inks serve many purposes; the ink‘s carrier, colorants, and other additives control flow and thickness of the ink and its appearance when dry. HOT WAX: Encaustic painting, also known as hot wax painting, involves using heated beeswax to which colored pigments are added. The liquid/paste is then applied to a surface—usually prepared wood, though canvas and other materials are often used. The simplest encaustic mixture can be made from adding pigments to beeswax, but there are several other recipes that can be used—some containing other t ypes of waxes, damar resin, linseed oil, or other ingredients.Pure, powdered pigments can be purchased and used, though some mixtures use oil paints or other forms of pigment. Metal tools and special brushes can be used to shape the paint before it cools, or heated metal tools can be used to manipulate the wax once it has cooled onto the surface. Other materials can be encased or collaged into the surface, or layered, using the encaustic medium to adhere it to the surface. FRESCO: Fresco is any of several related mural painting types, done on plaster on walls or ceilings. The word fresco comes from the Italian word affresco [af? fres? ko] which derives from the Latin word for â€Å"fresh†.Frescoes were often made during the Renaissance and other early time periods. Buon fresco technique consists of painting in pigment mixed with water on a thin layer of wet, fresh, lime mortar or plaster, for which the Italian word for plaster, intonaco, is used. A secco painting, in contrast , is done on dry plaster (secco is â€Å"dry† in Italian). The pigments require a binding medium, such as egg (tempera), glue or oil to attach the pigment to the wall. GOUACHE: Gouache is a water based paint consisting of pigment and other materials designed to be used in an opaque painting method.Gouache differs from watercolor in that the particles are larger, the ratio of pigment to water is much higher, and an additional, inert, white pigment such as chalk is also present. This makes gouache heavier and more opaque, with greater reflective qualities. Like all water-media, it is diluted with water. ENAMEL: Enamels are made by painting a substrate, typically metal, with frit, a type of powdered glass. Minerals called color oxides provide coloration. After firing at a temperature of 750–850 degrees Celsius (1380–1560 degrees Fahrenheit), the result is a fused lamination of glass and metal.Enamels have traditionally been used for decoration of precious objects, but have also been used for other purposes. In the 18th century, enamel painting enjoyed a vogue in Europe, especially as a medium for portrait miniatures. In the late 20th century, the technique of porcelain enamel on metal has been used as a durable medium for outdoor mural SPRAY PAINT: Aerosol paint (also called spray paint) is a type of paint that comes in a sealed pressurized container and is released in a fine spray mist when depressing a valve button. A form of spray painting, aerosol paint leaves a smooth, evenly coated surface.Standard sized cans are portable, inexpensive and easy to store. Aerosol primer can be applied directly to bare metal and many plastics. Speed, portability and permanence also make aerosol paint a common graffiti medium. In the late 1970s, street graffiti writers' signatures and murals became more elaborate and a unique style developed as a factor of the aerosol medium and the speed required for illicit work. Many now recognize graffiti and street art as a unique art form and specifically manufactured aerosol paints are made for the graffiti artist. A stencil can be used to protect a surface except the specific shape that is to be ainted. Stencils can be purchased as movable letters, ordered as professionally cut logos or hand-cut by artists. TEMPERA: Tempera, also known as egg tempera, is a permanent, fast-drying painting medium consisting of colored pigment mixed with a water-soluble binder medium (usually a glutinous material such as egg yolk or some other size). Tempera also refers to the paintings done in this medium. Tempera paintings are very long lasting, and examples from the first centuries AD still exist. Egg tempera was a primary method of painting until after 1500 when it was superseded by the invention of oil painting.A paint which is commonly called tempera (although it is not) consisting of pigment and glue size is commonly used and referred to by some manufacturers in America as poster paint. WATER MISCIBLE OIL PAINT: Water miscible oil paints (also called â€Å"water soluble† or â€Å"water-mixable†) is a modern variety of oil paint which is engineered to be thinned and cleaned up with water, rather than having to use chemicals such as turpentine. It can be mixed and applied using the same techniques as traditional oil-based paint, but while still wet it can be effectively removed from brushes, palettes, and rags with ordinary soap and water.Its water solubility comes from the use of an oil medium in which one end of the molecule has been altered to bind loosely to water molecules, as in a solution. PAINTING †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ Painting is an art. There are different kinds of painting and you might have seen the canvas in many places. This is used in many homes and in buildings to decorate the walls. It is not possible for each and every individual to paint a picture and convert in to a beautiful art work. You might be confused by seeing many art works and you may n ot be able to differentiate the one which is more beautiful than the other.What does painting do? ? Painting makes things and their qualities much clearer than they are in nature. ? Painting, with its ? All-at-Onceness? more than any other art, gives us the time to allow our vision to focus and participate. ? We can hold any detail or region or the totality as long as we like and follow any order of details or regions at our own pace ***************—————-*************** More than any other art, painting is the art that has most to do with revealing the visual appearance of objects and events. The eye is the chief sense organ involved in our participation with the painting.Painting has existed as an artistic tradition for thousands of years. From the cave painting of Lascaux to the great, masterpieces of Da Vinci it has played a historical and aesthetic role in the different ages of existence. Let‘s see the history of painting. ORIGIN AND EARL Y HISTORY Painting has its documented origins in caves and on rock faces. The finest examples, believed by some to be 32,000 years old, are in the Chauvet and Lascaux caves in southern France. In shades of red, brown, yellow and black, the paintings on the walls and ceilings are of bison, cattle, horses and deer.Paintings of human figures can be found in the tombs of ancient Egypt. In the great temple of Ramses II, Nefertari, his queen, is depicted being led by Isis. [7] The Greeks contributed to painting but much of their work has been lost. One of the best remaining representations is the mosaic of the Battle of Issus at Pompeii, which was probably based on a Greek painting. Greek and Roman art contributed to Byzantine art in the 4th century BC, which initiated a tradition in icon painting. The history of painting reaches back in time to artifacts from pre-historic humans, and spans all cultures.It represents a continuous, though periodically disrupted tradition from Antiquity. Ac ross cultures, and spanning continents and millennia, the history of painting is an ongoing river of creativity, which continues into the 21st century. Until the early 20th century it relied primarily on representational, religious and classical motifs, after which time more purely abstract and conceptual approaches gained favor. Developments in Eastern painting historically parallel those in Western painting, in general, a few centuries earlier. African art, Islamic art, Indian art, Chinese art, and Japanese art each had ignificant influence on Western art, and, eventually, vice-versa. Painting was initially serving utilitarian purpose, followed by imperial, private, civic, and religious patronage, Eastern and Western painting later found audiences in the aristocracy and the middle class. TYPES OF PAINTINGS ABSTRACT PAINTING: It is also called as non-representational painting. It might be difficult to appreciate it if we are confused about subject matter. In these paintings, no obj ects or events are depicted. So, it seems that these painting do not have subject matter. But it is not so.The subject matter is relating to or affecting the senses rather than the intellect. It is composed of visual qualities – line, color, texture, space, shape, light, shadow, volume, and mass. These are constructed by eliminating reference to everything but color, lines, shapes, and light from their work. Abstract painters liberate us from the habit of always referring these elements to specific objects and events. REPRESENTATIONAL PAINTING: It furnishes the world of abstractions / sensuous with definite objects and events. The subject matter are the same, the interpretation (content) of every painting is always different.Representational artwork aims to represent actual objects or subjects from reality. Subcategories under representational art include Realism, Impressionism, Idealism, and Stylization. All of these forms of representationalism represent actual subjects fro m reality. Although some of these forms are taking steps toward abstraction, they still fall under the category of representation. PORTRAIT PAINTING: A portrait painting is one that embodies the image of a particular person. Over the years, these paintings started to include images of various other animals and lifeless matter.This particular type of painting is created only when a person orders for it to be created. Sometimes, portrayers create these paintings for their own fun or interest. The importance of these paintings can be felt only by those people who strive to preserve their memories. Most people think that digital photographs and images are the best way to capture a moment. But these people fail to realize an important fact about these photographs. While the initial quality seems to be much better in terms of clarity, these digital photographs seem to fade away with the course of time.This is not true in case of portrait paintings as these are known to last for a long per iod of time. This is evident from the fact that lot of these paintings have been found inside Egyptian pyramids. These paintings are mostly used as decorative items. Due to their long life, portrait paintings are used as wall hangings in many houses. In addition to its decorative uses, these paintings can also be used as gifts to complement your friends and relatives on their special occasions. Believe it or not, these paintings can remind your close ones about your existence whenever they look at it.Sometimes, people collect art works done by famous portrayers as part of their activities. The fun that you can have when collecting these historical artifacts is comparable to an endless sea. To learn how a painting is perceived, one has to know the effect of different situations on the eye. Some of them are explained here. BRIGHTNESS: The physical context of visual objects has a substantial impact on basic perception. Things may appear bigger, smaller, brighter, darker and so on, than they actually are, depending on the nature of the object and the context in which it is placed.Consider the importance of physical context on perceived brightness as shown in the figure below. In the set of two concentric squares at the left, the two small grey squares are of identical intensity. Yet the one at the top appears much darker than the one at the bottom. The effect is due to the context of the surrounding squares. Consider the image on the right. It comprises of a ring on uniform greyness. It appears lighter on the left-hand part of the display than on the right. The influence of context on the perceived intensity of an bject is called brightness contrast, a condition in which a viewer tends to bias the light intensity of an object in an opposite direction from the background intensity. The Importance of Value & Tone in Painting For example: If you took a black and white photograph of your painting, the shades of grey would be the different values or tones within the pa inting. Value is used to create a focal point within a painting or drawing. The human eye is immediately drawn to a light element against a dark element. This creates the focal point of interest. To create the illusion of depth, gradations of value are also used.Areas of light and dark give a three-dimensional illusion of form to subject matter. Value is independent of its hue. This is a fundamental element in the impact of visual art whether abstract or representational. The above example is a painting ? en grisaille? – a painting done entirely in values of grey or another neutral greyish color. Grisaille was sometimes used for under paintings or for oil sketches. Rubens was noted for this. Today, many successful artists believe in keeping a narrow value scale – limiting their composition to approximately 4 values. In this case it seems, less is more and helps create a cohesive and harmonious work.Below is a contrasting example of the use of values. Whistler used ? lo w-key‘ values and Monet used ? high-key‘ values and achieved dramitically different results. The Hidden Meaning of Color in Your Art RED: It is the color of assertion, strength, romance, excitement, vitality, physical power, outgoing, ambitious and impulsive. It is a color that flatters the skin and can make an excellent background. Pale pink are warm and peaceful and combine well with greens. The deeper reds create an atmosphere of retrained opulence and power. Red elicits an uncomplicated nature with a zest for life. But, red can also connote danger or threats.Fire engines, stop signs and traffic lights are a perfect example. ORANGE: It is the Midway between red and orange. It is a cheerful color. It is a flamboyant and lively color. Orange can be assertive, dynamic, and spontaneous and signifies youth and fearlessness. Orange stimulates the brain and produces oxygen and mental activity. Dark-orange signifies deceit or distrust, whereas redorange can correspond to aggr ession, domination and thirst for action. YELLOW: We associate yellow with sunshine and it represents light. It creates a feeling of hope, happiness and wisdom. The color evokes an optimistic sense of wellbeing and natural light.It is airy, radiant and atmospheric. Yellow gives the feeling that all is okay with the world. An example of this is Luminism, an early generation of landscape painters who explored ways to depict light realistically on canvas by using color to depict a melodramatic or romantic mood. But, yellow is a complicated color. On one hand, it is considered ? light-hearted‘ and childlike, but actually it is known to make babies cry. Although, light-yellow represents intellect, freshness and joy, dull-yellow is associated with caution, decay, sickness and jealousy. Yellow at times is cowardice. The phrase, ? yellow-bellied-coward? ame into use around 1910 which probably derives from yellow‘s association with both treason and weakness. More than a millenniu m ago, Judas Iscariot was often portrayed in yellow garb symbolizing his betrayal of Jesus Christ – a cowardly act. In America‘s pioneer days, yellow dogs were considered worthless and the term ? yellow dog? came to be used to describe anything worthless. Our observation of the yellow of tree leaves as they age and die, as well as the yellowing of old books and papers, led to the association of yellow with old age and illness. But, yellow is very effective at attracting attention – think of a taxi cab.Yellow is also used as a warning symbol. In football, a ? yellow flag‘ issues a warning. When place alongside black, yellow issues a warning. Yellow is also used in traffic lights and signs to advise us of danger. GREEN: It is the color of harmony, balance and security. Green also has a calming effect and symbolizes hope, peace, gentleness and modesty. It is soothing, refined and civilized with great healing power. Green suggests stability and endurance, hope and growth. It sometimes denotes lack of experience, for example a ? greenhorn‘ is a novice. Pale greens are particularly restful.Dark greens remind us of money, banking and Wall Street. However, at times yellow-green is used to portray sickness, discord and jealousy. Remember the phrase, ? green with envy BLUE: It is the color of the sea and sky, having a quality of cool expansiveness and openness. Soft, soothing, compassionate and caring, blue is an introspective color. Blue is often a formal color which represents wisdom and steady character. Many superheroes wear blue! It is considered a masculine color and the choice of corporate America. But, the quiet character and poetic subtlety of blue can also be associated with melancholy and resignation.Remember Pablo Picasso‘s infamous ? Blue Period? of art? Picasso‘s personal trauma found expression in a series of deeply sentimental paintings which comprise his ? Blue Period?. I even dedicated a helpful post to artis ts who find themselves Feeling Blue†¦ PURPLE: A combination of red and blue, purples are regal and dignified to be used with discretion. Pale shades are restful and serene, but the darker shades make it difficult to focus. Lavenders signify refined things of life, creative, witty and civilized. Purples can be tiring on the eyes and cause a sense of frustration, but it can make an excellent foil for works of art.Gloom and sad feelings can be portrayed by using purples. BROWN: It is the color of living wood and the earth. Rich, subtle and extraordinarily restful to look upon, brown creates a feeling of coolness and warmth at the same time. It combines well with rich colors such as purple and gold (popular in the Victorian era). It is a steady, dependable, conservative, conscientious and reliable color. Brown evokes a sense of nostalgia and reminds us of the great works of Rembrandt, Titian and Rubens. Tonalism used rich earth tones and muted colors to create moody landscapes.Van Gogh‘s used lots of brown to set a somber and depressed mood in the famous painting The Potato Eaters. Think back on Soviet Russia and you might remember the common people usually wore shades of brown. GRAY: This color represents caution and compromise. Many beautiful grays can be made by mixing complimentary colors together. Grays give a sense of peace to the viewer. WHITE: It is a Symbolic of safety, cleanliness and purity. White emanates youth, perfection and innocence. Angels are usually thought of as white. White is simplicity and freshness, but too much can give a clinical feeling.Doctors, hospitals and sterility are associated the white. Low fat foods and dairy products use white in their packaging. But, in many Eastern cultures, white signifies death, mourning, funerals and unhappiness. Ghosts are white and giving white flowers to the sick is bad luck in many cultures. In painting, use white sparingly. It can make colors chalky and lifeless. BLACK: It is Mysterious and hidden, black can have a morbid feeling. It gives us a feeling of the unknown and negative connotations like, black-hole, blacklist, blackhumor or black-death. In most Western cultures, black is the symbol of grief.However, black can be dignified and showy with sophistication. Black will also punctuate color schemes that rely on strong contrasting colors. Try mixing your own blacks, rather than using it straight from the tube. CASE STUDY: One of the aspects that make the Mona Lisa such a masterpiece is da Vinci‘s use of oil as a medium. As the movie The Mystery of Jon van Eyck explains, the use of oil as a medium was not widely used for painting until van Eyck refined it ? by adding transparent colors in several thin glazes upon a white ground, creating a wholly new translucence as if lit from within.?Da Vinci used van Eyck‘s oil painting technique to bring lifelike qualities to their works. On the first sight of the portrait of Mona Lisa, you will see the physical feat ures of that painting essentially identically to how all other humans see them because the light reflected from the painting and the initial processing by one‘s neurophysiology are fixed by physical laws. For example, generally shadows tend to form large dark areas in a painting and as such contribute to the low spatial frequency information of the image. If hese shadows are placed in specific areas (near the mouth in Mona Lisa and under the brow ridge in the disappearing bust of Voltaire), they can lose their role as shadows and offer an ambiguity to the interpretation and the perception of the painting. The message, meaning and interpretation of art depend on your pervious specialized knowledge of painting and related phenomena. That knowledge along with your knowledge of the world, contribute to the context in which the painting is viewed. Choice of lighting: Faint illumination. Near twilight depicted in the Mona Lisa.Leonardo favored this type of lighting for portraiture. The responsiveness of the Mona Lisa to changes of lighting is unusual, perhaps unique. The Mona Lisa suffers little under light-adapted vision and gain little under dark adaptation. By contrast, the degree of change in the tonal range resembles that which occurs with a natural object. Painting style and other formal elements Leonardo explains color perspective this way, â€Å". . . through variations in the air we are made aware of the different distances of various buildings. . . therefore make the first building. . . its own color; the next most distant make more blue. . at another distance bluer yet and that which is five time more distant make five times more blue. † This principle is demonstrated in the background of Mona Lisa: the ground and hills directly behind the subject are painted in warm tones of reddish browns and tans. As the landscape recedes the mountains and water become progressively bluer. Leonardo also noted that air is denser closest to the earth, theref ore the bases of hills will always appear lighter than the summit; he applies this theory to the hills behind the sitter's shoulders which start out a tan color and become dark brown.His study of shadow can be related to his works in both compositional arrangement and in sfumato (Sfumato is the famous invention of Da Vinci – light and shade that allow one form to blend in with another leaving something to the imagination. He did this to the corners of Mona Lisa‘s mouth and eyes which explains why she may look different and different times. ) techniques, which are both demonstrated in the Mona Lisa. One method of composition employed by Leonardo involved focus and blur.In the Mona Lisa Leonardo uses shadow in the lowest areas of the picture plane, at the edges, and background of the landscape to blur detail and draw attention to the detailed focus area of the face. Leonardo also uses shadow as a primary element in creating sfumato or soft focus, which creates the illusio n of volume by allowing light to emerge from the darkness of shadow. The sitter's body in Mona Lisa emerges from the shadows surrounding her from the mid arm area down. Her hands are areas of light that emerge from the blurred shadows of her body and her face emerges from darkly shadowed areas of hair and eiling. Leonardo's study of the shape of shadow contributed to the blurred shadow edges that are a hallmark of the sfumato style. The Mona Lisa's body and face are enclosed within shadow, but no shadow edges ever become evident. In the Mona Lisa the subject comes closer to the front edge of the picture than had been customary hitherto: this smaller distance between sitter and viewer heightens the intensity of the visual impression while the landscape suggests greater spatial depths and atmospheric intensity.Craggy mountains disappear into the distance against a greenish-blue sky. On the left we can make out a stream and on the right we can see what looks like a dry river-bed, altho ugh it is not possible to tell quite how this connects, if at all, with a reservoir higher up. Individual outcrops in the landscape, bereft of vegetation, are reminiscent of similar rock formations in religious pictures that Leonardo had begun not long before.

Emily Grierson Essay

The object of fascination in the story. An eccentric recluse, Emily is a mysterious figure who changes from a vibrant and hopeful young girl to a cloistered and secretive old woman. Devastated and alone after her father’s death, she is an object of pity for the townspeople. After a life of having potential suitors rejected by her father, she spends time after his death with a newcomer, Homer Barron, although the chances of his marrying her decrease as the years pass. Bloated and pallid in her later years, her hair turns steel gray. She ultimately poisons Homer and seals his corpse into an upstairs room. Colonel Sartoris – A former mayor of Jefferson. Colonel Sartoris absolves Emily of any tax burden after the death of her father, which later causes consternation to succeeding generations of town leaders. Tobe – Emily’s servant. Tobe, his voice supposedly rusty from lack of use, is the only lifeline Emily has to the outside world and he cares for her and tends to her needs. After her death, he walks out the back door and never returns. Judge Stevens – A mayor of Jefferson. Eighty years old, Judge Stevens attempts to delicately handle the complaints about the smell emanating from the Grierson property. To be respectful of Emily’s pride and former position in the community, he and the aldermen decide to sprinkle lime on the property in the middle of the night. Homer Barron – A foreman from the North. Homer is a large man with a dark complexion, a booming voice, and light-colored eyes. A gruff and demanding boss, he wins many admirers in Jefferson because of his gregarious nature and good sense of humor. He develops an interest in Emily and takes her for Sunday drives in a yellow-wheeled buggy. Despite his attributes, the townspeople view him as a poor, if not scandalous, choice for a mate. He disappears in Emily’s house and decomposes in an attic bedroom after she poisons him. PART 2 1. The metaphor used to describe Emily in the first paragraph was â€Å"†¦ a fallen monument†. 2. The house is given a personality in the second paragraph in this way, â€Å"lifting its stubborn and coquettish decay†¦ â€Å". 3. Colonel Sartoris had the idea of and helped abate the taxes on the Grierson property. 4. Mailed her the tax papers. 5. Small, fat woman; short, spare skeleton, bloated and pallid; eyes like lumps of coal in dough of her face. 6. 32 years. 7. A bad smell; He explained that the smell was the result of a dead snake or rat that the servant had killed. 8. She told the ladies who called on her that he was not dead†¦ for three days. 9. Homer Barron , he runned a construction company. 10. Miss Emily Grierson’s neighbors in Jefferson were mystified with her sudden coupling with newcomer Homer Barron. They can’t believe Emily would be interested in a common â€Å"Yankee†. 11. â€Å"We learned that Miss Emily had been to the jeweler’s and ordered a man’s toilet set in silver, with the letters H. B. on each piece. Two days later we learned that she had bought a complete outfit of men’s clothing, including a nightshirt, and we said, â€Å"They are married. † We were really glad. We were glad because the two female cousins were even more Grierson than Miss Emily had ever been. † 12. He was let into Emily’s kitchen door at dusk one evening. 13. They spinkled lime because of a foul smell emanating from the house. 14. They find Homer’s corpse on the bed and they realize that the space next to him has been used, and they find one of Emily’s gray hairs on the pillow. 15. Homer Baron was murdered and on the other pillow was some grey hair from Miss Emily.