Monday, September 27th, 2010..My First Day Of Class

As you know I am taking an art course called, Art 220 at California State University-Los Angeles. My Professor is Jimmy Moss. My time today in class was very interesting. Normally on the first day the professor jumps right into the syllabus and expectations of his students; however, my teacher took a different approach to our first day. He asked us to answer two questions on an index card. The first question was, " What do you think you'll be doing in this course?"and the second question was, "What do you think you'll be learning?" Everyone came up with the general answer of creating projects that will improve our skills in generating ideas, and coming up with successful concepts in art. After this exercise Professor Moss asked us mind boggling questions like what is an idea? What is a concept?, And, what does process mean?  We came up with various answers and concluded that a concept was an idea, and a process was a way of doing things.

We began talking about brands and personalities and the Professor used the example of the popular product Red Bull. We began talking about the brand and the approach the advertisers took when making this marketing campaign. The famous, "Red bull gives you wings" slogan gives consumers the idea of freedom, possibility and creativity. The idea of flying makes this drink seem like more than just a boost of energy to get through your day to day tasks, but in fact a drink that will cause one to reach the impossible. 

(Example of Red Bull add taken from Google)

After discussing brands and advertising the Professor handed around apples. We were to study the apples and describe them to a fellow peer in the class as if they were over the phone and had no capability to see, hear, taste or touch an actual apple. After doing this exercise Professor Moss explained that for 10 weeks we would draw this apple 5 days a week. The catch was that each picture of the apple had to be altered in some way, either the tool, median/medium, or style.

(The apple I was assigned to draw)

Overall, I feel that this will be an interesting course because it will allow me to step outside of the box and challenge my creativity. It will allow me to break down the boundaries I place onto my artwork and really approach art in a creative, more fearless way.