Norton Simon Museum

The Norton Simon museum was a lot bigger than I expected. The first room that I walked into was gallery IV, the room with all of the religious paintings. The first painting that caught my eye was one where Jesus was being depicted as the laughing stock. It showed the time when Jesus was being tortured by soldiers. This painting captures His expression, and the interesting part is that he seems to be sad rather than in pain. Even though he has being tortured He doesn't seem to be in pain. I think he feels sad for the soldiers that are doing this to him. The single candle light at the center of the painting seems to bring the entire painting together. While the soldiers are all looking at Jesus he is the only one looking at the light coming from the candle. He is the only one that can see the light. 

                                      Christ Crowned with Thorns by Matthias Stom

The next painting that caught my eye was in the same room. It was David slaying Goliath. This painting is showing the moment when David is about to slay the great Goliath. He is shown holding Goliath's sword standing powerfully over the defeated body of Goliath. Even though there isn't much blood in the painting, the red of David's cape makes the scene seem bloody. He is holding the sword above his head ready to swing at any moment. what I think is interesting about this painting is that since it shows David holding the sword over his head, it seems that he will be contemplating whether or not to follow through forever. He will always be stuck in that possession, and you can make your own conclusion. You can conclude that he decided to change his mind and let him go, or you can imagine that he swung that sword with all his might and decapitated the great Goliath. Whatever you conclude, is your decision. That is the beauty of art. There are endless possibilities to what happened after the captured moment. Here's the Painting... What do you think happened next?

David Slaying Goliath, By: Peter Paul Rubens

There are two heroes in these paintings, but they are depicted very differently. In the Christ Crowned with Thorns, Christ is the hero but he is the one being tortured and defeated. He is at the receiving end of the soldiers torture. On the other hand we have David slaying Goliath, where David, the hero is doing the slaying. David is the one giving the punishment rather than receiving it. Both are depicted differently, one as the victim and the other as the aggressor, but they are both seeing as heroes, or the "good guys". I find it interesting how their actions are so greatly different, yet the role they play in the paintings are the same. So that's my input in these two paintings... Hope you liked it.    

Venice Graffiti is amazing!!

 Okay so my experience at Venice Beach was one for the books. From the drive there to the drive back was awesome. On my way there, i could already start see the difference in culture from the O.C. Even though we weren't too far away from home, there is a sudden change in the architecture of the buildings and definite change in the people. I went to Venice Beach with my girlfriend Valerie and her aunt Evelyn. We got there and we didn't really know where the walls were, but all we had to do was follow the smell of spray paint. We followed our nose, and eventually got to the walls. We got our permits and were assigned a wall. At first i didn't know what i was going to paint, so i just needed to get the first spray out of the way. I started to spray and i started to paint this funny looking character. At the end i really liked my end results. Even though it wasn't as good as some of the other art work there. I think i held my own. I also liked Valerie's tree. It was awesome. I now see why graffiti artists express themselves this way. its not only beautiful, but its lots of FUN!!      

This is my little Character

Left: Evelyn's city, Middle: Val's tree, Right: me

I think the reason this goofy looking guy came out of me is because it reflects my  character. I'm a really goofy guy. I call this piece "What a goof"