Love is Cruel

It’s Bob’s 15th birthday, and it’s time to blow out the candles.

“Go on son, blow out the candles and make a wish.”

He braces and out goes the candles and everyone continues to celebrate and enjoy themselves. From that moment on, his life would never cease to return normal again.

The next day, when I went to school I saw Bob and started to approach him.

“Good morning Bob. How’s your day been going?”

“Oh it’s been fine. I just got here anyways. How’s your day so far?”

“Eh. I mean school’s school right?” *Ding* *Dong* “Oh! it’s time to get to class, better            hurry up!”

“Oh yeah! Can’t be late again.”

Bob and I arrived at our class and took our seats. As we took our textbooks out, I decided to check on Bob and, POOF! just like that he was gone. The whole class was stunned. I was amazed. I never that big guy could disappear so fast! All of the sudden, I here a commotion next door. I ask my teacher if I could go use the restroom and as I was leaving, saw that Bob was in the neighboring class.

After school had ended, I decided to find Bob and ask “what the heck is going on” with him. I found him stand next to a girl and yelled

“What the crap Bob?! First you’re in you seat then next you’re in the classroom                    nextdoor. What happened? Plus, who’s the girl.”

“Oh, sorry bruh I was with my girlfriend next door helping her out when the                        teacher wasn’t there.”

“Excuse me? Girlfriend? What?”

“Oh yeah, this is Lily. Lily, this is Jeff”

“Why hello there Jeff.”

“Greetings, but can I talk to Bob over here real fast about what’s happening?                        Thanks.”

“Hey Bob, what the heck is going on? Now you suddenly have a girlfriend and not              only that, you disappeared during class? Please tell me what’s going on cause this              is just weird.”

“Sorry Jeff, but let me explain,…”

After like a freaking century of listen to the guy’s explanation, he in summary said that on his birthday, he wished for a girlfriend, promised that he’d be besides her whenever she needs help and swore to never leave her. Well, that all sounded all lovey dovey, but I just couldn’t help but find it stupid. Soon on, I’d figure out that it had become his greatest nightmare, and a breaking friendship between him and I.

After about 3 weeks after this incident, suddenly his girlfriend dumps him and apparently, cheated him on a different guy. I was happy for that girl was a pain in the butt, and even Bob agreed with me. I had thought that the situation had finally eased, until repeatedly, I would see Bob disappearing more and more. When I finally got the chance to, I talked to him.

“Hey Bob, are you alright? is everything okay, because you’ve been out of action                  lately and haven’t been class all that much.”

“Jeff, you’ve gotta help me, I keep on appearing before my ex whenever anything                bad happens to her. It’s like some sort of curse! You need to help me!”

“Jesus! Calm down Bob. I’ll try to help you, but I don’t know if there’s anything I                  can do.

Apparently, since Bob promised Lily that he’d be beside her whenever she needs help, it became a reality, and a real nightmare in fact, to the point it drove him crazy. I need to help him somehow, but how?

(Cliffhanger)

Author: Now, it’s up to you to decide what will happen next. Use your imagination and find a way to help the poor Bob out. Give Jeff some ideas and how he could free his friend of this girlfriend curse.

 

 

 

Play is Fun.

Play day was fun. It really was a nice throwback from how miserable and tiresome school is. I had the pleasure to enjoy the time with some of my friends; we played cards, laughed and forgot about the worries of life for a few moments. Life is not all that easy, but if there’d a chance, take it and spend some time enjoying what you’ve got. There’s no law or regulation that states “One is not authorized to experience fun.” If so, then everyone must have fun and play. This is one of my reasons for why students should be able to express joy and pleasure in school. Thus, comes the creation of Global Student Play Day (G.S.P.D for short).

A little bit more on G.S.P.D., in my personal experience, people were to bring in items which can be played by numerous people, or at least more than 1. I brought a Rubik’s cube and a prank toilet. Even though both items really couldn’t be played at some time by multiple people, I gave it around and had classmates try to solve it. For the prank toilet, well it’s obvious. They got pranked. Also, part of play day, we were to never be alone, except in the restroom. I always felt the company of my friends and classmates whenever we did any sort of activity. From playing games, walking around and talking to each other. We played Egyptian war and 13 with a deck of cards and a little bit of a surgeon simulator game too. After an hour of laughter, joy, and relaxation, we cleaned up and returned to our classroom.

With my meaning of fun and play being said, play day should be done throughout the school and globally (I know, it says global student play day, but not all schools worldwide participate in it, okay?). Many teachers don’t agree and can’t comprehend that joy helps clear the mind and brain of any doubts and actually improves the chances of one’s learning more. By creating an environment in which students to play and enjoy themselves in, it creates a state of happiness, and ignorance around them. This leads to my, the author’s, conclusion of having G.S.P.D. throughout all classrooms, teachers, and schools.

The action of play, in my own theory, helps substantially and is vital to anyone’s life. I theorize that one’s life will surely not go as they wished if they never spend time having fun. If you don’t play, that means no fun, this leads to stress, which then ends up in

Saw this very interesting quote on the web.

failure, causing the wrong decisions, then eventually a bad ending. Many people regret that they didn’t get to do what they could’ve, and playing is one of them. While our lives are still young, we should do all we can play as much as possible (well not like every free second), and enjoy life as it only comes once (well maybe twice if you believe in reincarnation).

 

 

“I’m dead physically, mentally and morally” -Andy Dang                                                               

This quote is due to the student’s lack of fun and how it has made him feel “nothing” inside. Don’t be like this kid.

My Art of Stories

1. Restraint

I am part of a family, but just not any family, but an Asian one. Why does it matter? Well because I’m an excuse for everyone to blame on (This is how I feel when I get infuriated).  There’s almost nothing I can do that my friends are able to do. Can’t play video games with anyone, besides relatives, can’t go anywhere besides the house by myself, and can’t even make my own decisions (by this I mean I’m not allowed to make the decisions, it’s my parents). I’ve got two younger siblings so my parents always say that I have to set a good model for them to follow. Remember, I know this is all nonsense as they’re just being a bit overprotective, but it can really get on my nerves sometimes.

2. Sharing Stuff

Not too long ago, probably like 2 years ago, my brother and had saved enough money to buy ourselves a penny board. The thing was, there was only one, but we both wanted to use it. Thus, we created a “contract” that we’d take turns riding the board every other day. We might’ve gotten in some arguments and some fights, but in the end we both had fun. This “contract of ours all ended when he stopped riding it. Then it “kind-of” became my board, although he would ride it whenever he wanted to. Not only did we share this, we also shared a room, an iPad, a computer, the toys, my personal private space and my sleep. It was rough having a little brother on you everyday.

3. Siblings

No one could tell that me and my brother were related. I was taller, fatter, and more light skinned. He was shorter, skinnier, and darker skinned. I was way older, smarter, and had long hair (for a guy). He was way younger, less intelligent, and had really short hair.In fact, we have the same personality and we’re both really annoying. Also, we’re reckless, don’t think but act more, joke when we’re not supposed to and get along way too nicely. I remember, one day we got really in sync somehow and we did a lot of thing at the same time. On that day, we finished our homework and said finished baby! At the same time. We also finished eating and our chores simultaneously too. Coincidence? Well, these are just the small things that make David and I brothers.

4. Too much Hope

I always did believe to much. I distinctly remember telling myself that I can  finish my project, that’s worth 100 points, in an hour. Not only that, but in school. Dang, I was stupid, or I just procrastinated a lot. Being convinced I would be able to, I took it easy and when I got the final grade, my grade dropped from a A to a B-. Nice job Andy from the past. Well, I deserved it though. I know believing in yourself is good and all, but something impossible, well, it’s just impossible. I also recall a time where I was really young and wanted a puppy. What did I do? Got a stick from outside and yelled ABRA CA DABRA! Over and over again. Never got anything out of it.

5. Being Reserved

When I was young, I never could muster enough courage to talk to anyone, not even relatives. Being raised in an Asian family, I was accustomed to the thought of the elder ones in the family deserve more respect and have more power than me. I’ve always been this way, always thinking others are better than me (Ha, not my brother and sister though XD). Due to this, I’ve always felt shy and could never do anything for myself, as I thought it would disrespect others. Every time I talk to someone I don’t know, I say hi my name is Andy and that’s it. With me always thinking I’m worse than everyone else, I could never talk “normally” with anyone. I would always be the quietest in my classes too. Not any more though. I’ve gotten better with communicating  with people.

6. Taken Advantage of

I have always been taken advantage of when it comes to helping, I can’t help myself. I’m always being nice towards anyone I talk to, never harming anyone. This is just who I am. I can’t stand being mean to anyone, and when I know that I’m being mean, that’s just the worst. People will take advantage of me and some have done so before as I’m way to nice and I’ll do ANYTHING  to help or make a person feel better, even if they just said that hurts or wow, that hurt my feelings. One time, let’s just call my friend as Tom, Tom and I became good friends and started to hang out more as we had several classes together. We got along very nicely, just like any two friends would have. Hen one day, he asked me for my science homework because he had forgotten to do it. Understandable, I mean it’s okay to forget sometimes and ask friends for some help. Then I finally noticed that this had been going for over a year now. This finally ended when he hit the bomb. One day he just took my homework without my permission and never gave it back. This is the point where I just couldn’t be taken advantaged of anymore. I stopped being so nice to the point where I could be tricked into doing labor for my so-called “friends.” It’s okay though, Tom and I are still friends, but not as sharing as before.

7. Loss of Family

I remember the day where my father’s father died, as he came home with a very, very cold stone face. My grandfather, we called him Ông nội, and he died in the middle of June, near the end of my 3rd grade year. When we attended the ceremony at a temple, with my grandfather’s dead body inside, I exploded into tears and instantly broke. Soon after, many of my relatives broke as well, not feeling as embarrassed or weak, after seeing me breaking down. Only a few people remained with their stone faces. My dad, his brothers, his sister and my grandmother. At first, I thought that since they were my grandfather’s family, that they would be the ones to handle it the best, and also they’re the oldest and strongest in their respective families. Soon after that day, where we brought him to his burial place, every night when my dad came home, he said nothing for the entire week with the family. Then I knew my dad’s got a hard time. He missed his father than any of us could have.

 

 

8. Foreign language

My first words were mom and dad, in Vietnamese. Má and Ba taught me Tiếng Việt, as their first language was also Vietnamese. Thus, I began speaking Vietnamese, learning it and writing it all, until I got into 1st grade. Before I had the help of my teacher who was conveniently Vietnamese help me with English and translate it for me. After that I moved to Anaheim and had to start all over with English. That first day at school. Whoo! was I scared. That whole week I couldn’t leave my mom and everyone, I bet, thought I was a total wimp. I couldn’t speak English very well so when they asked me how old I was, what was my favorite color, what do I like to eat, I couldn’t understand most of it.  At the time I could speak a few words and read it (I think) but could never understand it. When I tried to say anything, I would end up going back to Vietnamese and cry. I know, what a baby. I was 5. It seemed hopeless, but eventually I got better at English and now I guess I can consider it as my second language, even though I’m better at it than English.

9. Tradition of work

All the time, I’m always being called to do the laundry, cut the grass, vacuum the house, clean out all the rooms and etc. Sometimes I just feel enslaved. It’s miserable, having to do chores during the only 2 days of your week where you truly get a break. Not only that, I have to take care of my brother and sister everyday. Making breakfast for them, waking them up, giving them their medicine and making sure they did their homework right. I feel like I can never be alone doing something I want to. I truly despise how my siblings do none of the chores while my parents and I do most of the work. I mean, sure they’re younger and all but they’re in 5th grade. I began waking them up and making breakfast for them when I was in 5th grade, 5 years ago! Having an older brother must be great huh? I wonder how that would feel. Maybe this is just me being annoyed by them and my chores, but I don’t think so.

People and Space

There are still so many mysteries about the human mind, body and how life actually works. Space is something we can never fully discover and we’ll never know all of it. The human is space in a nutshell. No one truly knows how humans truly came to be and we can’t be certain whether or not the Big Bang really occurred. Space’s way of being described by many scientists is as a giant celestial machine continuously working. Our very bodies are described as a machine. See the similarities? It’s obvious. Stars explode every day (probably) than giving birth to new stars in their newly created nebulae. Humans die every day yet new ones are given birth day-to-day.

We are yet to fully discover how we actually function and as to how we’re us. Space is a never-ending maze that just leads to new conclusions and new obstacles. Same exact thing with humans. We solve problems and then create new ones. It’s a never-ending cycle, just like a machine. Another way to compare humans to the very space we live in is like life itself. We can never explain how life works, and one of the many questions asked by many philosophers is, what is life? We can’t explain it just like we can’t explain how space, is space. Currently, we only know that space is a very large empty void which contains a lot of empty space and dark matter. To learn more about this and to have a further understanding of this, visit this website on space. For humans, our body is made up of cells and they’re made up of atoms. For those who didn’t know, everything is made up of atoms, which are 99% empty space. This meaning, our body has a lot more empty space than we think. Interesting huh?

In addition to all the other ways I’ve described how space is ourselves, I can also tell you that our mind can be described as space. We in our mind can think of the craziest and most insane things anything could ever think of. Just like space, our minds can become empty voids at times when we aren’t thinking about things like this. Our mind and space can be filled to the very brim with countless amounts of things, and yet there are some parts of us that are just completely empty.

A fun analogy that some people can relate to is that sometimes our stomachs can be an empty void that never gets full. I thought this could be a small break from my boring writing.

Now, to top it all off, I’ll end this with a Big Bang (Get it? Big Bang? Space?). The one way I’ve found that humans and space can never be explained and that they’re both out of the question. We never knew how space came to be, just like how humans just came on to earth out of nowhere. Theories have been made that humans are descendants from aliens, and others say we’re descendants from ancient apes, but who knows? We could very much be a creature made by God. Same with space, don’t know even 1% of it as it’s seemingly endless. In conclusion, Space is us, and we’re space. That’s it for this blog, and I’ll see you in the next. Bub Bye!

the world in My eyes

Every where I walk, I seem to find something that stands out, usually something that disgusts me. For example the way people have relationships at such a young age. I see it as an excuse not to be alone. In this article, it states all the reasons for why not to be ina relationship. By the way, I’m only a teenager so if any of this offends you I’m sorry. Back to the topic, I’ve been seeing things that would seem normal to others, but strange to me. Another instance is the way people have such laziness to the point it’s excessively stupid. I’m part of a boy scouts group and the kids there are so frick’in lazy that they can’t even walk to the restroom which is only a few meters away, and instead pee in the bush right next to them. First of all, that’s disgusting. Secondly it’s unsanitary. Third, since your urine has lots of salt content in it, you’re basically dehydrating the plant. Now to get to business. The thing I wanted to share with you is how we’re our own source of excessive stress and tiredness.

There comes this metaphor for earth’s timeline as a building. The ground floor to the 39th floor is the era of which life never existed on earth. The 40th floor up to the 49th floor would be the existence of water and marine creatures. The 50th floor up to the 69th floor is the dinosaurs who ruled this earth for centuries. Then the 70th floor to the 75th floor would be the animals and creatures after the Cretaceous Extinction event. Finally, us humans would be the paint on the surface of the building, yet they’re the one who’s changed this world so much in so little time. Just thought something like this would be interesting to the human audience.

An interesting fact I learned the other day in class was that women are the victims of all of society’s expectations and visions of what the ideal woman should be. Then I thought, what would my sister felt about make up and stuff like that. When I got home that day, I asked my sister if she would ever wear make up in middle school. She said “Yes.” Then I asked her if she had friends who wore make up (by the way, she’s only a 5th grader so don’t expect a whole lot). She answered “Yes.” and I was SHOCKED.  Seriously? 5th graders wearing make up, for what? Ain’t no body got no time for that! Then I decided to ask my friends (which were female) other than this class whether they think about what others thought of their looks. Many of them said yes.

Now, time for some more sci-ency stuff. On the New York Times, one of their many articles reads ” ‘There is also some evidence that women feel more confident when wearing makeup, a kind of placebo effect,’ said Nancy Etcoff, the study’s lead author and an assistant clinical professor of psychology at Harvard University” (Nancy Etcoff). This is proof that the way society sees a woman affects how she feels about things. If you want to learn more about this kind of study go to this to find out more. Another very interesting fact that I learned was that the average time it took for women to put on makeup was 55 minutes. What?! That’s insane! That’s a whole 14 days of time lost to makeup in a year. Of course, I would never know how that would feel as I am a boy (yay).

Finally to conclude what I wanted you to learn today. After reading this I hope that you start to look at the world we live in a little bit differently. Noticing how man is a woman’s insecurity and that it’s important to look at things at all sorts of angles. Thank you for spending the time to read my insanely long blog. If you want something to lighten you up, here’s a site with some interesting content. I’ll see you in the next blog, Bub Bye!

I love drawing.

Everyone has their own thing. Some got skillz and can dance others got muscles to play sports. I had my pencil and paper. Maybe some colors too. Drawing has given me freedom of expressing my feelings and a passion for the artistic styles everybody has. I draw basically everything, but I’m bad at it. My first drawing was of a human, with a very deformed arm, disgusting face (and I mean DISGUSTING) and with the chubby fat fingers for hands. Even so, I still love that drawing and will forever treasure it as, “My worst Drawing ever Created.”  Drawing also helps me with CALM YOURSELF down time and aids with my stress levels. To be honest though, I sometimes only draw to grab attention (I mean hey! It ain’t hurting nobody so it’s okay right?).

One time, my father was gone on the morning on a day I woke up for school. He had been taken to the hospital, as he had a heart attack. My mother would stay with my dad’s side from the very beginning to the very end. Thus, I didn’t see any of them for a whole week, and being the 9-year old I was, I became distraught and didn’t know what to do. Didn’t have the support from my parents. Didn’t know what to do. It was a scary time. (By the way I lived with my grandparent’s house at the time) Then one day, I saw my brother had left out his homework and I saw he was working on an art project. He was trying to draw himself, but it looked awful, to me, and I decided I would help him. I picked up the pencil and began sketching. An hour had passed by, and I finished the sketch. Another hour passed, and I finished detailing it. Hours passed by as I drew my brother and soon, 5 hours had passed and I completed it. It took my mind of my dad and had me freshen my mind. This was how drawing became one of my passions in life.

The Arts of of Illusions

Bet you read that title wrong didn’t you? Well it’s of course, an illusion tricking the mind into skipping over that word to make the sentence make sense. Well this is the all cleverness of the things we do everyday, such as seeing and reading. Illusions have their way of tricking the mind into thinking it’s something else when it’s not that. For example, in this picture how many legs does the elephant have? I don’t know, but what I do know is that you’ll never find out as it’s tricking your eyes/vision into seeing more than four legs. This is the beauty of illusions as one person can see a completely different side of the picture than the other person. Another example is the two grandparents picture. Do you see an old couple or two men playing music? Well, I kinda see both, don’t you? This can also show the person there’s always more than one way to perceive things in life. There are 3 main types of illusions: optical illusions, auditory illusions, and tactile illusions. What you see here, is an optical illusion, one that messes with the mind and eyes. An example of auditory illusion is the misconception of what you see vs. what you hear. In this video, it will describe about the many illusions your ears are being tricked. The final illusion is the tactile illusion. What this does is it confuses your sense of touch. In this video, the person is showing how our senses of touch can be so misleading and be so confused. Well, that’s the beauty of illusions, just confusing the brain and having fun and being amazed while doing it. That’s all for this blog and I’ll see you in the next one. Bub bye! Here’s one more illusion to have fun with.

As you look at one, the other one starts to move

The Art of Engineering: Marvels of an Engineered Work

– Written by Alan Tathanhlong

As many people believe, art is created from two main areas: the elements of art and the principles of design. By using these areas to their advantage, artists can create visual unity on their canvas or composition in a short period of time. However, what if art was somehow brought into reality, creating marvels that help benefit both us and the world?

Griffiths, August 2013, ©CC BY-NC-ND 2.0

Well, that’s the magic of the art of engineering! Engineers can devise all sorts of things, ranging from a tiny low-cost battery for a cell phone, to the gigantic dam across the mighty Yangtze River in China, to even an exciting new roller coaster built for speed, safety, and affordability! The world of engineering has touched so many parts of our lives that it has been divided into many different specialties, from civil engineers to biomedical engineers. It involves both science and technology in order to meet the needs of the people, slowly creating a work of art that everyone can appreciate in their own way.

Nevertheless, engineering is not simply designing the future ahead of us, but also has built the marvels of our past behind us. For example, in 2600 B.C., the ancient Egyptians built the Great Pyramid of Giza, which was the tallest structure in the world for thousands of years afterward. The project took more than twenty years to build and required the precise cutting and placement of more than two million blocks of pure stone. The Great Wall of China is also a stunning piece of engineered art; the Chinese had built this wall in the third century B.C., and would not be completed for another 1,800

Questi, August 2012, ©CC BY-NC-ND 2.0

years. It stretches for about 1,500 miles across northern China, averaging 25 feet high and 15-30 feet wide at its base. Another engineering feat, the Taj Mahal, was completed in Agra, India, in 1654 as a monument to emperor Shah Jahan’s wife. It is a complex of numerous structures, including a mausoleum, mosque, minarets, walls, watchtowers, and gardens. Finally, the Royal Road is probably one of the world’s longest roads up until the 1800s; the Inca Indians of South America completed the 52-feet-wide Royal Road running from Santiago, Chile to Quito, Ecuador. Parts of the Royal Road crossed the Andes Mountains at elevations of almost 12,000 feet. In all, the builders of these ancient wonders used many of the same principles that modern structural engineers apply; however, they were limited to the knowledge and technology of their day.

As time passed, and knowledge and technology advanced, marvels of engineering became even more impressive. Some of these engineering feats became known in the “Seven Wonders of the Modern World”, a list created by the American Society of Civil Engineers that amounted to the greatest civil engineering feats of the 20th century. For example, the 31-mile-long Channel Tunnel runs under the English Channel between England and France, and consists of three linked, parallel tunnels – one for each direction of travel, and a service tunnel running in between. For much of its length, the tunnel lies 130 feet below the ocean floor, and engineers used huge tunnel-boring machines that cut through rock and removed debris. Another great engineering feat mentioned in the list is the Empire State Building, the first building in the world to have more than 100 floors (102 floors!). Completed in New York City in 1931, it was the tallest skyscraper on Earth for 41 years, with the spire atop the 1,472-foot structure originally designed to be a mooring mast for airships. California’s 1.7-mile-long Golden Gate Bridge, which was

Bahman, January 2013, ©CC BY 2.0

completed in 1937 and served as the entrance to San Francisco Bay from the Pacific Ocean, is another modern work of engineered art. Spanning the “Golden Gate” strait, the suspended-deck bridge uses tall towers and enormous cables to support the road surface below, which carries six lanes of traffic. Finally, the 5-mile-wide Itaipu Dam, another feat on the list and the world’s largest hollow gravity dam, spans the Parana River on the border of Brazil and Paraguay in South America. Until recently, the Itaipu was also the largest hydroelectric dam in the world.

Behind the Art Scenes (Part 2): Principles of Design

– Written by Alan Tathanhlong

I have always wondered about the two things that were able to create the masterpiece

barnyz, September 2014, ©CC BY-NC-ND 2.0

that art really is: the elements of art and the principles of design. I have already talked

Ballard, July 2011, ©CC-BY-2.0

about the elements of art in the last blog post; nevertheless, learning the principles of design can help organize the elements of art in order to communicate effectively in a visual language, just as how learning grammar can help organize words to communicate in a written and spoken language. These principles can be considered to be only guidelines to help an individual express himself or herself in an artistic sense. Understanding these principles will also help an artist in appreciating how other artists try to communicate through their works. These six principles of design include rhythm, balance, variety, proportion, emphasis, and unity.

For example, I know for a fact that rhythm and balance are some of the principles of design that I know very well. The principle of rhythm indicates movement by the repetition of a certain art element or combination of elements. The repeated element –

World of Oddy, September 2006, ©CC BY-NC-SA 2.0

Chaz, January 2008, ©CC BY-NC 2.0

for instance, a shape or a line – is called a motif. The artist uses the repetition of a motif to lead the viewer’s eye around the work of art. There are two types of rhythm, which are random rhythm and regular rhythm. Random rhythm refers to a motif being repeated in no apparent order, with irregular spacing in between. In contrast, regular rhythm occurs when identical motifs with identical spacing between them are repeated. The other principle of design, which is balance, correlates to the visual stability of the composition. If a work of art has visual balance, then the viewer feels that the elements have been arranged just right; but, an imbalance can cause the viewer to feel as if something is wrong and that the elements must be rearranged. There are two types of balances in art: formal balance is when similar elements are placed on each side of the central axis, and informal balance is when unlike objects are arranged with equal visual weight.

I also know that two other principles of design, which are variety and proportion, correspond very well with many works of art. The principle of variety, to begin with, is

Butterscotch, October 2010, ©CC BY-NC-ND 2.0

concerned with difference or contrast. A composition has
variety when something different is added to the design to keep the repetition from being monotonous. Contrast also creates variety because of different elements placed next to each other, such as smooth and rough textures, fine and bold lines, and dark & light values. The principle of proportion refers to the proper size relationship of one part

barnyz, April 2011, ©CC BY-NC-ND 2.0

of the composition to another, and to the whole work of art. The proportions of a human figure are not defined in terms of inches or feet, but rather in ratios of one body part to another. Artists use correct proportions to show people and/or objects in a realistic sense, but other artists distort or exaggerate proportions in order to communicate feelings such as horror or utter joy. In this principle, scale, which refers to the size of an object in relation to a standard reference (usually the human body), can help with proportions also.

However, the principles of emphasis and unity sometimes confuse me on how they fit in

sagesolar, April 1 2017, ©CC BY 2.0

with connecting the elements of art together. For example,
emphasis makes one part of the composition dominant, where one specific element (color, form, texture, etc.) or

sam.naylor, April 3 2017, ©CC BY-NC-SA 2.0

area dominates the entire work. Those elements and areas that are not dominant are considered to be subordinate, or less important. Emphasis also controls the order in which a viewer looks at the work and how much attention the viewer gives to each element or area. Nevertheless, it is unclear to me to see which element or area is dominant over the others. On the other hand, unity is the quality of being complete – when the separate elements serve the whole and nothing seems out of place or added unnecessarily. To complete visual unity in a composition, the artist relies on design principles to arrange the elements of art so that they work together. Despite that, it often confuses me to see which elements seem out of place or added unnecessarily.

Nevertheless, I will always remember that both elements of art and principles of design create a bridge connecting art to the viewers of art. Artists, overall, intend to share their art with others by organizing their design so that the viewers will understand what the artist’s art is telling them. When viewers understand how artists create visual unity within the composition, they will discover that they actually appreciate the artwork more. They might even realize that now they like a painting or art style that he or she didn’t like before at first!

barnyz, March 2013, ©CC BY-NC-ND 2.0

Art in the Inside

We all know that our human bodies are pretty advanced right? We also know that our brain is one of the great wonders of our life and that it’s the most important part of your body as it’s even faster and more complicated than a super computer. How fascinating isn’t? But, I bet you didn’t think that our bodies would look nice. I mean yes, maybe people don’t like stinky feet and wet armpits, but what’s inside is what’s beautiful.The human skeleton, to its functions, to the muscles, to the way our vocal cords stretch enabling most of us to speak, is just marvelous.

How do I know this? Well, first I’m still in school and we’re learning about the human body right now, and also my doctor showed me how magnificent our body is. Our body is basically a piece of Mother Nature’s greatest and most interesting creations. Not to mention all the other animals out there too. I know that our human n]body is so great as we are able to do almost everything. For those things that we can’t do, we compensate that with our intelligence to enable us to do so. We also like to think highly of ourselves so that counts as a reason why I think the human body is so great. Finally, to me the most important feature of our body is the thumb. Yes, I know it may sound thumb (bah dum tsch)but it’s probably the most important tool we have for survival. It allows us to do every day tasks, grab stuff, and use it for basically anything.

Even if I didn’t know the human body was so great, I bet everyone would know it anyways. Think about, our human body allows us to live almost anywhere. We can live in the jungle, forest, ocean, mountains and even snow. Because of our brains, legs, arms, hands, and internal organs, it allows us to do whatever we like. That’s the beauty of our body. Our bodies allow is to do what ever we wish. The stomacher lets us eat delicious food and have a nice time at the toilet. Our eyes let us see the beautiful world and our vocals allow u\s to speak harmoniously to each other (maybe not harmoniously).

Again, even if we never saw our bodies as a work of art, we will all ways know it is one. All of the body’s complexity just like in a real work of art. The skeleton is a scary but interesting image. The muscles with its contractions interact with the skeleton enabling our body to move and do the most beautiful poses. The lungs and our diaphragm allow us to run and keep our stamina when running a marathon and our digestive and immune system lets us enjoy life to the fullest with life’s great foods and lets us do disease free, most of the time.