L1. Super bowl

 My family and I have never been huge football fans. We normally watch the Bills games when they are on but that’s about it. So for the Super bowl we don’t do anything special. We don’t go to any parties or have any people over.  We aren’t really sports fanatics and the Super bowl is no exception. To be honest most of the time I don’t really even pay attention to the Super bowl. I don’t enjoy watching commercials or two teams that I don’t really follow. I have a short attention span unless it has to do with something I enjoy, and pro football doesn’t really intrigue me. I really like watching our high school football team and I don’t mind watching Bills games. If the Buffalo Bills were ever in the Super bowl I would be really interested by it, but that’s probably not going to happen any time soon. This Super bowl I was rooting for the Giants because on my global quiz I bet that they would win and if they did I would get an extra 5 points. For this year’s Super bowl I watched the national anthem and then started doing homework so I wasn’t paying attention and then I fell asleep during it. Maybe if it wasn’t on a Sunday night I would make plans to watch it with people but I would rather stay at home on a Sunday night so I could go to bed early because school is the next day. I don’t think that in my whole life I have ever attended a Super bowl party. I think maybe I would be more interested in it if my parents were. However, since my parents aren’t and I’ve never been around people who are really crazy about football I could care less about the Super bowl.

K2. fears

We gain strength, and courage, and confidence by each experience in which we really stop to look fear in the face... we must do that which we think we cannot. Eleanor Roosevelt

                I think that we live in a scary world and there is so much to be afraid of. There are many bad people and scary things that exist. I am afraid of so much. I overthink a lot of things and scare myself half of the time. The thing I am the most afraid of is bears. I had a nightmare about bears a few years ago and ever since then I have been terrified of them. I am afraid to go into the woods because I’m scared I will come across a bear. Another thing that I am afraid of is being home alone at night. I always get scared that there is something in my house and I get really scared. I’m really afraid of basements. I get really scared walking at night. I hate driving the teenagers in the snow because I’m afraid to get in a car accident. I get scared when I go on boats. I’m really afraid of losing a member of my family, ecspecially my mom. The future scares me because I don’t know what is to come and have no idea what will happen. I’m afraid of spiders and snakes. I hate them so much and I get so scared every time I see them. I’m afraid of swimming in ponds because there might be snapping turtles in them. I’m afraid of graduating high school and having to figure out what I want to do for the rest of my life. I will be the first person to admit that I’m afraid of so many things, but I think everybody is afraid of a lot and there is nothing wrong with fearing things.

K4

This drawing is very interesting. It is very simple but one slight detail about it makes it very unique. There is a simple room with a dresser, a window, and a heating vent. The window is open and the curtains are blowing in the wind. You can also very vaguely see the scenery that appears to be outside. There are what looks to be doves and vines on the wallpaper. The one thing that really catches my attention is that one of the doves wing is not on the wall, but it is three dimensional and coming off the wall.

                Doves appear in almost every place all over the world except for in very cold or very dry places. A pigeon and a Dove are synonyms. Doves are a seed eating animal. Doves are very fast and can reach a speed flying of 44 miles per hour. Doves have been used to deliver messages since the time of the Egyptians since they can find their way home exceptionally well. In the early 1800’s there was somewhere between 3 and 5 million passenger pigeons in the US alone. Dove hunting is popular in the United States, however it is illegal in some states. Pigeon milk is similar to the milk produced by mammals for their young. There are 11 species of Doves that are extinct. Two of them are the Dodo Bird and the Passenger Pigeon.  Doves drink water by sucking it through their beaks. This is unusual for birds to do. Doves can be sacred in some cultures, hunted, and raised for food in others. The white dove stands for an international symbol of peace. Some Pigeons have earned the name “flying rat.” There are many different species of the dove/pigeon. They have both positive and negative outlooks from people.

K3

This drawing is very detailed compared to the other drawings. It includes a man and a young boy. I assume it is a father and son, however, every person looks at it differently. The older man in the drawing is holding a lantern and seems to be holding onto the little boys arm. There is a gate along the lake they are look out onto. In the background of the drawing seems to be a city. The city fades away the farther it gets. You can see some lights on in the buildings in the back. There is also a bridge in the city. The most interesting object in the drawing in the ship on the lake, it really catches your attention. It seems to be what the man and young boy are looking at. Perhaps the most interesting thing about the ship is the fact that it isn’t completely all there. It is clear in the front and the farther back it gets it begins to fade away. This drawing, like all the others, is only drawn in black and white. It is very interesting how much the artist can do with just black and white. This drawing really seems to tell a story, but that is up to the person who looks at it to decide.

K2 Chirs Van Allsburg

In this drawing by Chris Van Allsburg it looks like a rather peaceful picture. First off, there is a little boy who looks like he is sleeping, and one can only wonder what he is dreaming about. There is also a shadow casted on the headboard from the bed for the young boys head. I think it is cool how the bottom of the bed is darker, because there is no light there, but there is light at the top of the bed and the headboard is light there.  One thing that I don’t like about this drawing is the boy’s face. It doesn’t look normal. It looks sloppy and rushed. In the bedroom you can tell that it is a little boy’s room because of the sailboat hanging on the wall and because of the baseball bat leaning against the window. I think it looks like a summer night. The window and the shade are both hope and the boy only has on a light looking blanket. One thing that confuses me about this drawing is the two lights on the wall. The lamp isn’t on so the two lights wouldn’t be a reflection from that. I also cannot figure out what the light is outside the window. It does not look like it is a moon or stars. I don’t know what is on the windowsill next to the baseball bat either. I really like how Chris Van Allsburg just used black and white in his drawings. It makes them very simple looking but they still are very good and detailed pictures.  

k1 Chris Van Allsburg

The author of this portrait is Chris Van Allsburg. He was born in Grand Rapids Michigan. He was born on June 18^th, 1949. When Chris Van Allsburg was in high school he wasn’t interested in art and didn’t take any art classes, he was interested in math and science. Chris Van Allsburg majored in sculpture at the University of Michigan.  Chris exhibited his first sculpture at the Alan Stone Art Gallery in NYC in 1977. Chris has written and illustrated 15 books. In his spare time Chris Van Allsburg enjoys to ride bikes and play tennis.

                In this particular drawing by Chris Van Allsburg there is a lot going on and everything looks quite hectic. You can see there is a man holding a chair over his head and you can assume he is trying to hit whatever is underneath the rug. I think what really captivated people about this drawing is the fact that the viewer is unaware of what is underneath the rug. Another aspect of this drawing that catches my attention is the table. The table has been disturbed by something and looks like it is about to fall. The lamp on top of the table also looks like it is about to fall down. This drawing has a lot of other minor details that a viewer might not notice at the first glance. For one, there is a shadow being casted onto the ceiling from where the man is holding up the chair. There is also a wooden chest in the background and pictures hanging on the wall that makes the scene looks like a person’s home. The drawing also includes a plug and a cord for the lamp. I really think this is a good drawing and I like how simple it is, yet there is so much going on.