Autumn Story Animation

I thought this was absolutely beautiful.   It felt really whimsical and organic though I can't say exactly gives it those qualities.  I think maybe its how the images are so simple yet compelling.  I love the way one image shifted into another.  My favorite part was with the girls and the birds.  I loved the images themselves and I felt a sense of freedom during that particular part; however, I don't know why.  I think this video still sort of has me guessing.  I also loved the movement of this piece.  The individual drawings did not line up perfectly which i think worked better than if it was an immaculate cartoon.  The video also took me by surprise a little when it jumped to the different chalk boards.   
The remains of the last drawing gives a dream like or ghostly effect to the new image.  I think that's what I liked most about it.  It put me in a dream like state.  This and the song was beautiful in itself.
I feel like there is so much more I can say about this, but I really can't seem to find the right words to describe it.  Lets just say instead of failing to try to do it justice, I posted it on facebook so I can show more people because I really think it needs to be seen.

Self Portrait: Kandinsky-style

I really enjoyed this project.  It was very time consuming, don't get me wrong, but working with photo shop and all the different brush strokes was a lot of fun to me.  I had a lot of trouble with my face and hair though.  I still think it looks a little weird; and i had to pretend my hair was down because drawing the different wisps of hair that was falling out was getting really difficult.  Then my next struggle was whether or not to include the black lines in my face.  I tried it out, but didn't like it so much.  I figured Kandinsky's self portrait didn't have any black streaks or circles so i figured it'd be okay.  I think I wold of added more bold shapes in the background if it were not a self portrait.  I obviously wanted the image of myself to be the main focus, after all it is a self portrait.  I figured too much would get distracting.  So here it is! I still think my face looks a little weird, but overall, I think it's actually pretty fun.

Ben Volta

I really liked this guy.  I really have no idea what his job title would be, but his work just looks like so much fun and getting kids involved is a great concept.  Over the summer, my high school art teacher got a couple of us together and we went to a school in the city of Reading, which really is not a very nice city.  But, we went to an elementary school and kids from around the area would come and we would do art projects all while painting a mural in the school.  Unfortunately there were some conflicts with my schedule so I never actually got to work or see the mural, but it was such a great project and listening to this guy talk about his work really made me miss those kids and that program we did.  I also really wish my math classes were like that when I was in Junior High.  I did have some trouble with whether or not he took credit for the art though.  I mean, he seemed more of a chaperon instead of the artist himself.  His ideas were brilliant, by creating the projects for the kids to work on, but he did not actually do the work.  I guess as long as he gives them credit.  Anyway I found him to be oh so delightful.

Waking Life

This movie was kind of amazing.  Now knowing how long it takes to make one picture via photo shop, I cannot imagine how long of a process it was to make enough to fill a whole scene.  Especially for those clips that had great exaggerations.  I mean, it is one thing to just go over the image (which I am sure takes a lot of skill to be able to make the different images alike enough to go together so well) and it is a whole other accomplishment to make a whole new image in the background or as a way to embellish the scene if that's the right word to use.  And when I say this, I am talking about the scene where the guy lit himself on fire.  I highly doubt that actor actually lit himself on fire so the artist had to create that without any reference or background to guide them.  Another example I am thinking of is when the men are at the bar and as the customer is describing his conflict with the man on drugs, the artist reshaped his body to match the description of the story, and the smoke and simple objects in the background would also change shape to go with his story.  That is what impressed me the most, but I really loved the different styles used in the film.  I am not going to lie, I was unaware that there were different artists that would design different scenes, so at first I was a little confused when I saw the image change for the first time.  But the different styles made the film so interesting.  Even though we watched random scenes and had no real concept to what was going on in the movie, we were all still so interested just because we were excited to see how the next artist altered the image.  That is how I felt anyway.  Overall, it is a beautiful movie.

kandinsky self portrait pt 1

This is it so far!!

H. John Thompson

At first, I'm not going to lie, I was not really a fan of this guy.  He just didn't have any work that impressed me.  However, once he got to the story about the model house and how he made an addition to match the addition to the original, I began to realize how personal he makes his work.  I'm not saying this either just to be like there's good work in all artists.  I mean, if I don't like someone's work, I'll say it.  But this guy genuinely grew on me.  He really puts himself into his work.  While I think his stuff is still a little boring, I have great respect and admiration to artists who really try to represent a story or meaning in their work which I think he does beautifully.  His work also had a lot of humor in it.  The way he used a barbecue to showcase the fence piece was clever, interactive and fun. 

Self Portrait. Final project

So one thing that I need to not do next time I use adobe illustrator is use the effects.  Now, I might need some help getting the effects off because I am not so sure this will even print.  There were also some things I was thinking of doing, such as adding patterns to some of the background, but that looked way too busy as a final project.  I cannot say this face really looks like me and I think i look a little angry, which I wasn't, I promise, but for the most part, I think it is colorful and that's all I can really ask for.  In a semester full of darkness and black and white, it is really good to get some color in my work. 

Art Lecture

We did not have a speaker for our lecture this week.  Instead, we went over schedules and all that fun stuff.  There are some things I am excited for and some things I am not looking forward to next semester. First, I love color so the fact that we get to work with that next semester is something that I am really excited for.  One thing that I am kind of upset about is the fact that I have grown to really like all my teachers and it is a little upsetting to know that we are going to be switched around for the spring.  I do think it is going to be a little easier though.  I have less classes so my work load should be somewhat smaller.  Overall, I just hope that I am going to get the classes that I want to take.  Scheduling can be stressful at times.

Kadinsky

So I think for my assignment I am going to use the influence of Wassily Kandinsky.  His work is very abstract, but I think it is so interesting, colorful and expressive and I really think I will be able to make a very interesting self-portrait.  Wassily Kandinsky was born in Moscow, Russia in 1866.  Because of his parent’s influence he became a musician, learning how to play the piano and the cello.  In 1886, he studied at The University of Moscow and afterward, became a teacher with the Moscow Factory of Laws.  It was not until he was thirty that he showed a real interest in art and went to study life drawing in Munich.  He showed a real talent in art and soon exploring with new ideas.  He added color and lines to his paintings, which soon developed into abstract art.  His work was inspired by a variety of things from music to controversial issues.  But he continued to create even with all the criticism he received.   Wassily Kandinsky died in 1944 as one of the founders of abstract art. 

 

Doug Bucci

I have to give this guy props.  I am exhausted because of all the projects and homework.  I could never imagine going through this with a child.  I am so impressed that he did not give up on his dreams.  I am also impressed, not just that he was able to make it through art school, but that he was successful afterward. We have had impressive people come in to speak, but I admire him the most.  He went through so many obstacles.  I mean, he is fighting for his life due to his diabetes and he is raising a family.  The odds were against him from the start and he was able to make it through on the top of his game.  He worked with royalty and Bam Margera after all.
Another thing that I liked about this guy was the fact that he was willing to give up his success to create work that really means something to him.  He made a line and gave the profit to organizations that relate to helping those with diabetes because it is what inspired his line.  I liked how he took something life-threatening and was able to make beautiful work from it.
One last thing, he gave great advice.  One of the first things he said was that it was the best thing to be uncomfortable.  I feel like I am always trying new things so it is nice to know that uncomfortable is a good thing.

Patterns!!

This would be my first pattern.

 

Second pattern.  

Third pattern.

And so on...

Creating the patterns were actually pretty fun.  I had some problems with borders.  I did not understand at first that the images had to be lined perfectly in the square we made or we got a large border in between the image we created.  However, I think I eventually got the hang of it and was able to make some interesting designs.  I really like working with the different brushstrokes.  The water colors are very appealing to me. 

Marianne Dages

This week our lecture was with a Miss Marianne Dages.  It is funny because in my 2-D class the next day, unfortunately, nobody could remember her name.  She was a good speaker and talked about interesting things, but she only mentioned her name once.  She emphasized the importance of finding your own space to work once you leave school.  Throughout the speech, I grew very envious of this girl.  She spoke of this magical place where artists go to do work.  They have infinite time and limited distractions.  I cannot help but crave the time she was given.  When were all waist deep in work, time sounds like the most beautiful thing in the world.  Besides the wonderful work we create of course.  Anyway, she also talked about her friends who were also successful in finding studio space.  The one that really caught my attention was the story of the married couple she was good friends with.  I couldn't imagine working in unison with your spouse.  They must have so much fun together. 
As for Mariann's work, I never would have thought of book binding as a career, but her work is beautiful and unique.  I personally would be so proud to be able to carry around a book that was hand bound by me.  She is very talented in her field of work.

I'll call him Bob

So this is the chihuahua that I created in adobe.  It was really easy after a awhile; once you get the hang of it.  I think he looks a little frighting personally but overall, I think it was fairly successful.

First Friday

I just wanted to post a few pics I took from my first experience at First Friday.  Thank you, Clarice for telling us about it because it is amazing.  First of all, I did not realize going in to our adventure, we would be going to Penn's Landing, a place that has recently made its way to one of my favorite locations in the world!  I was in complete bliss from the start and as we carried on walking up and down second street, my love grew.  There were people everywhere and you would expect the stands to get redundant, but all of these people were so unique and interesting.  Now I just cannot wait for next month.  As for the pictures, I think they are a little interesting.  It was night time so some did not come out very clear, but I think the effect was really neat actually.  I love the pictures I got last night.  Especially when I would walk up to people and ask for a photo.  Have I mentioned the people there were awesome?