You Pick Three : Symmetrical Balance, Value, Cubism

          For the second project this year, I was relieved to find out that we had a longer time limit to complete our work. We were required to choose three cards: a principle of art, element of art, and a art movement. My cards happened to be Symmetrical Balance, Value, and Cubism. When I first saw Cubism, I wasn’t that excited, because I don’t really like the Cubism movement and I wasn’t quite sure how to create a photograph in the Cubism style. After doing some investigating on Pinterest, I found this cool looking tutorial on low-poly photography. The whole image was made out of triangles and it looked very complex. I shot a photograph of four tomatoes and went quickly to work. I mainly used Adobe Illustrator to create the triangles and Live Paint; I used PhotoShop only to give the image more contrast and saturation and to make it symmetrical. Since my required element and principle were symmetrical balance and value, I still used other elements and principles within the final piece. I used the following elements of art: shape, color, value, and texture. I used shape, color, and texture in all of the triangles that make up the entire image and value in each individual triangle. Finally, I also used the following principles of art: contrast, pattern, and symmetrical balance. I used contrast in the contrasting colors of the background and the tomatoes and symmetrical balance and pattern in the way I split the image in half, so each side was symmetrical.
          When stepping back and looking at the final photograph as a whole, it is easy to tell what I did well and what I need to improve. I can see that I did a pretty good job making the final image still look like tomatoes, even though the image it totally made up of triangles. When I was finished, I was very surprised by all of the detail that you could still see. I also think that the texture that the triangles made is awesome because it almost makes the image look 3D in some parts. Finally, I think that I did a pretty good job creating a makeshift photo-studio in my living room so I could get the plain background. I just laid a poster on the floor upside-down (so the white back was facing up) and taped another to the side of my couch in front of my living room windows. The lighting was awesome there and I wanted to take advantage of it. When I look at the final image, there is one thing that stands out to me that I think that I could improve. I would have liked to make the triangles more different sizes throughout. In the beginning, I was making the more detailed spaces smaller triangles and the spaces of more solid color larger, but as I kept working, I just wanted to get the triangle making over with (and I think it was making me just a little crazy). If I had more patience, I think it would have looked even better with all of the varying sizes.
          When looking back at my process and the final product, I can confidently say that creating a low-poly image will drive you insane! But all of the time and headaches are worth it to see the end, because the final product looks very cool. I even plan on printing this photograph even larger after critique! Then it will be easier to see all of the different sizes of triangles and all of the detail.

WORD

To be honest, when I first learned about this project, I think I died a little on the inside. Completing ten works of handmade art in one week what all fit one random word just seemed impossible! But somehow I did survive this project, little sleep and all! I created ten works of art that seemed to fall on the large side of the spectrum: three paintings, two drawings, two mixed media works, and three installation type works. When I first saw my word, I was a little glad that I actually knew what it was, but I wasn’t quite sure how to go across creating ten works from it. The word that I chose was bulk. After doing some extensive research on google images and the dictionary, I finally had a vision. Well, multiple visions. The main way that I envisioned ‘bulk’ was the litterial way, meaning things of large quantity and items created in large amounts. I also saw the word for how it sounded and felt, which would be dark and hard. In order to use this newly found knowledge of the word ‘bulk’, I needed to figure out what materials I needed to use to help portray the word. Mainly, I just walked around my house to see if I could find anything that was sold or produced in bulk: like cotton balls, books, birdseed, buttons, and sticky notes. During this time of art making, the hot-glue-gun became my best friend. I used it in many of my projects (without even burning myself once! Achievement!!!). The main three elements that I used in all ten works were: line, texture, and shape. Texture was very prominent in all of my works and helped portray the idea of mass production and the feeling of the word ‘bulk’ and many different shapes found their way into my work. Line was also used in many of my works, creating a feeling of endlessness. Also, the three main principles of art that I used in most of my works were: pattern, contrast, and balance. Pattern and balance worked specifically well with my word, because things produced in bulk often do create a repeating pattern and have some balance to them. I also used contract in many of my works to give them a pop of color, since many of them were black and white. Overall, after having critique and getting a chance to look at all of my works side-by-side (or as side-by-side as I could get them), I noticed a few things that I did well and what I need to improve. The thing that I noticed that I did well in was going “out-of-the-box”. To be honest, I think that I went a little too out of the box because I never took sculpture class and I’m not really interested in doing sculpture, so I’m not sure what compelled me to create so many sculptural pieces. But I guess thinking out-of-the-box is good, right? Along with the thing I did well, I also feel like I need to improve on my craftsmanship and working on proportion and size differences. I know that we didn’t have a lot of time for this project and we were a little rushed, but I still wish that my craftsmanship would have been better. Also, I know (and will forever need to) work on proportion. Many times I wanted to make things different sizes to vary up the image, but for some reason, I just kept drawing them the same size! I know that this is a think that I will try to work on this year. Finally, throughout all of this, I learned many things. One, that I am capable of a lot more that I though, because never in a million years would I have thought that I could create ten (decent) works of art i seven days! Also, that art is more painful than I remember, because apparently when I was working, I had really bad posture and my neck and back hurt after each piece. I will definitely work on not slouching when working on my following masterpieces so I don’t kill myself in the process. Well, a dead painter is usually a famous painter, am I right? :)

Artist Statement Reflection

This was probably the busiest summer that I have ever had. I worked most of the week and we are slowly remodeling my house at home; but through all of this I still found time to do art. In the beginning, I tried to do all of the online stuff at once to make sure that I got it all out of the way so I could have more time to be more artsy! I made a plan for myself to post to my blog every Friday with what I did in my sketchbook and what photos I took and what I have edited. I shot over 80 photos and posted them to Flickr as soon as I could. I feel like I could have shot more still life photographs, but I shot way more than I needed to. I also tried to work in my sketchbook everyday, and sometimes some pages would take more than one day to complete.

I believe that the 2-D Design portfolio would fit me the best, because I absolutely love photography! I shot and edited six photos for my final pieces this summer. In the future, I would like to be able to make a living doing what I love to do. Even before the summer started, I knew that I wanted to make my final portfolio in photography.

Throughout the summer, I noticed that I was exploring the more abstract and simple concepts and designs. Many of my sketchbook pages and photographs are simply designed and edited. I might want to work some of this simplicity and abstract quality into my final portfolio.

Also over the summer, I experimented with a lot of different media and techniques. I tried cut paper, spray paint, working with leaves, watercolor, marker, pen, pencil, PhotoShop, and my phone. After experimenting with all of these just made me want to try even more new techniques and to push myself further.

All throughout the summer, I used Pinterest to help my find inspiration for many of my sketchbook pages and photography edits. I never really followed the images I found exactly and I made them my own. In the future of this class, I might use Flickr more for find inspiration for my photographs.

Last post before school starts \ 0o0 /

Sorry for not posting at all for a week. I was out of town at my Aunt's house in Beaver Dam. While I was away, I did take pictures and I did a lot of sketching!

Let's rewind all the way back to August 14th! () _ () I decided to do another mandala, because why not!

 

Then I was thinking about doing something with lines... And this is the result...

All of these next ones I did when I was at my Aunt's house. :) It was a little hard to do them sometimes because of her two kitties Steve and Lola. They kept trying to chew on my paint brushes and pencils!

The mandala was one of the more complicated ones that I have done. It took a lot of measuring and patience...

Also, I posted these on Flickr, but here are some of the photos I took while I was away. ^.^

Goodby for now! I got to go to work now. See you all at school in 5 days! e_e

Clicking Away

To make my life easier, I will just put my synopsizes of the four links in one post. :)

June 8th, 2016

Portal Wisconsin

     After clicking around this website, I found three photographers that caught my eye: Adam DeFrang, Spyros J Heniadis, and Bruce Warren. (their images are in order at the bottom) I really liked DeFrang and Warren's because of the use of architecture (and that they are black and white. I love black and white!). I also really like Heniadis's photograph, because of how simple it is and all of the texture that it captured in the image.
     Also, after looking around the cite more, I found many opportunities that were avaliable. By going to this cite, one can find opportunities to audition, submit artwork to exhibitions, apply for jobs or internships, residencies, and so much more!

August 6th, 2016

Wisconsin Arts Board
     After poking around on this website, I found out that there is a lot of support for art in Wisconsin. I found the grants interesting because it looks like they try to help non-profit organizations for the arts. I think that that is really cool that they are doing that and allowing art to spread.

A Retrospective by John Emil Stevenson

       This image caught my attention because of its simplicity. I love how the girl is right in the center of the canvas and how we cannot see her face. The way that she is turned from the viewer gives the piece a sort of mystery to it. Also, the way the background is painted with all of the brushstrokes makes me wonder where she is.

August 25th, 2016

SCAD

     As some people might know, I love Savannah, Georgia. It is probably my favorite place in the US that I've been to so far! It would also be amazing if I could attend the Savannah College of Art and Design (but that is WAY to expensive...). 

     For my choice gallery, I wanted to see if SCAD had an online gallery that I could look at, and I happened to find one that shows some art from portfolios from students. Since I'm interested in photography and am thinking about doing photography for APA this year, I wanted to look at what college students photography looks like.

     Below are three photographs that caught my eye right away...

This photograph is from a portfolio called S P L I T by Weston Doty. I really enjoy this image because it is just so simple and abstract! It is literally a banana split! XD The colors are contrasting yet harmonizing.

This image is from a portfolio called Arnold Hall by Giordano Angeletti. When I first saw this photograph, I didn't realize that it was a still life set up of trees, bench, and a light post on a railing. After looking at the image closer, it intrigued me more! The way it makes the land look like it just abruptly ends is very interesting. I think I also really like this image because of how it is a little but abstract, yet realistic at the same time.

This photograph is from a portfolio called Still Lives by Carlie Law. I like this image because of the color scheme and how simple it looks. There is just something about it that catches my eye. It is beautiful what the mind can do.

August 25th, 2016

Scholastic Arts
     I have submitted works to the Scholastic Arts before, but sadly I have never gotten a gold key (just honorable mention). I hope to submit some works this year (not sure if I did last year. Don't remember).
     When I was looking through the photography, three photographs caught my eye.

egg by Isaac Bacon

Orange Intrigue by Allison Gould

Road To Nowhere by Symantha Ryerson

     I really like egg because of how simple it is and how dramatic the lighting and shadows are. Making it in black and white was a good choice the artist made. I don't think that having the picture in color would have had as much of an impact.
     I also liked Orange Intrigue because of the leading lines and the color that is reflected onto the windows. This image was captured at just the right time to be able to capture the light that the artist did. I also like that the image seems cropped, allowing for the image to escape off the page.
     Finally, I liked Road To Nowhere because of the mystery. To me, it looks like a setting for a horror movie or something. Maybe the cover to a paranormal novel. (also I like it because of the black and white. I love black and white photographs!!! ^.^)

Slacking... e_e

Sup. This might be the last post I will be making for a while because I'm going to be out of town from Wednesday till the 25th. I will have access to a computer and wifi, but I don't know if I will have the time (or energy) to post. I will try to do stuff in my sketchbook though.

I have been working a lot this past week, so I really haven't found time to do any photo editing, but I have taken some photographs (I won't want to post them until I have edited them and made them beautiful! ^.^). I did have time to do three things in my sketchbook though.

We have been waiting for rail so long now, I felt like I needed to do a page that had to do with rain in the hope that we will finally get some. My grass is so dead!!! e_e

I randomly wanted to do something with sand dollars so... Yah. This happened.

Aaaaaand..... I did this "geometric mountain" type thing. I am actually pleased in how it turned out. I might want to do more geometric sketches. Maybe some geometric mandalas...

I will really try to do some more editing of my photos for the next time I post. When I'm gone for that week, I won't be able to have access to PhotoShop, so all of the editing will have to be done on my phone (if I have time).

Simplicity is the Key

Sorry that I didn't post yesterday. I have been very busy. This past week, my Dad has had me interning at his office (z2 Marketing). At first they had me doing random things like tying the strings onto quiet signs for a hotel in Notre Dame. Then my Dad gave me a PhotoShop project. It was difficult at first because he told me to remove some parts of the photo that he thought were messy looking while still making the photo look real. I used the clone tool a lot and pasted other parts of the image in different spots, creating my own landscape. The next time I went in, he gave e a different project where he wanted me to replace the sky in one image while making it still look real. The problem was that the image wasn't wide enough so I had to improvise and create my own sky by copying and flipping parts of the sky and creating clouds to overlay in the sky. Then he told me to remove the sun! That must have been the myst difficult part of all! After (sadly) having to eat McDonalds, I finished and it looked somewhat real. :)
(I wish that I had a picture of both projects but I forgot to do that when I was there...)

Besides that, I did have a chance to do a lot more sketching in my sketchbook than what I normally seem to do. I was trying to go for "simplicity", because lately I feel like my sketches have been a little complicated (or maybe too complicated) and they end up taking more than a day, leaving my sketchbook with many empty pages. And I don't want it to seem like I'm not doing my summer homework when school comes around and I haven't even filled up half of my sketchbook.

So... Here is what I did. :) They all took one day to complete.

 

I also had the chance to do some PhotoShop editing with a photo I took at the beginning of summer and of a photo from a couple of years ago that I shot on Tybee Island.

I hope to get more edits done this week, either on my phone or in PhotoShop. (my Enlight app has been being a little glitchy lately, so I really hope that they get that fixed so I can go back to editing on my favorite app!!!)

Going to start organizing and getting all of my stuff ready for school! -_-