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Week 15? (week 15)

I fee like I wrote three hundred words doing this lol:

Project 4 (week 14)

This is the final version of the poster design for the Drawing 3 Exhibition that I am a part of. I am very excited about this piece. I had a lot of fun and trouble creating this piece. I new what I wanted to do but had a hard time getting it to work. The main issue was when I saved this file in photoshop as a jpeg. When I opened the saved jpeg file in the "preview" program, I could see the color blotches that I used as an overlay on the text and paint graphics. I wanted the background to be solid black so I had to save as a pdf, then a jpeg in "preview," and edit the colors so that the black was visually solid. I still have to test print the posters to check the quality. I may have to flatten my layers, make the graphics clear, and place the color splotches under the black layer, to get what I want. i am hoping that the versions that I created will work out well. I also plan to use these posters in the critique on Tuesday so I can accurately meet the classes needs, as if they were a client. I like to have this kind of professional mind-set when I am creating work that represents people other than myself. I orriginally wanted to do an other large charcole photorealism because I have enjoyed doing so on the first two projects. Please post any feedback on these poster and they will be considered carefully.

Exhibiton Prep. (Week 13)

I am assigned to do the poster for our Drawing 3 Exhibition, in which I will be show my "A Walk to Remember", piece that I did for Project 2: Protesting. For the posters, I decided to do two versions for printing purposes. Black is the background color for the main version (see next post), which drives up the ink costs for the APPA print lad, so I created a more printed friendly version. This version uses a photo of a sidewalk tile as the background. The white paint marks are custom made and will have an "overlay" of color for the final version. I hope we use the final version in the glass case near the galley, and postings of both version used in the hallways. The two figures in the center are stylized sketches the have a lot of details up close. I drew the figures and the tilte using a spray paint brush. I used custom, edited, and downloaded brushes for the paint graphics. I use some unusual font that I found on line that reminds me of Space BT. I used that for the details on the show at the bottom as well. I made the text large so they are easy to read, but I don't know if the need an added effect so that they are not so crisp, or some size variation. I am going to email both versions to the professor for feed back, but I am hoping to use them how they are because of complications with pre-media file structure.

Place Project (week 12)

The word “Place” makes me think of the various places I’ve lived in throughout my life. My favorite place to live is by the beach and I enjoy spending my summers in a place called Bethany Beach in Delaware. For this project, I wanted to depict the culture and beauty of "The Quiet Resort" of Bethany Beach as much as possible. I thought about the ocean waves hitting the sand, the local shops and restaurants, and the seagulls flying over the boardwalk. When thinking about these subjects as a final drawing, I could not see how the viewer would know that this was a special place and not just any beach.

To solve this problem I decided to draw a unique landmark of the town. I chose the totem pole permanently displayed at the town's entrance depicting “Chief Little Owl” of the Nanticoke Indian Tribe. It was carved by, Peter Toth, who created the town’s first “Whispering Giant” and has erected totem poles in all 50 states. The goal of his nationwide project has been to create unity among all people. I believe that this statue not only reflects the culture and values of Bethany Beach, but that of all America.

This new "Whispering Giant" is carved from a single red cedar log from Alaska, which Toth selected personally. This wood is expected to last from 50 to 100 years. The salt air and wind off the ocean slowly weathers the giant adding to the feeling of history and character in the old chief’s face. I tried to capture that feeling and aesthetic value in my drawing. I focused on the textures and range of light value in the dry old red wood. The statue had to be sharp and crisp to show the detailed features of the carving. Using a blurry and more abstract background I further enhanced the vivid effect I was looking for. Since this beach is on the East coast I have the sun rising out over the ocean behind the carved giant. I played with a negative effect in the background to portray the sunrays as they break out above the clouds.

The struggles I had with this piece stem from the necessity of having to travel while working on it. I was unable to use the larger paper and charcoal that I had been using for my previous projects. I think a larger drawing in charcoal would have been more captivating and better represent the concepts involved. However, one benefit of the size I did work with is being able to scan the image and send it to the company I worked for in Bethany Beach, with the intention of having prints made and sold in their stores. Thus, in addition to my immediate audience, which includes my classmates, professors, friends, and family, I hope to expand my audience to the locals and tourists of Bethany Beach. When we critique this project I want to see if the class prefers the subject matter better than the more typical cliché beach scenes and whether my imagery is "immediately pleasing to the eye".

Place (week 11)

Artist and designer Dan Caron of DC Art & Design, has influenced my work greatly. He does everything from custom artwork, web site design, company logos, professional portraits and fantasy artwork, to computer-generated graphics. As an artist he believes, “The best designs or portraits are immediately pleasing to the eye. They don't need to be explained. The image expresses much more than words can say. Although the reasons for designing a web site, a corporate logo, or even a portrait may differ, the end results should be very well designed, while serving an effective purpose. The ability to come up with an image which is immediately pleasing to the eye is my passion." I particularly enjoy the details, quality, and shading values of his "Girl on the Beach". His range of talent and skill has inspired me try to develop a wide arsenal of my own. I love his techniques and principles in both his photorealism work and his graphic design. I believe that these traits influence me and are often reflected in my work.

The American illustrator, Tracy Sugarman, also influenced my work on this piece. He is a WWII Veteran that has illustrated hundreds of books and record covers in a career lasting over 50 years. I enjoy his drawings of the sea, with birds and boats cutting through the jutting waves. Some of my favorite works by him include Goosebury at Utah Beach, and English Channel Storm. The movement he creates with beautiful line quality and variation pulls the viewer in. He also varies the sharpness in his work to create atmosphere and depth. I try to have these qualities in my work as well.

A Walker To Remember (week 10)

Here is my finished work for the protest project. I looked through many photos of people protesting, searching for a dramatic image with a pleasing visual balance. I considered using a photo taken of protesters demonstrating against a different issue and replacing the sayings on their picket signs with sayings used in the Wisconsin protest. I decided to focus on the sheer number of people at the event to help demonstrate the general importance of the situation. I found a great photo of the inside of the Capital filled so thickly with protesters that you couldn’t even see the floor. I was concerned that people would not recognize the inside of the Capital and decided to switch my focus to the area just outside the Capital. I ended up finding a great photo of the front of the Capital and the vast sea of people flooding the surroundings. I felt that this image would clearly represent the protests and that people would feel a connection to it no matter what their stance was on the issues at hand. I do have a personal opinion when it come to this bill, but I do not want to tell people what to think or try to change their beliefs with my artwork. Instead I want to inform, immortalize, and spread awareness of this major issue.

I made a lot of conscious decisions concerning my mark making, stylization, color choice, etc. I started the drawing with thin, soft and loose lines to get the general layout down. I slowly made harder, thicker lines and I feel like this process reflects the increase in complexity and intensity of the events as they unfolded. I recreated the scene in the photo with very high contrast so that the white of the capital fades into the white of the paper. I only drew the shadows in-between the windows and pillars to gain this high contrast effect and add that dramatic feeling I was looking for. I believe that these graphic stylizations will give the viewer the impression that these events are both intricate and clouded.

I feel like I was successful in reaching my goals for this project. I am satisfied with the process, layout, concept and aesthetics. My focus is clear and I was able to express what I wanted to convey to my audience. The most challenging part was deciding on what aspect to focus and what image would best represent my goal. Overall, I really enjoyed researching, ideating and creating this work. I am excited to see how the class responds. I don’t expect them to necessarily see the neutrality of the work because of the dramatic feel to it and the strong emotions relating to the bill. I want to know what the class thinks my intentions were and to get their first impressions of my work.

See the previous post for the original photo I based my drawing on.