What?

What? I read this a few times before I figured out the concept and laughed. I think this is a creative way to illustrate life's changes. I also think it does a great job of showing how quick people change their minds, not only about children, but in general. In 6 simple words this piece packs in a lot to think about, making it successful.

Underwater Photography

Underwater photography is something I have never done. I really enjoy looking at photographs taken this way! It adds so much to the visual experience of the photo. The lighting is so different from all other photographs. In the third picture down, the one with the green background, is my favorite. The way the light is on her face is gorgeous! I would really love to play with this technique sometime.

Trees

I found this picture on the internet, and thought it awesome! I love that the sky looks very gloomy. The camera angle is extraordinary. As a viewer, I am not sure how tall these trees actually are. They  could be of normal size, or they could be extremely tall. The freedom you have as the photographers is so great. You can turn everyday sights into something completely different. This is the main reason I love photography so much! You can play with different perspectives to find what you want. You do not have to show objects as they really are. The freedom is yours!

We are getting close!

Here we are getting close to finals week! I am beginning to feel like this little one! I have so much to do, but just want to take a nap! I have learned so much through this semester. I am very excited to continue applying all that I have learned to my everyday life. I have learned photoshop and illustrator more in depth, as well as how to create a website. I had never used imovie or garageband before, but now feel very comfortable using both. All of these basic classes have taught me a great deal, and I am excited to move forward in the graphic design program. I have really enjoyed this semester of classes but I am very ready to have a break from homework! :) 

Tutorial

I found this awesome tutorial that explains how to shoot water droplets. The macro photography does not even require a macro lens! This is a very tedious process, but creates really extraordinary photographs. I would reccomend picking a a rainy day to attempt this process! The URL is http://www.mcpactions.com/blog/2011/02/09/how-to-shoot-amazing-water-droplet-macro-photographs/ This website also has many other helpful tutorials, classes, and templates. It is a very interesting website! Check it out when you have some time!

Damien Hirst

 

The Physical Impossibility of Death in the Mind of Someone Living by Damien Hirst is an extraordinary piece. It was first exhibited in 1992. The most unique aspect of the piece is the title. The piece itself is actually pretty simple, a big frightening shark in a tank filled with formaldehyde. The thought provoking title is what brings the whole thing together. What was the artist trying to say? What was his intention? Why the shark? It is very similar to Marcel Duchamp idea of readymades. It opens the imaginations of the viewer to interpret the piece themselves, compared to the renaissance time period where there was a very specific idea behind every piece of art. I love this piece because it made my mind travel in all directions. I had to reread the title multiple times before I started to understand what Hirst might have been trying to say.

Marcel Duchamp

 

 

 

Marcel Duchamp's In Advance of a Broken Arm is a very odd piece. He went to the store, bought this shovel, titled it, and put it in a gallery. Something that any one of us could have done. It is worth so much money because of the name that it is on it. This changed the way many people thought about art. Are you still the artist if you did not do the craftsmanship? It is not that uncommon to have someone delegating what to do and having others create it. That is how Dale Chihuly creates all of his pieces. He tell everyone else what to do. He has the idea and shares it with everyone else. Pieces like this are called readymades. A readymade is "an ordinary object elevated to the dignity of a work of art by the mere choice of an artist." This readymade is extremely interesting because of the title. It makes everyone think what the intent of the artist was. Why did he make this? What was he trying to say? I think this a great piece because something so simple can generate so much thought.

 

The Beagles

I found this image as a was scrolling through Pinterest. I think it is very humorous for anyone that knows a little bit about the Beatles. The photograph is the same setting as the cover of the Beatles album Abbey Road. The Beatles are so popular, even now, that this image and the type is very recognizable. I am not sure if we have any other band that has been as widely known for this length of time. I think it is great that just by using the same font as what the Beatles used, most people would associate it with the band. It shows how much the media has influenced our lives. We have seen the type and this image hundreds of times in our lives. The association of these things with the Beatles has ben burnt into out brain thanks to the media.

Ice Cream!

As Summer is getting closer, I am getting more ready to eat lots of ice cream! The thought of ice cream,  gelato in this case, is what attracted me to this photo. Besides the ice cream, I enjoy the thought of art created with food. People are constantly eating. Creating art with food, very easily gets art to be more common in everyday life. I think that art is everywhere, but not all people pay attention. If there were more foods that were artsy, it forces people to have to pay attention. 

Hot Air Balloons

This picture not only has really great color, but also two of my favorite things, silhouettes and reflection. I love silhouettes because it leaves it up to the viewer's imagination to figure out what the figures really look like. The artist isn't forcing them to see anything. The picture could be very different to every viewer. I also enjoy reflection in pictures because majority of the time it catches my eye first. Reflection, especially in this picture, can be very dramatic. The combination of color, silhouettes, and reflection in this piece creates a very beautiful scene.

Sculptris

Sculptris is a program for digital sculpting. Because I have done a lot of actual sculpting, I find this website very interesting. I know how challenging it can be, when working with clay, to get the exact look you want. You constantly have to be aware of how wet or dry the clay is, how thin or think it is, and how quickly it is drying. In sculptris, you are free of all of those worries, and you don't even have to get your hands dirty! My favorite part of the whole program is that you can make sure it symmetrical! Anyone that has worked with clay before knows how hard it is to make your creation completely symmetrical. Sculptris is a very fun and easy to use program. Here is the url: http://pixologic.com/sculptris/ Check it out!

Image, type, & Multiple Monochromatic

Here are my three designs for our second project in Art 101. I had a lot of fun putting these designs together. My goals was for all of my designs to look very different, and I think I was successful. These are the monochromatic parts of my design. Monochromatic was my favorite color scheme of the project. I thought the designs looked very nice with similar colors. I really enjoyed working on this project and getting more practice using smart objects. I would have completely hated this project if it wasn't for smart objects! my favorite design of the three is the peanut design. I like how it feels like the peanuts are flying at you, and i think it worked perfectly with the letter U design as well.

Smart Objects

In high school, I took all of the graphic design classes that were offered. I am amazed at how much I did not know after taking them. This semester, I have learned so much about Photoshop and Illustrator in Art 101. Knowing what I know now, I can't believe I made it through high school classes. I did everything the hard way! This semester we did a project called Type, Image and Multiple. We had to scan three different objects and make designs out of them. We then had to turn the objects into a type face to create the same design. In high school, I would have struggled though making every design separately. In Art 101 I learned how to make smart objects. It was one of the most fascinating pieces of information I have learned throughout the whole class. I love using them! They make my life as a designer so much easier. It is a lot easier to change and manipulate our design when you are using smart objects. I am very happy to have learned about this feature!

Contrast vs Color

I am very attracted to color in photographs. The first picture of the lion caught my eye, and I stared at it for a few minutes. I love the bluest blue of the sky, and the range of colors in the lion. I would love for all of my photographs to look like this.That is why I was very disappointed when the Professor of my photography class told us we would only be taking pictures in black and white. I thought the class would not be fun because I think looking at ordinary black and white photographs are boring. As the class went on, I found myself compensating for the lack of color with contrast. A photo with great contrast, to me, is just as spectacular as a photo with extraordinary color. I was felt the same about the second photograph and studied it just as long as I did with the first one. I was completely wrong about black and white photographs. I realized no matter what you are given to work with you have to make it extraordinary. It does not just start out that way.

 



My Style

When I saw this picture on the Internet, I instantly loved it. I am always very attracted to pictures with a narrow depth of field. In my photography class first semester, I found my style very quickly. I tend to make my focal point the largest compared to anything else, and make it the only in focus part of the picture. I find it interesting that I am always attracted to pictures that are similar to my style without even realizing it right away.

Tutorials

I love to use photoshop and illustrator, but unfortunately I do not always know how to create my ideas. When I can not figure something out, or just want to look for new ideas, I use tutorials. One of my favorite tutorial websites is photoshoptutorials.ws. It gives a wide variety of tutorials in all different categories. I especially like that it gives a range from basic to more experienced tutorials. Even though I have been using photoshop for a long time, I have nowhere near mastered it. I do not know some of the tools as well as others, so occasionally I need a more basic description of what to do. On this website, it also shows different things to download, creative inspiration and product reviews. This is a very helpful website if you are at a loss for ideas, or can not create exactly what you need. Check it out!

Movie Posters

 

These minimal movie posters caught my eye as I was surfing Pinterest. I thought it was neat that the images used to depict the movie are not the same as the original movie advertisements, in fact the are no even close. The posters really only contain the major idea of the movie, yet we still know exactly what the posters are portraying. If you have seen these movies at least once, you would recognize the symbol. I think it is interesting that in our society we see commercials and advertisements so regularly that it almost becomes burned into our brain. If these posters were used as the original advertisements, we probably would not recognize the more detailed posters were for the same movie. It is often easier to simplify something than it is to make it higher in detail.

Legos

I found this advertisement as I was wondering around Pinterest. This is a very interesting piece because it is very simple but successfully provokes thought. I initially got the idea that Legos, simple little toys separately, create extraordinary objects. The only thing that you must have to successful use Legos is imagination. Legos are advertised at the younger generation the majority of the time. Children and teens are the best people to use Legos because they have the widest imaginations. As we age, our imaginations shrink up, and our need for perfection increases. It is important to be reminded once in awhile that everything does not have to be perfect to be great.

Georgia O'Keeffe

 

This piece is one of my favorites of O'Keeffe's.

Georgia O'Keeffe is one of my favorite artists. I love the scale of her pieces. The colors she uses are always attention grabbing. The subject of most of her works are very simple ideas, so her use of size and color really make her pieces stand out. The mojority of her pieces are very recognizable. I really enjoying looking at her pieces and would love to go the Georgia O'Keeffe Museum.

Dandelion

Here is another example of the beauty found in nature. I came across this picture and was very suprised. I did not know that dandelions burn all different colors when they are on fire. I am happy I ran into this picture because I know want to try this on my own to see if it is truely this beautiful. I have worked with photoshop and illustrator for so long that I know this picture could have easily been manipulated. I am hoping that when I try this it will look at least half as great as this picture.

Owl

I found this picture of the rainbow owl, found in western United States and China. The owl is extremely beautiful! This picture is a very good reminder of how much art and beauty is out in nature. We, as artists, are continually trying to create beauty and art. We need to take a little time once in awhile and remember how beautiful the world is around us.

Studio in a School

Agnes Gund started Studio in a School in 1976 after hearing that New York City school were cutting art programs to save money. The Program has brought in 620 professional artists to influence over 800,00 students. Gund felt very strongly that art helped in many other subjects and in life in general. I completely agree with gund. Art is a very constructive way for kids to deal with emotions. Art also helps many young children verbalize when they struggle using words. I am very happy that programs like this exist. I took many of the art classes my high school had to offer. It was always great knowing I had an hour where I didn't have to worry about my day or what homework I had. I could focus solely on my ideas and my art work. It was a great way to unwind and relax. It would be a shame if kids were not even given the opportunity to try something new. I hope more kids will be influenced by Studio in a School.

St. Patricks Day

 

I co-planned a St. Patricks day event for this past weekend. We held the event in the Union, with games, food, music, and prizes. I'm sure most people saw many of the posters around campus. I designed these posters. The goal was for the posters to all be uniform so they were recognizable. We also wanted to limit the amount of information we put on the first posters to get everyone interested in what was going on. I think it was pretty successful in both aspects I tried to do. We had a great turn out of people at the event.

1990 Boston Art Heist

In 1990, at the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum in Boston, 13 works of art valued at 500 million dollars were stolen. Two men were dressed as cops to get into the museum. Once they were inside they tied up the security guards and disabled the security cameras before they stole the art work. To this day the art work can not be found. Investigators believe the works were sold soon after they were stolen, but have stayed in the northeast. Isabella Stewart Gardner once wrote that her biggest concern was "seeing and doing only what is beautiful."  It is horrible to think that people would steal something so amazing and ruin the museum for everyone that visits it. They way Gardner had the museum set up nothing could be changed. Until they find the art work that was stolen, there has been empty frames holding the places where the art work once was.

Background removal

In Art 101 Visual Studies, we are starting a project where we have to scan various objects, and remove the background to create designs. Normally removing the background from images is the most annoying part of projects for me. I get very frustrated when I am trying to remove the background and I lose small parts of the picture. One of the objects I chose to scan was a Q-tip. I wanted to save as many of the little stay hairs as possible. I found out that there is an awesome option called refine edge. I ran the tool over the edges to bring back all the little pieces that I lost. I was very excited that I learned this new technique because it will make my life a lot easier in the future!

Freeway Website

In my Art 115 Web ad Time based Media class, we just finished designing a website. I have never done anything like this before. I really enjoyed learning a new program and process. During the process of creating we took two days in class to have an in process critique where we could share our idea with the class and discuss them. I thought it was very helpful to recieve constructive criticism especially because this was my first time doing this. My classmates were very willing to share their thoughts on how to make my ideas work together better. I had a lot of fun working on this website. It was often frusterating trying to create my idea exactly how I wanted them to look. I do not think i was 100% successful with this website, but for my first time using the software and creating a website, I thought it went pretty well.

Art Gallery

This past week the artists from the Stritch gallery came to talk to my art history class. I find it very interesting to hear artists talk about their work, their thought process, and what got them started. When I first visited the gallery, the 911 calls were the most fascinating to me. I hated listening to them but I couldn't get myself to walk away. When we met the artists, the visual words became more interesting because of the artists story behind it. She often looked at comment boards to see what people would say when they didn't have to attach their name to it. That was what the project was really about, that you should be able to take responsibility for what you say. It makes you realize how much impact words really have. This exhibit was very thought provoking, which is what art should be.

Dale Chihuly

This piece at the Kohl Center has been one of my favorites for a long time. In a class I had last semester, we talked about Dale Chihuly, and watched a video where he talked about his art work, and insipations. I have so much more appreciation for his work now that I know all of the planning and work goes into each piece. Each piece is very complex and takes many people to help create it. I really enjoy this individual piece because of the vibrant colors Each little part of glass is very unique and could stand alone as its own piece. Eventhough each piece is very unique, all the pieces work very well together to create the whole.

Chinese New Year

The Chinese New year is celebrated today and will continue into tomorrow, the first day of the new year. 2013 is the year of the Snake. This celebration is widely known for the fireworks that are used to help celebrate the day. Other very important aspects of the day are the decorations, and costumes. Both decorations and costumes have high artistic detail. The decorations, like the ones in the first picture, have so much detail that they almost look real. The costumes, like the ones in the second and third picture, have very vibrant colors, and a great amount of deatil work incorprated. I think the Chinese New Year is very interesting because of all the different parts of the celebration. I would love to witness this celebration once in my life to really understand the true greatness of it. I do not think pictures do it justice.

Week 2

Man in a Red Turban by Jan Van Eyck

We were discussing this piece in my art history class, and I found it very interesting. It is a self portrait of Jan Van Eyke. I found it curious that he would depict himself with facial expression. The stare coming from his face, looking directly at the viewer, makes this a very realistic piece. The stare on his face was the main reason I liked this piece. I wonder why he chose to paint himself wearing turban. It makes me wonder if he wore a turban on a regular basis or if it was just a spur of the moment decision.

Week One

This is a picture I stumbled across as I was on the internet. I found this picture interesting and slightly humerous. The water was created almost perfectly and holds very similiar characteristics to a real flame. Another interesting part of the picture is the wick of the candle is black and looks like it is burning. This is a very simple idea that turned into a great image.