concentration 1-7

My concept for these concentration pieces, is relating to the bond between nature and technology; specifically, nature becoming technology. From a craftsmanship perspective, I have drawn a bunch of these in colored pencils, scanned them to the computer, then edited them in Photoshop or Illustrator. I have added text and other filters to make them digitally designed. My pieces have appealing compositions, all focusing on the rule of thirds and the different types of symmetry. The elements/principles of art I used are contrast, unity, movement, and balance. Contrast was shown in these pieces because of the different color schemes and bold views that are shown. Unity is also shown through color, because each piece's colors go together well and are carried on throughout the piece. My entire concentration used a lot of colors from nature, so I think that goes along well with my concept. Movement and balance can be seen in my concentration through digital brushstrokes and compositions.

Portfolio Progress 3-25-11

The focus for my concentration is technology becoming nature. I feel like the work I have done so far, is portraying my concept very well. Although some pieces need a little more work, I feel I am doing a good job focusing and getting my point across. I like my media a lot because I am able to draw and use the computer applications as well, which kind of brings out the nature and natural aspect through the drawings. The elements and principles of design my concentration pieces use are color, unity, and emphasis. I tried to incorporate similar colors in my colored pencil drawings, and the tree/mac and the electronic face one use the same color blue, but all together the colors are not the same. This is something I may want to change so that the entire concentration goes together. Of course, my concentration as a whole, has unity because they all are about the same concept. Emphasis is shown in each piece so that the concept gets across better. This is done through composition and rendering.
The three C's are also shown in my concentration so far.
Composition: each piece has an evident visual organization to please the viewer's eye.
Craftsmanship: The pieces show my hardwork on each piece, colored pencil and then computer editing. However, some may need a little more work/rendering.
Concept: Most viewers will easily distinguish the concept of nature becoming technology, or their own concept somewhere along those lines.

Concentration numba 1

My concept for this piece, and all my other concentration pieces is based around the relationship between nature and technology; specifically nature becoming technology. My first project is more based on technology and people. I took a portrait of myself and combined it with an electronic light thing picture and then added text in the background. I played a lot with the elements/principles of color, symmetrical balance, and unity. Color with the brightness and contrasts between the different shades. Symmetrical balance on the background being the same on both sides of my head. Unity in everything tying together (colors, fonts, textures).

Packer Fever

For the Packer Fever project, my concept was to create the literal feeling of having a "Packer Fever". I used the three C's in this project with concept, through the literal, craftsmanship, by creating and generating a poster with Adobe Photoshop, and composition with asymmetrical balance and the rule of thirds. The elements/principles of art I used are contrast, emphasis, and space. I think my project has a lot of depth and is very pleasing to the eye. I could see this poster in an ad or hanging up in an appropriate area.

an explanation of the semester..

"I don't think people are born artists; I think it comes from a mixture of your surroundings, the people you meet, and luck." - Francis Bacon, an Anglo-Irish figurative painter known for his bold, graphic, and emotionally raw imagery.

For my first semester portfolio/exhibit I chose to incoporate, what I feel are my five best projects from this semester. I chose "Save Us", "Running through Time", "Open Hands, Open Heart", "Give Happiness", "Broken", ad "Regret". All of these pieces fit into the 2D design portfolio I am aiming for. Three of the five of these projects are free choice projects to likely fit in the Breadth secion of the portfolio with the rest of my semester one work. Viewing these three free choice projects in particular ("Running through Time", "Save Us", and "Regret"), one can determine my development as an artist quite easily. I feel like I have grasped the concept of 2D design and the different directions I could go gradually from the beginning of the semester up until now. My pieces start out with little direction and meaning behind them rather than just trying to make something "cool" and move toward symbolic pieces with concept and thought behind them that actually makes sense, while continuing to establish the appealing and eye catching factor.

To make my work unique, I wanted to display it from a literal point of view. When people hang their clothes out to dry on a clothesline, they are putting it out in the open for everyone to see. My innovative approach was to expose my work as though it were being hung out on a clothesline in the sky for all to see.

exposed

Regret

My concept for this free choice project was to portray how in life you can't change the past no matter how hard you try, or want to. I was inspired to do this piece because of a Michelle Branch song called "Breathe" with the line "life's like an hourglass glued to the table". My composition and craftsmanship for this piece were successful. I created it in Photoshop and created a rule of thirds composition with one hand grabbing the hourglass and trying to change the past, while the other is glueing it down in place. I added the words to the project last minute, to give it some more depth. Without the words, the piece looked plain and boring. The words are a quote about regret that say "I am who I am today because of the choices I made yesterday." I feel like this project was a complete success. The elements/principles I used in my piece were unity - in the colors and how everything is connected in the composition, and space -in the space created by the composition.

broken

For this project, we were supposed to portray

our vision of home. My concept of the assignment

was to make a distressed family photo because my

family isn't as close as we could be. I cut out photos

of each of my family members and pasted them

together in a "family photo" assembly. The elements

and principles I used are unity, with the different

colors and composition, space, and form. With the

space created with the empty spots in the piece.

Social Justice; Open Hands, Open Heart & Give Happiness

For the social justice project I did two posters for giving to underprivileged children. The one on the right is focused on the Christmas season. I used the rule of thirds to separate the piece in a pleasing way. My font is very clear and gets the message across affectively.

The poster on the left is more of a photography and literal approach to the topic. I used unity and color in this piece to bring it all together.

Save Us

For this free choice breadth project I wanted to focus on making a design for a specific company, like I would be doing for my career as a graphic designer. I made an environmental design for the US Environmental Protection Agency with a poster and business cards. The elements and principles of design I used are balance and unity. Balance in the symmetry of the poster, how there are an equal amount of objects on each side of the piece. And unity in the color scheme. I feel like this project was a success and could be used by the company.

Self Portrait

For the self portrait project, the main focus was to incorporate a full body portrait. I had never done this before and was initially excited to see what I could create. I met the criteria for this project by including a full body portrait in relation to things around me. For example, the photo where I am sitting on the stairs shows proportions. Also, if we were going to do the project digitally, we were supposed to combine/ incorporate multiple photos, which I obviously did. I met the three c's also. Composition; my piece has a unique composition with bolder images in the major focus areas. Craftsmanship; I printed this piece on a substrate made of newspaper, modge podge, and gel medium. It took a lot of time and helped my piece reach it's full potential. Concept; my piece had a concept to show all the of the different personalities I have, to represent that I am not a very stagnant person. My piece also shows some of the elements and principles of design including contrast and unity. It shows contrast in the strong colors against the black and white of the newspaper and other colors. It shows unity in the sense of blended photos working together and similar colors used throughout the piece. This will fit into my portfolio because it is solely created from a design point of view.

Journey

10 works in a week

When we were first assigned the 10 projects based around one word assignment, to be due in one week, I was nervous as to whether i'd be able to get it done in time. The word I was given was "journey" and managing time for the project while thinking of creative ways to display the word was a journey in itself. I learned a lot from this project, like, it is way too easy to get sucked into one project and it is easiest to look at the big picture. Sure, details are important and spending time on individual projects will help with making your work the best it can be, but when you need a lot of finished works in a short amount of time, you don't want to be too detailed or you'll go crazy. Focus is another big factor I learned was necessary to be successful with this assignment. Understanding the criteria and concept of the assignment is key in producing successful pieces. I managed my time by trying to get at least one project done during each class period, and one to two projects done at night. Towards the end of the week, this method may have changed a little bit to be able to meet the deadline.

I used a variety of different media in my 10 works, including, acrylic paint, ebony pencil, chalk pastels, and collage with photos from magazines. This will impact my portfolio by giving it a wide range of my artistic ability. Although I chose the 2D design portfolio, these projects will show my ability to use different types of media.

Lap 2

Today I made a stop at walmart and bought all new art supplies. including..2 11x14 stretched canvas, paintbrushes, acrylic paints, chalk pastels, and oil pastels. Im excited to try them out and will probably end up exploring the new media all day! :)

First lap

This past weekend I attended AmeriFest at Spring Creek Church for work. I was entitled to walking around with our Cousins Subs mascot, Subbie, and taking photos with kids and the sub for the Cousins Subs facebook page. Also, while at the festival I got a characater of myself drawn. I continue to sketch/paint each day.

Ps..the characater was not very flattering..:(

Starting Line

Today I officially started my electronic AP art summer work. I set up my blog and will upload some photos to flickr. My blog is entitled "Inspired Sprints" to correspond with my atheletic interests, as well as artistic views. To begin my race throughout AP art this year, I must first start..well.. at the starting line :). I am excited to take on the challenges of the course and continue to sketch each day.