This year was a lot of fun. My favorite project, for sure, was the art deco three part. Though the posters I did may not have been my absolute best, I absolutely love art deco style and enjoyed learning about it. That kind of sleek, simple aesthetic has always appealed to me. Most things about the art deco time period appeal to me. Out of everything I learned this year, the information I learned that was most useful was how to use tension to my advantage. I knew what tension was previous to this class, but this is where I really mastered it. Since then, it has been a staple in almost all of my work, and I plan on using it in many others, including the one I have now. I genuinely think it has helped me create better, more creative, and more interesting works. I can't bring myself to make a symmetrical work of art anymore. Finally, the thing I'll remember most about this class in ten years is definitely the critiques. Gathering around the projector and looking at all of the finished pieces was always my favorite part of this class, and was always one of the most valuable activities we did. It was one of the more helpful activities, and, provided everyone was paying attention, I think it really helped a lot of people prod
My latest work was a large scale drawing of my own design. The drawing consists of a hand holding the end of three vines that grow into flower mandalas (can be found in my portfolio). I worked especially hard on this drawing, because from the beginning I was really excited about the concept and how I knew it would turn out if I executed it well. I came up with it as I went along. I just started drawing a hand one day and it just went from there. I feel as though I worked pretty diligently the entire time I was working on this piece. I took it home and worked on it outside of school quite a bit. It is the second or third drawing in which I am experimenting with pointilism. My favorite part is probably the subject matter itself. It has a bit of a surrealist quality almost, which is something I might like to bring into future works. I've started taking my work more seriously, and this has definitely helped spawn ideas for future works. It was definitely an exercise in patience to complete this drawing, but I feel like I handled it pretty well. I'd probably give myself a high B or low A if I were the instructor.
This was a piece I drew based on a punk song called "Mt. Diablo" by The Story So Far. The song is about people you know changing for the worse. Theoretically, the two women in this piece are the same person, and the women on the left is looking back on her former self to the right. "Watch the Sunrise Over Mt. Diablo," is a qoute from the song. The drawing is done in ink pens on drawing paper. Below is a video of the song. This poster was made as a culmination of everything I did in my first semester. I believe I've learned a lot about the elements of design in the first semester, but now I'd like to use that to develop my own style. I feel like all of my projects so far have been all over the place style wise. I came into learning about design with no pre-conceived notions about how my designs should look. After studying designers like Steven Stagmeister, however, I know that I need to have a general style about all my designs, and what I have done so far is not exactly what I would want. This page was basically a design that I drew as if I were drafting a tattoo. It's drawn in American Traditional style, which is my favorite style of tattoo. I designed it to go over someone's heart. The compass represents following your own path in life, and not letting the judgement of others influence your own decisions. The swallow, in tattoos, traditionally represents freedom; in this case freedom to control your own life. This would be placed over the heart to symbolize "following your heart". The difference between my knowledge of design at the beginning of school, and the end of this marking period is huge. I had no grasp on the most basic concepts of design, and I was content with random shapes that just looked "cool". Even after the first lesson on the principles of design, I was starting to see the error of my ways. Learning about tension in design was like having an epiphany. Leading the eye through a design was a skill I obviously lacked, but is now one I'm on my way to mastering. The main problem I see with my design before the lessons was just over all roughness. It's like comparing a 2006 pc to a macbook. My designs have become smoother, more precise, and more thought out. This, of course, is helped by a now extended knowledge of photoshop. I'd had almost no experience with photoshop or illustrator before this class. I'm looking forward to learning even more advanced principles of design, and applying them to my work, making even more sophisticated designs. |
Authorartist with a passion for music Archives
June 2014
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