Final Portfolio Project

Here is the final product the result of this class. This portfolio includes all of the design work I created within the past six weeks and some other work I have created in the past. I learned such a great amount of things in such a short period of time regarding the three most vital programs in design. Hope you have enjoyed my journey. Feedback is always welcome :)

Final Surrealist Project

I decided to combine my passion for photography and for poetry in my surrealist project. I went on a trip to Portland, Oregon and took a slew of pictures I always wanted to showcase. Thanks to photoshop I was able to combine both of these in a dream-like piece that functions like a portrait of myself. I am even featured in the work as the girl in transition in a sepia tone. This is a second piece I grew very proud of and I was pleased to her all of the constructive criticism on my critique. For the most part, I do not feel I am going to change it because I feel the work says enough on its own as it is. What do you think about my work?

Ideation- Surrealist Vladimir Kush

I was drawn to Vladimir Kush's surrealist art work because of his appreciation for space and landscapes. I applaud his different take on metaphorical realism in that his style is all his own yet he pays homage to the artists before him. Below are some example of his magical work:

To see more of his work click here!

Surrealist Project- rough drafts

In my surrealist project ideation I was not particularly inclined to draw a scene or abstracted idea. Instead, I was inspired by my Zen and meditation readings to just free write whatever came to my mind. I wrote in cursive a simple poem in Spanish and decorated it with foliage, leaves, and stars. I want my piece to be about time and space and how these two entities are so different yet so intertwined. It makes me question where humanity stands in between these two.

Portrait Critique

We had our critique for our portrait yesterday. I feel that I was as honest and thorough as I could have been. I was praised for my craftsmanship and my attention to detail on my face and hair. If I could have changed anything about my portrait I think I would have reconsidered the pattern I used as the background. Thought I initially liked the colores, the "í" is somewhat distracting in that it is much lighter color than my initials. I think I might go back and change this for my own records. Apart from that, I am quite happy with this piece and I will continue to try to improve should time allow.

Photoshop 101

Below are a few images I edited on photo shop. I played with hue/saturation, lighting, blurring, contrast, and highlight backgrounds and foregrounds. Here are few images I worked on in class. 

Final Portrait(s)!!!

Here are my finished products. I wanted to play with warm and cool colors so I have two versions. Which one do you think suits my persona better?

Early Draft of Pattern

This is the pattern I created for my portrait with my initials... I think I will change for the final.

Portrait Work in Progress

Here are some earlier drafts of my second project on Illustrator. Is it starting to look like me?

Pattern

This is a pattern I mad yesterday in class. It took me forever to finally decide on a color palette but I had a lot of fun making this and playing around with the shapes within in my overlapping letters :)

Exercises in class

Here a few exercises I have done in class the past few days. I was working heavily with the pen tool, which at first I perceived to be my worst enemy but now it's new best friend.

Character Critique

My critique on my character was yesterday right before class ended. It went better than I expected. I explained how I felt a kinship with Charles Addams in that we are both satirical people with morbid senses of humor. We sort even draw similarly. I wanted to capture the offbeat characteristics of my professor in a cartoon style that was inspired by Mr. Addams. I felt that people understood my direction. I would, should time permit, go back and apply all of the more advanced skills I have acquired to the work. I think I could still push it and try to make my character look less flat and more dynamic.

Final Version of Illustrator character

I wonder what my drawing professor think of this drawing seeing as it was mainly inspired by his quirky persona...

Illustrator Character Work in Progress

Here is my progression thus far. I hope to be finished by tomorrow... wish me luck!

a bit later....

Thumbnail sketches of Illustrator Character Project

Here are my quick sketches of the character I had in mind. He is this plump art professor who only nerds out to drawing and making jokes none of his students laugh at. He packs a might punch while critiquing student work but in reality he is just a lovable teddy bear.

Charles Addams

When we were assigned our first project of creating out new character, I definitely struggled to think of a character to create from scratch. I, by chance, ran into the work of Charles Addams and something just clicked. I fell in love with how he drew male characters. The all seemed to have endearing faces, plump bodies, and snazzy outfits. I mean, he did create the über suave character of Gomez from The Addams Family, actually he created all of the characters in that franchise (hence they reason why they are called The Addams Family). He was also a renown cartoonist for The New Yorker.  I would like my character to resemble a past drawing professor I had with some macabre elements reminiscent of Addams's work. Check out some of his cartoons below:

Look, Ma!

Look, Ma! Look what I did in class today. I made the graphic on the bottom on Illustrator today using the Pathfinder command for a simple assignment that turned out not to be so simple. I curse my cold for my latent problem solving skills today! 

Appropriation v. Plagiarism

Let's clarify what these two words mean...

Appropriation is applicable when artists take over the meaning of something that is readily known in culture and attach a visual reference to said object. The visual reference is important for people to interpret the work because it allows them to understand ideas the reference makes.  Appropriation uses elements of broad, commonly-known things, ideas, and/or elements and using them to create a new piece of work. In today's world, there is no such thing as an "original idea". Every artist, writer, designer, poet, or creative person has been influenced and shaped by the world we live in and by other people, places, things, ideas, etc.

Plagiarism on the other hand is the wrongful appropriation of a work. This is done when an artist or writer uses the work of another artist or writer and portrays it as his or her own original work without due credit the original creator. This is a very fine line to cross in a fast-paced, technologically advanced society. The best thing anyone who wants to avoid plagiarism charges, which are severely harsh and frowned upon in both the art world and academia, is to give proper credit to all inspirations.

Plagiarism Cartoon

Steven Spazuk

Today I ran into the work of Steven Spazuk. He has worked for design advertisements and graphic design, however he has garnered a following with his haunting paintings produced with soot and fire. Soot painting is an ancient art developed by cave dwellers and indigenous people. According to Spazuk, he developed his technique by a mixture of trail and error and by sheer accident. His work largely focuses on portraiture and body parts which he sometimes represents quite literally or in an abstract manner.  Spazuk has designed over 20 different stamps for Canada Post. Yet another reason why I NEED to go to Canada!

Steven Spazuk profiled on artistaday.com

Schiele

Yesterday in class we were introduced to Egon Schiele, a pioneer in the Expressionism movement in Europe. I was drawn to his dramatic, twisted shapes that oozed of human emotion and sexuality.  The work we were presented in class was The Poet which was painted in 1911.

This is my abstracted rendition of his painting I did on Illustrator. It was my first time working on a project with this program. What do you think of my rendition?

an informal introduction... ahem...

(Taken from my About Me Section) Greetings, from me to you via cyberspace! My name is Karen and this blog was started in conjunction with my Digital Art 141 class. My creative background spans from my fascination with sustainability issues, urban design, architecture, and interactive art. I guess that I am no different than many college students in that I am not sure where my interior architecture major and women's, gender, and sexuality studies minor will lead me in terms of a career path. All that I know is that I am interested in exploring urban design work, advocacy and nonprofit work within underrepresented communities, and possibly starting my own green business. I hope to have a better understanding on design within different facets, including a digital medium because of this class. Hope you enjoy my future posts regarding art and other nonsense running through my head.