Music Video Final

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Three of my latest drawings from Foundations Darwing. The first two of class models, the third a self portrait and final project.

Made this in Illustrator in response to reading Genesis in my Mosaics class...

A self portrait I did to practice using the pen tool!

Self Portrait and its Meanings

This is a collection of things that mean something to me, all flattened into one layer on Photoshop. The upper left corner of the composition is the renowned kid's book character Rainbow Fish. I read those books like crazy, and still find the character and its generosity to be something to keep in mind in my life these days. The bottom left features me holding my camera, which is pretty self explanatory in displaying my love for photography. Just to the right of that is a outline of young Bob Dylan's face, I put that in there because he is an artist I really enjoy listening to when making art. Up above Bob is a photograph of  a Buddha figurine. This was one of the first photos I took with my Canon Rebel, along with being a representation of not my religion by any means but a way of life that I admire. To the right of that is a street light from New York City, a representation again of my photography along with my love for traveling and discovering new places. Then below that is an illustration of my face that I did when exploring somewhat deeper into Illustrator with a layer on top of that of a tea bag label that I found to be particularly attractive. In the middle of the composition I have scanned a letter from my father that he wrote me when I graduated high school. It has many humorous tips for living my life happily, and being successful. Since my father is such a quiet guy, and someone who speaks only when saying something profound, it's something that I hold up to the highest degree and turn to for inspiration in the most difficult of times.

Ben Volta Lecture October 26th

I really enjoyed listening to Ben Volta speak, because the projects he does are all around inspiring, really. He worked with kids recently to make a humongous building mural. That alone is intriguing, but the way him and his group of kids went about creating the mural is what got my attention. Ben wanted to display multiple different rooms that a home would have, such as kitchen, bathroom, dining room, bedroom, even a library which he admitted wasn't very common but the knowledge and plentiful books that go along with libraries meshed so well with his project. The kids looked at lots and lots of photos (starting from Google Images) of things that would be inside each room. From that they drew them, and created these patterns that were so thoroughly designed that they were hardly recognizable. I loved the end result.

Composite Photo

The goal was to make a composite image uses our own photos, but push against the walls of fair image use. Here I used the renowned "Bliss" image as my background, known for being the popular Windows Desktop Background.

H. John Thompson Lecture October 19

H. John Thompson's lecture was not one that really intrigued me. He told us how his studio is in the basement of his grandfather's bakery, which I am willing to admit is pretty precious and a little detail that makes me happy. I love the idea of keeping your family involved with your work, and bringing where you came from into your career. The work however that John did show us didn't appeal to me. But he did make some good points that a group of worn out art students could stand to keep in mind. The one thing that he spoke about though that remains prominent in my mind though is that a studio is where you can be yourself. No matter what, that is your space and people aren't going to judge your decisions so go for it. John also spoke about how he photographs his entire process, just so he can refer back to and explain where each piece came from/what he was thinking while he did it. John concluded with the importance of just continuing to work. How you may find yourself in a creative rut but it's important to just keep moving and exercising your artistic mind and skills. This is something I'm going to remember.

French Firecrackers

The assignment was to change the meaning of a news photo. Here, these people in France were running from clouds of tear gas. I altered the photo to make it seem as though they were actually running from firecrackers and their massive clouds of smoke. A happier nature now.

Source: http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,2026431,00.html

A Scanner Facely

Scanned my face and illustrated it much like the style of rotoscoping, which is used in A Scanner Darkly.

Ted Talks -- Elizabeth Gilbert on Nurturing Creativity

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Elizabeth Gilbert, the author of the "freakishly successful" novel, Eat Pray Love, spoke back in February of 2009 about the surprising potential origins of creative inspiration. She mentioned how back in Ancient Greece and Rome the artistic success was all thanks to your "daemon" or "genius" -- or as she put it, genie. Basically it was believed that some other entity, a "fairy" of some sort, took a moment to light up your work and you didn't really have anything to do with how good it was. She also mentioned how creative working people has such a rep for being "alcoholic manic depressives" and are often troubled buy their one success in their life that is sure to overshadow any work following it. This is something all creative people face, and Elizabeth knows firsthand with her huge novel that millions of people have read.

Then she goes into the possibility that maybe one shouldn't get down about how they'll never have a work as successful as that one was, rather feel honored that the invisible creative muse stopped by to see them and in turn lit up their life some. Putting that space between yourself and your work allows for some comfort to be salvaged if the piece happens to be disappointing and just plainly awful.

I completely identify with this presentation and feel like viewing it would truly be helpful for anyone who makes things in their life. There is a certain amount of comfort offered in the notion of separating oneself from the work when it is likely to be criticized by others. For instance, as a first year student at art school, critiques are a huge part of the learning process but that doesn't take away from the fact that they easily change confidence in a work into a pile of negativity. Thinking of the creative aspect as something that is loaned to you on occasion to assist you in creating something that will blow minds is a safe way to go about working creatively, but not necessary the best option for people who are just starting out on the voyage of their artistic growth.

Warning Label

This is pretty self explanatory. Often times people tell me I was giving them a nasty glance when I had no intention to do so.

Doug Bucci Freshman Lecture October 5th

Doug Bucci is a metalwork and jewelry professor. Many of his works are related to Diabetes and the visual elements of that. He started his presentation off by stating that he went into his undergraduate career as a father, which only proved to drive him to succeed.  He stated that the faculty that were in his life are his heroes, and they're in his mind still every time he creates something. I found this to be an interesting fact, and it is easily applied. I think of all my different Foundations Classes and the artists who teach them, they all have different, constructive things that say to me about my work and those comments are sure to stick around.

Doug stated that being unsure of what you're doing and uncomfortable in the environment  is key, because that is where you are learning the most. The applies to my life directly, and is definitely something to think about. All art besides capturing moments through my viewfinder is new to me, and it's comforting to think that this uncertainty is a positive aspect rather than a setback. It leaves room to learn entirely, rather than shut out a project or professor's lecture because "I did this in high school." I glad to start fresh, and Doug's words made me feel much more content about it.

Marianne Dages Freshman Lecture September 28th

Marianne was a quiet young lady who had good things to say but hardly the voice for it. I struggled to hear her for the majority of her presentation, and it was short. She is a letterpress and bookbinder based here in Philadelphia. She did say though that it is always important to keep working -- no matter what, just continue to be active in your artistic realm. She also said that it's making work that allows you to be an artist not being an artist that allows you be making work. I found this to be a profound statement, in the way that you're not automatically an artist -- you have to be active in the art and create something without fail. The pieces you create define you rather than the job title.

Marianne also said that the studios and resources that we as freshman here at Tyler have access to should made good use of, because it becomes much harder to follow through once out of school when you don't have all the resources yourself. She also said to take advantage of having the opportunity to have your work critiqued, because not all artists have other peoples' opinions readily available to them. both of these things hit home with me. For one, I know being here at Tyler is an insane opportunity, but I easily get caught up in the masses of projects and work that is due. But I should take time to develop my own mind's thoughts and ideas while I have this great building and it's resources available to me. Also, critiques tend to be very intimidating! But they're something that shouldn't be taken for granted, and definitely well considered because the way others view your work is the way its going to be viewed...because art isn't just for you yourself to stare at. Marianne's presentation helped me to realize these things.

Candy Depew Freshman Lecture September 21st

Candy Depew was an interesting woman to say the least. She displayed her entire room installments at the lecture, and she has a distinct style to her colorful creations. Candy was fun to listen to, very entertaining and had quite an energy to her. The energy she has shines through in the programs she is currently working on. Such as the decals she creates, or the studio she runs that allows for kids to do their own designing!

Candy has worked in various locations and from that has numerous studios of which she uses. Through her success, she has been able to have students apprentice with her and from that, as she stated herself: they learn valuable techniques and network in a way that will set them up for their own careers. It is a great thing that she does, and she really gives back and instills hope in the paranoid art student that swears they'll never get a real career. I appreciated what Candy had to say and her words, along with her pieces -- really were inspiring.

Text Drawings

With this project we were asked to create an image with only the use of letters. There was to be an abstract one, an expressive one and finally a representational one.

For the abstract piece, I used each letter of the alphabet once to create a flowing shape. The letters vary in size, and from that work off each other's placement but never actually touch.

The next was the expressive piece, were I used the saying "rain, rain go away." I used the free shape pen to create four different raindrop shapes and then filled each one with one of the words from the saying. Along with the large word-filled raindrops, I created a few more simply out of a "u" and upside-down "v."

The last was much more straightforward, just a representational piece. I chose to do a pocket watch, and used strictly the letter "o" to create each shape of the watch. For instance the body of the watch is a large o, while the chain of the watch is a fee flowing twirling line of small o's.

Peter Hanley Freshman Lecture September 14

This week am man named Peter Hanley spoke. Mohawk and all, I think he was someone the majority of the Tyler Freshman Class students were immediately drawn to. Peter's topic was somewhat confusing, he spoke of how his computer was his studio -- but not really, his mind is. But not really that either, there's a halo of ideas and plans around his head, that's his real studio. Wait, what?

Hanley was saying that you shouldn't limit yourself to just the 2d surface of your computer desktop. You should remember that the computer is a tool, but you mind is what is really driving your inspirations and plans. I identify with this because the artistic part of my brain tends to work sporadically and I try my best to record these thoughts so that I can later make use of them appropriately and the computer itself helps me develop those ideas, but not create them entirely. Hanley stated that if at one point you find yourself in front of the computer simply going through the motions of your work, then you should take a minute to access the actual project -- cause chances are it's boring. Why create something that the computer tools can do alone? Your mind's innovations are an essential part of any artistic work, otherwise the person, client, grandmother with a knitting business that is pioneering the internet advertising world -- would just hire a robot.

This lecture I think especially applied to Foundations Computers because we do spend three hours in front of our monitors and explore the abilities of the glorious Macs. But there is a fine line between exercising the computer's skills, and actually applying those skills to bring life to the things that your personal (real-life) mind so happened to think up. Something to remember.

Response to Videos

In specific response to the first video, the one where the teenage girl's photo was taken off the web for an Australian Virgin Mobile ad: HOW did the marketing team at Virgin Mobile come up with this one? I literally don't see how a girl with a peace sign applies to cell phone usage besides having fun (?) and potential virginity. But that alone is inappropriate and not a decent cell phone ad. This really must have been a last minute find/design after either supreme laziness or just creativity-dry minds.

The second video was interesting to me! I for one often consider the boundries of copyrighted music and images. As an active blogger, I myself face the question of whether or not I am stealing someone else's work when I post an image found on the internet. As far as that goes though, as long as I am not stating that the work is mine when it in fact is not, I don't think it should be an issue. Because it is therefore just acting as a piece of inspiration and hopefully the original artist would be alright with their work being found inspiring to others that come across it. But the man that spoke on Ted.com was talking more speciifacally as to where the boundries are for people who recreate that said piece of art work. Such as remixing a song, which is surely a common thing here in the twenty first century. I appreciated this man's point because he stood up for this generation's way of life, in the way that he stated that this is just our way of being creative. We have this entire world of creativity on the web and if we were to just block that out in fear of messing with someone else's works -- then that would be sad. Bottom line, there is still recreation occurring and as I said before as long as the person accredits the original artist, then I don't think it's a crime. The commercial end of it though, where the person would potentially be making money off of the recreation is a whole other messy realm to me and I am not informed enough to make my own stance on the issue.

Both videos touched upon the internet and how it opens up infinite doors, so good and some just leading into a world of legal issues. They display two sides of the multi faceted issue, one where a person's comfort is mettled with, and another where in general people are disobeying the law by "acting out" creatively. I feel as though this will be an on going issue and discussion as long as the internet is a prominent resource in the creative world.

Professor Glahn Freshman Lecture September 7th

Professor Glahn came to speak and being German (along with having an awesome and quite apparent accent) he had a lot to say, and knew a lot about the Bauhaus, an arts school in Germany. I feel as though he focused somewhat too much on what the Bauhaus' ideals were and not enough about how their principles apply to the Tyler students learning today. Bauhaus seemed to come along at a time where the art world was craving a reinvention, and I think that's why it was so effective. It taught a system where things were simplified and modernized. Art didn't have to be a heartfelt painting that look seven and a half years to complete, anymore.

In general though, Glahn was a very good speaker in my opinion and showed us one main diagram of the Bauhaus' ideals, which he later redesigned to represent Tyler's system of learning and how the Foundation courses are essential. This was interesting to see and made me really begin to see beyond the freshman foundation work load, and to a time where we could finally zero in on what art we really love.

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Adventure in A New Home

North Philadelphia is a big change from the quaint country feel of Mohnton, Pennsylvania -- to say the least. The past few weeks I have had a blast discovering what the great city of Brotherly Love has to offer. While North Philadelphia is not known for it's breathtakingly beautiful sights, it still has a lot to offer to an art student craving something new and opposite her quiet little town. A day's adventure is just a subway ride away. With new found friends, I have travelled to:

-- Center City for a chance to see the big city buildings, and catch a prime people watching spot on the grass in Rittenhouse Square
-- "The Linc" for an exciting football experience, even for those who literally don't care about football
-- South Street to eat some delicious frozen yogurt

On the way to Center City I saw a little boy sleeping in his dad's lap, who also was succumbing to sleep. Unfortunately I was unable to sneakily get a decent photo of the two, from a combination of fear of creeping them out and the commotion of the subway's route. Once actually there I saw City Hall, located the Blick Art Supply Store that my mom had been bugging me to find, and lounged in the grass as I watched various breeds of a dogs pass by. It was just like 101 Dalmatians, a quiet afternoon in the park where dogs can go to meet and people come to relax. I saw a tiny French Bulldog puppy and just about melted.
The Temple football game was a thing to see. After wolfing down a cheesesteak and  fries, I mistakenly observed the game from the Villanova side of the stadium. More emotion was evoked by observing the people around me, rather than the actual game. Let's just get it out there, I hate football.
South Street informed me of what gourmet frozen yogurt is and that there are far too many varieties of condoms. Not at the same time, but Phelio Yogurt and Condom Kingdom are just a beat apart.


Everything is so diverse. So many different foods to try, different people to meet, and stories to hear. There are truly cultures colliding in Philadelphia, and it's beautiful. Then there is the occasional piece of weave on the sidewalk, not quite as lovely, but still easily manages to instill wonder of what it's story is. I   look forward to spending my time in and around Temple discovering what this city has to offer to me and all people I am lucky enough to meet.