so i know we are supposed to have three posts a week....and that would be thirty posts.  this is thirty i do believe. : ) 

over the past few weeks i have learned a lot about the use of photoshop and illustrator.  it was a difficult process, and i still have a million things to learn.  but, hopefully i will have more opportunities to explore the programs so them i can perfect them and use them to their fullest potential. then...maybe i can get really good at it, get an awesome job, and be super duper rich. 

i hope. 

so this is the end. it was a good time while it lasted, but schools out for summer and the living is easy! 

counting down the days til summer....only today. monday. tuesday. then i work at 6 am on wednesday morning. my goodness this will be an awesome week. ha!

but only 1 1/2 more projects and 1 art history final and i am outta here for 3 months...florida here i come!!!!!

today there was a printer dilemma...but then it was fixed!!!! woo! so im in the process of printing everything out, along with trimming up my pieces, then im going to mount them. what an amazing thing to do on such a beautiful day.... : (

School is almost out and Im ready for summer.  Just a couple more days until everything related to school is over for about three months.  Hopefully, over the summer I can find a photoshop program and practice using it so I can expand my knowledge of the thing and become a master of it.  I am determined to learn how to use everything and make it all look awesome.  

After I fix my series of three, I need to reprint my self portrait in the correct size and while using Illustrator so hopefully the color will be right.  I need to lower the intensity of my logo on my professor portrait project and reprint that one.  My playing card also needs a touch up...everything should come together pretty well.

I finished my threesome and I thought it turned out well, but no one really had anything to say about, which probably means its not too impressive. SO, I'm planning on working on it a little more and trying to add a little extra oomph to it. Obviously, I still dont know everything there is to knows about Photoshop. I still have so much to learn.

So im over this project. Im sitting in class...stuck. i dont know what to do anymore. So I am trying to get the tedious stuff done, and hopefully I will have a "eureka!" moment sometime very soon. This is the photo Im using for my second part of the series...We'll see where it goes.

For my next project, I am going to use a photo of shoes, a perfume bottle and a purse...or maybe a diamond. I haven't decided yet.  I am going to use the art nouveau style for the text, and the designs in the background.   I want it to look a little retro and really pretty and flirty.  So far I have a couple photographs to choose from, and some ideas for nouveau images.  I think it should be pretty cool.

For our next project we have to do a series of three pieces that work together.  I'm trying to brainstorm some ideas, but my thinking cap must be turned off. bahaha! So I am in the process of googling things that I like. I don't know what direction I will be taking....this should be interesting.

I finished my laying card, I was trying to post a picture up here so you could see it, but for some reason it didnt want to work for me.  So here's a verbal description...I used a photograph of a farmer, and drew over top of it with the pen tool so it was basic shapes, then I used the photo grain tool to make it look old.  There are spades that I used the grain tool on, and the K for king is distressed looking.  I found a graphic pea pod image and redid that so it fit in better with my theme.  I put them all over the background to add some texture.  I think it turned out pretty well.  Sorry for the lack of image, I hope you have a good imagination.  

So I am in the process of staining some paper with coffee or tea...whichever I have the most of.  I want the paper to look old and worn, like those old wanted posters so Steven had the brilliant idea of just giving some paper some extra color and scanning it in. We will see how that turns out.

Today in class we each had to have a meeting with Steven about our past projects.  I have a few minor changes that need to be completed, but nothing too difficult.  I worked on my card more today....still hate illustrator.  Apparently I need to sit down with it for a few months before I really start to become an expert. Im trying to figure out how to imcorporate everythig into the card that I want to.  I have the spade drawn up, but im kind of considering tossing that one and maybe using a photograph instead.  I also was thinking about using corn somehow...cuz its a farmer. I dont know. I guess more brainstorming is necessary. 

Last week in class I started to create my card.  I found a photograph of a farmer and I started making it look a little distorted and more simple.  I decided that it was taking way too long and that I really do hate illustrator.  I cant even tell you how mad my mom would be if she heard the words that were coming out of my mouth. It was a little frustrating.  Nevertheless, I just have to keep on keepin on and everything should and hoefully will work out ok.

Here are some thumbnails for our card project.  I haven't decided which one I'm going to start with...but hopefully the ideas will flow.

Here is my reconstructed Charlie.  So far, illustrator is a pain in my ass. I'm thinking it will be really cool once I become intelligent enough to use it.  

For our next project we have to design a playing card that could go into a deck.  My idea for it is to create the realistic version of the suits, and then play off of that.  For example, if this was a full deck of cards, diamond would be a big, sparkly diamond, heart, an organ that pumps blood, club, a golf club, and spade, a little mini shovel thing.  Then i would create styles that went along with those things...like the diamond would be classy and fancy looking. I think a fun spinoff for it would be to make the king and queen relate to that theme.  The king could be a farmer with the spade, and the queen so could be a cute little house wife....something that falls into the little theme.  So this should be interesting.  Maybe if i get really motivated I could actually make the whole deck....maybe. 

My classmate project for Laura is finally done.  I started out with a completely different idea and decided after class on Tuesday that I hated it. SO, I changed everything.  I took a photo of my pond at home and kept changing the style of it to give it a Warhol feel.  I used lots of bright colors, because Laura likes to be vibrant in her work, and I included the Pisces sign by putting the fish swimming in a circle in the pond.  Laura said she wanted to be a butterfly if she could be any animal, so I included a few of those...and they are flying, which is her choice of superpowers.   

I have been working on this project all day and I am running out of inspiration and ideas. FRUSTRATED.  So, I hope things come together by Thursday...or I'm screwed.

For our next project we have to depict a classmate by using the answers to some questions.  I am doing my project on Laura...

Describe yourself as an artist:

  detail oriented, vibrant, look outside the box

What types of art interest you:

  photographs, Andy Warhol, Van Gogh, Picasso

Favorite/least favorite color:

  purple, anything not gross

Describe your personality using one word:

  compassionate

If you were an animal which one would you be:

  butterfly

What's your sign

  pisces

If you could have any superpower, what would it be? Why?

  flying...it would be marvelous to go wherever you want

 

Sooo....Jon is finished!! I tried to make it pretty 80's with the bright, random colors.  I added some figures of poses from dancercize...I thought it would make it a little more appropriate for his portrait.  Overall, its not too bad, I just wish I had a little more 80's style inspiration.

Here is my thumbnail sketch for our professor project.  I am planning on making a simplified drawing of Jon Devlin.  I am going to put an insanely 80s dance "scene" down at the bottom and add some appropriate colors.  

So I have decided to do an 80s styler poster for this teacher project.  Ill have Jon Devlin, and I think i want to draw him.  I want to use bright colors and cool fonts.  I like the "glass candy" fonts on this poster. I'll look for some more inspiration...  

Next project...a portrait of a professor we have now or have had before.  Im thinking about doing Jon Devlin.  If you know who he is you know that this project should turn out preettyyy interesting.  He is a dance teacher/choreographer here at Otterbein, and apparently he is the guy that invented DANCERCIZE!!!!! Thats probably the coolest thing I have ever heard.  So my project will probably include some kind of dance shoes...maybe even a tutu.  I figure he will be a great subject for my project. Can't wait to get started.

So this is it!!! The final copy of my self portrait ...finally.  I am finished and happy with it.  The only thing that is driving me crazy-printing.  It keeps cropping off parts of the photo which aren't exactly crucial to the final project, but I feel like they need to be in it.  So, included in it is me with my stunna shades, in the reflection is my crown which represents my love for fashion and my personality (drama queen).  There is also a city scape behind me which represents that sometime in my future I would love to move to a big city, preferably New York or Chicago.  There is a layer of lace texture in the background as well which represents they girly side of me, and the text is quotes and things that I like or are important to me.  I feel like I did a pretty good job representing my personality.  Now, if only I can get it to print. 

After spending all of class time thinking of new ideas and coming up with things that descirbed me and my personality, I decided that one of the best symbols to describe me was a crown. I am consistantly called a drama queen by my roommate. I am a dramatic person and I will admit it....so the crown fit nicely. I also decided to make the crown similar to the shape Juicy Couture Logo, which represents my love for fashion. One more fun fact....some where way down my family line is a duke. So, I'm basically royalty. Joking...but seriously. Basically, Thursday was spent drawing the crown and trying to decide where I should throw it into the portrait. I guess we will see how it turns out.

After today's lecture I figured I should draw up a few thumbnails and write a list of things about myself.  Yes, it is a little late, considering I started on Tuesday, but maybe they will inspire me to think outside the box and create something with fresh, new ideas.  I currently have the background started, but I'm having trouble deciding which photograph of myself to choose. I narrowed it down to 4.  Now for sticking it in and seeing what fits...or choosing one and redoing the background to fit the picture. Who knows!  Im crossing my fingers.  : ) 

For my second project I have to create a self portrait.  It cant just be a picture, we have to make it our own by adding certain things that reflect our personality.  I am going to use a simple picture of myself and probably make it black and white or sepia.  I want to add the phrase Mair don Noimead, which means "live in the moment" in Gaelic.  Both of my parents are Irish, so it represents my heritage and where I come from.  I try to live by that phrase, and it has a big impact in my life.  I also want to add a city skyline to the background because I am hoping to move to either Chicago or New York after graduation.  For the texture in the background I am going to scan some lace into the computer to represent my girly side.  I think I will use a lot of browns or grays and pinks.  Pink is kind of my thing.  The rest of the details will require a little thought and consideration.  I don't know what else is going to happen with it.     

The first project we had assigned in my computer design class was to create a personal logo based on our initials.  My initials are M N M.  I didn't now how to include the N so I simply stuck to M and M.  My creative process was very long and frustrating.  I tried so many different ways to combine the letters.  In the end I decided that I could make the letters look like a regular M and then the shadow of it.  My next step was to choose the font that  I wanted to use.  I first thought about a very curly, girly font.  After trying to create a shadow that coordinated with it, I decided against it.  In the end, I chose a simple font to use.  I didn't want to create anything that will distract from my projects when I actually use it as a signature.  I feel like this one will be noticeable but subtle enough that it won't get in the way of the composition.  The hardest part for me was figuring out how to use photoshop.  I think with a little practice and a lot of trial and error I will master all of the processes....cross your fingers.