blog 5

1. I believe that my most significant accomplishment that I have made as seen from my midterm and final are my technical skills.  It is obvious to me that I have learned much more about the selection tool since my first couple weeks in the class. I have learned how to make my work appear more realistic when i need it to be, and more believable.

^much better at selecting than during the selecting fruits activities

2. The project that gave me the most difficulty was definitely the Retouching Quiz.  I struggled to learn how to alter my face at the time because i did not yet understand layer masks or the liquefy tool.  However, now I have learned how to use both of these tools, and more importantly, i understand what I can do with the tools.

^did not understand the liquefy tool

^learned how to use the liquefy tool

3. From my selections quiz to my final project there is a big difference shown in the pieces meaning. I have learned not to just create art to show that I can do this, but to make each capability useful towards making a Big Idea come to life.

^ no real big idea or meaning

^shows a big idea and is more meaningful to me

blog 4

My final project incorporates the big ideas of Dreams and Reality.  I wanted my project to show the reality of dreaming.  I used two photo shop documents to show one good dream, and one nightmare.  In the good dream, the world that surrounds the sleeping person is bright and beautiful. The setting is a nice lake with trees and plants.  There is also a butterfly and some very tranquil soft lighting.  However, only the girl’s mind can see this as it’s going on; the more transparent girl represents the mind.  I used this to show how the mind is experiencing this beautiful scenery while the body is asleep and unaffected by the dream.  In the second photo shop document u can see that the girl is in the middle of a nightmare.  The lake is now red and dark; the butterfly is no longer there and u see a dark bulldozer ready for destruction.  You can see the more transparent girl (the mind) is devastated, frustrated, and restless.  However, using irony, you see the body of the girl still unaware, at rest, and unaffected.  In general my two art pieces for my final were meant to show how no matter what your mind is seeing or feeling or thinking in your dream, in reality, your body is in the same place, still asleep, and the reality of the real world around you has not changed at all.  However, maybe after the dream, your mind will have a new perspective on life, while your body and the world turning around you stayed the same. 

Some references that inspired me to use the Big Idea of Dreams were:

1.  The artwork of Rosie Hardy.  She uses her own photos in her work to display ideas and feelings. I noticed one of her pieces which intrigued me because it represented the ideas of sleeping and dreaming.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/rosie_hardy/5107972344/sizes/l/in/photostream/ 

2.  Band of Horses' song: is there a ghost.  I was inspired by this song because it reminded me of the big idea that I was interested in, sleeping and dreaming.  It basically spurred my imagination into thinking of dreams as a Big Idea. 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JK716RqoUms

3. Jason Mraz's song: sleeping to dream.  This song really captured my attention because the song describes a mans struggle between the realities of his life, and the relief he finds from within his dreams. 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BqRPBU1tpFQ

I am also trying to incorporate layer masks into my project as well as the use of the liquify tool since I am shakey with both of those tools I would just like to practice with them and see how they can really develop and change the substance of my art. 

blog 3

two artists that influence my final project

                                                                 #1) Band of Horses

Band of Horses is an alternative band whose music inspires me to create my final project.  I have always loved the band's music.  Their melodies are simple but interesting, while their lyrics have deep and complex meanings that sometimes take time to understand. I would like for my final project to have a Big Idea that is complex and has a specific meaning, like each of their songs.  Some of their Big Ideas include; Death, Childhood, Birth, Life, and Falling in Love. 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cMFWFhTFohk&ob=av2e

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JK716RqoUms&ob=av2e

#2) Rosie Hardy 

I am inspired by Rosie Hardy's work because every picture she takes she can create into something much more complex.  I am always excited to follow her Flikr and look at all of her new images and ideas, because all of her photos have their own Big Idea.  Most of her Big Ideas are about Love, Identity, Fantasy, and Dreams.  Her work is always uncluttered and complimentary, each photo looks like a painted piece of fine art, which really interests me.  Her work makes me want to work hard on my final project and create a piece of art that not only is from a personal picture that I have taken, but compliments a big idea of mine. 

http://www.flickr.com/photos/rosie_hardy/

Movie Poster Meaning

In the movie poster above, it is obvious to the viewers that the movie leans towards a certain audience, women.  The way that designers can sway audiences one way or another is through the use of setting, colors, moods, and fonts.  You can notice in the poster above that the colors are soft and pastel, appealing to most women.  The closeness and position of the two people in the poster show affection, romance, and intimacy.  Also, by their facial expressions, it is obvious that the two people are in love and happy.  It is seen by these physical denotations that the implied connotation is that the movie is intended for many women. The title of the movie also is a clue to the movies intention.  "P.S. I love you" simply leads people to believe that this movie is a 'chick flick' and they are correct. 

In this movie poster, it is easy to see that it appeals to a different kind of public.  The visual representation of the movie in this poster show action, adventure, and danger.  The colors are dark but vivid, and the setting is vast and ready for the viewer to explore.  Taking notice to these denotative details leads us to the connotation that this movie is meant for many audiences including the majority of boys and men.

In this piece I combined the two posters in a way to make the movie "P.S. I love you" entice a different audience.  I changed the colors from light pastels to darker and more contrasting colors.  I added flames and the jungle to add to the ideas from the Avatar movie poster, creating the adventurous and dangerous mood that appeals to most boys and men.  I also changed the faces of the two people, they look distressed and sad, like they have been confronted with life and death. In general, I changed the denotation of the poster, leading to a change in the connotative meaning expressed in the movie poster.  "P.S. I love you" is no longer a 'chick flick' but an action adventure of love, life, and death, in the worlds of humans and na'vi.  

MIDTERM

MIDTERM 1

MIDTERM 2

ARTIST STATEMENT:

            For my midterm project, my Big Idea was Freedom of the Mind.  I have always felt that to truly find freedom, one has to find self-acceptance.  Without freeing yourself, your thoughts, your actions, and your being; a person can never feel true freedom.  In my project I wanted to show how if a person does not set their mind free, their whole outlook on the world is changed possibly by using colors.  Their viewpoints and perspectives will be skewed (whether good or bad) based on their level of self-acceptance.  I also wanted to show the journey it takes to get to a point of untouched freedom.  I wanted to show the escape from barriers and walls to a world of inner peace by using symbols and space.  An inspiration for my Big Idea was my favorite quote by Bob Marley, “Emancipate yourself from mental slavery, none but ourselves can free our mind.” This Big Idea and midterm assignment is important to me in general because it deals with a subject that I do feel very strongly about and have come to know on a personal level.

-FREEDOM-

BIRDS: birds represent freedom to many people, probably because birds can experience flight. In this image, the birds are flying up and out into the sky. We do not know where they are going or what they are intending to do, because they are free. One bird is still on the rocks, about to fly off, this shows that they can take their time and decide when to take off. The birds are flying to wherever they want to go with no road signs or stop lights. The birds are also all black sillouhettes, this may show that it doesn't matter what they look like, male or female, young or old, ugly or perfect, they are still all capable of flying and freedom. 

ESCAPE: This landscape represents freedom.  The idea of nature brings people to the idea of freedom often, this is because nature, when left alone, grows where and how it wants to.  The restrictions of life in nature are very minimal. There are no laws or rules to what a tree can do with its branches and leaves. Looking out on this setting makes people feel as though they can escape from their reality and enjoy what the world is truly made of and what it is supposed to be.

CHOICE: Freedom also represents choice. When u have freedom, physical and mental freedom, a person can choose exactly what they want to do. This picture shows a girl who has climbed up as high as she could to reach a certain key. She could have chosen any of the other keys on all of the other moons, but she had the freedom to choose the one she decided upon. Freedom seems to fall hand in hand with choice.