Bamboo- Finished Sculpture

Here is the finished piece that I did for our bamboo project. I tried my best to break away from my comfort zone and make it less tense. I think I found a good balance. It was hard for me to use the hot glue because it wasn't wanting to hold unless I added more, and I kept burning myself trying to keep the craftsmen ship nice. I'm happy with how the overall piece ended up, though.

Ink Gesture with a Model

In this project, a nude model came to class, and we were to capture her movements with ink. I chose to focus on the movement of her arms and legs and the curve of her spine.

Ink to Bamboo Translation

For this assignment, we were supposed to take away the essence of what we felt was our most successful piece and turn it into another bamboo sculpture.

The piece I chose wasn't something from our previous project (I made it during the music experiments after finishing my work), but I liked how it turned out the most because it portrayed what I was feeling at the time. It is extremely chaotic to the point where you can't really distinguish the shapes, and that was my goal.

During the critique for my other pieces, this one was brought up for a second, and the feedback I got was that it was to muddled, so I tried simplifying the main structure.

I was thinking that the lighter lines could be even lighter to add more depth to the piece, so instead of adding more circles with the bamboo, I tried to bring out those lines with shadow. This was the finished piece with two different kinds of light sources (the first has two sources and the second only has one):

Ink- Capturing the Movement

For our three gesture Ink drawings, I wanted to do something very simple that highlighted the movement of the piece. Instead of focusing on proportion, I put effort into the curves of the lines.

Technical Difficulties

As you will probably notice if you are aware of all the projects my class has done, I am missing some of the processes altogether. In my rush to get from one class to another, I forgot to properly eject my flash drive from the foundation computer, and it corrupted my files.

Luckily, I was keeping some of them on my phone (the paper cuttings and a the ones from when I was messing around with the bamboo on that first day), but most of the pictures and any digital work (namely the Icons and the 9 Bamboo Movement Practice pieces) will have to be redone. I am working hard to get up as much as possible as soon as possible, but some of the work that I have to completely start from scratch on might not be posted until sometime on Monday simply because I have to go out to buy materials and my only access to Illustrator has been taken away until tomorrow..

I will also be taking the time this week to properly organize the dates for all of the posts.

Thank you for listening and have a great day.

Ink- Figuring Out the Gesture

    

These were me just getting used to the feel of the brush on paper and the way the inked moved for this particular shape. I wanted to really capture the movement in the curves.

Playing Around with Ink

Visual Symposium: Creative Writing and Art History

Unfortunately, I did not learn much from either of these presentations, especially Art History (Fricke has already said almost everything that was touched on in class). The Creative Writing portion of the symposium focused on poetry and what the speaker's thought were on the subject, but it was hard to concentrate because of its monotony. He basically told us that form and content are what makes up a poem and then gave examples (such as work from Christian Sole) showing  us how. My thought about poetry didn't really change at all after this lecture. The Art History presentation just restated that it is important, and that even though we shouldn't dwell entirely in the past, it is important to understand it. I could follow the presentation more because there were visual examples (the sugar and molasses sculptures with stick in my mind for a very long time), but Fricke had already covered most of what they said during class.

Bamboo- Research

Inward Movement

Dodecahedron IV by Vladimir Bulatov

"PAX MUNDI II," bronze sculpture, conceived by Brent Collins, computer-modeled by Carlo H. Séquin, cast, assembled, and finished by Steve Reinmuth.

Matsumoto Hafu Outsize Flower Basket, 2008, madake {approximately 20 × 31 in}. Collection of Saito Masamitsu.

Outward Movement

Dale Chihuly

Abstract Indoor Outdoor Stainless Steel  Metal Sculpture by Richard Walker

Djinn III (Circular abstract Spiral Repetitive Shape statue statuette) by Philip Melling

Outward and Inward Movement

Boundless Spirit by James T. Russell

A Welcome Return by Stuart Fink

Jackie Chan by Jeff Nishinaka

Bamboo- Explore

The following images are just me messing around with the materials (strips of bamboo) for the first time.

Colour Theory

The Meaning of Colour:

People's opinions on the meaning of colour, and their psychological and emotional responses to it, are extremely subjective, and even though there are some constants, the deeper meaning behind each one goes much further and varies between cultures.Warm colours as a whole tend to be more energizing and positive, while cool ones lean towards a calmer, more relaxed feeling, and when looking at non primaries, it's important to understand that the colour can take on the traits of the primaries it was mixed with.

• Red- while we typically associate red with passion, anger, violence, etc., it is good to note that it also shows importance. Use as the colour for 'the Red Carpet' at events and things such as stop signs to show danger are examples of this. In other cultures, especially in non western ones, red may also have some other meanings you would want to be aware of. In China, red is the colour of prosperity and happiness, and in South Africa, it is the colour of mourning.

• Orange- it is a very vibrant colour, and in its muted forms it may be linked with autumn, and the change that comes with it. In its purer forms, it may symbolize health and vitality.

• Yellow- it is usually considered the brightest and most energetic of the colours, and with that comes a sense of cheerfulness, but on the other side of the spectrum it may also mean deceit and cowardice (think of the meaning behind calling someone 'yellow'). It is sometimes used to mean hope, as well. In Japan, yellow is the colour of courage, and in Egypt it is the colour of mourning.

• Green- green is a very grounding colour, reminding us of nature and renewal, but it may also trigger the feelings of greed and envy because of its relation to money. Jealously is also something it sometimes gives off. Green has some of the calming effects that blue has, but also incorporates some of the energy of yellow, so it is a happy medium if you are trying to go both directions.

• Blue- because of its connotations in the English language, many of us think of sadness when it comes to blue. It is important to note, however, that it is changed depending on the exact hue and shade used. Light blues that remind us of the sky may be relaxing, bright blue would be more energetic, and darker blues could represent strength.

• Violet- while violet has been long linked with royalty, it is associated with imagination and creativity as well. Darker violets may mean wealth, and lighter violets (especially lavender) are typically associated with romance. 

• Black- black is the strongest of the neutral colours, and is often associated with power and formality. On the other side of the spectrum, it made mean death and evil. As most of us know, black is the traditional mourning colour for most western countries.

• White- white is on the opposite side of black, but like black, it works well with just about any colour. It is often associated with purity and health. In design, white is usually considered a neutral back drop that lets the other colours speak, but it is also great for conveying cleanliness and simplicity.

• Gray- gray is a neutral colour, generally considered on the cool end of the colour spectrum. It is important to note, though, that depending on its hue, that may change. It may be associated with moodiness or calmness.

• Brown- Like the dirt we stand on, brown is usually associated with the Earth, and it represents dependability and stability. On that note however, it may also be considered dull by some.

• Beige and Tan- these colours had the stability of brown and the coolness of white, and are usually used as backgrounds. Like brown, however, it may come off as dull.

• Ivory- ivory invokes the feeling of history and calmness, and is sometimes used in place of white to get a warmer feeling.

In short:

1. Red: Passion, Love, Anger
2. Orange: Energy, Happiness, Vitality
3. Yellow: Happiness, Hope, Deceit
4. Green: New Beginnings, Abundance, Nature
5. Blue: Calm, Responsible, Sadness
6. Purple: Creativity, Royalty, Wealth
7. Black: Mystery, Elegance, Evil
8. Gray: Moody, Conservative, Formality
9. White: Purity, Cleanliness, Virtue
10. Brown: Nature, Wholesomeness, Dependability
11. Tan or Beige: Conservative, Piety, Dull
12. Cream or Ivory: Calm, Elegant, Purity

Sources:

Chapman, Cameron. "Color Theory for Designers, Part 1: The Meaning of Color – Smashing Magazine." Smashing Magazine. N.p., 27 Jan. 2010. Web. 15 Sept. 2015.

Visual Symposium: Animation

Thoughts on the Presentation:

• The presentation was very interesting, and even though there were some technical difficulties, it was easy to stay focused on the task at hand. Both of the presenters did well keeping the crowd in awe. That being said, I was so wrapped up in the videos they showed us, that I didn't learn much about animation itself.

What I Learned:

• Animation isn't just feature films; it can be used to express yourself too. There is 2D and 3D, and then there's Hybrid Animation, which is a mixture of both. It is also probably one of the most broad spectrum mediums out there since it can use so many specific arts (sculpture, painting, illustration, fibers, etc.).

What It Means to Me:

• This presentation renewed my interest in animation and helped me remember why I wanted to go into it in the first place. It also helped me realize that even if I go into another major, I might still be able to work on films in other departments. It never really crossed my mind that that was a viable option before Friday.

Paper Cutting Process

Step 1: The first thing we were required to do for this project was trace over the details we felt were most important with pencil. Then we had to go over the pencil tracing with sharpie on a separate piece of tracing paper. This part of the process was probably the most frustrating for me since I didn't feel like I was capturing what I 'should'. I was a bit lost with what I should've focused on.

Step 2: The second step we needed to do was transfer the picture onto the black paper we were cutting from. In order to have the graphite on the back of the finished product, I didn't flip the tracing paper when I did the transfers. This was one of the easiest steps in the process, but it was extremely hard to get myself to do since I didn't find it fun, and I lost interest easily.

Step 3: The next step was actually cutting the paper out, and I enjoyed myself a lot. It was therapeutic to work on even though the time crunch made it a tad stressful.

Step 4: After cutting out the paper, I tried out various ways to place them to make a good composition, and since two of them turned out really bad, I re cut them.

Step 5: After placing down and getting an idea of where I wanted the different cut outs to be, I had to glue them down. This was probably the most fun I had in the project because it meant I was getting closer to the end, but I took my time to make sure I didn't get glue on the front of the piece.

Step 6: The last step was cropping the illustration board down to size and cleaning up any excess rubber cement or graphite. Unfortunately, one of my classmates dropped her pen on it, so I have to re-cut it.