Hey guys,
don't forget to bring your ink and nice paper pad to class today. Remember, the ink should be in three separate containers: one really light, one medium, and one dark tone. Also, bring your bamboo brush!
see you today!
Tuesday, October 27, 2009
Wednesday, October 21, 2009
Comics!
Here are a bunch of the comics! I have not undertaken the task of scanning the two really big ones (Chris's and Nate's), but hopefully I'll be able to do that later this afternoon.
Office Hours
Hey guys,
I have to cancel my office hours today. If you were planning on coming, email me, and we'll work out another time.
Look out for comics soon!
I have to cancel my office hours today. If you were planning on coming, email me, and we'll work out another time.
Look out for comics soon!
Thursday, October 15, 2009
'Shop It Up
Hey guys,
Here are some rather rudimentary directions on how to put all your images together in photoshop after you have scanned them. (To scan them, go to "File" then "Import").
1. The most important thing to remember in photoshop when putting images all together is that the DPI, or resolution, of all the images must be the same if you want their sizes to remain consistent. If you scanned all your images with the same scanner settings, then the DPI should already be the same. If you get something off the internet or from another source, then the DPI could be different. To check this, open the image in photoshop and go to "Image", "Image Size". The "resolution" is the DPI. In Photoshop, you can always make the DPI smaller, but making the DPI larger is risky. If you have unchecked the "resample image" box, then changing the resolution will change the size of the image (which is always fine). If that box is checked, then when you change the resolution, the size of the image will stay the same, and Photoshop will either make up data or erase it. If you have one image that is 300 DPI and another that is 72, when you put them together on the same canvas, the one that is 72 DPI will be much smaller. So, I would suggest scaling all your images to your lowest resolution one.
2. Once you have all your images opened in photoshop and their resolutions are the same, figure out how big you want the canvas to be that all the images will be collected on. Then, go to "File", "New" and create a new blank image that is the size you want it to be and the resolution of all your images. Then, go back to the window that your first image is in, and draw a selection box around the part you want to copy into your new image. You can draw a selection box by using the selection box tool (it is the second one down on the tool bar). Then go to "Edit", "Copy". If you get an error message like, "Cannot copy because selected area is blank", then go to "Layer", "Flatten Image". Then open your larger, now black canvas, and hit "Edit", "Paste". You can move the new image (or layer, in photoshop speak) around by selecting the arrow tool (the first one in the tool bar) and clicking on the image and moving it. When using the arrow tool, make sure at the top of the screen the "auto select" button is checked.
3. Repeat this step over and over until all your images are on the new canvas. If you are having issues with overlapping, you can either erase part of the offending image or you can send that layer to the back. To do this, look to the right of your screen and you will see a window that has listed all the layers (or images) that you have copied or created. The top one on the list is sitting on the top of all the ones below it. If you click a layer in this window and drag it down, it will then sit underneath the layers listed above it.
4. If you want to draw boxes around your frames, use the line drawing tool. You can change the width of the lines to fit your needs. You can also add text using the "T" tool.
5. If you have any problems, you can save your image as a photoshop document and email it to me, explaining what you would like to do. I can then try to do it and send it back to you. If you send me a jpeg, I will not be able to manipulate the "layer" information and it will make things more difficult.
Let me know if you have any problems.
Here are some rather rudimentary directions on how to put all your images together in photoshop after you have scanned them. (To scan them, go to "File" then "Import").
1. The most important thing to remember in photoshop when putting images all together is that the DPI, or resolution, of all the images must be the same if you want their sizes to remain consistent. If you scanned all your images with the same scanner settings, then the DPI should already be the same. If you get something off the internet or from another source, then the DPI could be different. To check this, open the image in photoshop and go to "Image", "Image Size". The "resolution" is the DPI. In Photoshop, you can always make the DPI smaller, but making the DPI larger is risky. If you have unchecked the "resample image" box, then changing the resolution will change the size of the image (which is always fine). If that box is checked, then when you change the resolution, the size of the image will stay the same, and Photoshop will either make up data or erase it. If you have one image that is 300 DPI and another that is 72, when you put them together on the same canvas, the one that is 72 DPI will be much smaller. So, I would suggest scaling all your images to your lowest resolution one.
2. Once you have all your images opened in photoshop and their resolutions are the same, figure out how big you want the canvas to be that all the images will be collected on. Then, go to "File", "New" and create a new blank image that is the size you want it to be and the resolution of all your images. Then, go back to the window that your first image is in, and draw a selection box around the part you want to copy into your new image. You can draw a selection box by using the selection box tool (it is the second one down on the tool bar). Then go to "Edit", "Copy". If you get an error message like, "Cannot copy because selected area is blank", then go to "Layer", "Flatten Image". Then open your larger, now black canvas, and hit "Edit", "Paste". You can move the new image (or layer, in photoshop speak) around by selecting the arrow tool (the first one in the tool bar) and clicking on the image and moving it. When using the arrow tool, make sure at the top of the screen the "auto select" button is checked.
3. Repeat this step over and over until all your images are on the new canvas. If you are having issues with overlapping, you can either erase part of the offending image or you can send that layer to the back. To do this, look to the right of your screen and you will see a window that has listed all the layers (or images) that you have copied or created. The top one on the list is sitting on the top of all the ones below it. If you click a layer in this window and drag it down, it will then sit underneath the layers listed above it.
4. If you want to draw boxes around your frames, use the line drawing tool. You can change the width of the lines to fit your needs. You can also add text using the "T" tool.
5. If you have any problems, you can save your image as a photoshop document and email it to me, explaining what you would like to do. I can then try to do it and send it back to you. If you send me a jpeg, I will not be able to manipulate the "layer" information and it will make things more difficult.
Let me know if you have any problems.
Brandon R's Blog Post
Love is the Devil.
One of the few fortunate things about growing up in Des Moines was a close proximity to the Des Moines Art Center. It has one of the best permanent collections of its size in the country (Including a very large John Singer Sargent portrait of Edouard and Marie-Loise Pailleron: for Meredith, if you haven’t been there). It was also fortunate that I had parents who were forward thinking enough to take me there regularly.
My earliest art recollection is looking at Francis Bacon’s Study after Velazquez's Portrait of Pope Innocent X :
(see above)
I suppose that at six or seven years old, my fascination was a bit like the fascination a child has when he witnesses the scene of an auto accident. Over the subsequent years, I would suspect that I have spent a cumulative period of days looking at this painting. Over time, my curiosity turned from a morbid fascination to curiosity: particularly about its creator. While Francis Bacon is not my favorite artist, this remains my favorite painting. I grew up with it and feel like I know it pretty intimately. Francis Bacon, the person, is one of the most fascinating characters that I can think of in modern history.
Some of the curiosities that one might have about Bacon can be satisfied by watching the movie Love is the Devil: A Study for a Portrait of Francis Bacon.
It is not a new movie and I have seen it several times – and again very recently. The movie was made in 1998 by John Maybury who was a protégée of Derek Jaarman (another genius whose influence is apparent in the film). It is based on the biography The Gilded Gutter Life of Francis Bacon by Daniel Farson who was a close friend of Bacon’s. I’ve read the book and would recommend it as well. The film features the period of Bacon’s life in the 1960’s and 70’s when when he was with his partner George Dyer- a prominent figure in many Bacon paintings. Bacon (portrayed brilliantly by Derek Jacobi) was a sexual masochist. George Dyer (played by a younger- for James Bond lovers- Daniel Craig) was an uneducated petty thief. They both had compound addictions. Needless to say, it was a complicated relationship. Bacon was known for his eccentricities and frequent viciousness. One could write a lot on any of those particularly aspects of the film. I find it all very engrossing. The film created quite an upset in the British art establishment when it was made because of its unseemly portrayals not too long after Bacon’s death.
For that reason, Bacon’s estate refused to allow any of Bacon’s art work to be used in the film. This is the cause of what I think to be the most interesting aspect of the film: the depictions of Bacon’s art. There are some impressions created by artists. But mostly, the film maker relied on cinematic devices to shoot the film in such a way as to make the audience feel like they were inside of a Bacon painting. He used distorted mirrors which also figured very heavily in Bacons work. There are a lot of references to the photos of Malcolm Muybridge. He uses some cinemascope techniques that feel like a triptych. The principal color palette is the colors of bone, blood, and flesh.
Here is a link to a preview:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ULIRq8wFzE4
Emily's Blog Post
When I was younger, I wanted to become a National Geographic photographer. I feel that National Geographic captures places around the world and lets viewers experience those places through a photograph. Each single photograph has a story and it lets you interpret it for yourself. I would have to say that my inspiration in my art and creativeness comes from nature and the places I have traveled.
One photographer for National Geographic that has always caught my attention with his work is Gordon Wiltsie. Wiltsie takes pictures of wild places and places full of adventure. Most of his portfolios consist of images from his expeditions. He enjoys taking images of mountains because he feels that they are one of the only things that are untouched by mankind. He attempts to capture an image that allows people to appreciate nature. Not only does Wiltsie take photos of scenery, but he captures images of people of the world. These photos let you see other people’s lives and how they live it. His photographs truly live up to the phrase “A picture is worth a thousand words.”
I love art that allows you to almost go on an adventure when you look at it. I like to be able to come up with my own meaning of what an artist is trying to convey in their pieces. I see photographs as a way to see the world even though you might not be able to ever go there. They let you experience a place that you haven’t seen before and each one shares something new. In a way this is what I try to convey in my art, something different, and something you haven’t seen before.
Here is the National Geographic Website: http://photography.nationalgeographic.com/photography
Here is another website featuring Gordon Wiltsie’s: http://www.alpenimage.com/index.html
One photographer for National Geographic that has always caught my attention with his work is Gordon Wiltsie. Wiltsie takes pictures of wild places and places full of adventure. Most of his portfolios consist of images from his expeditions. He enjoys taking images of mountains because he feels that they are one of the only things that are untouched by mankind. He attempts to capture an image that allows people to appreciate nature. Not only does Wiltsie take photos of scenery, but he captures images of people of the world. These photos let you see other people’s lives and how they live it. His photographs truly live up to the phrase “A picture is worth a thousand words.”
I love art that allows you to almost go on an adventure when you look at it. I like to be able to come up with my own meaning of what an artist is trying to convey in their pieces. I see photographs as a way to see the world even though you might not be able to ever go there. They let you experience a place that you haven’t seen before and each one shares something new. In a way this is what I try to convey in my art, something different, and something you haven’t seen before.
Here is the National Geographic Website: http://photography.nationalgeographic.com/photography
Here is another website featuring Gordon Wiltsie’s: http://www.alpenimage.com/index.html
Wednesday, October 7, 2009
Adam's Blog Post
My artistic inspiration has always seem to come from the things that are directly around me. Everywhere I go I find myself framing certain areas wishing I had a camera handy. Whether it be grand industrial architecture or moss growing on a tree, I always seem to find something I would like to have a picture of. I suppose growing up in small-town Iowa has a lot to do with the things I see as inspiration. Spending much of my time outdoors I’m sure helped me have an eye for the little things in nature that most people ignore. I like to get close to objects that I find intriguing and often times this results in macro photos focusing on objects that people don’t often see the beauty in.
Another main source of inspiration to me also happens to be my most prominent hobby which is automobiles. It all started when my older brother turned 16 and began purchasing auto-related magazines. I always found the customization aspect the most interesting. There are so many different things you can do to the same model of car to make it totally unique from everyone else. While some might argue that concept vehicles are the most “artistic” of vehicles, I have just never found them very interesting. It may sound like an odd concept when thinking of autos and art, but I have always felt that function over form produces some of the best designs out there. Although someday I do dream of being able to build some of my “dream cars”, I think I would be content photographing them.
One of my favorite automotive photographers, Son Mustafa: http://www.hasback.com/helloeveryone.htm
Another main source of inspiration to me also happens to be my most prominent hobby which is automobiles. It all started when my older brother turned 16 and began purchasing auto-related magazines. I always found the customization aspect the most interesting. There are so many different things you can do to the same model of car to make it totally unique from everyone else. While some might argue that concept vehicles are the most “artistic” of vehicles, I have just never found them very interesting. It may sound like an odd concept when thinking of autos and art, but I have always felt that function over form produces some of the best designs out there. Although someday I do dream of being able to build some of my “dream cars”, I think I would be content photographing them.
One of my favorite automotive photographers, Son Mustafa: http://www.hasback.com/helloeveryone.htm
Monday, October 5, 2009
Nate's Blog Post
The Mars Volta is a musical group who always inspires me to be creative. Their music is an amalgamation of a number of disparate musical elements from musique concrete (using recorded sounds as raw material), prog rock, afro-cuban, salsa and punk. Lead vocalist and lyric-writer, Cedric Bixlar Zavala composes verses in English, Spanish as well as Latin, often times blending two or more words together to form new ones. The group is lead by the maestro Omar Rodriguez-Lopez who has produced or co-produced all of the band’s albums. He’s known for his love of experimentation; as a producer he doesn’t allow the other band members to hear each other’s part while recording. I really like that idea because typically music is a very collaborative process and Omar denies them that so they’re forced to create in isolation which makes for interesting results. The Mars Volta is always going against the grain when it comes to trends. Their songs are extremely long; as opposed to the standard three minute radio song, the track Cassandra Gemini from their second album Frances the Mute is over thirty-two minutes long. Their music is extremely self-indulgent; some tracks will stop abruptly and go in to six minutes of “noise”.
Much of the meaning behind their music is left ambiguous and open to interpretation. That resonates particularly strongly with me because I enjoy art work that challenges the viewer/listener to generate a completely subjective response to what their experiencing which is usually entirely new and something which no one could have predicted. In this way meaning becomes infinite.
P.S. if you’re in to sound design, intermedia, performance art, conceptual art and installations you might like the band The Knife. Check out their live performance in Gothenburg, Sweden on Youtube, especially the songs; We Share Our Mother’s Health, Heartbeats, and Silent Shout.
Some other things that inspire me:
Tricky (Musican/artist/actor) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YV1G8v0j28I&feature=related
One Day as a Lion (band: Zac De La Rocha, Jon Theodore) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6mKtt7F0rPU
The Knife (Swedish brother/sister duo) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S7seDfyXGOw&feature=related
TV on the Radio (band)
Takashi Miike (Director) Graveyard of Honor, The Audition, Ichi The Killer, Full Metal Yakuza etc.
David Lynch (Director) Blue Velvet, Mulholland Drive, Twin Peaks etc.
Robert Standish (Contemporary photorealist painter)
Much of the meaning behind their music is left ambiguous and open to interpretation. That resonates particularly strongly with me because I enjoy art work that challenges the viewer/listener to generate a completely subjective response to what their experiencing which is usually entirely new and something which no one could have predicted. In this way meaning becomes infinite.
P.S. if you’re in to sound design, intermedia, performance art, conceptual art and installations you might like the band The Knife. Check out their live performance in Gothenburg, Sweden on Youtube, especially the songs; We Share Our Mother’s Health, Heartbeats, and Silent Shout.
Some other things that inspire me:
Tricky (Musican/artist/actor) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YV1G8v0j28I&feature=related
One Day as a Lion (band: Zac De La Rocha, Jon Theodore) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6mKtt7F0rPU
The Knife (Swedish brother/sister duo) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S7seDfyXGOw&feature=related
TV on the Radio (band)
Takashi Miike (Director) Graveyard of Honor, The Audition, Ichi The Killer, Full Metal Yakuza etc.
David Lynch (Director) Blue Velvet, Mulholland Drive, Twin Peaks etc.
Robert Standish (Contemporary photorealist painter)
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