Writing 5(blog posts) for Crit 4

1) From the last critique, I learned a lot of information from Rhona and Emi on how I could create more realistic images using my art markers. I took outlined sketches of the birds that I want to work on next, a Eastern Meadowlark and a Red-winged blackbird.

Work in progress: Eastern Meadowlark

Work in progress: Red-winged Blackbird

I also took a sketch of the series that I would like to create for my mother. A lot of the landmarks that she grew up with in Kansas City are getting older and becoming destroyed or just don't exist anymore. My first illustration is going to be one of the six foot tall ceramic Easter bunnies that decorate the Country Club Plaza in Kansas City.

I chose "Kate" because I remember as a child always having to find this particular bunny. Kate was my grandmothers nickname and my mother's mother. With the recent passing of my grandmother, I felt that by creating this piece, it would be fond memories for my family.

Work in progress: "Kate"

Some of the other landmarks that I would like to create include the Nelson-Atkins museum's shuttlecocks, Union Station, the Dime Store on 63rd street in Brookside, the Country Club Plaza at Christmas, some of the Kansas City fountains, and etc.

While this isn't anything that I have really done before, I think that it would be interesting for my mother and a way to remember her childhood.

A piece that was critiqued was the first GIF that I had made for Editorial Illustration

"The curious student"
digital media

It was noted that the pulsing was not liked, but I feel that most bugs pulse anyway. It was also noted that the bug turned green for a second, but I am unsure how to fix that in Photoshop. I hope that future photoshop classes will help me to hone my skills, but I have not had any classes in this area to date.

I really liked the image that I used for the final piece and may work on it so that it could be used in my portfolio as well for scientific illustration.

Four of the pieces that I submitted photographs of were accepted into the Cow Creek Review, the literary magazine for Pittsburg State.

"Kansas Lepidoptera"
gouache

"Tea for Two"
plastic and brass

"Apidae"
nickel and bumblebee jasper

"Kansas Winds"
brass

Other pieces that I had submitted to the Cow Creek Review that were not accepted included:

"Giraffe Study"
brush and ink

"Color My Room"
art marker

"A Study in Marker"
art marker

"Family Traditions"
gouache

2) The fellow student artist that I am going to highlight this time is Molly McVey. One of the things that I really admire about Molly is that she stays true to herself no matter what. Molly works to make an artwork that yes, will get her a good grade, but she makes something at the same time that is going to make her happy.

I've really liked a new technique that she has been trying out this year, and those are her digital line drawings. I feel that she captures the elements of the photograph that she uses as a background, while bringing her own touch into something.

At first, I wasn't fond of these pieces, but then I realized that they were merely a different version of what I like to do.

Molly has also been taking a class in plein air painting and I think that she's definitely improved her painting skills. It's been fun to watch her light up with the different pieces that she has created and the experiences that she gained from them.

Make sure that you check out Molly's blog here!

New Vector stuff that I've done recently

Vector graphics has been an interesting class for me to take. I've learned a lot about Adobe Illustrator that has helped me in other projects. I've been given a little bit more reign in what my finished projects look like and I've been able to be a little bit more creative.

Recently, we've learned how to live trace an image. I've been playing around with the function and was fooling around with some of my photos.

I actually really like the live traces of these pieces because I think that they are fun and could easily be created in gouache or another medium.

Writing 4(blog posts)for Crit 3

 The most recent critique went fairly well. Since I did not have any new bird illustrations, I took my illustrations from Life Drawing and working with the models that have been in class. Portico Bowman was the instructor who critiqued my work and was excited to see my work. She was glad to see that I was taking the effort to create the folds take the time to do the right amount of shading needed.

In addition to working on perfecting my anatomical figures, I looked at Lauren Downing's blog and I also think that everyone should check out the work that she is up to. I really enjoy working with Lauren because she creates amazing portraits of people and has an excellent use of color and gray  scale.

Lauren always pushes me to do better in my pieces because she is just so good and always knows what she is doing.

Check out Lauren's blog!

Writing 6 (blog posts) Artist Lecture

While I have attended each lecture offered this semester, my favorite had to be The Ariel Bowman lecture that occured on April 2. I really liked each piece that she talked about and her process. When creating her pieces, she creates a solid form and then hollows it out to 1/4 of an inch thickness.

I really liked how she created the texture and design on the different animals. I feel that the way she used color helped make the pieces feel older than they actually were.

I felt that her presentation was very professional, but still allowed her to have fun and talk about what she loved and what her passions were. I did not ask any questions of her when she was done, but I listened to the questions that other people asked and found them to be very interesting.

What I took away from the talk was that no matter what, artists need to pursue what interests them and continue to create pieces that match that passion. It helps the artist get those thoughts out of their system and move on to their next project.

Writing 3 (blog posts) for Critique 2

For this post, I need to update on how my last critique went. It was a good critique with good, useful insight from my peers and the instructor that was in my section, which was Josie, the art education instructor. While Josie and I are a little bit on opposite ends of the spectrum with how we do art, I'm very technical while she is very 'crafty,' we still discussed my pieces and were able to determine that for me to become good at illustrations, I need to create several pieces at a time so that I can learn from my practicing.

Wood Duck
art marker
6" x 6"

Male and Female Cardinals
art marker
6" x 6"

We both agreed that the Wood Duck piece was the stronger piece of the two and that the cardinals seemed a little bit hairy instead of feathery. My peers mentioned that they were glad to see me transitioning into color instead of solely working with black and white. I think that I'm glad about it too.

With Spring Break coming up, I hope to have time to create some more bird illustrations, and hone my skills a little bit more.

2. Mattie Parrigon is the next artist that I want to talk about. Mattie does such amazing work that just leaves my jaw on the floor every time that I see something new from her. Mattie's work is detailed and light, but evokes feeling that leaves the viewer wanting more.

Mattie's own project for this semester focuses on senior citizens and the stories that they have to tell. You can tell by the way that Mattie's face lights up when she is talking about her interview with these people, that this is what she loves.

While Mattie is still working her way through school towards a degree, she continues to create pieces that are just stunning. Check her out NOW!

Mattie's Blog!!!!!

Editorial Illustration pieces and updates

In the Editorial Illustration class that I'm in, I originally thought that the class was going to be about working with political illustrations and cartoons. However, as the class has progressed, I've realized that it takes a lot more than just political illustrations.

Our first assignment was based on a basketball-sized object that we brought from home. Seeing as I don't really have a whole lot of large objects, I brought my stuffed gorilla. We had to create four different pencil drawings to represent a single word.

"Decay"
pencil
6" x 6"

 

"Isolation"
pencil
6" x 6"

"Rebirth"
pencil
6" x 6"

"Trustworthiness"
pencil
6" x 6"

As usual, it was noted during the critique of this class that I tend to use to much texture and tone in my pieces. The strongest piece was determined to be the "Decay" pieces, because it had a balance of tone and white.



The second assignment revolved around three different articles that were taken from the magazine 'The New Yorker.' After reading the articles, the assignment was to choose one article and illustrate it so the reader could understand what was going on. I chose to illustrate the origins of Wonder Woman. The idea for the comic came from suffragette days.

Original inked piece

Touched up piece of Wonder Woman

I made Wonder Woman the center of attention because that's what the focus of the story was. I used the lines of the poles of the suffragette signs pointing towards her so that it formed a "W" and emphasized her even more. I couldn't put Wonder Woman in her iconic costume, so I lengthened the skirt, but kept the stars. She is still wearing her 'bullet proof' bracelets and her crown on top of her hat.


My favorite part of this illustration was creating the feathers on the hats. That was the most freeing part and I was able to just have fun and not really worry.

During the critique of this piece, it was mentioned that the signs could have some scribbles on them. While words were forbidden, scribbles would give the effect that there were words on the sign. While my figure drawing has improved, the figure on the far right was not ideal and could have been rendered at a better quality.

It was also mentioned that the sign that Wonder Woman was holding should have been flat like the other signs instead of being 3-dimensional. It was confusing and should be the same as the others or make them all 3-dimensional.


The third assignment was an infographic on the topic of the students choice. I chose to cover the topic of recycling. We were limited to a color palette of 3-5 colors, not including black and white.

I really struggled with this infographic because it needed to be done on Photoshop and I had never worked in Photoshop. I spent a lot of time on this and ended up having 92 layers when I was finished.


During critique of this piece in class, it was noted that if the blue background had been a few shades darker, it would be less harsh on the eyes when reading.


It was also the opinion that I should have focused numbers of a specific recycling instead of the facts that I did focus on.

Vector Graphic Things

Currently, I am enrolled in Vector Graphics at PSU which is Adobe Illustrator. As I've never really worked with computers on this level before to create digital work, I've found it frustrating and interesting at the same time because one must make sure that paths are connected and must look at how they are in outline and 'regular' view. It has been interesting and yet challenging to work with the hot keys for each tool, but I've realized that by using the hot keys, it's a lot faster.

First Assignment in Vector Graphics

Second Assignment in Vector Graphics

I found the second assignment to be a lot more fun. It allowed me to be a little bit more creative, especially when creating the pattern. After I made the pattern into a 'carpet,' I realized that I would totally own that carpet, or would at least like to see it somewhere.

Life Drawing Sketchings

In Life Drawing, we've been slowly working our way through the body. For the first few weeks, we worked our way down the skeleton. I learned a lot about gridding out the body and proportions and whatnot.

The body and measurements

3-D views of skull

gridding out skull

Scapula and positioning

Spine, ribs and pelvis

pelvis and leg bones

Foot structure

Hand Bones and structure

Sketch showing under drawings of hand bones

showing how all the tools learned are
used to flesh out the figure