Portfolio Progress 3-25-11

I believe my concentration to be clear, and focused. My works metaphorically, symbolically and allegorically define each icon's memorable life and highlights their tragic deaths. Some even go as far as to illustrate the methods by which their blood was spilled as in my piece "Abraham Lincoln" where John Wilkes deceitfully rests his pistol upon the shoulder Lincoln's corpse. By uncovering the poignant emotions that spring from their deaths, I am able to create a connection between the subject and the viewer. Understanding the life, and the death, of these prominent figures, the viewer becomes familiar with their essence and their beauty--which was cut short by treacherous plots or untimely accidents. I think this concept is easily traced through all my pictures.

My technical ability is evident in each of my pictures, and affects all aspects of my digitally rendered images. Over the past few years I have become very familiar with the workings of PhotoShop, and I am able to utilized this tool to the fullest. By collaging, and editing my images I am able to make them my own and avoid misrepresenting the work of other artists. For instance, in my piece "John F Kennedy" I compiled three different images into the final composition--each adding another layer to the next. This effect allows for a multi-tiered interpretation, and unique conception of the underlying idea.

Ey Blinkin'...Get it?

My first piece for my concentration was based upon the tragic story Lincoln's last moments of life. He was assassinated by John Wilkes Booth, who was a banner-child for the ideal of  "Sic Semper Tyrannus", in the Ford Theatre. Dressed in his best, a bullet-hole offers escape for a geyser of red. My piece highlights the tragedy of this horrible historic event, and the implementation of the "murder" poster adds to the over all effect. By linking all of the separate images the total work comes to like, and by editing Lincoln's face i was able to add some emotion. The texts adds complexity to the background, and has a smooth flowing rhythm to it. And the unity of the foreground even-though the images are completely unrelated allows for the piece to become one piece of work. Also, the contrast of the streak of blood adds a necessary flare to the plainness of the black-and-white images.

BRINGING LOMBARDI HOME!

Today, Packer fans living with the pathogenic, and highly communicable "Packer Fever", take a sigh of relief. The newly crowned Green Bay Packers brought home the trophy that bears the name of the man who brought initial honor to our humble, but prestigious state. My goal was to honor the achievements of the green and gold, and Lombardi himself. I achieved this by incorporating a ghosted image of Vince Lombardi into the trophy, and placing that trophy in the hands of and edited image of Ben Rothlisberger. Ben Rothlisberger, our hated opponent in Super Bowl XLV?! Yes, ironically the only picture I could find of someone holding the trophy was of Rothlisberger, so I place Aaron Rodgers' face on his body. The asymmetrical symmetry of the image puts the foreground into perspective, and the Green Bay colors incorporated into the scheme add a sense of unity. The angled hand holding the trophy also draws your eye up in the trophy, and through the rest of the piece. I wish I could have found a more high quality image to work with, because it would have been cool to print it onto a poster sized paper. But overall I think my piece displays my message well, and illustrates the pride we Wisconsinites have in our Packers. Go Pack!

Senior Gallery

My progress over the past semester can be fully mapped out with the exploration of the space I designed. With interior design elements that are ambiguously incorporated within each piece, I created a connection; the curtains hint at the comfort of home, the netting reveals a connection to the methods of overfishing, and the the crazily painted board with my name on it is similar to the colors used in my early works. These elements are symbolic of my metamorphosis into an experienced artist. I've transitioned from being an artist primarily using drawing tools and mark-making to create art, to an artist utilizing the aid of digital media to create my pieces of art. Art for me isn't about creating something that appeals to others, or the desire to achieve profit. For me, art is about the passion, the feeling, the emotion. When I look at a piece that I've created, I need to feel some sort of overpowering emotion in order for my work to be successful. I've discovered this powerful experience over the 4 years of my involvement in PHS's art program, and its has been essential to my development as an artist, student, and man.

Home Isn't A Place...

Home, for everyone should inspire feelings of warmth, comfort, and happiness. It is an unscathed memory of the past that remains in our minds for the rest of eternity. A house, technically may become a home, but a home is not defined by the material house itself. A "home" is defined by the people who live there and lay their hard-working hands on the objects within. Their influence, and presence is the heart and soul of a homely atmosphere. My mom, dad, sister, and dog all make my Victorian-era house into a Modern-era home. Each of the backgrounds they are portrayed in, illustrates their usual dwellings and activities. For me, imagining them in those place will send my thoughts hurdling homeward from wherever in the world I am. The colors I used are warm, inviting, and hint at the tones of human flesh. This, therefore, aids in the comprehension of my "Family make a house a home" message. Also, the heart image on each of my family members shows that home(family), is where the heart is. 

Half of a Green Face Mounted on Plexi-Glass?

For my free choice, I decided to dabble in the 3D world of artistic expression. I have always wanted to try my hand at sculpting, but the opportunity never really presented itself to me. This was my chance. I wanted to create a face with a expressionless or stoic expression, and for the color of the clay itself to model the feeling of the subject. I chose an eery green, and I believe it fits well with the black and clear composition of the rest of the piece. On another level, I decided that water running down over the face would add another aspect to the overall complexity. This was an a,most overwhelming challenge for me, as I set out to hand-make the frame, pump-housing, and water-tight base. Everything that could possibly have gone wrong, went wrong, and I almost abandoned the whole thing. But thankfully, a spare pump was found and utilized, and the whole thing started coming together. The piece uses asymmetrical composition, and movement to capture my emotion.  

Social Justification

Overfishing is becoming a huge problem for the global population. With numbers of fish stock rapidly and exponentially decreasing, the worlds oceans are being netted into an oblivion. How would we feel if our populations become caught in the nets of some other species, causing our culture to teeter on the precipice of extinction. My piece illustrates this idea, and opens your eyes to the problem before us. I used movement, and similar colors to tie the images together, and create what I think to be a strong and meaningful piece of propaganda. To add a personal flare to this image, I added silhouettes of people I actually know in real life, and put them in the path of destruction before the net. I even created a logo for an imaginary foundation against the overfishing of the world's oceans.

"Bearly" a Portrait

I know it's blurry, but even on the manual setting it was out of focus due to the curvature and texture.

I used pastels, charcoal, and pencil to create my drawing. I used collage to for an interesting background, and added fur for added foreground texture. The three tears in my face, and the hanging nude of myself draw the eye down and to the right, causing movement.

I am a Bear. Ferocious, tenacious, powerful, and hungry. These traits are all within me and a part of me. In my self-portrait I am within the skin of a bear. I take on the essence of the bear, and mirror it's savagery in my face and body language. But, sometimes, this power cannot get contained and gets the best of me. It "tears" out of it's resting place within me, and sends me on a rapacious rampage. I end up clinging for dear life, on the edge of destruction or on the teeth of my destroyer. I in the end, will most likely be my own destroyer. I, the bear.

Free Choice

Our class was given the task of creating a free choice piece that would fit into our individual chosen portfolios. Being torn between the world of 2D Design and Drawing, I decided to incorporate elements of each into my project in order to create flexibility. The design and use of space makes the piece move and blend with the background, and in essence ignores the complexity, or in this case simplicity, of the foreground. In order to create a thought provoking foreground image that contrasted with the simple colors and shapes behind it, I decided to use a flowing image of a "ghostly" woman. By using sketch 'n wash pencils I was able to render her and skew her lines with the "wash" feature of the pencils. Also, by adding a smudged handprint in white, I was able to add an other element of contrast. The rules of thirds is strictly followed in my piece, and other elements such as movement, contrast and color are seen throughout. I used my time in class wisely to create my project, and even came in most mornings on my free period to create the substrate and the drawing itself. I love how it turned out, and in all honesty I wouldn't change a thing on it. I used all sorts of media on it, such as: paint, tissue paper, charcoal, pastels, and pencil. By using all of those media, I was able to create a simple, yet engaging, piece with complex methods of construction.

10 Pieces in 1 Week!

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Under tight deadlines and a strict schedule, our AP Art class was instructed to create 10 original pieces--in a week's time. This project was the most time consuming school related thing I've ever done. Every night i worked tirelessly on completing as least one piece, and adding it to my amounting collection. I did this every night for a week, and in the end all came out well.

     The concepts that my work was based upon were in many ways original and inspired great creativity, this was new to me. I was free to do whatever I wanted as long as it in some way related back to the word I was provided with. To create my art, I utilized a variety of materials. I used: charcoal, colored pencils, watercolor pencils, pen, permanent marker, collage, etc. After I completed the project and handed it over to be graded, I looked back at what I had done and what I had learned. I learned how to manage my time, how to create good work in a short time, and how to take something simple and spin it into a complex, thought provoking images. 

     My portfolio has also been impacted by this project. I have, in essence, decided on either drawing/mark-making or 2D Design. I feel comfortable with my decision, and with the work I have created. But, if i were able to improve one thing, I'd improve the overall complexity of my 10 pieces. Although some were overwhelming complex and beautiful, some lacked character and maintained a drab appearance. With the addition of a bit of complexity my collection would have came to life, reached out, and tugged on your heartstrings.

The Lay of the Land

Some aspects of art escape me: the flowing reflections of water, translucency of glass, and soft edges of cloud, and the texture of life. Utilizing these things adds emotion and drama to the art it appears in. With each brushstroke, or pencil's scratch, and artist can create a masterpiece from nothing. This apparition is the pursuit of all creative souls, and is only trapped by the great. Hopefully, one day, we will all attain that greatness...

AP ART 2010

Trite...

Yes, I know eyes seem to dominate the sketchbooks of troubled young artists everywhere. But there is something interesting that happens when you draw the windows to the soul--the eyes. The glassy surface and reflected sight surrounded by a fringe of lashes seems to capture your gaze, an hold it captive. I've never been particularly good at drawing eyes, but I hope to improve. However trite it may be, I'll still fill some of my pages with pensive eyes

A World I Know Nothing Of...

Abstract. The word, the style, and the idea seems just out of reach for me. The use of varying color, shape, and light is unique and full of misconstrued knowledge. Emotion flows off the canvas in a way that conventional art can not compete with. My conventional brain cannot comprehend the seemingly random style regraded as abstract, yet somehow it connects with me. To the right is a painting I found on www.fineartamerica.com. It incorporates all the aspects of abstract art, and melts them together to create a fine piece of art, that even I can enjoy.

Multitasking

Last year, I took two drawing classes, design, and photography. As a result, each element has bleached into the others--tainting and skewing them. Mostly elements of design and drawing have altered others and created a melting pot in my mind. 

Drawings like the one below peak an interest in my altered state of mind, and I critique them in my head. Angles, color, drama, detail. They all are taken into account, and are represented in a well thought out space. I really like this drawing from an interior design magazine because I connect with it, and could see myself living in a space like it someday.

Hatred!

Beyond all else, I hate drawing textures. Crosshatching and other techniques for creating the feeling of an objects surface are tedious and i despise the very thought of them. However, with practice and guidance, someday I may be able to wield these techniques as a tool within my artistic arsenal.

I found this sample of texturing on an artistic practice site

Better Than Me

Personally, I enjoy doing portraiture. Capturing a person's essence on paper is both fulfilling, and rewarding. Seeing the light in a man's eyes, and etching that brightness onto paper is one of the greatest of all earth feelings. I've investigated others who also enjoy portraits, and who are much better than me. I found their work to be awe-inspiring and beautiful. One day, i hope to be able to do what they do and to be a real artist.

Chris Brown - Crawl

Sticking to the inspirational music aspects of the artistic lifestyle, I have discovered a new song that I love, and the accompanying music video I love even more. The dance moves, and the artistic licenses used by the producer were original, and captivating. Although I don't know how I can mimic the effects used, I feel inspired to do so sometime soon

The White Panda

www.whitepanda.com

In the past I have mostly wandered down the mainstream fork of the musical experience, but more recently I've ventured down the curvaceous and adventurous fork. On this exploration, I discovered a new genre of music. It mixes old school classics, with new school beats. With these tunes in my ear, I am inspired to try other things, and think with a different mindset. It's hard to explain, but direct your ears toward this new style and maybe you'll understand. Warning, though, some of the lyrics on this site may be explicit. Enjoy!  

Fishin' In the Valley

     After a family fishing trip to La Farge, in Eastern Wisconsin, I feel like a breath of fresh air has been blown into my life. Although I didnt bring along a sketchbook to capture the beauty, I will never forget it. The green valleys, the marbled escarpments, and the bristled pines have been etched into my mind. While on a canoe trip down the Kickapoo River, a family member snapped this image of the rural outdoors:
     Although no art was created on the trip, I feel that the journey has impacted my artistic view and style. The blacks and reds have faded from my mind, and cool natural colors have rush in--filling a long empty void. I don't know how to explain it, but it's a feeling I'm not willing to part with anytime soon.

Post-Plein Air

While at the competition, I had begun a second piece for submission but ran out of time and therefore, completion was impossible. I took my unfinished work home, and finished it. the subject matter of the piece was a yellow daisy overlooking the downtown street, and the grassy lawn. I used watercolor pencil to create it, and i believe it turned out well. It uses asymmetrical symmetry and utilizes the rule of thirds as well. Here's my finished piece, I hope you like it!