machinery.

i'm actually turning in something on time. kudos to myself... although i might redo it, i'm not super happy with the results. so, i kinda waited until last minute to do this, i've been going crazy trying to finish everything for my internship. it's absolutely nuts the amount of work that's required for it, but after i present tomorrow all will be good. anyway, this is part of one of the engines over at my dad's workshop. i went over there to try and find something to photograph quickly because i needed to get this done and move on to finishing and rehearsing my presentation for tomorrow. so, yeah... i'm kind of rambling, i'm a tad bit delirious, but here you go.

alas - my animal contour... thing.

okay, so this was the hardest project yet. i have literally tried ten different things on this, but i think i finally found something that i like. i decided to draw a little freehand peacock. i actually had fun drawing it. when i finally finished i had no clue what to do with the background. whatever i tried look wonky because the white pieces on the bird were actually white and not cut out so it looked like i missed a spot... if that makes any sense at all. so i decided to give it a border by copying and pasting it and turning the entire thing white and making it a little bigger then putting it behind the black one. i decided to go with a solid background because the bird itself is so busy and it helps it to stand out. anyway... i'm finally caught up on ap stuff!

HALLELUJAH!!!

identity circles.

okay, i'll try my best to explain. here's my identity circles. for the circles themselves, mrs. kerr suggested that i use photos i've taken to make the circles. i tried doing that but it look funky because you couldn't really see a lot of the picture. so, what i did was scale the picture tiny, then blow them back up again to make them all pixelated. that way it looks like cool designed lines, rather than some part of a photograph. then, i picked 4 words to describe myself and then i had my best friend of 17 years pick words for the other side and glued them onto the circles. when i went to go put them in my book i forgot about the background. so, on the side for myself i put "b.o.y.", it stands for "beware of you". something that the singer of one of my favorite bands made up. it means to beware of yourself for the good and the bad things that you are and love yourself for it, something i really believe in. on the other side i put x's and o's because it's from my best friend that i love with all my heart and that's something she would have put on there. so, viola! altered book.

makin' movesss...

here is my movement project. i don't know if this really works. when i think movement in graphic design i think lines and stuff to symbolize movement. so that's what i tried to do with this. the silhouette is a guy jumping with a guitar and i used lines show him jumping and the paint splats are the kick, or what have you.

i don't know... i tried to do something more my style, and i guess this is it... like it or not.

family history.

so, i forgot to post this. it's supposed to be a family history page, but to be completely honest, i know close to nothing about my family's history. that's why most of this page is white space. all i know about my family is their personalities and how their personality traits have been passed down to me. so, that's what i did with this page. burkhardt is my dad's family name and walker is my mom's so they are down the sides on either page. the portrait-ish thing in the middle is supposed to be me. the words that form my outline are traits of either family. they are distinctivly different to me and make up completely opposite sides of who i am. i decided to leave my face and the majority of the rest of the page blank to make up for the blank space in my life. my face being the space that i have to come up with to pursue my own history and the background being the background of my life i don't really know about.

filling the pot aka the actual artist statement.

i've never really found myself to be exceptionally good at something, at least until this.

it all started when i switched one of my classes my sophomore year from an unbelievably boring business management class with the nasally voiced mrs. haga to commercial arts two, even though i hadn't met the prerequisite. i went into the class got my first assignment, the project from hell, to create a digital portrait of somebody. i spent weeks slaving over it, complaining about it. changing one tiny point at a time, trying to create something amazing. did it turn out amazing? not quite, but this was just the start for me.

from there i practiced. i did more projects, learned how to work illustrator, and created. i couldn't get enough of the multitudes of things the computer could do that i was not capable doing with a pencil and paper. so, i kept pushing myself to do more projects.

over the past two years i have seen myself grow as an artist. experimenting with different techniques and styles. design has landed me an internship at a design firm and an editor position on my school's yearbook. i do not know where else design can take me, but i know the possibilities are endless.

i have yet to find a method to the madness that is design. i have tried countless amount of things, a million different processes to find one i can settle into, but i can't. all the work i do is sporadic and even i don't know what it's going to look like finished until i click print. in the end i just want to create something i am proud of. i want to be able to hang up pieces, stand next to them, and smile.

assembling ingredients.

here's step one to the artist statement.

1. think... well, to be honest how i got into design. i just took the class to be with friends. i ended up accidentally skipping graphic design one and going straight to two. i think me surviving, actually excelling in two with skipping one helped me realize that i may actually be good at design. mrs. cox told me i had a natural eye for it, forced me to be on yearbook to design, and then was forced into being design editor and designing the entire book. hopefully the school likes it. /: i am a weirdly ocd and self critical about my work so i guess when i actually like something i feel i'm doing well. i just like to design because it has so many possibilities and is all around us.

2. list... oh goodness: obsessive compulsive, serendipitous, frustrating, confusing, altercations with myself, expressive, colorful, monotone, awe-inspiring, peculiar, on a whim, debating, indecisive, shy, a crazy mixture of thoughts.

3. answer...

1. i guess that my favorite tool would be illustrator. it's really the only program i can use without going insane and throwing the computer across the room. it's super easy to use and it has so many different possibilities. probably a thousand more than i actually know how to use.
2. material? uhm... how would i choose this if all my work is digital? i guess paper. since i print it out on paper... sorry for the sarcastic answer.
3. i like that the work that i do gets noticed. i love when people see something that i make and ask "how did you do that?". i like to tell them that i drew it, on a computer. i think that i like that it's not something that a lot of people really do, yet. it's fairly new to a lot of people and i get to be the one that exposes it to them. (yay, a meaningful answer! kudos to myself.)
4. i mean that i approve of it. i don't really say the things that i do is good. i don't want to make myself sound cocky or anything like that, so instead i end up cutting myself down, it's really something i should stop doing, but i can't help it. if i say that something turned out really well i mean that i believe the piece is capable. of what, i'm not really sure...  maybe that it will capture the attention of people and keep it. they will wonder about it, what it means, how it was done, something like that. that it will just be noticed.
5. i honestly don't think that i really have a pattern in my work. i usually just take forever, and i really mean forever, to think of some idea and once i think of something that could remotely turn out, i run with it. i usually end up designing everything in black first and then adding color? that's really the only thing i can think of. i was told that if something works in black and white it will work even better in color, so that's something i do.
6. i don't know a good answer to this. i can't really remember being taught specific lessons in art. i really think it's subjective and it can't be taught. i don't believe in having "rules" of art. even though in photography there's the rule of thirds and whatnot i think rules are meant to be broken... to an extent. i honestly can't remember being taught anything. i think that art teachers are there to assign things to you and make suggestions. i think every rule in art can be bent and there's nothing really set in stone.
7. my favorite color... i like really bright orange and a grayish lavender purple. which is weird because they're such different colors. my room is painted a bright obnoxious orange and i love it. i think that orange is a really happy, cheerful, and inspiring color. i painted my room to help to spark certain creativity and it would give me something bright to look forward to everyday... even if it's just the color of my wall. i don't really use orange a lot in my work, but i love using the purple. i used it on my resume for my internship and several different projects in graphic design. mrs. cox used to get mad at me because i used it all the time, but i didn't care because it's awesome. if gives a professional look without to many obnoxious colors.

4. elaborate... insane, unlimited, sarcastic, meaningful, believer, exposing, new, uplifting, capable, attention getter, colorful, over-think, unteachable, rebellious, bright, unobnoxious.

5. define... obsessive compulsive and rebellious.
     obsessive compulsive: of or pertaining to a personality style characterized by perfectionism, indecision,    conscientiousness, concern with detail, rigidity, and inhibition.
     rebellious: defying or resisting some established authority, government, or tradition; insubordinate; inclined to rebel.
i don't really know what these words have in common. my art is perfected insanity? haha, i actually really like the sound of that. i feel like it works for the things i do. it drives me completely insane and i do it over and over until i think it's perfect.
nice.


6. mad-libs...

1. when i work with illustrator i am reminded that there are so many different possibilities with every piece of work that i do. i know that illustrator is a super sophisticated program that is really capable of doing so many different things and therefore that makes me capable.
2. i begin a piece by overthinking. i try to run through a million different ideas in my head. of course not literally a million, but i try to come up with lots of different ideas and pick the best one. i like to have more than i need with everything, including ideas. that way if something doesn't go as planned i have back ups.
3. i know a piece is done when i don't have any other suggestions, whether they be from myself or from my peers. if nobody has advice for me to make something better, than i know that it's finished.
4. when my work is going well, i am filled with a sense of relief. honestly, sometimes projects stress me out and when things work i am so relieved that it's actually going the way that i plan, which doesn't really happen much.
5. when people see my work, i'd like them to wonder. i don't really care if people think my work is good or not i just want them to acknowledge it, for good or bad. wonder how i did, what it's about, really anything. 

wow. longest blog post ever.

chalk, fire, and leaves.

so here is my family traditions altered book page. my tradition is camping with my family. it's the one thing that we ALWAYS do together and i absolutely love it. we go camping with a huge group of family friends. people that my dad has known since he was in middle school so all of us kids have grown up together and are all best friends. i love it, plain and simple.

so for my page i did a chalk background of some trees just to fill up some space, but to still make it light enough so i could write over it. i then put on the red plaid ribbon because it looks like the tablecloth that we use on our picnic tables whenever we go camping. i added the photos from our different trips: atving at steamboat, the landscape at dot sero, and our camp on lake mcconaughy. i burnt the edges to represent the campfires that we always have. i stuck on some leaves i found at my house and then wrote a little something on the left had side.

can i just say that i love this project? it's really hard for me because i'm not a traditional artist, but i just love the mixed media thing, it's awesome. i will do my family history page soon... once i figure out my family history. i have no idea what to do.

Published with Blogger-droid v1.6.3

familiar landscapes.

 

hooray. i finally am turning something in on time. early in fact. so anyways, for this project we were supposed to focus on composition, contrast, and focal point. i actually did all of those things and i am so excited. i took this picture last week and it's the view from my deck. i don't know how the sky turned this crazy color, everything was so orange. i really like this picture, it's just part of the world i see from my house. (:

i don't like landscapes. i feel like anyone could kinda take this picture, maybe that tells me that this isn't good enough.

i changed my mind.

originally i wrote my memory about meeting my favorite band, but i decided to change all that based on what happened this weekend...

two very dear friends of my family passed away this weekend. my family goes atving all the time with a giant group of friends that have grown into family. this weekend they boys of the group went to the walden sand dunes. unfortunately, two of them got into a head on collision, both of them passed away. one of them was my best friend in the entire world's dad. so, this triggered a memory from the happier times of atving, in delta, colorado. where i've spent literally every memorial day. one summer we found an old worn out rag in the middle of the road, and decided to have a funeral for it. stupid, i know, but we were dumb kids and we had fun doing it. the video we made of the burial is still around and the cross we built is still there... and this was over ten years ago.

so, here is my memory. the photos are from delta and the text over it tells the story of "old mighty tidy rag". the top picture is the cross we built over 10 years later and the flowers bloomed over the "grave". i don't think this is my best project, but it means something to me. and this weekend's tragedy has helped me to realize how much more important this memory is in my life.

rest in peace jimmy and chris. you will be missed.

viola! finished, finally!

so, here is my social commentary. i know, it's late. it's really hard for me to actually find time to set up a photoshoot with people and lighting when i'm so damn busy with school, my internship, yearbook, and work. anyway, it is finally finished!

i did my project on animal testing. i wrote a paper about it last year during my ap lang class and what i found out really bothered me so i wanted to express it with this. the amount of crazyness that goes on in an animal testing lab is amazing. it's disgusting and horrifying. for this, i actually went with my original idea for this. i took a mascara brush and dipped it in red paint to look like blood because some make-up is tested on animals. i then splatter painted my lovely bff, claire, with red paint to look like more blood too. i decided to do the selective coloring to help the red be emphasized. last, i erased the label on the original bottle and replaced it so people would understand that this is supposed to be about animal testing.

overall, i like this project. i really like the idea and it came out mostly like i pictured it. before i started doing this project i should have took into consideration how hard it would be to selective color a bunch of tiny blood splatters. this took me a good three hours, i even bought a mouse to make it easier, but it still didn't come out perfect. i want to find an easier way to do it... maybe i should print it out entirely black and white then somehow go over the paint splats by hand? i need to invest in a tablet...

 

p.s. thank you claire for modeling for me and taking off your necklace (:

i'm a good friend again!

i've been promising for a while to make a logo for my best friend and her fiance's photography business. i finally did it this morning. they want to shoot weddings and andy's last name is tree (hahaha) so the name of it is "a knot in the tree photography". therefore, the wedding rings represent the knot, aka tying the knot and there's a leaf for a tree! yipee!

"you suck at life..."

...thanks for that little tidbit, mrs. kerr.

the reason i suck is for not doing my social commentary. i have a good, solid idea... i just have to execute it. i barely have any time to breath so actually spending time to set up a good photograph is kind of difficult. i also need the photography studio at school and since i'm never there with my internship and work i have to take some time to do this.

since i don't have my piece, i'll share my idea:
i did animal testing and how it should be abolished as my topic. so, what i want to do is have a girl putting on mascara, but on the brush will be red paint aka blood. i don't know if that will get the point across of animal testing being bad, so i'm thinking of adding some bottles of make-up or lotion or whatever in the corner and changing the labels. for example, instead of saying "lengthening" mascara, it will say "bone crushing" mascara, since animals get their bones crushed during testing. i also may make the photo black and white and just make the blood red.

that's the basic idea, suggestions are welcome.

yes, i am a creepy fangirl.

i feel like i don't really have any specific moment in my life that has impacted me in some magical way. my life has been full of bumps and bruises, but most of my life is made up of awkward pauses, laughing at things that aren't supposed to be funny and spending all night having parties in random parking lots throughout castle rock. i don't really know what memory i should document for the world to see and to turn into a piece of art...

well, let's go with this one:

i've been called a concert whore, groupie, what have you... i like music. i spend a good majority of my time (and money) at concerts. whenever i feel like i am at a concert i am truly, 100% happy. i love the people, the sights, the sounds, obviously, everything... except maybe the smell /: so anyway, i've been to a lot of shows. i mainly listen to silly, typical "pop-punk" bands; all time low, versaemerge, the maine, etc... and i've been so lucky to have been able to meet them all. sure, usually it's just the "hi, sign this... can i have a picture?". however, sometimes i can have a full out conversation. i get to hear the inspiration behind their songs and how they feel about every show. it's kind of surreal because they're all so normal and they appreciate everything.

i guess i should focus this more on a specific memory... i'll go with the first time i met a  band that's a huge inspiration to me, paramore:

as a surprise gift for getting straight a's all of freshman year, my mom signed me up for what's known as the "official paramore fan club"... cheesy and weird i know, however as a member you get access to ticket presales and you can win special tickets for a meet and greet with the band. so, one night i was just getting ready for bead when my mom came bursting through my bedroom door yelling at me, "you get to meet paramore!". at the time, i didn't really know what to think. my mom handed me a piece of paper, a printed out e-mail that read at the top: "CONGRATULATIONS! YOU'VE WON TICKETS FOR A MEET AND GREET!". my stomach dropped, but in a good way... i couldn't really believe it.

i had to wait over a month for the show, and the meet and greet. every time that i started to think about meeting them, i got nervous. the day finally came, november 4th, 2007. i still had no idea what i wanted to have the band sign, so i made something; a sign with paramore on it and it was the colors of their new cd. this sign now hangs above my bed. this was one of my first experiences meeting "band people" so i had no idea what to say or what to wear. i was a bit of a mess. the e-mail instructed that i was supposed to wait outside the box office and an "official representative" of the band would call me, and the 5 other winners back to meet the band. i waited outside with my cousin, tyler, who was going to the concert with me, and my mom (i swear, she's a bigger paramore fan than i am). so we waited there for a while, people watching. we started talking and over my shoulder i saw two guys walk into the wendy's next door... those two guys were from the band, the bassist and guitarist. we ended up playing creepy fangirl and followed the two guys into wendy's. my cousin and i ran up to them and asked for a picture, of course, they said yes.

i had to go back and wait in front of the box office until will, the representative, came to get us. he walked us into the venue where we all chatted until the band came out. i was completely starstruck there was hayley williams, the singer, zac farro, the drummer, and josh farro and jeremy davis, the two guys we met earlier. i walked around to all of them to sing my poster and take pictures. all the members seemed pretty stoked that i actually took the time to make something. i was able to get a picture with everyone and we all chatted for 30 minutes. they seemed like such cool, and real people. i'm pretty sure that they enjoy meeting their fans as much as their fans enjoy meeting them.

from this point on i have let music kind of overrun my life. i live for spending hours sweating in dark, musky venues. it's just... fun. wow, i didn't expect to write this much. i take back the comment about having a specific moment in my life impact me, this is that moment.

...now to turn this into art, ugh.

there's an app for that.

my droid has an app for blogger... how convenient.

so, this took me forever. i feel like this project is such a cool idea, i wanted to make sure my book cover is perfect. the thing that was hard for me was actually creating something with my hands vs a computer mouse or camera. i litteraly spent a good 3 hours just staring at the blank cover trying to think of something awesome. in the end i just decided to go with something, the first thing that pops into my mind. this helped me to realize i really overthink things. i need to just go with something... i can always redo it.

anyway, here is my book... i ripped out pages and covered the book with them, then added the (overly) girly pink paper and ruffled ribbon. i had no idea what to do with my hands. when i googled hands the first image had hands making a frame, so that's what i did. thhe picture in the middle is a band (because i love music) and it's really colorful, like myself. i am very open for suggestions, so help me out. especially for the back... i have no idea what to do!

Published with Blogger-droid v1.5.9

i am not picasso.

therefore, my cubist still life is a super pathetic attempt. when i mat it the flowers will be like, 3d and be on the outside of the mat... if that makes sense.


FAIL:

let's try this again. i have come to the conclusion that being so hard on myself isn't going to help anything. i am now going to try constructive critism vs a total smack down of myself. so, here is my cubist still life. i'm not super happy with it. when i have a spare moment i want to go through the pics and lighten or darken or try different filters on them to make everything not look so blah. i do, however, like it better matted. i think that having the flowers pop is helpful to make a focal point.

cubism is a funny thing. i did a little research and found it was defined as looking at the same thing at different angles at the same time. that's what i tried to do with this piece, however looking at other people's pieces i don't see that... someone help me understand?

(it's supposed to be) a self portrait.

i hate self portraits.... and illustrations. so, why in the world did i decide to combine the two to make this? i don't know. anyway, this is supposed to be me. trust me, i am well aware that it looks nothing like me. i tried, but i can never portray myself right. even when i take a picture of myself it doesn't look like me. oh well. i like this, i guess. i feel like it could use a lot more work, and something to take up the giants white space in the corner, suggestions?

p.s. i don't know how i am going to survive ap studio. i definitely am not a good enough artist to be in it. what was i thinking when i decided to sign up. i must be crazy.

edit: i have come to like this piece more...looking at things i have created over time and then looking at this i cans see how much my work has improved, and that has made me excited for what other things i can make. hopefully this class can teach me a thing or two, not necessarily about art, but about myself. i am way to hard on myself. i realize that what i make may not be perfect, there's room for improvement on everything. i'm going to try to look at things from a different perspective. i want to look at my work as if i were an outsider. if i saw that hanging on a wall, what would i think? and i think if i saw this... i would think it was beautiful, honestly.