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.