AP Portfolio One Last Time

So as everyone knows I think I'm one of the few in our class that got into this whole blogging thing. I just wanted to say that I love all you guys and can't wait till we meet again. I also wanted to say good luck to everyone and I know you all will be successful in whatever you choose to do.

XOXO
Nena

Get Inked

Ok so as most people know I will most likely go into the tattooing field and so this weeks blog I am going to do a massive critique of some of the worst tattoos.

Where are the values and the proportions are off. I personally would be really PO'ed if this is what my money paid for.

This is pretty good and i don't really have anything to say about it. I also give it props...the Simpson's are awesome.

Le Sigh! Another fail at doing a portrait. I can't even say anything else it's that bad.

This would be okay except that well...proper english would be better. I hope the person told their customer that this doesn't make a lick of sense.

Too much values. It screams mass murder and his friend doesn't scream mass murderer.

These are horrible and am just going to end it right here.

Artsy Fartsy Kind Of Things...

One thing I have learned is that proportions are key and so is concept in most cases. I have learned that I hate doing pieces in graphite (reminds me too much of a sketch). I have improved on proportions and placement through my still life's.

I need to improve on a lot of things like placement and proportions still...and drawing from life. GROAN!

In three years I see myself still improving on my skills and maybe dabbling in making jewlery...and giving tattoos. I know that for sure. :)

I have gotten a lot out of this class. Espectially how you need ot think of how someone is going to view your pieces with a different background and how you can convey what you want to say into a "language" that they'll understand. I have also learned that what people think sums up to nothing if you are happy with what you are making.

Post Secret

So yesterday instead of doing the review for the upcoming math test, me and a friend decided to look at post secret. I was surprised and inspired by the post cards that people have sent in over the years. So I decided to go online and see some of the other ones. I liked alot of them and how some of them are the tacky gift shop postcards that are transformed into their secrets and I personally thought that it takes alot of talent to do that.

Here are a few...

I think Martin would laugh at this one ^^

I thought this one was really interesting because it's a panting done by Dali and this is how she used it.

Here's the link to the archive:

http://postsecretarchive.com/category/secret-archives/

Are You There God It's Me...Graffiti!

So for this week's free blog, I'm going to blog about my favorite artist...Banksy.

Sperm Alarm

What I really like about Banksy is how he has pieces that are hilarious like the one above and a lot of his pieces are about taking a stance against something. He is anti-capitalism, anti-fascism, anti-authoritarianism, and anti-war.

Crayon Boy-Los Angeles

He started doing graffiti in London and now his work is starting to pop up in the United States.

Space Girl and Bird

Pissed Angel

The piece shown above is one of my favorite pieces. When I see it, it says to me that even the best of us fall sometimes and when I found out that it was painted over I twas a little mad.

TV Window

Photo Opportunity

Coke Policeman

Coke Policeman

Living The Dream

Liberty

Sometimes all our work needs to say something...

But we have no idea what this is trying to say.

Tis The Season to Be Showing... Falala Lalalala!

I would pick my photo of a tower from digital photo last year. I really like the angle and the how you can see the rays of light. Which I think make it a strong piece...plus it violates the rule of thirds.

  My next piece would have to be the first still life that we did. I think that the contrast is good and that there is a lot of good values.

I really like the way that my cyanotype turned out and if you look close enough, you can tell that its actually my face. Also as a fun fact, I did some of the editing while I was supposed to be writing my term paper last year...oops! Any who, by definition its a self portrait and I am really proud of this one.

This was a fluke. I remember when my concentration was non-conformity and I thought where wouldn't you find shoes...STREET SIGNS. I just threw the shoes up and snapped a couple of photos from that angle. Sometimes I think that some of the really good pieces are just by fluke and have no concept until you are happy with it and make something up to go with it.

This is from our black light assignment from digital photo. I think it's got great placement and looks a little creepy for being an overturned fish bowl.

I really don't think that my work exceeds anyone else's in the class...but I honestly don't care about that. I might get envious, but I don't care. I like making art to please myself and to have an outlet to let my feelings flow. I like shows. I haven't gotten into one yet though I think exposure is good. Brag about what you can do if you put your mind to it. You never know, you could inspire someone to embrace their talent just by looking at your piece.

Halt Fiend...

I am excited about making still lifes. I was looking up ones for ideas of what to include in my future concentration pieces and found this one. I really like the contrast and the values shown. I also kind of just dig the boot.

Ha Ha Chicken Breasts...

So the title has nothing to do with the body of my blog, but it is very amusing. I am currently in love with knitting. I am trying to figure out how to make a "Weasley Sweater" with a golden snitch on the front. I'm still a novice and I have never made a pattern so good luck to me. Right now I'm making scarves and they are turning out pretty good.

Controversy Is The Only Versy I Serve In This Dojo...

I happen to like art that goes against traditional standards of what is typically considered art... like some really girly flowery landscape or a Georgia O' Keefe painting that suspiciously looks like some female anatomy. I think that these pieces of art are individualistic and say something about the artists. The Picasso piece is well... why would it be controversial? I can see that there's nudity, but alot of other famous pieces have nudity and I don't see them on this list. When I saw Takashi Murakami's work, I seriously thought, "What are these people smoking that makes it controversial?"
It's really kind of crazy what people think is this way... don't they realize that art work is an expression of the artist and not of them?

Round TWO!

I have four concentration pieces and about twenty Breath pieces. My biggest weakness that needs to be worked on would have to be keeping with pieces and not to say their done once they are turned in. I also need to work on figure drawing and getting proportions right. My best memory from first semester would have to be when we were making still life pieces. That is also my favorite project :). I have learned that i am not as bad of an artist as i thought and that art is an expression of yourself. In order for your art to say something, you have to put that emotion into your work. I have no idea how I can answer the last question. I'll let you know when I figure that one out.

The Begining of the End

I wish...:
-I had been a bit more productive and on task.
-I had spent more time on a few pieces.

My Goals For Next Semester Are:
-Work more efficiently and stay on task.
-Take extra time to finish pieces to better quality.

The piece that is my strongest is probably the one that I am most proud of. It is my still life of tools done in conte.

Ahh....Inspiration

Right now what inspires me is yarn. I am making a nice warm scarf for my self and I doing it through knitting. I have always been fascinated with old lady things like knitting and crocheting...but not this whole quilting and sewing circles jazz.
I might have to do a puke shade of green just for the fun of it, but before I do, I am going to make a matching hat and mittens (one of my other fascinations) before winter is over with. I pretty much taught my self how to knit last week and my first scarf I made started out with 30 stitches and some how, magically throughout the last week, I added an extra 21 stitches. That was very frustrating and I ended up ripping that appart and setting it aside til I could finish it without getting it to horribly dysfigured.

"Maybe I'm sad about wanting you. I'm not too comfortable with wanting someone."

My "bomb-diggity" artist is Craig Thompson. He is the writer and illustrator of the graphic novel, Blankets, which he is most famous for. I first came across him when I read Blankets back during freshman year and I instantly wanted to be a graphic novelist. I actually still want to...kind of.
Blankets is a 200-page autobiographical graphic novel that took him three and a half years to write making it being released in 2003. Ever since reading it for the first time I have always had this strong pull to draw my own story of my life and having people portrayed the way I want them to.
With comics there is less rules of how to draw figures but as Wy-Fi always says, you have to know the rules and express that you know how to apply the rules in order to break them. I like that about them. When an illustrator draws something it's like they leave you, the reader, to interpret why certain features have been made the way they were and it leaves us making thousands upon thousands of interpretations...that's the way I like to make art.

I would also like to say that until I wrote this blog...I didn't know that Craig and I share the same birthday.

When I Grow Up I Wanna Be Famous...I Wanna Be A Star...

I've always wanted to do something that was like a social taboo within my family so I've always wanted to be a tattoo artist or a graphic designer.
A tattoo artist doesn't really need to have any education past high school or even a high school degree, most places require licensing though. If I were to pursue this career I would like to have a basic art degree in order to get better at 2-D design.
A graphic designer on the other hand require a Bachelor's or an Associates degree in fine arts or graphic design; along with some basic skills like creativity, communication and problem solving. You might also want to take a couple of crash courses in computer graphics and design software.
A bachelor's degree is required for most entry-level and advanced graphic design position even though some may only require an associates.
Some of the classes you would have to take include: studio art, principles of design, computerized design, commercial graphics production, printing techniques, and web site design for design courses. You also will probably need a liberal arts education that includes: art history, writing, psychology, sociology, foreign languages and cultural studies. Marketing and business are useful in helping designers work better.

Self-Portrature!

"Everyone's a little narcissistic," Ms. Adams said. "Being able to take pictures of yourself in privacy allows you to do it without inhibitions. Each person takes better pictures of themselves than anyone else can because they know their own bodies, they know their own minds."
I love what she says here and I think that you taking your own pictures is a really good way to express yourself and I to think that you are the only one that can take a picture of yourself and have it flatter what you want and exclude what you don't.
Unfortunately I think that this is setting a bad trend, mostly with teenage girls, that pose in revealing clothing and have everything hangout just to try and attract Johnny Football Captain who happens to be the guy of her dreams. I used to see a lot of people taking these kind of pictures and posting them and I was like, "What are you trying to say? What happened to leaving some for their imagination?" I have no problem with people taking self portraits of them self like in the bathroom mirror with the camera clearly visible (and the star burst of the flash), but I just think that people take these and don't think about the consequences of having these things in cyberspace...once it's there you can never get it out.
I don't know if Facebook and other various networking sites are making it better or worse. I just think that the younger generation needs a lesson in "posting pics on the web and what it could do..." Those pictures that you post on the web about that slammin' under aged party you went to could cost you a job or you could loose a job that way. It's not uncommon to have a job look you up at Facebook in their background check anymore so everyone needs to be careful about what they post and only get attention for the right reasons not the way you look in that pic you took in your bathroom in your bikini.

My Inspirations

My inspiration happens to be a lot of things, but I think the most inspiring is music. Some of my favorite bands that I listen to while completing pieces are H.I.M., My Chemical Romance, Green Day, Nirvana, and Slayer. Yes, I listen to Slayer while doing something that is calming. I also like to look at their album art work. Usually that inspires me also. I like to look at some of the intricate designs and while listening to the music, try to decipher why they chose the colors of the flaming sun or why the heart-a-gram is black.
Most of the time this sparks something in my brain and when the gears start rolling there is no stopping my thought process.
Another one of my inspirations is the show L.A. Ink. I have from a very small age been very fascinated with tattoos. I love how permanent they are and all the stories that they share. That's why I want to be a tattoo artist. I think of a tattoo as a walking art exhibit and self expression. I feel that society is becoming more accepting of this type of art and unfortunately alot of people are starting to get tattoos now; which goes against everything I believe in, but I will have my own individuality and I hope that I design each and everyone of the tattoo's I will receive in the future.

Here is a music video of H.I.M.'s single Killing Loneliness:

Blog #1 Dudettes!

I think the list of the pieces that they recommend are good. With having a variety of pieces, it shows how well I am as an artist as a whole.

I feel the easiest pieces to include would be a self portrait. I only say that because when I define a self portrait it is not only a piece of you, but who you are, how you feel, and all the little things that make you...you.

The hardest of the list would be a still life or an environment/landscape. I feel that those are the hardest because they require you to draw where you are and what you see, not from a picture or what you think the item or landscape should look like. Even figure drawing would be difficult with drawing proportions and making the piece be of photo quality.

Nothing in the list was too surprising. I really figured that those would be typical pieces that most colleges would want to see in your portfolio because of the difficulty that they each share. If you can create a composition from one of those and have them be absolutely outstanding plus having each and everyone of them show your growth as an artist; then those pieces truly show your artistic abilities. Not to mention that you could show the world how great you are as an artist.