Monday, August 29, 2011

State of the Union: Post Six

1. What sort of illustrator are you?

I don't know how to answer this one, I feel like the type of illustrator who is greatly influenced by comic book styled art, with sprinkles of eastern aesthetics showing through every once in a while. I feel like the type of illustrator who doesn't want to work in a large publishing company, and would prefer freelance work within a smaller community. I feel like the type of illustrator who prefers horizontal structure as their working enviroment.

2. What sort of career do you want to have?

I would prefer to have the "career" of a freelance artist. I want to be able to be in control of how many products I take on at one time, and I would like the freedom to step away after a major project is done, and take a break for my own personal sanity.

How do I want to sustain myself? I want to teach. I think I could be great at it. And I want to invest the minds of the youth to bring up my own army one day.

3. Does your present body of work reflect your aspirations? Could it do so more strongly?

I don't think my present body of work is much of anything. It's no ones fault but my own. I definatly was one of those students who just didn't get it for the longest time.  It hasn't been till recently that I began to feel a bit of success with what I have been doing in art. I do think I have become more goal oriented and have found a medium that I feel comfortable with.

4. List ten images/themes/techniques/subjects/formats that your portfolio needs in order to become more in line with your aspirations.

DADA
collage, absurdities, pushing the boundaries of reality. I think I should study this further

Brush Strokes
most people got them, I dont.





Typography
maybe I should have listened to chioffi more

Stronger inking
Make stuff look good!

A better understanding of INDESIGN
at this point I have used it twice, and both times were nightmares. This should be a simple program, why can't I work it?

Learn how to screen print
Maybe I would like to make a patch?

feeling comfortable contorting the figure
I need to stop freaking out about getting the anatomy of the figure exactly right. I need to loosen up




State of the Union. Post Five

1. If you had to spend the rest of your life illustrate one book, what would it be? Why?

Charlotte's Web. Because, quite simply, I could illustrate a story about a pig until the day I died.

2. If you could go apprentice with any two artist's in the history of the world, who would they be and why?

Van Gough.
I love this man and his master over brush stroke and color. I think I would also just love to have a chat with him about literature

Hokusai
I mean if I want to learn how to wood block print, why not just learn from the master. I think I would apply it to my art in a Mary Cassett kind of way. Maybe my answer is both of them?

3. If you were banned from the art world, but could have any career you wanted that wasn't in art what would it be? why?

Writer on themes within pop culture....most likely.

4. Describe the project you would propose, in detail, under the following circumstances (describe what it would be, how would you spend the money, how would you schedule the time alloted, and how would the work be [resented upon completion?)

1. You have one month and one thousand dollars.

Large scale (40X50) guasch painting, on handmade paper. Most of the money spent on paper making tools and guasch tubes, along with whatever is left over for brushes. try not to spend more than a week making the paper, and 3 weeks putting brush to paper.

2. Six months and ten thousand dollars.

a series of paintings applied onto stained wood, inside antique frames. I would later use these finished pieces to create a series of handmade books. 1-2 months on painting, 3-6 month of book binding and factory lining. Money would be spent on normal art expenses, but also enough to hire an assistant to help me with the book binding process.

3. One year and one hundred thousand dollars.

Large scale instillation. either in a museum or in a public park, but a large optical illusion blue box. From the outside it's a small blue frame, however when one walks into the space it becomes bigger on the inside. It makes the viewer feel like they have stepped into another deminsion. Most of the expenses will be spent on materials, and mirror technology. The instillation will have to be built on the spot, in the upmost secrecy


Saturday, August 27, 2011

State of the Union: Post Four

1. List ten illustrators whose work you admire, or whose career you would like to emulate. Provide images.

This list is in no particular order of importance.

Robert Williams
http://www.robtwilliamsstudio.com/





The man who made juxapose (though he is an ass). I still really admire his counter reaction to abstract expressionism in the world, and the role he played in the beginning of the formation of pop surrealism.

Glenn Barr
http://glbarr.com/



This guy (also associated with the lowbrow movement) includes more pop references in his paintings, which is what I dig. I love the humanization of cartoons that I watched growing up.


Seamus Huffernan
http://seaheff.com/pages/home.html



Based out of Portland, freelance illustrator. He has work  published in The Portland Nobodies Comics Anthology, Postcards; True Stories that Never Happened, and The Portland Fun Book.


Kurt Hollomon
http://www.kurtdhollomon.com/




Kurt Hollomon's website sucks. But he is an illustrator based out of portland who also teaches drawing and illustration at Pacific Northwest. He has illustrated three books under the Chronical Books publication (On foot, In Gear, and The Adventure Journal.

Cathy Johnson
http://www.cathyjohnson.info/



She is a bit of a kitchy old lady, but she is a self taught illustrator who is simply published in magazines she likes. Examples include Sierra Club Guide to Sketching in Nature, and publications in Watercolor Artist magazine.


Adrian Tomine
http://www.adrian-tomine.com/




This guy has a master of color that I can only dream of. And the simplified kind of comic inspired way he depicts his figures. I love it. Clients include the New Yorker, and he has experienced great success with his Optic Nerve series.

France Belleville
http://wagonized.typepad.com



She is a 7th grade French teacher who, as far as I can tell doesn't have much of a list of clients. She has been published in An Illustrative Life.

Marissa Czerniejewski
http://marissalouise.com/about.html
 (I can't find an image to steal of hers on the internet)
Small time illustrator, who has appeared in a couple of zines I have picked up but also been published in Coffee Planet, Willamette Weekly, and Orlo


Enrique Flores
http://www.4ojos.com/index.html



Freelance Illustrator based out of Madrid. Has published many books but his website is misleading, but also appears in publications such has An Illustrative Life

Laura Lanie
http://www.lauralaine.net/



Fashion illustrator and professor at the University of Art and Design Helsinki. Clients include Vogue, The New York Times, and Tommy Hilfiger

Annabelle Verhoye
http://www.annabelleverhoye.com



Graduate of the School of Visual Arts, her clients include Playboy, Print magazine, Vital magazine, Wine Label Designs.

2. Find at least ten magazines that you think you could work for. Consider both the content of the magazine and the type of illustration, if any, that they use. Record the names of the art director and any assistant art director listed, and their contact information.

Orlo/ Bear Deluxe
http://www.orlo.org/orlo.html
exploring environmental issues through creative arts.....yeah

Kristin Rogers Brown
Art Director



Crap Hound
Sean Tejaratchi
I can't find a functioning website, which leads me to believe it may not be in production even though the book I have next to me assures that it is still around. His zine has been described as "a picture book for discussion and activity" Also dudes based out of Portland.
Mystery Date
http://www.pinkthink.com/mystery-date.html
Lynn Peril
She loves all the same bad advertisement of the 40s, 50s, 60s, and 70s. woohoo feminist undertones!





The Revolution starts at home
Jai Dulani 

3. If you were starting your own magazine and your livelihood depended on it selling well and your sanity depended on it be something you wanted to spend all your time on, what would it be? What sorts of writers and artists would you hire? What subject matter would it deal with? How would you want it to look?


If my livelihood and sanity depended on it, I would want to publish a magazine about contemporary sci fys. Episode reviews, interviews with the writers, and an online resource affliated with the magazine for readers to use as an open forum to lead discussions.

I would try to presuade possible retired and contemporary sci fy writers and artist onto my team.


I wouldn't want my magazine to be too sci fy. I have to admit I hate the metalic aesthetics of most sci fy comics and illustrations. Maybe something that embraced elements of art neuvo elements alongside the cold dark depicted final frontier 

4. List ten non-magazine clients that you would like to you would like to work with. Why are these dream clients? Find and record their contact information


http://microcosmpublishing.com/faq
DIY zine spring board


Beehive Design Collective
I volunteered with them over the summer, but I would love to help them in the creation process of one of their long-term posters.

AKpressblog
http://www.revolutionbythebook.akpress.org/
AK Press
674-A 23rd Street
Oakland, CA 94612
(510) 208-1700   



AORTA Collective
http://aortacollective.org/
based out of philly, need some help with zine production.

Roosevelt - ACT High School
http://www.pps.k12.or.us/schools/roosevelt/
I really want to be a teacher, so I feel like this could fit the category. This is a school that focuses on demonstrating higher level thinking through the means of creative expression

Wilson High School
http://www.pps.k12.or.us/schools/wilson/644.htm
Broad range of developmental fine arts.

No Media Kings
http://nomediakings.org/about
combination of sci fy and pop culture. Yeah it would be fun to be published by that guy.

State of the Union: Post Three

1. Describe your typical creative process, from getting an assignment to finished piece.

In the past, the first day I receive an assignment is rarely the day I get started. Normally I would mule over the problem in my head before putting a pencil to paper. I never did any thumbnails as detailed as they should have been, and this is where my biggest problem arised. I always wanted to go straight from a to z without doing any of the work in the middle. I would also focus on one studio class at a time and try to finish everything that had to be done in one sitting. Since that time I have began to spend more time in the planning phase of my work, and try to find a way to make the creation process faster. This includes multiple sketches, a decent amount of thumbnails (possibly the same composition created over and over trying to see how moving one shape might make a difference),  and color studies. I rarely however record my notes. However even this isn't an ideal work process because my sketches are often better than the final pieces.

2. Describe what your process should be like?

I think, in my work process, I need to keep up with a better concept of time. I'll be honest, I always feel like I am coming up short when I turn an assignment in. I think I need to learn to stop being over analytical in the planning process of creating art, and I need to start to focus on my technique and how to make myself a bit more unified to get to the point where I feel proud of what I created. 

3. Research and describe a professional creator's creative process.

David Sedaris
GR: Describe a typical day spent writing.

DS: I like to wake up at 10:30 a.m. Then I just get to work. I usually start by writing in my diary, and then I turn to whatever story I'm working on. I stay at my desk until about 1:30 p.m., and then I go back to work at 8 at night. I work for another hour, hour and a half. If I have a deadline, I'll stay up all night, but generally it's about four hours a day.

GR: Do you have any unusual writing habits?

DS: I don't write in public. There was a saying when I first moved to Paris, "Oh, what café do you write in?" I thought, " Ugh, writing in public." I did that when I very first started because I was writing my diary by hand. I'd go to the Pancake House and sit there in my big booth, but that was when I was 22.

Hugh told me I make a lot of noise, which I didn't realize. Apparently I make a steady stream of humming sounds. I was shocked when he told me. I had no idea.

http://www.goodreads.com/interviews/show/554.David_Sedaris

I like the idea of creating a work process in which I am entitled to breaks so I don't feel like I am going crazy.

Thursday, August 25, 2011

State of the Union. Post Two

1. of the artwork that you have done, what is your personal favorite piece? Why do you like it?

The most current pieces that I made in landscape drawing. (post photos later) I think the concept is crap (humans bathing in nature. kind of boring) but I really like the technique that I used. It was a larger format than I am use to doing, I began to see what the brush was capable of doing.

2. What piece do other people like the most? Do you agree? Why do you think they like it?
I think the piece everyone like the best is a figure study I did titled "Ted". And I kind of agree, and disagree. The reason why I think it is everyone's favorite is because the cheek area plays a of trick of the eye, making the viewer believe it is a plane, however then the viewer realizes its a drip falling down the paper. Brings the viewer in and out of the picture plane. It was an experiment that I haven't been able reproduce very easily

3. What piece surprised you the most?



I swear on this day, it was like watercolor clicked*. I had been fighting this medium for so long and then one day I am all like hey, this is how it works and I succeed. In this piece in particular the flating patters contrasted the smoothness of the glass dolls face and hands. Again a kind of duel playing of the viewers perception of the picture plane.

5. choose any five doodles or sketches that you like as much as any of your final pieces.

 Sophomore Year
 Sophomore Year
 Junior Year

  
Sophomore Year
 Junior Year


Wednesday, August 24, 2011

State of the Union. Post One

1. What media do you like working in?

I've found through the countless all-nighters I have put myself through and the "oh mem gee why isn't this working the way i want it to?" I prefer to work with layers and layers of watered down guasch and I prefer to work in a smaller scale. I don't really enjoy working anything too much larger than 11X14, i feel like I always forget the importance of my brush strokes.

I enjoy learning how to make books, but for personal use. Thompson would murder me with words for the books I have made in the past. I really just find the whole process interesting, but I don't want to make some sort of artist statement with the book that I made or anything. 

I feel comfortable using adobe products, but i must say I am a personal vector fan.

2. What media do you hate working in? why? 

I hate oils. oil paints, oil sticks, oil pastels. it takes to long, its to messy, and I don't know how to fix problems when they arise. give me a water based media and I can use multiple techniques to cover up my mistakes, but with oils....forget about it

3. What media would you like to try but haven't?

I would like to try my hand in sculpture. That said, I haven't taken a sculpture class since my freshman course in 3-D art. I also would like to learn a couple of methods of cheap printing (screen prints litho prints for some examples).

4. List three non-illustration classes that have influenced your work positively?

1. art speak with nona bolin
this class was amazing. I spent the first three weeks of summer reading over old dead artists personal letters, critiques of their work, and their responses to those critiques. I began to make connections to certain artists I never had before. For example, Van Gogh and how he works out his issues of color and tone and how important that is to his final product. In a sense reading the problems he had, that I have, and how he learned to solve his problems can possibly help me as well. In a sense this is the class that got me to read again.

2. landscape drawing with remmy miller
This is the class I took right after art speak. I started to create a series, that wasn't strong in concept, but I excelled (i feel like) in aesthetics. I was proud of what I turned in.

3.Intro to computer graphics with Don Dumont
I took this class my sophmore year, but I feel like it put me ahead of the curb than some of my other classmates. Not that I was a well versed in photoshop or illustrator but I at least had a basic understanding of these complex computer programs.

5. Has the work of your peers influenced you and your work?

yes ofcourse. Especially in illustration. These people have become my relationship with this school. I don't want them to get better and me be left behind? what if they leave me for another girl? ofcourse, these people and their work influence me.

6. What sort of subject matter do you like to create about?

because no one else will, i want to make work about pop culture. its important, its how the world views us, and its totally stupid. I love the absurdity of our culture and I love finding a way to illustrate it. (this being said I feel that I haven't achieved very many successful pieces with this concept)

7. What kind of music do you like? why?

anything. I don't know. stupid things, bad things, good thing, folk things, underground things, sad indie girl with a guitar and bad poetry, real hip hop things, pop things, mash up artists, west coast indie thing, anarchist camp fire songs, weird music that plays in french elevators, MIKE PATTON, lsd pyscho weird this no longer makes sense but I've zoned out so it sounds kind of cool right now.

basically if I can mediafire it I will probably give it a chance (unless its dubstep or metal.....I don't fucking get it). heres a list of my current obsessions:
Laura Stevenson and the cans
The Books
Mischief Brew
Why
Doesone
Themselves
The Wombats
Amy Winehouse
Andrew Jackson Jihad
Art Blackely <--- this is new
Beach Boys
and others

8. What non artists related hobbies/interest/skills do you have?

I can slackline. its what I do to escape from art school. it is a belt that is anchorded between two points (normally trees) and tighted through a belt tension system. the line is tight but has some slack, allowing the user to walk or jump across. I personally like to walk across it but I hope to one day be able to do some serious balance yoga and see if I can hold a candle to Thompson.

9. What is something that you like that nobody else likes?

I think the best answer is the jersey shore, but i think that is because no one I know likes the show. I also really enjoyed the documentary "The Wild and Wonderful Whites of West Virgina" if you haven't seen it, you really should.

10. If you had the run of the worlds museums, what three works of original art would you like to own?

only three? 

1. The girl with the green eyes. Matisse
2. The Postman Roulin. Van Gogh
3. Where do we come from? What are we? Where are we going? Gauguin