A Picture is Worth a Thousand Words..

I've always been drawn to text and words. Whenever I am composing/creating a painting, a drawing, a photograph, writing a poem, deciding on getting a new tattoo--there are always words and text included directly in or as a thought behind the process.

Typography as an art form can be used in many different ways--in creating a portrait or some type of fine art, in advertisements, as a way to get a message out into the world, or just for simple fun with words and the shapes they create. 

"Since typography is a communication method that utilizes a gathering of related subjects and methodologies that includes sociology, linguistics, psychology, aesthetics, and so much more – we aim to educate that there is no single approach within typography that applies to everything." - Shelley Gruendler

Using photoshop and other programs, the text can be modified and used to form whatever image the artist wants to portray.

.

.

.

.

A man's self-portrait made from words expressing how he feels about life and the thoughts that run through his own mind.

A portrait of Thom Yorke, lead singer of Radiohead using the lyrics from the song "How To Disappear Completely."

Typography As An Art Form

+ Examples: more typography art 

and more

Look at you. You’re young…. - Goodmorning & Goodnight

Look at you. You’re young…. - Goodmorning & Goodnight

Graphic Design Week #3

Still working on film stills/self portraits

Merging photos to create a similar background to that one of the film still
Flatten image in order to work on the background

When placing work, place it a little bit above center with more border below because it's more aesthetically pleasing to look at.

Virtual Art Museum Visits..

For most people, going to a museum and seeing the art work up close is an educational and thrilling visual experience. There are art museums and galleries all over the world but not everyone can visit them during their lifetimes. Google recently unleashed an "art project," the ability to tour museums and see famous art works up close virtually.   In minutes, one can travel through the virtual museums of the MoMA, the MET, the Palace of Versailles, the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam, the Uffizi Gallery in Florence, etc...


"The Work of Art in the Age of Google"

One of the best things about being able to visit these museums virtually, is that you can move in all directions (360 degrees, street type), get super close to the paintings or artwork and actually be able to see the brush strokes made by Van Gogh in his "Starry Night" or look up at the ceiling of the Palace of Versailles for example.

Obviously, this can't be compared to actually visiting these museums and the artworks in person. There are thousands of works not even available in virtual form, but while we're all saving up our money to book a trip to Spain in order to walk through the Mueseo Reina Sofia, at least we can get a small taste of what to expect through Google's Art Project.

Google Art Project

"A Tiny, Shared Space for Creative Types"

Peekskill, New York is about an hour north of New York City and considered an artist's community. It lies along the Hudson River and many artists go there to work in the spaces created for them specifically. In the New York Times article "A Tiny, Shared Space for Creative Types," we learn about the "Studio Recycled." "It is the latest brainchild of Simon Draper, an artist and the founder of Habitat for Artists, a Peekskill-based organization whose goals include fostering engagement between artists and their communities." The idea behind the organization is to build temporary work spaces for artists. Typically, as seen below, the spaces are in the forms of sheds about 6ft x 6ft x 9ft and are easily constructed as well as deconstructed at the end of the short term use. According to Mr. Draper, the sheds almost act as a part of the creative process that an artist goes through, it is built, used, weathered, pieces from other artists are left behind, things are recycled, and finally it is disassembled in order to be used again. For about $1,500, the space is built over the course of a few days and has been used by about 30 artists so far. 

This article was really interesting to me because I've been an artist for most of my life and there have been so many times where work space was an issue. I live at home with my family and there is only so much extra space that they can give me to work in, so if I had access to a temporary space I think I would benefit personally.

A Recycled Artist's Studio...

Graphic Design Week #2

Blogs from classmates:
photoshop gone bad--taking the re-touching process too far in advertisements
newspapers/magazines using the exact same stories but in different designs and layouts
new HP computers with touch screen & tilting moniters
----

Dodging & Burning in photoshop: burning to create a darker area, dodging to create a lighter area

Creating a background out of multiple pictures...

The Art, Joy & Vigor of Performance...

The Lens Blog is a part of the New York Times website. It focuses on photography in all different aspects, from wars to natural disasters to tasteful pop culture. In the blog entry, "Actors Create 14 Decisive Moments," there are short clips of different talented actors directed by Solve Sundsbo. "What kind of story can be told in just one minute?" Going into the photo shoot, the director explained to each of the actors--"You’re going from making iconic images to creating narratives, but there is less of a narrative capacity in 60 seconds, so you need to create something like a poem that can lead your imagination." 

Video clips 

I feel like this blog depicts actors not just as your stereotypical actor, but as the artist behind that title. These photos serve as film stills from each 60 second story that the 14 actors create with no words, just music.

Actors Create 14 Decisive Moments 

Week 1: Computer Graphics

"A film still (sometimes called a publicity still or a production still), is a photograph taken on the set of a movie or television program during production by a movie stills photographer, primarily used for promotional purposes." wikipedia

Re-create youtube still--Audrey Hepburn in "Breakfast At Tiffany's" LOVE the movie, the hair & the sunglasses.

----------

Important components of a photograph/still:

Shadows

Highlights

Contrast

Curve