Thursday, February 16, 2012

Back to school update!


I'm back! Sorry it has been so long since I have posted! Now that I have started at the different school and the different program, I have some stuff to show you! I will try and update as much as I can with the class work/on the side work that I do. The classes I am taking this Semester are Typography, photography, and figure drawing. Typography is the only graphic design class I am taking and so far its a great class. I am really learning how to arrange type on a page and adding large type, black space, highlights and photos. Hopefully soon I will have some good work to post for you. In my photography class, I have also been learning a lot. I have started using digital from the beginning of the semester so we could fully understand the capabilities of a camera before we move to film. I have learned so much tho! I finally know why my pictures have been turning out so dark sometimes. Now we are learning about the different filters, lenses, and host effects that you can do with a camera. I will also post some of the pictures I have taken on here soon so you can truly understand what I am talking about.

Today's post is on my figure drawing class work. Since the beginning of the semester I have been doing contour and gesture drawings everyday in class to learn how to draw exactly what we see. I always have to remember to look at the subject more than I look at the actual drawing I'm creating. Out side of class, I have had to draw many skeletons. The first assignment I had to do was trace the outside of my hand ( just like we did when we were kids) and then fill in the bones to match the size of my hand. The teacher has been giving me wonderful illustrations on ow it should look like so I can follow along. The next assignment was a little more large scale. I had to draw half a skeleton and half the musculature system. This is it!
The next assignment I had to do was draw half my face and half skull. This project help me understand the size and placement of the skull compared to my head. This is it!
Both these assignments really helped me pay attention to detail since I was drawing straight from an illustration. However, my face side was draw through a mirror!

The next step in this class is to starts drawing some models. I'm really excited for this because I will know how to gesture a body on paper with in five minutes some day. More posts to come on that!

Thanks again to all the followers! I hope your learning with me or just interested!

Thursday, December 1, 2011

Farewell!


I am moving to tumblr! Check it out! LOOK AT THESE PEOPLE

LOOK AT THESE PEOPLE






These are my final prints in printmaking. I got to do what ever I wanted! So I decided to put all my sketchbook ideas into one idea to make up a world. and this is what I came up with. I loved putting it all together!

Final 2 out of 7!

M
Ugly

These are the first five of my seven drawings! These drawings are a collection of self portraits mixing fine arts techniques with graphic design techniques. Since I am switching to graphic

5 out of 7

I don't know
Food
Bye Fine Arts
Blah
I Listen

These are the first five of my seven drawings! These drawings are a collection of self portraits mixing fine arts techniques with graphic design techniques. Since I am switching to graphic.

Belated Rest of Final 20

FISH
Group Interview
I'll find it
Picasoe

Belated Rest of Final 20

A charm
Psycho
Siamese Twin Fear!
What do i draw next drawing
all taped up together

Friday, November 4, 2011

False Alarm! Power Continued!

Soo do you remember when I said that we were going to start a new project in my printmaking class.. Well we didn't really! We stuck to the same one and changed it! This is my first one!
To change the image I had to scratch out with a blade the part I didn't want to show up in the print. After scratching the part out, I had to hit the part with nitric acid and gum aribic to burn out the remaining ink. Next I applied a counter etch solution that re-opens the stone. Making the image attainable to grease. I then drew on my new addition to the image, etched it to the stone and printed it. The next objective was to make the same image into the opposite of power! Here it is!
The second objective is to make it even more opposite of power! Here it is!
After completing this project, I realized that I love messing with the original image. It add a story to it! No wonder I wanna be in Illustration!

Drawing update: I hate my drawing class. It is like a craft class I took in grade school!
Soon I will update the last of the twenty drawings I had to complete for the class.

Wednesday, October 26, 2011

auh!

Hello fellow followers! Recently, I have been having second thoughts about fine arts. I love the work so much BUT it isn't what I want to be doing all the time. The difference between fine arts and (say...) graphic design is the way art is made. Art is made through fine arts by going deep into what the artist is thinking conceptually. (I still don't know what that word even means) This thinking is so deep that only that artist understands it. For instance, It is like when you just realized something that everyone else didn't; you would want to just let the world know wouldn't you?. Well that is how I view the art I make. That could be the definition of art for me. Who knows what others think art is to them? That is why art is so confusing. Making my decision to switch to graphic design much easier. Now graphic design is a whole new way of making art. It is making art for the people to see. (sounds a lot like fine art but it is in a more structured way) In graphic design I could get asked to create something based on what the customer wants. That means it would be more product related. Yes! I am a sucker for putting my art out there. I love showing off my sketchbook. It helps me show people who I am and what I really enjoy doing. I see things differently and my sketchbook helps me show people exactly what I see. So by giving you all this information about my view on art, is my way of telling you/my self that: I am ready to switch! (I wouldn't mind doing fine art as a hobby though!) BUT I'm ready to be in the graphic design program. Time to restart.

Wednesday, October 19, 2011

Printmaking!

 Now here is a class I can talk about! Printmaking! I love this class! I have never put so much time and effort into a piece of work until now!  I posted a video about the process a couple posts ago so I won't go into detail! But here is my first test print! I just worked with the different drawing materials to see how they turned out.  We had numerous different pencils with different sizes, tush, tush with water or naptha, white slate, and even permanent marker.  I could also trace onto the stone which is twenty times easier. 
Here is my first official print! The assignment was to come up with an image of power.  In my previous post I said I would work with the cat drawing.  However, I got sick of it! I couldn't draw it anymore.  So I came up with this! I originally got the idea from an experience that happened to me recently.  I drew the drawing the same way but with a tablecloth being slipped away from underneath me.  I decide to take the tablecloth out and just have the person standing on the table in the middle of her house. Well here is the final print. I did several prints but this was the one that turned out the best.  I used the drawing pencils and tush and water to create the image.  I enjoyed the process and love seeing the final turn out. I can't wait to do another one! Time to grind another stone! 

Ten Drawings for Intermediate Drawing

Soo Intermediate Drawing has been a hiccup!  My teacher told  us to come up with a main idea so that we can explore into that specific material by using different materials in different ways. Well the first idea I thought of was my fear of driving into a deer. I did this drawing by only drawing horizontally.
 I scratched that idea and moved onto my interests in drawing different kinds of beards.  For this drawing I glued hemp onto a piece of bark.  This drawing was used with one long piece of hemp.  It was hard to figure out were to put the string so I wouldn't overlap but it turned out well. May be my Halloween costume.

 Next, we were drawing by animation.  W had to show progression in our drawing.  What a better way to draw an animation by drawing beard growth!  This was done in Charcoal.
 I scratched the beard idea to follow something I'm more into.  I wanted to draw with collage in a new way.  So I drew something from my sketches and tore it up.  This was just a trial.  I will be going back to work with it more.








The Next assignment was to draw with a wet medium and dry.  I chose to use charcoal and gesso!  I didn't have a clue what to draw that day so I drew myself looking down into a mirror.  I got the proportions off but it was a good exercise. 

 The next assignment I chose to draw with an extension.  I taped a piece of pastel to the end of a stick and drew my house with a giant raccoon on top or the roof.  I loved how this turned out.  It reminds me of what a little kid would do if they saw a raccoon on top or the roof of their house and I did!
Still unsure about an idea to explore I drew my cat with a limited oil pastel pallet.
 I'm getting to my idea.  This was my first drawing I was happy with!  I drew this with my left hand in Black pen/marker.  This is me portraying how I feel when I can't find something in my purse!













Here is a self portrait!  This would be included in drawing with collage.
 
Last but not least, here is another drawing with wet and dry medium.  This time I used Acrylic and charcoal.  This drawing is supposed to portray the typical frat boy in college ready to go party.  I see a lot of this since I live by the frat houses.  Well it just made me think that along with me, they are the future also. ughhhh!










Altogether, I am proud of my drawings! It took a while for me to find an idea that I enjoyed but I think I know where I'm headed.  I am going to explore portraits and experiences that surround me! Keep ya posted! I have ten more drawings to do haha!

Tuesday, October 4, 2011

New School Year!

School has started once again! The summer was just way to short! Well now that I'm back in school, I am going to try and post frequently. This quarter, I am taking a Intro to Lithography Printmaking class, and an Intermediate Drawing class. I was very excited for this quarter during the summer but now I have mixed feelings. I think I am leaning towards studying graphic design instead of Fine Arts. The decision isn't final yet. I am still figuring out my choices. I think I would benefit more by being in the graphic design program. All last year, in fine arts, we were taught how to show our art in galleries and create master pieces that are from the bottom of our heart or world. I couldn't take it anymore! Over the summer I had been doing a sketch a day in my sketchbook and it turned out that these sketches were just to illustrate. I have always been into illustration and now I can have the chance to pursue it by switching into graphic design. So If I don't get to posting all the time, I apologize because I will be trying to figure out my next step for switching majors.

Anyways, I haven't been the best about documenting but I'll remember to in the future. In the printmaking class I am taking, we are learning how to prepare a stone for printing. Here is a great video to give you an idea for what we are doing---http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JHw5_1Hopsc.
For our first assignment, we were told to create an image of power. This image below is something I did over the summer. I drew this after hearing all about my sister and her husbands cat and how it is the smartest cat on earth. R.I.P. Olive. Well It was such a fun drawing for me so I think I am going to expand on it for all the awesome cats in the world! I'll keep you posted on how this turns out.
For my Intermediate Drawing class, our first assignment was to observe an object and do an ink wash of it. Well I took my roommates old camera and started inking! Here is is!
After that she told us to do a graphite drawing of it! Here it is!
I'm assuming this assignment was just to show her our skills so far. I don't think I lost my touch!
Excited for the new year!

Friday, August 5, 2011

New Sketches!


Long Mustache, Pencil
Posted more sketches on my tumbler! Take a look at http://lytlemary.tumblr.com/

Schools about to start so hopefully I can keep up with the posting. I'm excited to be a Sophomore at UC, taking Printmaking and Intermediate Drawing for the first quarter.

Sunday, July 10, 2011

Long Time, No Post

Hey Everyone! Hope your summer is going well! Don't worry I haven't just been sitting on the couch all summer doing nothing. I have been sketching constantly in my sketchbook! It was about time that I posted them on the internet. Check it out on http://lytlemary.tumblr.com/! Thanks for Following!

Wednesday, June 1, 2011

that email came....

Soo didn't get the portfolio award or scholarships. Disappointed? Yes. But who needs it. Why do I feel so rushed to become FAMOUS! (maybe because i still feel like that is the only way I can make it as an artist) Of course I will be thinking about that still. I can't get it out of my head. Everyone has gone through something in their life that they enter to win something. and they feel that deep down inside they have a great chance in winning. Well I just felt that. Bummer. Buttttttt! The out come of that was that I understand why I didn't get the awards or scholarships. Why should life be that easy? I still have to prove myself to the world. Who has ever won something they didn't even work for? I am ready to work even harder now. This summer will be the most challenging summer ever. On top of babysitting.... and well keeping a SOCIAL life. I am going to be building my meaning of art. You might ask... "meaning of art?" Yes, I want to show people what art means to me. According to everyone! ART HAS NO CONSISTENT MEANING! That is why a card board box with sprinkles on it is considered art..... (this artist came in to my currents arts lecture class and told us that he did that) Art means something totally different to mee... That is what I need to find and discover thoroughly.

Well the reason I am posting tonight,, (besides rambling on about what I am thinking about) I wanted you to read my current arts forum paper. This should help explain how I felt this year.


--------- Finishing up with my first year at DAAP, I have expanded my artistic skills greatly. As the professor of the three large lecture classes I was required to take, you may not know me well at all. You may know me as just one of the many students that turns in papers when she is told to, goes to class when she is told to and speaks when she is told to give her opinion. I am not always the first one to join into discussions, but I have a lot to say. Originally, I thought these classes were going to explore the options available for emerging artists. I was surprised, and not negatively so, to discover that this class was about becoming an artist and showing my work in galleries. However, as the year progressed I realized how important these classes would be for me.

When I realized that this class was mostly concerned with encouraging me to become a famous artist I wanted to know what else I could do in the art world. For example, being an illustrator, advertiser, or a photographer are very important goals in my life. Even though, this class didn’t talk about what I expected, I still got a lot out of the experience. It only took me till the final quarter to realize it. What was interesting about the classes were that they were showing us famous artists and telling us how to be one, I understood the meaning behind all of it. Or at least what I took out of it. After reviewing the past three quarters, I began to understand that they were showing us all these artists to find what we are interested in. As a learning artist, I know that I can’t just find a concept and randomly pick any medium and call it art. Maybe once I become a famous artist, I can do whatever I wanted but for now, I need to learn the foundations. Each and every class taught me a specific thing about becoming an artist.

In the beginning, I had a hard time getting used to fine arts, but taking Intro to Contemporary arts made me feel more comfortable. Seeing all the artists that were introduced to us was also overwhelming. It was like we were being showed who exactly we will be like in the art world. Then I realized who not to be. For instance, I hope I don’t end up like Jeff Koons; who has other people make his artwork. I want to make my own art. There is more of a meaning to it when you can see the artist’s hand. An artist that I grew to be interested in was Maurizio Cattelan. Cattelan drew my attention because of his use of satire. The irony in his art draws the attention to the crowd. That is something that I want to make my goal. I want to catch the audience’s attention by having them notice the irony in my art. The article, “A Fine Italian Hand” by Alexi Worth, explains Cattelan’s way of exceeding the boundaries of art. He exceeds these boundaries by being the “art world’s most famous prankster” (Worth 1). As humorous and risk taking that his works are, they are the most influential to me. Now that I have found artists that show a view of art that I am interested in, I feel that I can now start paving my way to getting to the point that they are at.

Visual Cultures was actually a class I was looking forward to taking. I have always been interested in the media. The one class that I took the most out of was the class on music videos. For weeks after that class, I would go around and show everyone I knew the slideshow from the class. Analyzing those music videos in class was different from watching them with my friends and family. There was a different understanding that I realized when I watched the videos in class. I knew exactly why they showed them to get an idea across. The media has a big portrayal on which we are supposed to be. The most creative idea will have the biggest impact on society. People will look at certain things differently after seeing something through the media. As an artist, I know that I need to keep paying attention to the media that surrounds me. The media will help me realize my perception on things and what my inspiration will be as an artist. Inspiration leads to the final class we had to attend as freshman at DAAP.

Current Arts Forum was the final class we had to take. This class put all the knowledge and skills we learned over the course of this year to work. Finding my inspiration, audience, and mission is one of the most important things for me as an artist. This course helped me realize what all those answers might be or will end up being. Reading about other artist’s inspiration was very helpful. Every artist started with an inspiration to create a series of astonishing work. The artist I became interested in was Scott Grieger. Grieger discovered an artistically satisfying way to compose his inspiration. Grieger says “his artwork cleanses minds that have been indoctrinated by the unrelenting assault of political and corporate propaganda” (Weintraub, 151). To display his inspiration to the audiences, he manipulates them, usurps their authority, and reverses their flow of influence (Weintraub, 152). Once an inspiration is found, an audience is created based off that inspiration.

An artist’s inspiration is the main thing that attracts the certain audiences. An artist that has a branded audience is Thomas Kinkade. Kinkade makes art for the majority of the population, rather than working in isolation for specific audiences. This is why Kinkade’s style is differentiated so much from that of other artists. Being named “Painter of Light,” Kinkade’s mission is to capture those special moments in life adorned with beauty and light.

Once the inspiration and audience is found, the next thing an artist needs to discover is its mission. The mission is what the artist wants to show to his or her audience a long process that will have a big impact on people’s ideals. Alix Lambert portrays her mission very well. Through her investigation Lambert identifies fictional situations that were missing in her life, involves her self in that real life action, gathers data, and then documents it through photography, film, or video. Lambert has become a boxer, a divorcee, a bride, a rock star, tattoo artist, and a basketball coach (Weintraub, 342). Lambert has overcome many of her fears by involving herself in certain situations. After researching what these artists have done, I now know what the procedure is to become a successful artist.

The questions you ask now like: “what I got out of this year?” “what did I not like?”, “where do I see myself?”, and “where and who will I be?” don’t really matter. I am a freshman at DAAP. I wasn’t expecting to cultivate my interests in becoming a fine artist as a freshman but that is what these classes prepared me for. This isn’t high school, where we are just given projects that will look good hanging in our bedrooms. I am here to create masterworks of art. These classes, without the teaching of our drawing or painting skills, taught me how to become a better artist. At the beginning of the year I thought I would be just an ordinary art teacher, but now I am more interested in creating art for the people that know me. I want them to get to know more about me through my drawings. Where do I see myself in the future? I see my self sitting in my studio working on some illustrations for the job I have, but on the side, when I have time on my own, I will be working on individual works that show my inspiration/mission to my audience. Thanks to these three lecture classes, I now know how to get my artwork out into the world. There are no boundaries in what I can do. I just want to succeed. My succeeding will be when I have people looking at my artwork all over the world finding their interpretation of it. Isn’t that what art is meant to be?

Bibliography

Weintraub, Linda. "Scoping an Audience." In the Making: Creative Options for Contemporary Art. New York: D.A.P./Distributed Art, 2003. 19-23. Print.

Worth, Alexi. "A Fine Italian Hand: The Work of Maurizio Cattelan - NYTimes.com." Fashion and Design - T Magazine Blog - NYTimes.com. 11 Oct. 2010. Web. 03 Nov. 2010. .


SORRY FOR THE LONG POST RECENTLY. I JUST WANT YOU GUYS TO UNDERSTAND.

Wednesday, May 25, 2011

The School Year is Coming to an End.

Last project in Drawing studio of my freshman year of college. Phew... it is weird looking back on all the assignments I had to do. Assignments that would help me to become a better artist. To tell you the truth... At the beginning of the year I pretty much thought that becoming a fine artist would entail drawing master still life's! I never actually thought, until now that they were just getting our foundation structured. Yes we learned how to draw outlines of bottles, find negative space, thickness in line, and value. Forgive me for just now realizing this but, those lessons helped sooooooo much! After doing this final assignment and her explaining to us that we need to start thinking conceptually.. Well (whatever that means) but it makes sense. We need to start putting what we learned in studios to use. I couldn't have done that with out thinking of something that really meant a lot to me. Well this year. it was college.

College was my biggest fear. I remember like it was yesterday when my sister came down stairs after cleaning out her closet full of books.. standing in front of me while I was playing a very "important" video game. She was holding up a book. I don't remember the name of it but it was basically saying.."Next Step College." The next thing I know I chucked the book to the side. Of course I didn't want to start thinking of college. It sounded horrible. Being away from my family. Not knowing anyone! meeting new people? How the hell am I supposed to do all that while being a good student.

Well it was hard. Very hard. However, Of course I learned from it. Doesn't everyone learn from anything that happens. I know there are far worse things going on in the world but right now. I am now finishing up with the most hardest thing of my life. and everyone says, " we all went through it mary" but why didn't anyone do anything about it?

That is when I started sketching in my sketchbook. It became my journal... that I ended up sharing with a lot of people. In a way, I want the whole world to see it. Because I am pretty sure, we can all relate to one another. and not everything in my sketchbook is anger about things that happen, but it also has little things I have begun to recognize in my college life. Being away from home, seeing those changes. Being away from my high school friends who went to different schools. Or choosing to go out with new friends just because I know that I need to make some but at the same time, I am growing away from the people who are my friends. It is just weird to think about how, everyone says college is the best years of their lives. BUT IT IS SO DANG HARD!!!!

Well everyone has to deal with their feelings some how right? I put it into my drawings. That is when I begin to think, that I want the world to see them. Soooo as some of you might have known, the previous piece I posted on the Blog, about Things You Won't Understand. That was for a portfolio review that we are having at the moment. This review has nothing to do with whether I am going to continue on in fine arts next year or not. It has to do with starting out with your art career as a freshman in college. The word around the studios are that they are going to choose 12 people to show their work in a gallery next school year. I can assure you that you might not understand how important this would be for me.

All year being in a class that repeatedly says "SHOW YOUR WORK IN GALLERIES BECAUSE YOU ARE GOING TO BE FAMOUS" How do you think that made me feel. It drove me nuts! I didn't want to do that. Being a cartoonist, illustrator, photographer, sounds wayyyyy more fun. and you get payed regularly. Why would I ever wan to put my self into the position of being poor, hungry, living with random friends, and creating art work. Do you understand how expensive art supplies are? They are veryy expensive. So yes i wouldn't want to be a famous artist. I would like to make art on the side, as a hobby. But when i heard about this portfolio review. Something just clicked in my head. I had to do it. and on top of that. I had to create something from me. Something that I have created from my sketches. That would be " Things You Won't Understand." I hung that one up of course. with 3 other projects. By all means I don't expect them to look at all four projects and go Tadaa!!! She gets the award! Life is way harder than that. But I am hoping to God that they consider me. It would mean so much. But all I can do is wait. because it has been a week and they still haven't sent the god damn email.

But in the long run. I made something that was really important to me and that will be a part of me for life. I don't need stupid galleries to make me feel better. All I need is my sketchbook and a pencil. Oh and my friends and family that surround me. I wouldn't have been here if it wasn't for them.
Here are my four pieces.
So yea this post was just going to be about the last drawing assignment but this last one helped me understand what I have been doing this whole year.
This project was a collaborative/ individual drawing. The way this worked was: that I started out with the paper and drew what ever I wanted. (Paying attention to mark making. Considering composition, directional lines, and visual texture) Well hot damn. I know I accolmplished all of those requirements. and the weird thing is. that this is just another one of my sketches from my sketchbook. But here is what I did first. If you can't tell... on the left hand side of the paper is cut out V shapes overlapping one another. this was my way of creating visual texture, and seeing how someone else would handle it.
Next was my friend Kelly.. She began to work in the faces where I left blank. I was a little hesitant but....
Now this is the final piece. However, I did switch with one other girl. She began to fill in between the V shapes with black pastel. I knew someone was going to at some point. But once it got back to me, after starring at it for a while. I knew what I wanted to do. Well this is what I did.
Looking back at this piece. It is weird thinking about what people do in reaction to seeing something. Kinda like how my first year of college went...........