Week 10 - Next Step of the Magazine

Craft
     For class this week, we had to create 10 two-page spreads, which includes the first 2 spreads we previously created for last week plus 8 others. Just like the previous spreads I created these using Adobe Indesign and the mouse to create page layouts along with placing various boxes, text, and images on these pages to make content for the magazine. After I created as many spreads as I could using all of my art I previously created in this class, I went to the art I created in my Digital Imaging class, which primarily uses the programs of Photoshop and Painter.

Composition
     For the remaining pages I chose the color of the background based on the color of the images I put on that page to give it a nice flow or feeling. The color of the text I used on each page was based on the color I chose for the background, to make sure the text is readable. Each page has its own unique layout and setup depending on the pictures and text that go along with each set of images. Each page has a theme to make sure the page flows well and the reader doesn't get lost of confused. I arranged each page the way I did for readability and style. The things I want the viewer to see are as follows in order, the title of each spread, the images on each page, and finally the text or body copy to let the reader understand how I drew or created these objects.

Concept
       The concept of these pages is the same as the first 2 spreads. They are simple because what I just really want to communicate to the reader are the steps that go into creating these types of images along with the craft, concept, and composition of these images I created.

A 2-page spread about my shade images I created.

A 2-page spread about variations of my shaded cup image I created.

A 2-page spread about an image of my Grandparents that I fixed with the use of Photoshop.

Week 9 - Starting the Magazine

Craft
      This week we began our final project which happens to be a magazine with any piece of artwork we have created which includes everything we have previously done in this class. We can also include other student's artwork in our magazine as long as we make sure we give them credit for their art. So far for this project we only had to create 2 two-page spreads or 1 four-page spread. We are creating our magazines with the use of the Adobe product Indesign, which makes the creation of a magazine easier. The steps to begin a magazine include creating a new document with the set amount of pages that you desire to add to your magazine. After you get all set up, you can go to the master pages and add any details you would want to be expressed on each page by adding it to these pages such as a border, background color, or page number. I used several different tools while using Indesign to create boxes and layouts for the different pages, along with adding text, pictures, and other such items all with the mouse.

Composition
           For the first two pages I created them the way I did with the black background to make the images and variations of the car image I drew to stand out and go well with the orange border around the page considering the car in the image is orange and black. I also used white text throughout these two pages because I feel as though it is easier to read with plain white text and not some color that might be difficult to see or read. On the first two pages I added both the original image and my final draft of my shape object to show accurate my drawing is compared to the original. On the second set of pages I put up a few of the variation pictures i created along with the matrix of those images to show how the color and brush stroke changes from picture to picture. When people look at my magazine, I want them to first see the big orange title at the top of the first page, so they know what that article is about. Secondly I would like the readers to look at the images I added which would then transition into the captions of the images. Finally I want the view to go into the actual text/body copy and read the article and what these images and pages are actually about.

Concept
       The concept of these pages is fairly simple because what I just really want to communicate to the reader are the steps that go into creating these types of images along with the craft, concept, and composition of these images I created.
 

The first two pages of my first 4-page spread of my magazine.

The second two pages of my first 4-page spread of my magazine.

Special Edition: Art Institute

A few weeks ago I went downtown to the Art Institute for my computer graphics class to see how drawings/paintings have progressed, developed, and changed over the years, and more specifically European art. These are a few pictures I took at the Chicago Art Institute as proof that I was there.

The pillars in the main staircase of the Art Institute.

"Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte"

     Out of all the paintings in the museum there is one that stood out to me as the masterpiece of the whole place in regards to craft, composition, and concept, that painting happens to be the famous painting called "The Old Guitarist" by Pablo Picasso. When it comes to the craft of this painting, Picasso used different shades of blue, grey, and black oil paints on a canvas. He crafted this painting very well because you can very clearly see the image he is portraying unlike some of his other pieces of art. I think he arranged the elements of this painting the way he did to give the painting of the guitarist a sad and sort of depressed feeling, especially with the colors and shades used to create this piece of art. What I think Picasso is trying to communicate in his painting is the tough times he was going through along with the tough times the world was going though also. You can clearly see that this is a painting of a guitarist but until you read the description of the painting do you realize it is an old blind man playing a guitar on the streets of Barcelona, Spain. I'm sure this painting has a much deeper meaning then just the depression of the artist but it is hard to fully understand it just from reading the description of the painting, but rather you would need to talk to the artist. This is a picture of this famous painting.

"The Old Guitarist"

Week 7 - Matrix

Craft
      This week we made matrices of an image by using the original image we created with shapes and making it monochromatic(using one color with different shades of that color) and then extreme-chromatic(using two colors with different shades of those colors) along the top of the matrix and then along the side of the matrix making the image with a different type of brush stroke to give it a different look and feel and then making it extreme by increasing the size of the brush stroke then. Then going through the rest of the matrix and combining which ever changes line up along the matrix to create a completely different and unique image in each space. The further you go from the original image in the top left corner the more extreme the image becomes. In the first matrix we did in class I used one of my old shading images from the beginning of the semester and my second matrix consisted of variations of my most recent image of the Ford Mustang. I made these drawings using Adobe Illustrator and the mouse, but only to typically select the type of changes I wanted to make to the image. Making different variations of an image to put in a matrix was actually one of the easier assignments to do. The first step to creating a matrix like this is to find an image you want to change to see how the different colors and brush strokes portray that image. I then selected every line and shape in the image by hitting command a, then going up to the brush library, I went through the different type of brush strokes to see which one would best fit my purpose here and look the best. After that I saved that image as a completely different image than the original, then I increased the size of the brush strokes by one point to get the extreme brush stroke look, then saved that as a different image also. So up to this point I have the original image along with two variations of the image with changes in the brush strokes. I then went back to my original image and again selected all the lines and shapes but this time I'm changing the colors of the image by selecting the color wheel at the bottom of the color tab along with the series of colors that I want and think would look best on the image. Once I open up the color tablet and see how the colors get swapped, I can change the colors to how I want to make them look for the best result. So for the first monochromatic image, I selected all shades of the same color, then saved that as a different image than the original. Then I went back to the color wheel and made the image extreme-chromatic by selecting two colors along with their different shades to give the image another completely different look and saved that image as another separate image. So up to this point I have the original image, two images pertaining to brush strokes and two images pertaining to color change. Then to complete the rest of the matrix, its typically combining the changes from the other images into a different image all together. So the four remaining images are a combination of a monochromatic image with a different brush stroke, an extreme-chromatic image with a different brush stroke, a monochromatic image with a enlarged different brush stroke, and an extreme-chromatic image with an enlarged different brush stroke. So all together I have nine different images that complete the matrix.

Composition

      In this matrix I arranged the elements  the way that I did to make the viewer see the transformation from the original image to a monochromatic and then extreme-chromatic and to a subtle brush stroke and to an extreme brush stroke, and eventually having different variations of the different sets of colors and brush strokes. The first thing I want the viewer to see is the original car image. The second thing I want the viewer to see are the small modifications I made to the image which include making a copy of the original with a subtle brush stroke and also another image with a monochromatic color change. Thirdly I want the viewer to see all the different variations of the original image and how it progresses as you get further and further away from the original image on the matrix. 

 Concept

     This is the final product of my alterations to an original image of mine, which you can clearly see the progression of the image through color and brush stroke from the beginning til the end.

In class matrix of an old shading image from the beginning of the semester with the use of different colors(mostly blues and yellows) and the change of brush stroke to water color stroke 5 then increased to 2 point stroke.

Matrix homework of my Ford Mustang shapes drawing using different shades of blues and eventually reds along with changing the brush stroke to chalk-scribble then increased the size to 2 point stroke.