Week 14 - NEW WEBSITE

To see my work click here

Week 13

Assignment: Last week we had to create Two web pages using IWeb. One about us, and one about visual communication. This week we have to clean them up and bit and point our own spin on the pages. We also have to include one slideshow of our comic with speech bubbles and one without.

Craft: Using IWeb to create webpages. I feel like IWeb is not as easy to use and some of the other programs we have worked with thus far. I have trouble finding the different features of IWeb and it's not as fun to play around with as say Photoshop or Comic Life.

Composition: I included my artwork from all three projects we have done. I changed the font of my webpage to red, which I like a lot more. I messed around with some other stuff as well but when using a more developed template, it seems very limited.

Concept: I want the pages to be as interesting as possible and for them to be unique. Hopefully I'll get some ideas.

Week 12

Assignment: To make two pages using IWEB. One page about you and one about this class. Also make sure it contains a link to this blog. We also should bring all the files we have created for this class.

Craft: We were shown how to use IWEB. Using one of the templates that it provides we need to create the two web pages.

Composition: We need to post our assignments from this class on the pages almost like a portfolio.

Concept: To make two awesome web pages.

Week 11

Assignment: To create a comic using Photoshop and the Comic life programs. On Monday we had a critique. We also had to alter our comic using the comments from the critique.

Craft: Using photoshop I changed my pictures to have only two colors, red and yellow. I also used Comic Life. Comic Life is a very easy to use program. Basically you just find a template and drag the pictures into each box. The Comic Life program also has cool features like talk bubbles, thought bubbles, and cool text.

Composition: We had a critique on Monday in which classmates wrote comments on our comics. Using the comments I tried to adjust my story. Problem with the critique was that many of the comments were contradictory. For example one said: that the colors were dark but the story was good. While another one said nice colors but the story had no real resolution. Overall I would say the most consistent comment was that some of the colors were too dark. So I lightened up most of my photos. Thanks for the comments it looks much better, as shown in the picture.

Concept: My concept, in a nutshell, is that someone leaves an envolope for someone else who is later revealed as an assassin. There is a dog in the story. Everytime the man gets another assignment they place a milkbone in the envelople with the victims information. Some people were thrown off by the point of the dog, so there's your answer. That's confusing and I will try to make that more clear. Another comment was that it is unclear to whether the guy is an assassin. There are a couple clues that the guy is an assassin. One is that there is a list of names that are crossed off (Which was a great idea from a previous comment). It doesn't matter if you can't read the names, it is just a clue. The names have no significance. Then there is the gun on the wall. Another comment was that my story had no resolution. The last picture is the guy pulling a picture of President Kennedy out of the envelope. Which basically is saying that the President is his next assignment. That's my interptation. The cool thing about art is that you can really interpt it how you like. If you feel that he is an assassin going to kill the President, then you see the same thing that I do. If you think that it is just some guy that got an envelope with a milkbone and a picture of the president that has no significance, then you are also correct because that is your interptation. It makes sense.

Week Ten

Assignment: We had to color our comic strip using only 2 colors. All slides and pictures needed to be done. We also had another critique.

Craft: Using photoshop I changed the background layer into Layer 0 and created at least one other layer to color the photo.

Composition: I got some good tips during my critique. I plan on adding one more slide with my dog. I want the dog to dispose of the image of the president.

Concept: Really the same as last week. To color the photos I chose red and yellow. The red because it symbolizes death and being a story about an assassin I figured it would be appropriate. I used yellow because it was the original color of the envelope and the yellow on the red really "popped" nicely.

Week 9

Assignment: We had to print out our pictures and then we got into groups to discuss and critique them. We also went to the taste of SXU to ask people there to critique our stories. We had to get four people to read them and comment. That was fun time, wish they would have had more food.
Craft- We were in groups of two or three and we went through and critiqued the stories. I wrote comments on each picture.
Concept- The concept I'm working with is about an assassin getting his next assignment.
Composition-I got some really great feedback. Everyone understood mine. I was told to eliminate two pictures and replace them with a picture that would convey a better message. During the taste of SXU when I asked people to read it they had reacted to the last slide saying, "No Way!" and "Wow".

I'll tease the picture of the title shot.

Lipstick and Dynamite (Speical Edition)

Lipstick and Dynamite is a documentary about Women's wrestling in the 50's and 60's. Directed by Ruth Leitman. Featuring such female wrestlers as the Great Mae Young and the Fabulous .

Each female wrestler told their story and surprisingly many were very similar. I believe the film accomplished everything it was suppose to do. It showed what life was like for women wrestler of that era, some of the individual stories were success stories and others not so much. It also briefly showed how women's wrestling is now and compared to those days it's totally different. Women were not treated equally back then and these women wrestler were tough (they were bad asses)! These women are the reason why women's wrestling is still around. The documentary was entertaining throughout and I really enjoyed it.

Week 8

Assignment: From the stories we wrote about someone traveling, someone waiting and a package we need to to create a type of comic strip, using nine to twelve photos or drawings.

Craft- Well the options are to take photos or to create drawing of the story. I took a some pictures to create my just because I couldn't draw with great detail. We need to tell are story using nine to twelve panels.

Composition- Some photos I took are ready others need some photoshop magic.

Concept- Last week's blog contains the story which is the concept. Now it is just a matter of getting the photos to tell the story.

Week Se7en

The new assignment:

Just before the doors close on the 4:00 bus, a stubby man wearing a navy blue suit leaps on, out of breath. He takes a seat, four rows from the back. With one hand clutching his brown leather briefcase, he wipes his perspiring forehead with the other. It isn’t a particularly warm day for November in Dallas, but he sweats with anxiety knowing he’s on a tight schedule. Everything must be timed perfectly. At 4:21, he gets off at the 63^rd Street stop. He steps off, pauses a moment to pull a manila envelope from his briefcase, his hands shaking. He walks over to the mailbox outside an Italian Restaurant and opens the hatch, as if to drop the mailbox inside, but instead he looks both ways and places it underneath. He stands up sharply. With a short sigh of relief, he fixes his suit jacket and walks away without looking back.

                  Around the corner a man takes one last drag of his cigarette. He walks casually over to the mailbox. He leans over and pulls the envelope from underneath it. He secures it under his left arm and walks three blocks to his apartment off Elm Street. When he gets up the stairs and opens the door, he drops the envelope on his kitchen table, atop a short pile of bills. He pulls the chain to illuminate the single light bulb hanging just above his head. The light catches a small collection of firearms hanging on the wall just past the kitchen. He sits down and carefully opens the envelope to reveal his next assignment: The President

Concept:

The person waiting is the smoking man

The person traveling is the stubby man

The package is the envelope

200 Lincolns

Assignment: Go to the Chicago Art Department to view the 200 Lincolns gallery and get extra credit.

I drove up there with my girl friend to check it out. It was really nice. After seeing all the Lincolns from our class, I was very impressed with most of the others. There were many in which the concepts were Crystal clear. One piece in particular that stood out to me was the one with Lincoln on the cross as Jesus and to his right was Blagojevich. I couldn't make out who was on the left of him but artistically this piece was really well done. If there was one that I didn't care I'd have to say it was this piece where Lincoln was part of a swimsuit calender with shirtless guys. I just felt there were too many images and too much going on. I just didn't really get it. There were so many that were very cool. Here are some pictures of me at the gallery.

week six

Assignment: first draft of our second mash-up
Craft: Continuing with the use of Photoshop. Professor Peck showed us the magic wand feature. I also used the quickmask technique which is very similar.
Composition: For the first draft I just used two of the photos I took. I really liked each photo individually. As far as what the combination said as a concept wasn't clear.
Concept: The concept I had in mind to begin with was "stealing music" or that downloading music is still stealing music. I didn't really know what exactly to do with it so I figured something with music would be the next best thing. Professor Peck gave me some ideas that I'm going to use. I think it's going to turn out great. Wait for a picture and update.

Week five

Asssignment: We need to take 25 new photos.

Craft: I chose these two photos because they are two of my favorites. In the one photo I'd like to focus on the drummers. The other photo is of one of my guitar so I want to incorporate the two.

Composition: I plan on cutting out something from one of the photos and pasting it into another. I also plan on utilizing more of photoshop's effects. This will get more indepth once i decide upon a concept.

Concept: I haven't decided upon a concept just yet. I will continue to examine the photos I took and still might take more photos to create a better concept.

week 4

Assignment: The final draft of our mash-up of a Lincoln era photo and a photo we took.
Craft: I changed my photo completely but stuck with the idea with a bench. I took a photo of a bench in Westfield Mall, hoping it would convey a more modern image. I took a picture of the bench empty and then I took one with my girlfriend sitting on the bench. As far as the photoshop process went, I cut out the photo of John Surratt sitting and placed him on the bench.
Composition: I like this version much better than the first draft. There are still some things I'd like to change. I plan on putting a picture of Lincoln in the photo. Also I want to make the writing more noticeable.
Concept: I figure it's up for interpretation but here's what I thought. The photo is of two people sitting on a bench. They appear to be from different era, just by looking how they are dressed. In the background their is writing on the wall that says, Lincoln speaks. So the people on the bench appear to be waiting. For those who don't know John Surratt was accused of trying to assassinate Lincoln, so they are waiting there for two different reasons.

Week Three

Assignment: The first draft: To create a mash-up of one of the Lincoln era photos and one of our photos.
Craft: Using Photoshop I cut out the image I wanted from the Lincoln era photo and placed it into my contemporary photo. This was the easy part. Making it look "good" is the true test.
Composition: I chose the two photos that looked like they would fit really well together and they did.
Concept: When I chose these photos I really had no concept in mind. Then when I was done with the first draft, I thought of the concept that "nothing changed". After the critique, I thought to myself that the "nothing changed" concept is rather boring. Looking more and more at the photo I like it less and less. During the critique it was suggested that it would be a good idea that I take a picture of a park bench that shows more of the "modern world" rather than the one I have now, which could be from anytime in history. I really like that concept much more. Another critique was that I need the man to match the photo, so either have him in color or make the photo black and white. I planned on doing this but I never got around to doing so. I might just abandon this photo. I am also thinking about changing the man as well. The assignment was a civil war era photo and this guy doesn't look so much from the Civil war, I don't know what I was thinking when I found this on google but I kept it more so for the pose. I have other photos of "Civil War" soldiers sitting down and these might work just as well if not better. I will continue to try to figure out what works the best.

Week two

Assignment: We had to find 25 Lincoln Era photos and we had to take 25 contemporary.

Craft: For the Lincoln Era photos I searched google. I typed "Lincoln photos" into several search engines. I would look at the related searches to find non Lincoln photos. For my photos I went outside first and took photos throughout my neighborhood. After I had quite a few photos from the outside I went in and took some photos of objects around the house. I really searched the house to find interesting things but I took what I could find.

Composition: My favorite Lincoln era photo was one of John Surratt. It was between this one and Dr Charles Burleigh Purvis, who has these massive chops. I couldn't help but pick Surratt with his awesome moustache and non chelant pose. My favorite of the photos I took was of an Optimus Prime figure. The first shot I took had the desk in the background, then I threw a Radiohead LP behind Optimus and it looked really cool. I liked how it turned out.

Concept: The photo of the man sitting and photo of the empty park bench look like they will fit well together.

Week One

1. Assignment: was to set up a blog and post a picture and type this.

2. Craft: I found a picture of myself. I went to sign up for a gmail account and was denied. I eventually was successful in creating one and here I am now.

3. Composition: I chose this photo because it isn't a photo. It is blurry and not just a plain photo of myself smiling. I choose this template because it had more color than the black or white ones. I just liked this template the best.

4. Concept: The soapbox is dead. Blogs have taken over.