Well, this week we had to do ransom notes of sort, to explore typography. I did a few examples, some being more "threatening" than others, in terms of text, hehe. I had fun with this, and tried to chose the fonts, sizes and colors accordingly to the feeling I was trying to get across. You wouldn't believe how much time it took me to find the "shouldn't" heheh. ^_^

Alrighty! So this week, we had to create a buncha personalized symbols, in either a series, or a sequence. I chose "my morning routine" for this project, since the inspiration of morbidly comical goings on in the morning is endless, aheh. I really enjoyed making these, because they really represent me, and it was tough to choose five from the bunch I had sketched out.

Using a restricted color palette was interesting too, because it forced me to really rely on other elements of the picture to make it "complete", such as contrast, line width and composition. In retrospect, after having looked around at a few other people's work, I think I should have simplified these even more, but I have a LOT of trouble doing that, in general. I draw pretty detailed usually, so just even doing these was difficult, hehe. But it was a great exercise, and I'm generally happy with the results.

I'm not sure if the meanings are clear, but some are more obvious than others, I guess, hehe. Anyway, I hope you like 'em!

In order of appearance:

1) Warning: Bad Hair Day
2) Beware: Morning Breath
3) Inhaling Breakfast, Proceed at your own Risk
4) Attention: Forgotten Homework Zone
5) Caution: Toilet Sleepers Ahead

Please, don't kill me, folks.

I get very bored at work during the lulls, and I like checking out and commenting on classmates' blogs. Aheh. ^_^; I try to be constructive with the comments, but you know.. if it really bothers someone, let me know, hehe.

And since we're on the topic of symbols... here's my all time favorite, folks. Learn it, and spread the word.

Symbols...

Alright, so ever so happily, in a very ironic "the dog-ate-my-homework" sort of way, (which has happened, by the way)... my digital camera's memory card decided to get corrupted. I snapped shots of stop-signs, bathroom signs, pictures of my sister's batman emblem, superman emblem and recycling bin emblem, which I will upload as soon as I get another memory card and re-shoot. (You have to realize that this excuse is SO bad that I couldn't possibly be lying. I plan on bringing the thing to school as proof.)

For the time being however, for the sake of the assignment, I nevertheless surfed the web for some relevant symbols that I like best, and here's what I came up with.

Anyway, this assignment made me realize to what extent we are surrounded by symbols. I suppose this seems evident, and seems to be the general point of this exercise... but seriously, we are flooded in symbols. Our very language is made of them. Symbols are not universal, however... they are very dependant on cultural background, I realize. I mean, you should have seen some of the "symbols" I saw in Japan. I didn't have a clue, especially when it came to their space-age toilets.

And really... symbols are extremely powerful. They influence our very way of thinking, are part of how we interact with the world. In some sense, symbols are the ultimate interphase. We interact with them without even realizing it. So inherently, whoever controls the symbols.. controls us. Creating a recognizable symbol is the ultimate answer to lasting fame and getting into the history books... I mean, look at the guy who invented the smiley face... the peace symbol. Or this: ^_^

The power of symbols is definately something to be harnessed, I realize, in the art-making process, if one is to make a lasting impression through their work. I can only hope to coming close to it, someday. I don't necessarily want my name to live on... but it would be interesting to leave some sort of cultural mark behind, "to prove I was here", as one of my favorite art teachers once told my class, in reference to the very purpose of art. One can only hope.

(Credit: Christopher Griffith)

Playing with lines...

Last week's in-class assignment proved to be a lot more challenging than it seemed. Creating meaning with such restrictive parameters is really difficult, and you really have to think about it to get something good, hehe. Line width, frequency of line, quality of line... it all has a direct effect on the look, and consequently, the feel of a visual piece. I've sort of known this for a while, given my interest in comic books (which are really strong examples of how to use these techniques efficiently, ie: Crosshatching, line width, panneling, lighting through texture, etc.), but I've never studied it quite so directly, or consciously, I should say. The textures were the most difficult... I found it hard to find new and original patterns through simple use of lines, and had to start over quite a few times before I was happy with the result.

And since we'll be approaching typography soon, I thought I'd play around with the words a little bit as well, hehe. Just for fun and profit, as they say.

Wow...

I have to say, I'm really happy with our latest assignment, the one using collage and drawing to create some sort of sequential narrative about our magical interphase, hehe. I stuck with the earphones, and as an added fantastic touch, decided to make them "mood earphones". Basically, you wear them, and the earphones adjust to your mood, selecting music that suits you at a given moment in time. (Something I've always wished my earphones could do, because moments accentuated by music are so damn cool.) As an added feature, if you were to come across someone else wearing the very same kind of earphones, they would sort of interact, and merge the music/moods, to create a whole new interactive, interpersonal dimension to an otherwise random, pointless encounter. So that people would be less disconnected from each other when they "tune out" to listen to their tunes.. I suppose there would be problems in a huge city with tons of people, were they all to have the same phones... but let's pretend that since they can detect your mood, they could also detect which people you inherently show an interest in. Like... "chemistry-detecting earphones", hehe. (not necessarily romantic, mind you. Just generally "getting along vibes", if that explains it.)

Man, that would be so cool. I love this class.

Anyway... visually, I tried to use differing colors to express the mood on each character, and then blended the colors together to express the merge of atmosphere/music... And chose sort of themed collage pieces for each character. After they "merge", the mood becomes sort of lifted, and since they connected, I chose a less imposing, and more organic background, to illustrate how great it is to interact, even on a small level, with others. Anyway. ^_^ I liked this, it was really fun, and permitted me to explore a whole new way of drawing, and creating things visually. Honestly, I didn't think it would be so effective, but it turned out really interesting. I'm off to browse everyone else's, I can't wait to see what people came up with.

So those last few images I just posted for for the "draw and interphase" project... I was rather satisfied with them at first. I like the idea of earpones as interphases, because they're really some sort of gateway between worlds. The plugged and unplugged. I'm not sure how to explain it, but maybe through this anecdote it'll be more clear. My friend was telling me one time how she deliberately puts on her earphones on the metro at night, so that no one bothers her, or starts talking to her. That she said this made me think about just how embedded this weird unspoken rule is, in mostly everyone's minds.... Like how, the instant you put on your phones and delve into your music, you might as well be dead to the world, though you instantly open up your own little realm. Well, it's like that for me anyway. I'm really sensitive to music, and it really affects my mood. When I get it just right, sometimes my entire morning commute feels like a music video...just because I've covered my ears with a device that immensely changes my perception of the world, just by blocking out one of my senses. You sort of get tunnel vision when your earphones are on... and most people take it as a given that you're no available for conversation, or any other form of interaction, when they're on. It's ironic that way... by wearing earphones, you interphase/interact with technology, the net, but cut off all other interactions in doing so. Anyway.

In class though, Joey pointed out the fact that nearly everyone in class, myself included, had drawn something digital for an interphase... when really, an interphase can be anything, even a potato peeler. In retrospect, though I greatly enjoy the idea of earphones as an interphase, I think I should have thought a little more deeply about it, and tried something more "original", though really, there's not right or wrong answer. In fact, I can't really think of anything that isn't an interphase... I wonder if such a thing exists.

Melancholy...

When reality hits you, it often leaves a mark... Speechless, sightless in the dark, you fumble around for the lost meaning of it all.

Angry...

How could you do this to me? No... no... no... This can't be happening.

Hungry...

Eat it all up... fill yourself to the brim. Shiny, plentiful excess...

Happy...

Living the dream... what more could you want?

Ah yes, the timeless collage... The intimidation of millions of possibilities... the inescapably lenghty process of cutting, pasting and finding meaning in the mundane, soul to the shiny, creativity in the colorful, and dreams in the dirty. Collage is so... hard. I think I struggled with it because you're starting at square zero with raw material, but it's not blank... it's already been assigned a certain purpose. It's up to you to re-arrange and consequently, re-assign that purpose, and you have no excuse not to.

I mean seriously. It's not like you can say "I don't have the skills/material/balls to collage." If you've ever attended preschool, you can collage. The trick though, is infusing these mountains of scrap paper with meaning, above the ones they've already been given... and no one ever taught me THAT in preschool. Hmm. Maybe this university stuff will be useful after all, eh? ^__-

Anyway, the first one is 34>12 : I took the numerical aspect of the title maybe a little literally at first, illustrating one pumpkin, opposing an insane group of them... But I thought the image also became more of a "the power of 1" thing after a while as well, illustrating isolation, fear, but also power with the belief in oneself, when faced with adversity. (Taking myself too seriously again? Maybe.)

The second is "I want to fly": I used a flying fish as a metaphor, when I realized that one of the pieces of paper I'd torn resembled something vaguely aquatic, so I went with it. It's jumping off the confines of the page, escaping the structured, confined symmetry of the lower half. My artsy-fartsy friends and I used to joke around that I was a "symmetry whore", and you can see it here... I like having symmetrical values of color, and the black bars balance themselves out, creating a very ordered, calculated sort of "fish tank", from which the colorful, lively fish is trying to escape.

The third is "monkey": This one I took sort of literally at first, exploring the whole "hairy" aspect of our primate cousins. I tried to use very sketchy, chaotically patterned paper, and ripped the images of a guy who had quite a lot of stubble on his face, as well as a chain around his neck, simulating captivity, like perhaps in a zoo of some kind. Then I realized: Hey, this guy's just a monkey like the rest of us... And when you deconstruct the features of all humans, the resemblance is not so far off at all.

The fourth in line is my self portrait: It seems a little obvious, as that is a distorted image of myself... But you don't get more "me" than that. I like blue, swirling, organic lines, symetry and lots of negative.............(space).

Anyway... I'll be posting the rest soon. ^_^