Shepard Fairey... or Shepard Brian!?

After hearing that Shepard Fairey presentation, I felt inspired to do some similar designs of my own. Here is one based on those "Andre the Giant has a posse" posters he put up around town. Sorry. I know this post is really random. But I just wanted to show it off to someone...

Homework for Monday

Good work everyone. Please update your images, and comment on each other's adjustments. Also please comment on Jason's composition since he wasn't in class due to dentist visit. Your homework for Monday is to finish your work, get it printed on nice photo paper at Target Copy (you don't need to cut it this time) and bring a digital file named YourName_Nature.jpg and psd, so that we can burn a CD, also don't forget to bring in your Process Books. Could someone other than Paul bring a blank CD.
Thank you

nature

Same images, right sizes

pine cone profile

this is still very much a work in progress. i plan on having several detailed close-ups of the pine cone in the top three panels and possibly add some illustrator effects to create more contrast between the pine cone and the ground it is sitting on. i am essentially trying to bring a portrait style approach to this small part of the natural world.

Nature

When thinking about nature, people usually think of plants and rocks. But I'd like to emphasize the sky and more celestial aspects of nature. I think of the sky-- and outer space-- as the part of nature that humans cannot control, unlike plants, the land, water, ect. Space becomes the most powerful element of nature, as it it cannot be bound by human influence. In this image, human influences are present within the land-based nature, but the area of the sky in the center is untouched by it. I thought to invert the colors to convey an atmosphere of outer space; space is cold and dark. The color scheme is dark and composed completely of cool colors, and is even a little eerie.

Nature Project

When the class had our discussion when we were trying to put a "label" of sorts on nature, we realized that even though we are surrounded and survive with nature, it is still a mystery to us. This mysteriousness has made man kind wonder and ponder through out history but have lead to many questions being answered. So in this project i wanted to bring this dark mysterious idea of nature and show it in a beautiful way. I decided to take the majority of my photos at night when nature seems less inviting but as equally beautiful.

Im not sure what i want to do with all of my photos, i dont really have a direction conceptually. I would really love any input.

Interim Crit - Nature!

I wanted to approach the idea of “nature” in a non-traditional or non-obvious way—something beyond only trees and sky. Looking into the science side of nature, I found x-ray crystallography. The wavelengths of x-rays correspond to inter-atomic distances. The diffraction (resulting pattern) of an x-ray passing through a crystalline solid can be used to deduce the shape or structure of that crystal. The result is a “photograph,” although with a much different appearance than one from our digital cameras.

The most famous image is that of DNA taken by Rosalind Franklin in 1952. It was from this image and research that Watson and Crick modeled the double-helix structure of DNA. The photograph of the x-ray diffraction is not only historically significant, but also aesthetically beautiful in its abstract, simple symmetry. Here it is:

DNA is the foundation of life, and “life” is a key component of nature. My image merges the external, natural-phenomena traits (of flowers and fibers) with the internal structural traits (of DNA). In my first variation I used this orange flower to stand out against the brown/tan background, but I have other images that I could use instead of the flower. Here is my interpretation:

Another idea I was considering stemmed from our discussion of the non-existence of the “pure nature,” one without “unnatural” human intervention, or death or moldy parts. I wanted to make an altar/reliquary to show how we worship this ideal. The top would be a triptych of images, and the bottom would be little “reliquary” containers with small objects on interesting backgrounds. It would all be encased in some kind of an altarpiece, of either man-made or natural materials. In my rough demo that I posted below, I used photographs with natural and unnatural aspects, to show that “nature” doesn’t really fit this ideal. However, I’m not sure if it would be more compelling if all of the pictures were pristine, “sacred.” Any suggestions?

My ideas are still in the beginning stages but i have at least decided that i want to work with water. I am really fascinated by the way water can play with our perceptions of things in nature. It can magnify small details, blur or muddle out details, hinder our vision, cause reflections, etc. Im not exactly sure how i want to intertwine or display my images yet, i really just want to let the pictures speak for themselves without too much photoshop blending and layering.

Nature's Struggle

Nature. What is nature? What defines what is natural or unnatural? The more I have thought over these questions the more I have begun to realize it is a matter of opinion. Many of us see industrialization and man made substances to be unnatural and not a apart of nature; but at the same time it is human nature to survive, since modernizing and developing are ways in which our race has adapted to the modern times isn't it natural. This argument has played out in my head over and over, yet despite the unresolved aspects of my internal dispute, I have found one absolute. Struggle. Constant and endless struggle between man and the environment or mother nature. Man tear down trees to build shopping malls and homes; severe weather knocks down the homes and buildings where trees once stood. Each is destructive and the battle is never ending.

Nature

Well...I have been in a struggle with visualizing my conceptualization for this project but I atleast have a start at this point. My idea is based on the interaction of man and nature. Essentially, what we put into nature is what we get back. No matter what mankind does to nature, it still will press on. There no way that we can eliminate nature entirely so I've decided that we are apart of nature and the inner-workings of the whole process. By reflecting man back into nature, I am attempting to show this. This is really just preliminary ideation though.

Nature project

I would like to take a moment to say that for just a few pictures, i ended up dropping two - yes, two - of my digital cameras into the pool. They are unofficially dead right now. So I did my best to work with the images I was able to get. This idea kind of originated from my affinity to water and the old classical still life and portraiture paintings. Most of the themes here deal with manipulation, artificiality, and complacency. The entire environment is supposed to be this sort of obsessive compulsive image that reiterates how much we try to keep nature at arm's reach, within a certain level of tolerance and control. Fenced-in areas, manicured plants, chlorinated water, artificial fruits, flowers, and a bird, an umbrella, and a young girl dressed up to swim. Hopefully this makes some sort of cohesive composition, but I'm not really loving this at the moment. I feel like it needs a lot of work. I need advice as far as the dimensions, the color, the arrangement, so on and so forth. I wanted to also play with the reflection in the water, but I wasn't sure how. There is another image of me holding a dead bouquet of flowers that I have not yet incorporated into the image, and I'm not sure if I want to.

2 images

Ok so basically I plan on using one of these images to complete my project. The basic idea is that I will change her body in the reflections and redo her complete physical appearance out of parts of nature (ie her hair will be moss, her skin will be bark). I plan on using the second image because I think that it is a lot stronger compositionally, but I posted both so that people can see the different options. If I choose the second image, both of the reflections will be redone and I think that this would be the better route. Oh and the photo will obviously be cropped. Well let me know what you think!

-Jason

nature

I think that nature is unstoppable and uncontrollable. No matter what we do to prevent natural event, we, ourselves, become the victim of it. “We have cut too many trees; we have made the pollution too bad; we are using up the fuel” and many many sayings. It seems like every thing that is not happen “naturally” is because human’s fault. What we have done in the past was really for the best for ourselves. When we are talking about protecting the nature, we are really talking about protecting ourselves because we are born to be selfish, all animals are. The problem is that we can’t to both. If we want to live better, we have to harm the nature, such as cutting more trees and expand more land to make houses even if we have to force wild animals leave. I don’t think there’s any thing wrong with it. This only shows that we are the stronger one in the nature. I am sure some people don’t think so. Ok, let’s put you in this situation: in a forest, a tiger with her two cubs are looking for food because they have not eaten for a month. Now, the tiger mom sees you (because you just happen to be at the wrong place and the wrong time) and ready to do any thing to take you down and make you to be the dinner for her two cute cubs. Would you be willing to die for the two cubs? I am sure you will say “no.” (or depends on how cute the cubs are, for some girls) So, in the reality, we are doing the same thing as what the tiger is doing, looking for a way to survive. And when we find the way to survive, we try to make the way easier for ourselves to survive. And this is nature: the strong one will live. And this is the deal between nature and I.

Some Artists for Inspiration

• Ansel Adams
• Stella Lai
• Corn Study
• Andy Goldsworthy :you can watch the film called "Rivers and Tides", which is a documentary about his work. (I think they have it at the library)
  

• Robert Smithson
  

Pipilotti Rist

Pipilotti Rist started with graphic design, drawing and stage set creation
Eventually moved to working with video and digital imaging
Uses an ironic or satirical tone
Works often with human emotions and her individual perspective of the world

Her Process:
Maps ideas through other ideas or conversational thoughts
Gathers huge amount of material
Sorts through material and deletes unnecessary work
Allows chance and what she is looking for work together
Usually works alone or with a small team through the internet

Collective Works
Open My Glade 2000 Video Installation
I’m Not the Girl Who Misses Much1986 Video Still
Sip My Ocean 1996 Video Installation
Ever is Over All 1997 Video Installation

Other Works
PimplePorno
Mutaflor
Atomosphere and Instinct
Selfless in the Bath of Lava
Himalaya Goldstein’s Living Room

Main Concepts
Feminism
Happiness
Truth through perception

Pro Tools What?

Why am I even posting this?

William Kentridge

Types of Media
• Visual and Film
– Charcoal Drawings, animation
– Music in films
– Printmaking
• Handspring Puppet Company
– Theatre Productions
– Set Design
– Directing
• Installations and collaborations

Meaning and Purpose
• Emotions and memory
• History and geography
• Personal narratives of daily existence
• Desire, ethics, and responsibility

Tools and Materials
• Modern and old-fashioned
• Simple and figural drawings
• Single main character
• Monochromatic, with hints of color
• Temporal

Selected Works
• Johannesburg: 2nd Greatest City After Paris, 1989
• Sobriety, Obesity & Growing Old, 1991
• Felix in Exile, 1994
• History of the Main Complaint, 1996
• Weighing and Wanting, 1998
• Medicine Chest, 2001
• Black Box/Chambre Noire, 2005
• Journey to the Moon, 2005

Certain Doubts Trailer

Felix in Exile :
• Charcoal drawings, filmed in stop motion photography
• Felix in a closed room, with the suitcase of drawings
• Nandi, the surveyor, in South Africa
• Bodies: red-orange
• Water: blue

Readings-self refresher

The first reading about nature discussed some of the same issues we covered in our discussion on Wednesday. The nature of any animal is its instinct to survive, but at the same time in order to survive we need to make advancements and industrialize. Many would say this is unnatural but again there is the question whether it really is unnatural? If it is our nature to survive and do whatever possible to do so then how is anything we do to accomplish this goal unnatural? The more I think about nature and the more we discuss it I find it to be a matter of opinion. Of course knocking down a forest and using nonrenewable resources is something we all know is harmful to the environment, but on the other hand in the time we live in when what we are greatest at is our ability to consume it is necessary for us to advance in order to thrive and survive. Although the second reading about the artist working with corn started off addressing much of the same issues, the article lost me when it began discussing the education of corn...what does that have to do with nature?

Shepard Fairey

Shepard Fairey:
Mediums: Graphic design and graffiti artist
School: studied at Rhode Island School of Design
Company: part owner and founder of Black Market design company, recently launched their own clothing line
Work: Fairey's inspiration is drawn from the outside world and how people interact to uncertainty. His work often covers political or controversial topics but the presentation leaves room for interpretation. For Fairey the key to success is through the "word of mouth"; sparking the publics interest isn't hard, you just have to find something for them to ponder over and then let their minds and thoughts roam free. A street artist and rebel at heart Fairey's rise to fame has not affected his work's means or methods. The street is still his favorite gallery it allows his work to surround and become apart of what brings it to life, people.

Artist Presentation

I'm gonna do my artist presentation on Spike Lee. Believe it!

Class on Monday

• We are going to work in class on Monday, and I am going to go around and talk to each person about their ideas & work. So bring in the work you have been working on and your images. (Before you take your pictures, you can set up your scenes- you have to take just snapshots of nature; you can also play around, combine, layer images images in Photoshop)
  
• We are also going to talk about the reading (under Readings) I just posted (Nature: An Ecocentric Interpretation and Dave Burns & Matias Viegener)
• Check this post again, because I might add things or suggestions.
• Have a nice artful weekend!
  

NATURE PROJECT

Please consider the following phrases, try to come up with definitions, and use this information in your project.

• Going back to nature
• An impulse of nature
• Letting nature take its course
• In the nature of the beast
• A call to nature
• Human nature
• Unnatural
  

My artist (Jeremiah's)

My artist is Nam June Paik, dont touch him!

Still Very SICK.

When it rains, it pours! Basically on Friday I rented out a nice digital SLR from the cage and ended up taking about 200 photos of the forest, and I did one shot of my friends in HDR to test it out. Well I had to work saturday and I was planning on taking the HDR nature shots on Sunday. Basically I ended up getting the flu while I was at work, and to top it off my Wisdom tooth began to REALLY kill me. I ended up going to shands to get checked out, and i had the flu, and they gave me some painkillers for my tooth. I have an appointment to get it extracted next wednesday. As for the flu, its wednesday and I still feel terrible, I'm just hoping that I'll be fine by this weekend. Anyways, here are two nature shots, as well as my 2 friends in HDR.

Color Theory

Most of the terms and principles that Stewart discussed about color were pared down to pretty concise definitions and explanations. I knew a lot of these already and instinctively, I think we all have a naturally good color sense. It's definitely harder to put into words, though. Last semester I took color painting and I have a whole $75 book on color theory, but even with that, I feel like you can't really understand color until you're mixing it yourself and putting a composition together with it. In that class, my teacher forced us to see the color in things we wouldn't normally see without paying extreme attention. We also had to get away from seeing "local color", that is, the color we think things should be (like an apple is red and an orange is orange). I'm interested in seeing how this sense of color with painting translates into a sense of color with photography and digital imaging.

nature shots

I'm obsessed with the way bare trees look against a clear blue sky.

Class on Wednesday

• Read "Outside Lies Magic" which is posted on the right under Readings. We will discuss this in class
• Bring your cameras, we are going to take a walk outside, observe and discuss some terms
• Those (Adriana, Sarah, Ashley) who are scheduled to do artist presentations will still present on Wednesday, no change on that.
• Bring your Process Books too!!!
  

Artist Presentation

GET EXCITED!! I will be doing my artist presentation on Pipilotti Rist!

Color Experiment

Nature

COLOR THEORY

http://www.ncsu.edu/scivis/lessons/colormodels/color_models2.html

http://coe.sdsu.edu/eet/articles/ColorContrast/start.htm

JOSEF ALBERS

cCoOlLoOrR

I'm pretty familiar with a lot of this color stuff. primaries, monochromatic, analogous complementaries, etc. What I found interesting in the chapter was the focuses on the psychological aspect of color and ways to evoking emotion or fgibing a work a certain feel. Colors are never emotionally neutral and color keys and symbolic color can play a big role in a composition. I think as humans, we do this automatically. Colors in an ad or poster or work of art automatically create a certain feel. EVen in movies or the clothes we wear, color can give off certian feelings. I also think its interesting to think about if the colors we see are the same way another person will see it. Like if i see red, will your eyes see your red as my blue. I think thats something the world sould figure out.

Heres some cool information I found on color and psychology. Click here

Aye, mucho calor!

So why do we "tint" our windows when we make them darker?
Colorism is a term that I'm surprised Stewart didn't use in this chapter, it's just another term for what she termed "simultaneous contrast." I think this was the most interesting aspect of the chapter, along with the afterimage concept. I think playing with people's perceptions of colors is really interesting, and can be an important aspect of a piece. However, I think it can be an issue if an artist takes it too far and there is little other strength in a piece. This is the issue I have with op art sometimes. I personally do not do much color play in my work and after reading this chapter, am kind of excited about actually putting some of it to use.

Edit: Upon further inspection, "colorism" may be a very wrong term to use instead. My painting teacher uses it when referring to simultaneous contrast, but according to Wikipedia, it is only about discrimination. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colorism
These are different!

Element of Color

Additive color or the primaries are the first step to understanding light and how it reacts when reflected. Subtractive color is created when white light is reflected off a pigmented surface and I found it interesting that it is variations of these colors that are used in mass production printing. I found the color interaction section helpful in talking about how colors influence each other. I think this has relevence to modern field paintings. I did not know that this effect was called simultaneous contrast and that cones in our eyes can only regestier one complementary color at a time. It is mind blowing that the hue or wavelength of a color determines what it actually is identifed as and that the value refers to the color minus the color. Luckilly I could relate to most of the discussion regarding value and tint in painting because I have been reading Hawthorne: A book on painting which talks a lot about color. I also found split complementary ver intriguing and the example of Francis Bacon's bluegreen and red orange self-portraits as an example. Although I had already known of symbolic color, I found the expressive color section more important because the same color with a differenet value makes a big difference in a painting.

I found some really colorful Jasper Johns field paintings. Check it out!

Nature Walk

Plant close up.

Now yes, bugs often end up on windshields.
But spiders?

The Element of Color

The chapter talks about the element of color. It summaries that color is the physicist studies electromagnetic wavelengths in order to measure and classify color; the chemist, working with the molecular structure of dyes and pigments, seeks to produce highly permanent colors and excellent paint consistency; the physiologist investigates the effects of color and light on our eyes and brain; the psychologist studies the expressive effects of color on our mind and spirit. And there are some terminologies that I think we should remember as in every day uses. The hue, or name of a color, is determined by its wavelength. Red, blue, green, yellow, and so forth and all hues. Temperature refers to the heat a color generates, both physically and psychologically. Value refers o the relative lightness or darkness of a color. Intensity, saturation and chroma all refer to the purity of a color. The primary colors are the most intense. This intensity generally diminishes when colors are mixed.

the element of color

this chapter was definitely overwhelming with the amount of information it contained. some of the more interesting things i found were the sections about the Bezold effect, opponent theory, and the use of color to create the illusion of space and emotion. understanding the Bezold effect is important because it is absolutely true that a single color change can greatly effect a viewers perception of a piece. this ties into the section about creating space and emotion because using the right type of color will create one sense of space while another will perhaps create a more or less drastic feeling. The same is true about emotional responses to color. pages 72-73 (in the green book) have really good examples of this. the opponent theory was interesting mostly because explanation of why it is that complementary colors seem to glow when they touch.

nature walk

Nature Walk

This nature picture is from my hometown Jupiter, FL.

Color

I felt that the juxtoposition of certain colors and the effects created was very interesting. The example in the book shows how colors against a gray background tends to mute them while colors against a red background makes them vibrant. Also, I often try to make my colors harmonius whether the subject is positive or negative. However, the idea of using disharmony or even muddy colors seems like an option for future work.

Nature

the element of color

I think this chapter was one of the more relevant of those we have read. It brings up the importance of using color to evoke the appropriate emotion that the artist is attempting to convey. I'm glad that this chapter went over some of the basic concepts that a lot of us get a little confused about, like the variation between tint, tone, and shade, as well as teaching us how to use color to create space and depth in an image. Color can emphasize details in an image, but could also stand out alone as a focal point. Using color in the most fitting form for a concept is critical to attract the correct audience.

And! I'm going to do my artist presentation on Bill Viola.

Venturing Out in Nature

Here is "nature" in a semi-contained, semi-wild state. Boats travel along the river, people can sit at picnic tables on the water's edge to eat lunch. Still, alligators and waterbirds live in the river and the water keeps on lapping at the shores.















And this is a pretty field. Powerlines and plowed expanses show that people are never that far away.

Nature Walk

Artist Statement

Some people feel the desire to look like someone else because they believe that person is "beautiful". A lot of people base beauty only on looks. Hollywood gives big pressure for people who want to be glamorous and beautiful. Hollywood is an industry that can make people feel they need to look like movie stars in order to be attractive. Something as simple as a haircut style can become a strong desire for someone.
Everyone has their own view and definition of beauty and mostly everyone goes out of their way to obtain it.

Nature Walk

Nature is composed of many layers. Trees and wild plants may be the first layer you see, but upon closer inspection there are many other layers of nature. For example, handfuls of moss hang from the top most branches while vines spiral around the branches and make thier way around the trunk. This picture shows fungus growing on a fallen treen trunk. The beauty in nature is that nothing is wasted.

a stroll through nature

This chapter really showed me how much importance color has in creating a successful design or image. There were many different ways to make a interesting and visualy attractive image. I found it interesting how simply playing with the value of one color, one can create an image with much depth like Vision by Nicora Gangi. When you limitate yourself to just one color variable like this you can focus more on line, shape, and texture. Even with using a select few of these color variables, one can tell a story with out even using a narrative or words. Also the push-pull effect that was introduced is a very effective tool that i hope to use soon. This chapter was very helpful, especially if you are going in the feild of graphic design where color, or the lack there of, is possibly the most imprtant part of the image to get your point across. Now as well as thinking very conceptually or the idea behind the image, i will have to think as deep into the colors, hues, intensity, etc. of my image.

One of my nature pics

Walk in the Woods

While on my walk I couldn't help but notice the way color and light interacted to bring life to everything that surrounded me. The leaves in the trees either absorbed or let the light seep through them. The trees that had color leafs reds and oranges looked as if they had been set a flame. Life buried in every corner from the wind and sun against my skin to the squirrel munching on the log below. Like in painting tints, tones and shades helped to push and pull the objects around me. The sun and its reflections pushes the tops of the trees and sky back while the shade and areas better hidden from the sun rays are brought forward. The hues and values in the dirt and bark of the trees accentuate the varying textures.