Feel of the City

For the past two week's we've been working on a composite in photoshop that goes along with the theme "feel of the city." I made a collage of my favorite Philadelphia pictures.

Lynda Barry

Yeserday was the best lecture I have ever been to at Tyler. Well, I've only been here for 10 weeks, but it was definitely the most inspirational speech I've heard here. At first, Lynda got up and said that she was nervous and I was thinking, "oh great, another nervous person who can't make a speech." I was totally wrong. She didn't seem nervous at all. She talked, read parts to us from her book, and even sang.

The part that I liked most about her was the fact that she was talking about images and didn't show images on the screen but we could still see them in our heads. It's like she didn't even need to show us any pictures of what she was talking about because she was so good at explaining that we could all just image what she meant.

She also seemed like she believed in all of us. Even though she didn't know anyone personally, she just really seemed like an old friend who wanted everyone to succeed. She basically told us too, to not think about the money. Everyone in art school thinks, "okay, how am I going to make a living with this major?" But, Lynda basically told us to just follow our bliss and the money will come. Just do what we love. Just like she did.

The Surreal World

In computers foundation this week, we had to kind of do what we did last week but instead of using other pictures to minipulate a current event we had to use our own pictures and create a different picture. I used a picture I took in the garden at the Kimmel Center and I put my friends in it and made it look like they are swinging, jumping, and sitting on the window beams.

Current Event?

In Foundation Computers we had to take a current event and change the meaning in photoshop. I took a picture of Kanye West and Taylor Swift at the MTV awards and instead of Kanye taking the award away from Taylor, they are holding a kitten.

Controversial Photoshopping

I have just read three articles and watched one video about photo editing in magazines and I had no idea all the work that really does go into it. I always knew that pictures in magazines were edited but I never knew all that they really do and I was shocked to see what goes into these magazines. Not only do they make them look skinnier and have perfect skin, but they can make their legs look longer and take the bloodshot out of their eyes. Some of the articles were discussing how France and the U.K. are considering making laws that will not let magazines do this anymore, especially to children under the age of 16.

I honestly cannot even imagine what it would be like if this law gets passed. The fashion world as we know it, will be completely different. I do think there should be a change though. There are girls all over the world who are starving themselves and throwing up their meals because they think the people in these magazines really exist. If this law doesn't pass though, I hope that the magazines at least put that the photos are edited and who edited them. It seems like the model hardly does anything anymore, the editor is the one who puts it all together and they should get some credit for that.

Scanner Smoosh

This week in foundation computers we had to press our face onto the scanner and scan it into the computer. Then we had to put it in illustrator and basically use the features on illustrator to draw out our face. Once again, I am not a computer art person and this took me several hours to complete, but I am overall pleased with the way it turned out.

Illustrator Assignments

This week we had to do 4 type drawings for foundation computers. I've never really been good at computer art but these were the clever things that I came up with.

The first one is a warning label I made for myself about me not being a morning person.

The second one is a representational drawing of an ice cream cone.

The third one underneath is a non representational drawing.

The last one is an expressive drawing.

3D...

I decided today that I am not a 3D person. I never really thought of myself as one before, but now I know that I am not one.

So our project in 3D is we have to make molds of an object over and over again and then create some kind of installation with them. I'm pretty sure my teacher is the only one who makes us do the installations. But anyway, I am molding a shaving razor and every single time I take it out of the mold the neck breaks. So I have to use slip and fix it. Every single time. But i decided to stick with it, and I am making a mobile out of my razors. It's supposed to symbolize how women need to shave their legs and under their arms to be accepted into society and the mobile is representing how shaving is hanging over women's heads all the time if they want to fit in. It took me about two weeks to come up with that idea. I really don't like conceptual art. My teacher makes it so difficult for us to come up with ideas. They all have to be passed by her and she is being really picky about everything.

So if that is not stressful enough, our next project is to make a wire portrait by next class. It doesn't sound that bad, but I have never used wire before and I am slowly realizing that wire does not cooperate. I can't wait until I am done with my 3D classes, I am most definitely a 2D person.

Snow Week

This was so far, the easiest week I have ever had here at Tyler. I had classes on Monday and Tuesday as usual and then snow days Wednesday and Thursday. It was great. However, it was a little hard for me to come up with stuff to blog about this week. I suppose the most interesting thing that has happen to me at Tyler this week was the lecture on Tuesday morning. Two people came in and talked about ceramics and jewelery and metals. I never considered either of those to be something I would be interested in majoring in until that lecture. It really changed what I used to think about when I thought of both of those majors. It actually seems like one of the more practical fields to go into and both of the people giving the lectures said that Tyler students always get jobs right after they graduate with those degrees. It is definitely something I will have to think about next year.

2D Quilt Making

In 2D we've been looking a lot at these Gee's Bend Quilts. My teacher loves them so much that she assigned this quilt project. We have to make three different quilts, each better than the last. I have sort of been considering fibers as my major so I figured this would be a good experience for me.

Our first task was to dye these Japanese papers with different color paints. That part was really fun. It was simple and basically just left up to us to do whatever we felt like.

Then, it got hard. We had to create a composition, then pick our colors, then sew it together. It sounds simple, right? Yeah, that's what I thought. There is this whole measuring/math process to quilting that I never even thought about. Not only do you have to decide how long and thick the pieces are going to be on the quilt, but you have to then cut extra space so that you have enough room to sew it together.

So I finished my first quilt and it was pretty simplistic. I had a blue vertical line and then a red vertical line next to each other. Then i had two purple triangles and two yellow triangles put together next to the vertical lines. My teacher seemed to like it and I got some good feedback from my classmates.

Now I'm on to my second quilt. I made the design today in class and I was really proud of it. My teacher likes it too. I start measuring everything and cutting everything and realized it is going to be incredibly hard. I designed like the most complex quilt ever. I still haven't sewed it together yet. Wish me luck! I'll definitely need it...

Dan Dennett: Cute, sexy, sweet, funny

I watched Dan Dennett doing a talk called "Cute, Sexy, Sweet, Funny." It was basically about how people think they like something because it is either cute, sexy, sweet, or funny but that is wrong. He explained how people like chocolate cake because they think it is sweet, people like babies because they think they are cute, people like girls in a small amount of clothing because they think it is sexy, and people like jokes because they think they are funny. Then, he further explained that people do not like these things because they are cute, sexy, sweet, or funny but because they just like them. There is something in people's brains telling them that they like them. If all babies had deformed faces we would still say that they are cute and if all women were covered head to toe in hair people would still think they are sexy. These things are important to like and that is why people like them. They don't like them because they are cute, sexy, sweet, or funny. I found this talk very interesting. It definitely made me think about the things I find cute, sexy, sweet, and funny.

First Assignment

On Friday January 22, 2010 I ventured into center city Philadelphia with my two friends Gina and Rachel. We took the subway from Cecil B Moore and got off at City Hall. Our first stop was Utrecht where there was supposed to be some great day sale. It wasn't all that great. I bought a cutting mat though. So we went to Dick Blick afterwards where there was an even better sale. I purchased an art bin, a T-square, and Yes! paste. This is some of the stuff I need for my classes that the extremely expensive kits at the bookstore did not have in them. I got a student discount which was great though. While walking along the streets in center city people handed me flyer's about the Jefferson Hospital and cards about the 2010 census. After shopping for art supplies we shopped for the ingredients in eggplant parmesan. On our way to the Reading Terminal we got side tracked and went into Philly Cupcake "The Cupcakery Boutique." Basically, it is a store that sells gourmet cupcakes. They even give you a menu when you first walk in. Finally, we got to the Reading Terminal. There were so many different stands in there selling all kinds of food. We found a chocolate place that sold chocolate body parts and an ice cream place that was on TV. But we didn't want to waste any time in there because it was starting to get dark. So we got the eggplant, the tomato sauce and the cheese. On our way to Gina's friend Sam's place at UArts, we passed the Kimmel Center. We went in and took the elevator up to the roof garden. We made perfect timing there because the sun was just setting over the skyline and the view was gorgeous.

Finally, we made it back to Sam's apartment and she cooked us eggplant parmesan. I discovered that night, eggplant is not something I think I will ever eat again.