Week12-Happy Thanksgiving

Happy Thanksgiving!

Let's see... What did I do over Thanksgiving break? Well, Wednesday I went out because I was extremely excited that I did not have to work for Black Wednesday (since I work at a bar)! Thursday was Thanksgiving, and my family and I celebrated at my house with a big dinnger (Yumm) and then I went to work for a few hours, came home, and ate again (who doesn't!?) Friday, I did A LOTTT of homework, followed by even more homework, Saturday I worked, and Sunday I did some homework!

I hope everyone had a magnificent Thanksgiving Break!

The End!

Week11-Spreads

The following is a link to my entire magazine. All of my spreads are included and can be viewed in this link.

http://www.lulu.com/product/download/lauren-sekula-computer-graphics-portfolio/6098026

Week10-Memory

Craft: For my memory illustrations, I used very simple techniques. First, I used the elipse tool to create the polka dots and heads. Next, I used the drawing tool to make some of the abstract shapes such as the limbs, shoes and bed. I used a lot of different colors as well as the gradient tool. Also, I used the stretch, and scale tools to change the size of the bear and human girl.

Concept: The concept of this series was to illustrate a surreal situation coming from a very normal situation. In the first illustration you see a girl sitting on her bed with a stuffed animal bear. The colors of the room are very realistic (this is how my room actually looks; with polka dots on the walls and pink furniture). Then, in the second illustration and third illustration everything becomes surreal. This is to show that a person's memory can create all sorts of different scenerios and stories. In one illustration the girl is tiny compared to the lifesize bear, and in the third illustration they are both the same size. Also, the decorations on the walls are changed to show that it is also no longer realistic.

Composition: The characters in the illustrations are always placed in the center of the bed. This is because they are the main idea to the story that the series tells. The bear and girl are positioned very close to one another so it appears as though they are holding one another similar to the way someone would normally hold a stuffed animal. When the girl is small, I positioned the bear's arms differently so it looks like the bear is holding her too.

Week 9-Teapots

Craft: The teapots were our first opportunity to use the drawing tool. We were instructed to copy a teapot placed in front of us and choose a brush stroke in Adobe Illustrator to draw the teapot. We used a computerized/magnetic tool and drew onto a mouse pad tool and the sketch mark would appear on the screen. For the first two teapots I was just practicing with the tool, becoming more comfortable, and made one teapot in black and white, and another of the same teapot adding soem color with the drawing tool as well. For the next teapot, we were instructed to give our teapot an environment, and also to use the same drawing tool. I kept the same brush stroke, but added different color, and put the teapot into an environment. There was a pepsi can, a mouse, counter, and computer within the same area as the teapot. Next, I drew a teapot using the shape tools in Illustrator. Finally, I used the drawing tool again, but also used the anchor and point tool.

Concept: The concept of this assignment was to become comfortable with a new tool in illustrator by warming up using that tool, and then incorporating the use of the drawing tool into drawings where additional tools would also be used. Also, an additional concept was to show that every object is always in a larger environment.

Composition: Most of my teapot drawings do not have much composition because the teapots are alone on the page. However, they are placed primarily in the center of the page to make them standout because they are the main/only focus. In the illustration where the teapot is in an environment, I made the teapot larger than the can, mouse, and computer in order to show that the teapot is closer to us than the other objects. Also, the lines were made for the counter to show that there is a separation between all of the objects.

Week 14

http://www.lulu.com/product/download/lauren-sekula-computer-graphics-portfolio/6098026

week12

CRAFT: For this illustration I ended up combining many different techniques in order to achieve what I wanted to capture. I used the tools that we have learned about thus far in class and improved my skills. The heads of each character, polka dots, and eyes were crafted using the elipse tool. to make each limb symmetrical, I used the transform/reflect option on the tool bar. I also incorporated the pen tool and the paintbrush to create the limbs the facial features and the bed.

CONCEPT: The concept of this illustration was to use one object in three different pictures and put the object into an environment in which there were 3 constants (i.e things that remain the same) and 3 variables (things that change in each picture). Since the concept of my series is very cartoon and imaginative in appearance, I wanted to make the characters and the color scheme the same way. In each picture, the girl, the bed, and the brush stroke remain the same. The placement of the American flag, the colors, and the size of objects in each illustration changes. The first picture is the most realistic; with the girl as a larger size and the bear as a smaller size. The second illustration shows reversed roles, as the bear has his arm around the girl whom is now as tiny as the bear once was. Finally, in the last picture, both the girl and the bear are equals.

COMPOSITION: A few things need to be mentioned about the changes in each illustration. First of all, the reason I decided to change the placement of the American flag is because there is already so much going on in this picture with big bold colors and the idea of the bear and the girl that few people would notice the change in position of the flag. I think it is a challenge for viewers and this means that they have really taken a good look at the picture in order to notice this. Next, I wanted the third picture to be sort of a conclusion of the series. This picture incorporates information from the first two such as the colors of every polka dot from the first picture in a gradient behind polka dots that are colors taken from the wall in the first picture and the dots in the second. Also, both characters are the same size, making them equal.

Special Post-Art Institute

On Saturday, October 17th, I went on the group tour at the Art Institute. I took a lot of pictures but 3 pieces of artwork really caught my eye. First, I took a picture with a Native American warbonnet from the Western Plains. The reason I chose this piece of artwork is because my Great grandmother was from the Chawktaw tribe. This warbonnet represents my heritage and I also admire the amount of effort that went into creating it. The beading is very intricate and the use of feathers tells so much about the Native Americans use of things from nature for survival and also spiritual purposes. Next, I chose a painting that was in the first gallery. I believe this painting of a woman and the sunset was create in the late 17, or early 1800's. This picture was beautiful to me because it demonstrated so many things we have been discussing in class such as use of color, focal points in artwork, and texture. The third painting I chose was from the Modern Art gallery. It was painted by a woman whose art always depicts women in very uncomfortable positions, looking very awkward, fearful, etc. The reason I liked this painting is because you feel as though the woman is staring right through you, like she knows what you are thinking and it really catches you off guard.