Completion..almost..

So I'm still making a background to attach my printed zine pages to, will add a picture of the final zine eventually.. anyways..

I found this brief challenging in the fact that it requires a high amount of concentration and hours in front of a computer. Trying to motivate myself to sit down in front of a screen and work was.. difficult? I have finally completed all of my zine pages though, including a large poster which combines all the other styles into one. I reckon my 'theme' is me and my thoughts or things I think about. The quotes/ sayings/poems are all ones I have heard or read and taken to heart. I love them because they describe or debate what goes on inside my mind. Thus why I titled my zine 'The Mind behind the Smile'. I used images of myself, not because I'm vain (damn straight) but because the writings apply to me in a personal way.. I'm not entirely happy with the final result because I think I rushed it a bit towards the end, but it turned out to be an interesting process. So here is my zine..

                                           

                                                            Back 

Front

Poster

I was pretty much playing around with different styles on each double page spread and then combined all of them as one in the final huge a2 sized poster.. Was planning to print it all on one a2 sized paper, but due to printing issues I've decided to get an a2 sheet of paper and artsy it up a bit then attach the printed pages to it.. 

peace

xo

K

Week 3 ZINE update..

I have finally completed 4pages of my Zine (a mini magazine about a particular topic) which I've titled 'The Mind within the Smile'.. I came up with that title because my Zine is based around my thoughts, favorite quotes, poems, and all the other jazz that goes on in my crazy mind.. My first page was inspired by an image I came across on the net. It was an interesting process. My second page kinda came about from the first one..? I tried to invert the idea though..

1st page

2nd page

This is my second two-page spread..

1st page

2nd page

Figured I'm going to do one or two more spreads in different styles then combine all the styles in one large poster image on the back of my layout.. well thats the plan anyways.. I'm finding it difficult sitting in front of the computer all day but I guess it will be worth it in the end..

peace

xo

K

The Recycled Glamour of Estelle Pemberton

We had a artist talk by and artist named Estelle Pemberton the other day.. She has an amazing range of skills in art that she has picked up over the years. I found it really interesting and inspiring listening to her. Mainly because she has this passion for art and so everything she does is to up-skill and feed that passion. For example, she wanted to be an artist technician so she studied welding and got a lowly job. She treats everything like experience so her skills range from a fine arts degree in sculpture, to welding and being a painting assistant to the artist Patrick Hughes. She also creates these one-of-a-kind handbags that she has made and sold throughout her art career.. She is a frequent seller at craft markets and has her own label called 'Recycled Glamour'. One of her main points was that you can never have enough experience, that you should always be growing and changing with your art and that you can't expect to jump right into a position. You have to start from the bottom and work at it until you get to the top. I found it good hearing that because I'm not entirely sure what I want to do.. But gaining experience wherever I can seems like a good idea.
peace
xo
K

Three Illustrators/Designers..

Soooooo for this blog post we had to find three artists/illustrators/designers that use both text and image in their works and research them.. so here it goes..

Kristine Do
I came across Kristine Do ages ago when I was google imaging posters of one of my favorite bands, 'Raised by Swans'. One of the images led to her website and I found I really liked all her work. She is a graphic designer that uses a lot of typography and grunge effects. She enjoys working with the thriving underground music industry and thus designs a lot of band posters. She also designs patterns for extreme sports clothing. I really like the feel of her work and how she portrays the idea. Each one seems different and unique to the client..?

Montse Bernal
Montse Bernal is from Barcelona, Spain originally and has studied fine art and illustration. She uses a variety of materials, from dry media to painting, to even digital and some animations. Her works are beautiful and have a old french fashion sketch look to them. The colors she uses seem to emphasize the areas she wants us drawn to and the fonts/text give it a quirky look. I reckon the drawing skills by the artist are pretty amazing and very life-like.. am thinking I want to do some similar sketches in my zine.

Samuel Castano
Samuel Castano is a graphic designer and illustrator from the states. His works have a theme and a feel about them that bring up memories of past eras. He uses collaged newspapers a lot and snippets of what seems like other posters..  which creates feelings that communicate and mean something to someone. I like his work because he incorporates collage in a digital form..

Sweet so thats about it.. I have more in my visual diary because I'm a cool kid like that, but yeah.. farewell my lovers, farewell my friends (I have that song in my head..)

peace

xo

K

An artist who works with pictures and words.. Barbara Kruger

In reading the interview 'EGG' had with Barbara Kruger, I noticed a common thing in everything she was saying. Her idea of power through her work. The idea that pictures and words when placed together in such a way, can have power over the way we see and read things. Some might call it the power of advertising, but I think her work is a lot more in depth and meaningful than just showing us what we as the masses 'need'. But it is that very idea that seems to fascinate her. That she can in a way control our minds as viewers to look at her work a certain way. With her background in fashion magazines, she knows exactly how to accomplish this through her art. She is an amazing artist that is world-renowned for working with this 'power' that can control the minds of the masses.. that sounds kind of evil villain type stuff huh, but I'd never really realized this power before. The fact that my mind can be controlled by image and text without my realizing it.. I find it freaky really, but interesting too..
peace
xo
K

p.s. It's a conspiracy, man.

Seraphine Pick..response?

In watching the documentary about New Zealand artist Seraphine Pick, I found her a very interesting person. She comes across as someone with a deep, emotional kind of sixth sense. Her fascination with creating a work based on the idea of taking the thoughts within someones mind and making them visual seems to be the main concept of her work. Its a kind of phsycological type of painting. Her style varies a lot from painting to painting and it seems like the figures just come out of another figure. No work seems to be the same yet, they connect somehow when you bring them together. I guess its because of that idea or theme (?) throughout her works. She focuses more on the painting itself than by images and concepts.. using a scrapbook of random images and combining them to form a base for her painting. The power within an image is still a big part of her work though. The fact that an image can stick in your mind so you carry it for the rest of your life is intreging. Recognition of a work or really, the experiences we call upon give the image that power. Seraphine stated that she feels her works are not really, theoratically speaking, hers, beacuse we as the viewers create the feeling within the work with recognition of memories and experiences.. the painting then just seems to appear.. I love how she keeps a scrapbook of images that she likes, I guess in a way she finds them interesting because of the memories she sees within them. So her works are based on pictures belonging to someone elses experiences and then her interpretation of them draw on others experiences. The confusing cycle goes on.. I think I'm going to continue saving images I like, just for the sake of trying to figure out why I like them..
peace
xo
k

responding in randomness..

So after having three weeks off for semester break, we are right back into it and started a new brief yesterday called 'Manipulating the Image' which is based around Photoshop, Illustrator, and Indesign. Am looking forward to learning a bunch of new skills and making a 'Zine'. Anyways its only the second day and we already have this blog response due.. fun times fun times.. So here we go.

Hand-painted, gold lettering.

We had a powerpoint presented to us yesterday by our tutor, Frances. She showed us some artists that focus on text, logos, and imaging that conveys a message. There were some from way back in the days and a lot from more recent times. It was interesting to see how works from the past, created and still influence the works we see now. Our present day works still reflect or draw on the past..? I really liked the hand-painted, gold lettering which gave me some ideas for my 'Zine'. The Art noveau style looks like it would be an interesting concept to explore. The fact that an entire style, if not era, was defined by one font got us talking and thinking about fonts that define or dominate our present day world. I never realized how much text and image can draw in our attention and get us thinking..

'PROTECT ME FROM WHAT I WANT'

'MY ARROGANCE'

The works of Jenny Holzer seem to do just that.. She is well-known for using large neon letters or huge light projections to write out a message, usual on a very large and public building, that relates to people and draws their minds in. I also really liked Sabrina Ward Harrison's work. She uses cute, scribbly texts/fonts and ink runs on ripped paper to create a really unique look. It draws on the Indie and Grunge styles with a bit of scrapbooking chucked in..

Cara Ober was another artist who I liked as well.. I found the powerpoint really interesting and inspiring. Am looking forward to this brief!!
peace
xo
K