Art Journaling

"Pick a song and lyric and base a page around it"

I chose the song "Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds" by The Beatles. I started with a drawing of "a girl with kaleidoscope eyes"  (lyric from the song) and incorporated other parts of the song such as "tangerine trees" and "cellophane flowers of yellow and green".

Artists Creates Original Art:
How did you use your own unique ideas in your work?
The song "Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds" has a lot of imaginary images such as, "marmalade skies" and "tangerine trees". These unique lyrics gave me the ability to make whatever i wanted out of the lyrics. I interoperated "tangerine trees" as literally a tangerine slice growing out from grass. Everything the song described allowed me to make my own original versions.

Did you use a source for inspiration, then combine it with your own ideas to make it original?
Once again as stated before, i used the song as inspiration. I took the lyrics and made literal versions of everything described. The unusual lyrics allowed me to make new and original art.

Artist Develops Art Making Skills:
Did you learn new techniques or processes as part of the work for this project?
Before this project, i had heard of art journaling but never thought to consider it. I am extremely glad for this project because i discovered that i really enjoy art journaling. Its quick, simple and easy which makes it really fun. I can even incorporate other pieces i have already made such as, the "a girl with kaleidoscope eyes" drawing i made which i incorporated. 

Did you gain skill with familiar materials?
I didn't really learn new physical skills, but i learned a new way of looking at things. For example, I decided to use a lego dipped in paint to make the little dots all over the page. Never before had i looked at a lego and thought "wow this would make a great stamp". Using unconventional materials is another thing i really enjoy about art journaling.

Land Art

Artist Reflects:
When did you step back and analyze you work during this project?
Throughout the entire project, Abby and I made sure to step back and look at what we were doing. We had to be careful with big gaps, because they can be difficult to spot. Stepping back also allowed us to figure out which color we would use next and how big the next section would be. Being up close to the tree can make it harder to make a decision. Stepping back gave us a larger view and helped us to make better decisions. 

Did you consider how ideas would work before you tried them?
One of the biggest problems we ran into were trying to cover up the sections where the trees split. There would always be a section in the middle that would still show the tree. We thought about several ideas, such as trying to wrap at a stepper angle. After nothing worked, we thought about weaving the a piece of string from one side to another. Eventually we tried this method and it worked.

Artist Collaborate:
Did you ask another student for feedback during your work process?
For the entire project i worked with Abby. Which means throughout the entire project, we both constantly asked each other what to do and bounced ideas off each other.  We discussed things such as what color to use and how large to make each section. Pointing out gaps and telling each other to cover them up was another way we gave each other feedback.

Did someone help you understand important information or inspire you?
Abby helped me understand which areas had big gaps that i needed to cover up. She also gave me a tip to work faster. Wrapping the yarn around quickly and loosely and then going back and pushing them down to cover gaps and tightening the yarn is a quicker method. This helped me work quicker and made my arms hurt less from having to hold them up for so long.

Sculpture

Artist Collaborate:

Did you ask another student for feedback during your work process?

Towards the end of my piece i wasn't sure if i wanted to leave the book uncolored or if i should add illustrations that also revolve around Alice in Wonderland. I was indecisive because i liked the look of the text, but i wanted to add color to make it more clear of what the carving was actually of. My friend later suggested that i use color, but color lightly. This way the text would still be visible. I also asked my friends their opinions on simple things such as, what color to make a certain part.

Did someone help you understand important information or inspire you?

A friend of mine loves making book carvings. It's one of her main mediums. If i had a question on what to do i would always turn to her since she was an expert of sorts. She suggested i use a cutting board under each section to make sure i don't cut too far. This helped me out A LOT considering before i would always cut too far and instead of being able to stop i would have to continue cutting deeper. She also suggested i cut less sheets at once to avoid getting fuzzy pieces, but no matter how hard i try the pages still got fuzzy -___- . Regardless, her assistance was much appreciated.

Artists Develop Art Making Skills:

Did you learn new techniques or processes as part of the work for this project?

Book carving was something i had always wanted to try. Every piece looked really interesting and cool, so when the chance to try it myself came along, i took the opportunity. I learned book carving isn't too horribly difficult, but it is EXTREMELY time consuming, and lets face it, I can be extremely lazy sometimes. This project not only taught me the basic techniques needed for book carving, it also taught me to be a little bit more patient.

Did you gain skill with familiar materials?

There aren't many materials needed for book carving besides an exato-knife, a cutting board, and, obviously, a book. I had already used an exato-knife numerous times, so there wasn't really an opportunity to learn new skills with familiar materials. 

Perspective

Artist creates original art:
How did you use your own unique ideas in your work?

I decided to make a my whole drawing out of the same lyric written over and over again. Making a piece out of only words isn't my own completely original idea, but the concept of taking a lyric and making a concert scene is  something i have never seen done before.

Did you use a source for inspiration, then combine it with your own ideas to make it original?

I got the inspiration for this piece from a tumblr post i saw a few weeks ago and had been waiting for the perfect opportunity to try this technique and was really excited when we started this project. The original post was a drawing of Noah and Allie from the movie "The Notebook", and was completely made from the repeated phrase "If you're a bird, I'm a bird." I took this concept and made a concert scene made out of the lyric "Sleep is for the weak and we will never rest." (a lyric from the band that i based the concert around).

Artist take risk:
Did you try something that you weren’t sure about as part of this project?

I had never made a drawing completely out of words and i had no clue what i was doing at first. I didn't know how i would make variations in darkness versus lightness, so i was basically concerned and unsure about everything. 

Did you pick a material or technique that was new or different over something that was familiar?

Once again, using text as my material was a new concept for me to try. I was worried at first and still am considering the piece still isn't done, but i can tell already that it's going to look pretty awesome.

In Progress

Shibori

Michael Smith is a non traditional shibori artist. He is based in North Carolina and has been creating wearable shibori art for 25 years. Most of his pieces are oriented towards retail and  are available for purchasing on his etsy shop.

He uses a technique he calls "random suprise". Smith uses a variety of different materials, including silk, cotton, chiffon, and even velvet. The fabric starts by being  soaked and folded two or three times. He then uses his hands to fold the fabric more into small patterns. Once the pattern is made he sets the crinkles using a machine he calls a "Crinkleator". Then the dye is added and once it is set Smith washes it out.

I was initially drawn towards Smith's work because of the bright colors and intricate designs on his pieces. His use of other fabrics beside cotton made him stand out to me, as well as his non traditional method of dyeing.

Michael Smith's Website

Art History Project

Homer "Snap the Whip"

"Snap the Whip" was painted using oils by American artist Homer. He was primarily known for his marine subjects, landscapes, print making, and watercolor pieces. "Snap the Whip" is a realism post-civil war piece.

The realism movement started in france and was different from pervious movements because it depicted subjects exactly how they were seen. Hence the real in realism. Real life situations and common men were painted. No gods were included into paintings because they are not subjects that can be physically seen in the real world.

For this project Travis, Abby, and I were all included in the actual film part of the project. Abby and I made the presentation poster while Travis helped research. If we were to re-do the project i think getting clothing similar to what the boys in the painting are wearing would be a nice touch.

Survival