So, we had that meandering discussion last week about animal intelligence & pleasure, and I thought I'd post a link to a great RadioLab show called Animal Minds. There's a follow up short called Lucy that's also worth listening to, and even has a sexual pleasure moment that more directly applies to our discussion.
Enjoy, and let me know what you think.
Friday, March 26, 2010
self portrait...
The tools:
Pen –
adding & deleting anchors
joining separate shapes
Placing jpgs
Linking images – don’t do it!
Dim images to ___%
Live trace
Eyedropper
Magic wand
In-class assignment:
Self portrait x3 – how do nurture your memory of self?
1. Consider the short story by Alan Lightman as you work on the first layer of your portrait.
2. Using the photo that we took at the beginning of class, place your jpg portrait on a layer, lock that layer, then trace and draw (on a new layer) to create a self-portrait that’s relatively photo-realistic on one layer. For the sake of comparison, livetrace a copy of your jpg – please don’t use it in your final image, but it’s worth seeing what it can accomplish. When you’ve finished this portrait, select the photo layer and delete it – the final file cannot have a jpg image – vector only. Lock (and hide if you want) this layer, so you aren’t adding to or altering it.
3. Create a new layer, and develop a new portrait that exploits this Book of Memory. For this layer, you’ll make an image that represents a moment that you would (or have) record in your own Book of Memory. Use unity concepts to drive home the quality of this moment. Make sure that this second portrait creates an image that is drastically different than the first layer.
OR:
4. Create another new layer, and develop a new portrait that represents a moment you would not record in your Book of Memory. Again, use unity concepts to drive home the quality of this moment, and make sure that this portrait creates an image that is drastically different than the first two.
In the end, you’ll have two vector only layers that explore your own sense of memory. Think about how your own memory functions, and how you embellish or edit these memories to suit your current needs – this quality can be reflected in your imagery. As always, don’t present moments or images that leave you vulnerable or exposed. We’ll work on these next week in class, and evaluate our time then – if we need more time to make these stronger, we’ll take it.
Pen –
adding & deleting anchors
joining separate shapes
Placing jpgs
Linking images – don’t do it!
Dim images to ___%
Live trace
Eyedropper
Magic wand
In-class assignment:
Self portrait x3 – how do nurture your memory of self?
1. Consider the short story by Alan Lightman as you work on the first layer of your portrait.
2. Using the photo that we took at the beginning of class, place your jpg portrait on a layer, lock that layer, then trace and draw (on a new layer) to create a self-portrait that’s relatively photo-realistic on one layer. For the sake of comparison, livetrace a copy of your jpg – please don’t use it in your final image, but it’s worth seeing what it can accomplish. When you’ve finished this portrait, select the photo layer and delete it – the final file cannot have a jpg image – vector only. Lock (and hide if you want) this layer, so you aren’t adding to or altering it.
3. Create a new layer, and develop a new portrait that exploits this Book of Memory. For this layer, you’ll make an image that represents a moment that you would (or have) record in your own Book of Memory. Use unity concepts to drive home the quality of this moment. Make sure that this second portrait creates an image that is drastically different than the first layer.
OR:
4. Create another new layer, and develop a new portrait that represents a moment you would not record in your Book of Memory. Again, use unity concepts to drive home the quality of this moment, and make sure that this portrait creates an image that is drastically different than the first two.
In the end, you’ll have two vector only layers that explore your own sense of memory. Think about how your own memory functions, and how you embellish or edit these memories to suit your current needs – this quality can be reflected in your imagery. As always, don’t present moments or images that leave you vulnerable or exposed. We’ll work on these next week in class, and evaluate our time then – if we need more time to make these stronger, we’ll take it.
Friday, March 19, 2010
finally...text tools
Tools
Text tools
Create outlines
Effects
Distort & transform
Stylize
Warp
Warp tools
In-class assignment:
Text and image – mania/phobia
Locate a mania or a phobia that you have an interest in, wish you had, or do have. Be sure to bring the correct spelling and a fairly clinical description of the mania or phobia.
Part 1: Create an illustrated initial for the name of your mania/phobia. Combine imagery that reflects the quality of the condition and also creates a legible letterform. Complete this image by selecting and arranging a typefont to finish the spelling of the mania/phobia.
On a second layer named “hand lettering”, use your illustrated initial again, but this time letter the remaining letters by hand, using color, scale, proximity, continuation and/or line quality to reinforce the psychological quality of your mania/phobia.
Save the file as “your name text.”
Part 2: Create a third layer named “text as image.” Using the type tools to create text on a line and text as shape, use your text type as an image. Build a form out of text only that illustrates the quality of your mania/phobia, without using the name of the affliction or a clinical description. Instead, write a block of text that illustrates your interest and relationship to the mania/phobia – whatever you write will become the image, and must be legible.
This is due next week, and will be critiqued at the start of class. Keep in mind that a literal description of your affliction probably isn’t the most interesting. For instance, my dad told me he was acrophobic – afraid of heights. But he explained he wasn’t afraid of falling, which I expected, but rather, he was afraid he would be tempted to jump. That’s a much more complex and interesting description of a fear of heights.
| Compelling use of mani/phobia | 3 layers – illustrated initial, hand lettered, text as image | Craftsmanship/effort | Unity items | Technical proficiency | Total 30 pts |
| 6 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 6 | |
Homework:
- Complete the text assignment.
- Bring a digital photo of yourself to class next week. We’ll be working on a self portrait, and you’ll need an image to start with. If you forget this, we’ll snap a quick shot in class.
Friday, March 12, 2010
text project, take 2...
Ok, I changed my mind on this one. Bring the original piece of text, just in case we need it, but the new thing we need is for you to choose a phobia or a mania. This will be the foundation for the next project, and you need to have it in hand for next week's class.
Here are 2 links for lists of manias and phobias:
Friday, March 5, 2010
text project...
Text illustration – where are you going?
Locate some text – a poem, song, quote or something that you wrote – that addresses your thoughts concerning where you are going. What do you expect for yourself as an artist, a student and/or a human?
Come prepared to work on this text based illustration next week. Following out triptych crit, we'll have a quick text tool demo, and then studio time.
Locate some text – a poem, song, quote or something that you wrote – that addresses your thoughts concerning where you are going. What do you expect for yourself as an artist, a student and/or a human?
Come prepared to work on this text based illustration next week. Following out triptych crit, we'll have a quick text tool demo, and then studio time.
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