Blog Entry #2

I wouldn't say something pretentious like my images tell a story; the most they do is tell a little bit about me, I suppose. All my images are logos of minor league baseball teams, so the relationship is very direct. Minor league ball clubs have a lot of very interesting and unique logos, and there is nothing I love more than baseball. It seemed to “fit like a glove.” When picking logos, the only theme is that all the logos are from minor league baseball teams.

The dominance in size definitely affected the shark logo in the center. I'd say that there is more power in larger images. To use a (bad) analogy, I would say there is more power in a wall of water coming towards me than someone spraying me with a hose. I think in nearly every situation, larger generally equals more powerful.

I attempted to create a congregated group of accentual shapes to the right of the shark logo to serve as an area of focus. It seemed to give the viewer somewhere to focus judging on the in-class critique. To improve it, I want to emphasize the dominance of the shark logo even more. If I move the shark logo slightly off the page there will be a sense of implied dominance that was missing from my composition before. Hopefully that will serve to also make the accentual congregation of logos a better area of focus.

Image Essay #1

I think this piece by Picasso really illustrates what we discussed in class. There is a clear dominance structure and my eyes go in a circular motion around the picture. I don't move off the composition at all; my eye keeps going around the picture. There is a clear dominant negative space in the middle of the composition, stretching upwards to the top. The dominant elements are in the bottom right corner, I think, due to the quantity.

It's no wonder Pablo Picasso is one of the most recognizable figures in art history – his style is his own. It has been duplicated throughout the years and has influenced many artists, but I doubt any will top Picasso. According to his Wikipedia article, Picasso pumped paintings out like the Browns defense allows yards. He produced around 13,500 paintings. That is simply astounding. The article goes on to say that the total number of original Picasso works numbers around a quarter million. I think just for that the man should be respected.

He also utilizes value well in this piece, as my eyes are drawn to the bright white elements rather than the darker ones. Overall I think the piece is quite dynamic as it causes constant movement around the page.

Blog Entry #1

I suppose to some degree I have made art my whole life, even if I had trouble staying within the lines using crayons – it still proves to be difficult today. To be honest, this class scares me because I don't think of myself as artistic. Sure, I can make a few logos in Photoshop and I know my way around Lightwave, but that's basically the extent. I've never really liked drawing or painting, but I think that is because I've never been good at it. I guess practice makes perfect, and although perfect is probably out of the question for me, I hope to improve.

I learn the best through hearing things. The prototypical audio learner, I suppose. I usually remember things that are spoken but I have trouble remembering certain things I see. As for why I have decided to persue art academically, it's because I love 3D modeling, texturing, lighting, and animation. I can't get enough of it. My whole life I have spent more hours than healthy playing video games, and from that I draw inspiration.

Speaking of inspiration, games would be the chief source of that. To draw on a past (nerdy) experience, the first time I played Final Fantasy 7 and saw the intro cinematic, I knew that is what I wanted to do with my life. Since that time the video game industry has continued to grow and expand, seemingly in proportion with my urge to become apart of things.

I do not have very much experience with art, especially in my high school days. My high school had serious funding issues and art was a pay to participate type activity. I realize that if I was really into the idea of art I would have ponied up and paid for it, but I'm not. I can't lie and say I like to draw, but I will surely give it my best effort. I haven't really used any materials aside from Photoshop or Lightwave in the past 4 years, aside from an odd drawing here and there.

Movies, music, video games, comics, and to some extent, television are all considered art, in my opinion. The only one I have some trouble calling art would be television, especially with the low-budget reality television shows that have become popular as of late. Everyone can decide what art is, I think it's just what your opinion is. I don't get to decide, and quite frankly I'd rather leave that decision up to someone more qualified.

I don't really go to the movies very much and I don't keep up on news out of Hollywood, so I couldn't say what the best movie is that came out last year. However, last year I saw Requiem for a Dream for the first time, and it instantly became my favorite movie ever. As for an “art film” that I've seen, I'd have to say A Clockwork Orange fits the bill perfectly – very unique and owning a style of its own.

I'm not quite sure which CD is in my player at the moment, but rest assured it is a Pearl Jam CD. I've been to 6 of their concerts and have been a huge fan for as long as I can remember.