Goals

For this week, I wanted to be able to use the art I created to benefit me. My friends and I have been running a little video production company and I decided that I wanted to make a logo/symbol that incorporates our name for us to use in the future. I had also wished to make a little animation for it that would go at the ends of our videos and such. I also wanted to incorporate some of the stuff I’ve done in this course so far to help me create the project.

Were they achieved?

I started out this project by sketching. Now before I even got on the computer to start working on the little symbol, I went through countless drawings and little renderings of what I wanted it to look like. My main goal was to incorporate a 2 and a 7 from my company name in the the symbol. I played with many ways that I could connect the two and the seven together and eventually I started to work color into my sketches. After I was happy with the little preview I had with the logo I got a trial of adobe illustrator and got to work. Since I had sketches to go off of it only took me about 30 minutes to complete a rough draft of the symbol after I got used to some of the tools. I then went to Premiere Pro to slap together a little video outro animation. After I got the basic movements of the animation done, the program started acted all buggy and I was unable to continue working on it. I spent a while trying to update the software and look up fixes but I ended up running out of time before I could finish the animation. After I turn in this project I am still going to work on fixing the little animation, but I am still happy that I was able to complete the logo.

 How was my experience?

Honestly, this project was both very fun and very stressful at the same time. The time constraints I had due to work and school forced me to have to work on sketches while I was in class and was ultimately why the animation ended up failing. I am still happy with how the finished product turned out. I tried to see my work differently throughout this project, which is why the two and seven are on their sides as opposed to being in line with how you would normally read the numbers. A lot of people I have shown this to don’t even realize the two and seven are in the image until I tell them to turn their head sideways. I was inspired to experiment with this orientation of the numbers and the colors because a lot of the art that we have been seeing in the galleries takes extra work in order to see what point the artist is trying to make. I guess people get rewarded for taking the time to look at things with a new perspective.

What does this project mean to me?

I think this project has inspired me to work harder in what I do and even for the little business that I made this for. I think having something to show for your work is very rewarding. Showing this to my friends who help shoot events and weddings with me got super excited about having this logo. I think it is important for people to having something to represent their work and what they are doing in order to get them excited about working hard. I think logos for companies are like rallying flags, not only to get their employees to excited about what they are doing but also customers. Having a symbol for a logo gives a business or a group an identity instead of just being a company or a group with a name.

Overall Experience

I had a great time in the Japanese Garden sketching this week. I enjoyed being able to take a break from sitting in a classroom and being able to work outside. The atmosphere was calm so it was easy to sit down anywhere and just draw. I tried to sketch as simple as possible, trying to focus on the main details of what made the image was composed of so I wouldn’t get lost in trying to incorporate every detail.

First Sketch and Photo

The first sketch I attempted when I got to the abstract garden was an abstract one. I sat down on a bench and tried to take everything in. After looking at the main details that surrounded me, I looked down and saw a little lamp in the dirt that caught my attention. When drawing, I tried to break down the subject into the simplest shapes. I ended up with two circles, with one with in the other, and a rectangle. I Thought it looked kind of plain so I decided to add more details around the lamp. I decided to incorporate the little plants that surrounded to lamp into the sketch as little triangles scattered around the image. For the photo I took of this subject, I had to take a different approach because if I took the picture from the same perspective that I drew it from it would look representational. So instead, I went underneath it and took a photo that made it look almost unrecognizable as a lamp. When working on both the photo and the sketch, I focused on the shapes and lines rather that the whole subject.

Second Sketch and Photo

I decided to alternate between representational and abstract sketches the whole time I was at the garden. The subject of this photo and sketch was what might have been the centerpiece of the whole garden, which was the little island in the middle of the pond. I sketched before I took the picture and I tried to keep it as simple as possible while still being able to determine what it was that I was sketching. The photo obviously contains significantly more detail than the sketch because I was trying to focus on the main lines that made of the rocks and tree on the center island.

Third Sketch and Photo

Switching back to an abstract sketch and photo, this time around my subject was a bench that I was sitting on. I again tried to look at the subject differently than I normally do. So I got down to eye level with the bench and found that the lines and rectangles that were present were very interesting. I put the camera almost level with the bench so you could make out the the shapes the wood created but you weren’t able to tell what the wood actually made. The sketch was much simpler consisting of only a few rectangles in the same position as the wood planks in the photo. I found the sketch interesting because its pretty much impossible to tell what real life object I was using as a reference for it.

Fourth Sketch and Photo

Again, I tried to keep my representational sketch as simple as possible as I find it difficult to draw when I am trying to focus on too many details. This time, my focus was a student sitting on rock by a smaller body of water. I decided to put a post in the foreground of the image to add more depth to both my drawing and the photo. The picture I took on my phone contains significantly more detail than the sketch and I think turned out better in the end because my main subject left while I was still using him as a reference for my sketch. Like most of my other sketches, I focused on main shapes that would make the subject recognizable without worrying about things like shadows or other fine details in the composition of the image.

Fifth Sketch and Photo

For my last abstract image, I tried to find an image that I could break down into simple shapes to the point where you can’t tell what object I was using as a reference. I found that the window structure on the Japanese building in the corner was perfect for this. Consisting of little wooden lines that broke the image up into squares, the window was unrecognizable when you got rid of the details in the corner. The photo contains things like dust specs or cracks on the little square panels that were not included in the sketch due to the fact that I was trying to keep my sketches as simple as possible.

Sixth Sketch and Photo

My last representational sketch was probably my simplest drawing that wasn’t abstract. I wanted the subject to be a little stone fixture located at the edge of the pond. I centered this subject in my photo which has a lot more depth than the sketch because it includes things like trees in the background and water in the foreground. I tried to keep my sketch clear from these details so it was easier to focus on the subject of the drawing. I did add some of the grass and a rock that was located next to the fixture as well as a bit of the shoreline of the little pond. I found it easier to sketch when I focused on the individual limes that make up the subject.

Drawing vs. Photography

I think it is a lot easier to take a bad photo than a bad sketch mainly because it is easy to take two seconds to snap a photo and ignore things like composition or lighting. Drawing really forces you to look at the shapes that make up your image and things like shadow and color. Even when drawing representational sketches you have to look at your world differently than you would normally.

Representation vs. Abstraction

Overall, I think it is much easier to construct a representational work over one that is abstract simply do the fact that the lens you look through when drawing or taking a photo of realistic subjects is very similar to the one you use in your everyday life. When you are focusing on abstraction you have to look at the world around you in a completely different way that makes the subjects around you almost unrecognizable. I think forcing yourself to see things differently leads to interesting results in regards to the art that you produce.

What I think I’ll be doing with my life…

Since the beginning of my junior in high school I have dreamed of working in a studio in Hollywood helping to make movies. I started off working towards this dream by taking video production classes in my last 3 years of high school. For the first few years of my plan I want to maintain good grades in Long Beach’s film program and make money on the side shooting weddings and events. My last couple years in college I want to focus on making connections with other film majors, interning at production companies, and working on film sets. Ideally, I would want to start working for a production company soon after I graduate but it will probably take longer than that realistically.

Rapid Prototyping

I know several people who have worked in the film industry and I asked a few of them how they got to where they were today. My high school film teacher started off studying film in college and then went on to run the broadcast at an enormous senior living community. During that time he produced a feature film movie. I think one of the important things from talking to him that I could learn is that the people you know are everything in this industry. I also talked to a person who dropped out of film school and has been working in Hollywood ever since. He started as a Production Assistant and has worked his way up. In both situations, I learned that it is important for me to form connections and network with people around me.

What happens if all the studios vanish…

I think if I was unable to work for a film production company, I think I would try to teach video production at some level or another. I am very driven to learn about film and everything related to it and I would love to pass that on to future generations. I would have a similar path in college except I would be majoring in education a minoring in film instead of majoring in it. I would still try and work on production projects so I could pass that knowledge on to students.

Rapid Prototyping

I went to back to the high school where I graduated from and gave a little lesson on film to the broadcast class I used to be a part of. I also had time to critique some of their work and give them pointers on their projects. Given that I am almost the exact same age as these kids that I taught, I think they treated me different than if I were a little older so this is something I would have to consider if I were to decide on becoming a teacher.

Given I was financially secure…

I would love to start my own media production company. Like my previous plans, I would have a very similar route as I mentioned before. I think one of the only differences would be that I would start investing more time and money into my business during college so I could be somewhat established by the time I graduated so I can be at least somewhat self-sufficient. I think starting from the bottom of the pyramid in your industry gives you a better perspective of how things work, therefore, I believe interning would still be a very important part of this plan.

Rapid Prototyping

I have gotten paid to shoot weddings and events in the past so I thought I would expand on this. So I got together with a friend and we started working towards creating a small little business for when we are in college. We put together a website and shared our work with people we knew and were able to book a videography gig for a concert, charity event, and a couple weddings. Although this is exciting and I learned what it is like to start investing money into a business, I still have very little knowledge of what it is actually like to run a larger-scale media company, so I think it would be important to talk to other people to learn more about this.

This past Wednesday, I went to Seal Beach with a friend to complete our plaster casting projects. I felt a little goofy carrying a bucket of plaster and shovels down to the beach. As we started digging our hole in the sand, we were a little worried about whether we were actually following the instructions correctly. Once the holes were completed, we went to work on creating a mold to pour the plaster into. I decided that I was going to try and make a peace sign with my hand. Once the holes were filled in, we poured in the mixed plaster and started our 30 minute wait. We passed the time listening to music, talking, and worrying about whether our castings would actually turn out. After the 30 minutes were up, we dug out our hands and I started to think about all of the different ways that this project could be done. I thought about how many different ways you could create a mold, what materials you could pour into them, and what kinds of objects you could make with casting. I had never done anything like this before so I was really excited to see how it would turn out. It didn’t turn out to look exactly like what my hand looks like but I guess that’s all part of the fun of it. I may try doing something like this another time, maybe using a different material to make the casting out of. I had a fun time working on this project and I’d say it was class time well spent. 

Welcome to my blog for Introduction to the Visual Arts.