Weekly Journal (9/21-9/27)

I couldn’t be more excited to start 3D modeling!  SketchUp is such a nice and straightforward program to use.  Going through all of the tutorials online, and going through so many of the tools in class is really helpful.  I have just been messing around in SketchUp and becoming familiar with the different options and possibilities it offers.  The upcoming assignment is going to be really interesting and a completely different project from what I have ever worked with.  Modeling and working with 3D dimensional models is what I have been waiting for! I am so excited to get more familiar with this particular aspect of design. 

 Because we are now shifting towards looking at architecture and 3D aspects, I went ahead and just searched through different pictures of buildings and cityscapes.  The second image above was created by Aidan O’Rouke, and encompasses creative ideas of what is typically a very analytical field.  Expressive lines and bold colors dominate this piece and it just caught my eye. To see more paintings like this one go to http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://www.michaelgutteridge.com/2033-b-CIS_Buildings_Night_59_.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.michaelgutteridge.com/html/karl.html&usg=__YemUPUtsO16MkIP4wuVoOe1tceU=&h=782&w=999&sz=259&hl=en&start=3&um=1&tbnid=ekHD45Ry0WL9sM:&tbnh=117&tbnw=149&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dbuildings%2Bat%2Bnight%26hl%3Den%26um%3D1

 The third image shows a very different view of the same subject, the city.  A photograph with is very linear also incorporates a wide range of color.  The pairing of straight lines, and realism with color allows for a bridge to connect the creative and realistic portions of what we see all around us.  This image came from the site http://moinansari.files.wordpress.com/2009/02/dubai_night_skyline.jpg

 

Weekly Journal (9/14-9/20)

I am so excited!!!  This week was busy and high paced and full of so many opportunities.  I cannot wait to start 3D modeling next week.  I have been waiting for this since I heard that I had been accepted into the program here at UNM.  It is a completely different playing field I am sure.  Despite how much work I'm sure will be involved in learning another program, I know it will be the best yet.  3D modeling has been a goal project of mine since I had first fallen in love with PIXAR and their animated films.

This week I had this image ingrained in my mind ever since my professors told me of my three tests I had in store for friday.  It definitely made me feel like a lost little blob.  Maybe I'm starting to get to the point where my sketches can at least begin to capture some of my ideas.  Oh and I fully support the option of having an art of sketch class! I am so used to working with computers that I forget to expand and turn towards a pencil and paper to hold my images versus a computer.

Oh this sculpture caught my eye as I was just browsing photographs of sculptures online.  Earth friendly is definitely the way to go I think, and recycled sculptures make "going green" artistic.  Possibilities are endless when you think about it.  This sculpture is composed of a broken-down type writer.  The personality in this piece is alluring while cartoon-like as well.  To check out this piece in more detail go to https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj275Xnv952UTuV3p4v7dWmGIoxbzKYoMxEQotnSa0hCsrMOmwG9t2B7I4tk7pBrkyNr_4faWQKPd1l8ubjvzEerQIAwH6nw_HHdrzm_WEKHT9BvHGLftR8fUnn5ex8vffC3m0ciF_ur3fW/s400/typewriter_sculptures_001.jpg

 Awe I finally saw PIXAR's new film UP this week.  The detail, quality, lighting, and overall effects were even better than in past films.  The wonderful thing about PIXAR is not only the work that goes into the animation but the story as well.  This is a value that is so important to the design world: The entire package.  It's one thing to create a high quality film reel but another to make a high quality movie.  Maybe someday I'll be there.  For now I'll just work like crazy to learn and build on what I know (not to mention keep my fingers crossed.)  Because I was so inspired by this film I wanted to post a picture of it as my biggest motivating force for the week.  This image came from http://a.abcnews.com/images/Entertainment/ap_up_090512_mn.jpg

 

 

Weekly Journal (9/7-9/13)

Wow okay so I know I say a variation of this almost every week, but I learned so much!  Like how to post a YouTube video on my blog and how to use Illustrator.  It is all so new and foreign, but incredibly fun.  Inspiration came in all sorts of ways for me this week.  I watched so many animated films by Pixar Animation Studios: Finding Nemo, Cars, and Wall-e.  The quality in these films and the attention to detail is superb.  My sketch this week was mostly inspired by Finding Nemo, so there is a fish bowl filled with a bold little fish and crazed looking child peering in.  I need to work on portraits, that is a definite goal of mine...  There is a huge window of improvement for me when it comes to that.

The second image above is a fractal that I found on a physics web site (http://www.sprott.physics.wisc.edu/FRACTALS/collect/2005/).    The intricacy and detail embedded in this image is captivating.  Flowing and mixing into this one image makes for a great piece.  Fractals are the artistic sides of math and science and I really appreciate their rich  bond.

After working on my haptic models, I became really interested in finding other forms of sculptures and models made from recycled materials.  A great example of this type of work is that of Aurora Robson, and her recycled sculptures.  One of her pieces is shown above, and it is just so detailed and beautiful, I enjoyed checking out her other pieces.  The combination of light, and materials make her pieces attention grabbing and unique.  To see her full web site check out http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://www.greenpacks.org/wp-content/uploads/2009/05/aurora-robson-recycled-plastic-sculptures-1.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.greenpacks.org/2009/05/19/aurora-robson-excels-in-transforming-trash-into-art/&usg=__gvpf0zsQ3UZ7YXOQYvXLBH2Wry4=&h=372&w=500&sz=24&hl=en&start=13&um=1&tbnid=Okv_p0KlPPm6sM:&tbnh=97&tbnw=130&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dsculptures%2Bout%2Bof%2Brecycled%2Bmaterials%26hl%3Den%26sa%3DG%26um%3D1

 

Weekly Journal (8/31-9/6)

 

           This second week was filled with many new experiences, and a new hands-on assignment.  Ideas, and inspiration, and an introduction into sound design opens up a whole new window to a form of media that I never really considered.  Sound design, I always thought of it as music, something to move to and enjoy, but not a composition.  The integral parts, and all of the research and time that goes into just finding the pieces to make a song is unbelievable.  It reminds me of all of the pictures that go into making a montage, except sound design seems much more extensive.  The film that we watched in class was inspiring on a completely different level, it is a work that inspires motion, which was beyond helpful in this haptic modeling assignment.  When I spend all of my time behind a computer screen, I forget that I have been stone still for over an hour, motion is something that I would like to incorporate into my own ideas of design.  Getting up and moving, designing, and using my hands to create a project was fun.  This is something I enjoy and want to continue.  Besides all of the hands-on work that went into this week's assignment, I started working with Photoshop again even more.  

Outside of class I found a very different form of inspiration on YouTube.  It is a video called Digital Image Manipulation-superb, and it shows a model being transformed with makeup and hair and then even more with Photoshop to create the finished project that was posted on a billboard.  (I did not pick this video to highlight a Dove advertisement, I was interested in the transformations that were taking place.)  It was amazing to see how much this software has been incorporated into ads and things all around us: magazines, posters, film, and picture editing.  This software has transformed our perception of what is real and how blemishes in any form can be edited away.

The second image above was something that I found at www.bittbox.com and captured my focus because of all of the motion and light it captured.  This image has energy, great lines, and movement.  In addition to the motion it incorporates, this work has a light and energy that is beyond this world, something that is vital to virtual environments.  Creating something that is believable, but at the same time entirely generated, is amazing in itself.

My sketch for the week was inspired from a street that I saw while on a trip to Paris, France.  Out of a street filled with elaborate buildings of times past was this new a very different building.  It was curved and sharply edged at the same time.  Unique in so many ways, this building truly inspires and goes beyond the norm of what a person would see while walking down a typical street in an average city.  This building inspired me to think outside the box and work towards incorporating items not often paired together.