From Concept to Finished Product - Obstacles

If theres anything to take away from the craziness of this week's classes it's that from concept to work of art you are bound to have road blocks and obstacles. The stubborn artist muscles through to create as close a product to the concept as possible. My sculptor professor told me the true artist works his concept around that obstacle, works with it, and changes their concept. Thats the true artist, and that is a true piece of art.

If I didn't believe him right away I certainly believe him now. Both of my current projects in sculpture and print media have both had their share of obstacles and both have seen serious amounts of change from the initial concept. And the changes are for the best, it has allowed me to review my idea and make it truer than in my original idea.

Sometimes facing obstacles and making changes equals out to more time spent on a piece, but who says thats a bad thing. If you hate your idea and your work by the time you've finished it, then chances are no one else will like your work. But if you can work through from an idea to a finished product and still feel strongly about your work then it will reflect in your work and the piece will become more interesting to the viewer.

Trying to stay Updated

Finnaly a chance to use my photoshop skills in printmaking. The last two assignments dealt primarily with hand drawn images and thats something I'm still working on.

So I'm currently working on lithography which inovles printing my images onto special paper rather than transferring hand drawn images onto plates. The image you see above is my first test image, I'll receive some feedback Tuesday and then make changes before the print onto the plate.

Hopefully tomorrow I can post some notes on my latest sculpture assignment, if I make it through the day tomorrow. I'm trying to open a computer monitor without shocking myself, I only need the plastic frame.

The Clouds - In Progress Halloween Animation

What's Your Alpaca Lifestyle

As Promised

Here are the pictures of my book sculpture, as promised.

I'd Rather just Show you My Work

Sometimes there's no meaning, or in depth thought process. Just keep working at it and soon you'll have a digital sketch book of sorts.

Quick Update - and New Pic

Busy busy busy with all of my studio art courses but I haven't forgot about you. No I have not. Just to share some love with you enjoy this picture.

Where the Wild Things Ought to Be

If you haven't been following We Love You So blog at weloveyouso.com nows a good time to check it out.

If you don't know what it is, it's the blog for Spike Jonze's Where the Wild Things Are film, describing all of his inspirations for the film.

One of the most recent things is a contest in which you show a picture of where you think the wild things ought to be. Here's mine.

The thing about Education

The thing about education is that as an Undergrad at Juniata College I found it to be unrewarding and boring. It was like stepping through the hoops for steppings sake. There were the required courses for my major and even my major, at this point in time, doesn't seem to be doing much for me. I would always say that the educational system is flawed and that I would never attend Grad School, it would be a waste of money and time.

What I'm discovering as a Continuing Education major at Indiana University of Pennsylvania is that now that I've stepped through the previous "hoop" I'm much more comfortable and excited to learn and to be constantly learning. There are so many things, techniques, styles, critique, discussion, writing, presentation, history, artists, and research that would have previously seemed boring. But now I have this passion to learn and absorb everything my professors are saying, to follow what they teach and treat every single class as being taught something substantial (no matters it's size).

If everyone viewed art with the same intensity and curiousity as Da Vinci, people wouldn't simply brush aside the arts. When art is done right it involves all the things I mentioned above and it becomes a much deeper subject. To really want to learn art you have to have a curiousity and passion for what youre doing and youre subject, which in turn will greatly enhance your voice in your work.

First Project for Print Making - Octopus!

Since I haven't updated in a while heres a look at my design for a linograph print. I still have to carve it but heres the basic idea.