Study of Pattern and Structure Within Objects

        Continuing from our original studies of our selected objects, our class was instructed to observe and pattern and structure within the objects. From this guideline, we were asked to sketch the objects again, but this time emphasizing the pattern and structure. We then had to select 1 out of the 2 objects we had brought, and focus on a certain aspect of the object. Out of the bell pepper and orange, I selected the bell pepper. I decided to focus on the "chambers" within the pepper itself, and how those chambers house and protect the seeds of the bell pepper.

        After closely studying the structure of our objects through observation and drawing, we were instructed to find objects with similar structures as homework. Focusing on the "chamber" aspect of the bell pepper, I sought out other objects with chambers or deep rivets in which they housed what they used to procreate with. From that, I chose the human heart, jalapenos, durians, and tomatoes.

Outdoor Nature Studies and Observation Sketches of Selected Items

        After enduring grueling hours of cutting paper and revising and editing within Adobe Illustrator, it was quite refreshing to have our next assignment take place outdoors. Deviating away from the rigidity of X-Acto knives and the pen tool, we were required to sketch organic forms found in nature. Our focus was to find patterns and observe the structure of the objects.

        Once finished with our nature sketches, our homework was to then obtain 2 objects and create a series of observation sketches. I chose to sketch an bell pepper and an orange. After doing a focused 45 minute drawing/shading of the objects, I then focused on the line and details found within my objects.

Response to Visual Symposium #4

        Last week's digital symposium, presented by Diana Heiss and Sian Meeds (incredibly sorry for the misspelling), detailed the broad genre of Digital Film. Digital Film is a broad media that can cover performance art, alter the viewer's sense of space/time, or be created through computer graphics. Much of the presentation focused on the political impact that Digital Film can have, which lead to a heavy bias in the presentation itself. Although political, many of the clips of films shown were extremely compelling, such as the piece done by Regina Jose Galindo. Galindo had walked down the streets of Guatamala City, occasionally dipping her feet into a white basin of human blood. This caused her to leave behind a trail of bloody footprints from the Constitutional Court to the National Palace.Through this walk, Galindo protested the corrupt constitutional court and military dictatorship that the country had been experiencing.

        Film was illustrated as an extremely fluid medium, allowing the transferability of time by bringing the past into context. This can also be said about Photography, which was also presented during the symposium. Photography was shown to be the most often used and culturally integrated medium. Despite the symposium being about both digital film and photography, the presentation was dominated by the digital film aspect of it. This caused the photography portion of the presentation to be very brief and strained, with the viewers only able to see a small array of portraits.

        While this presentation was not the most compelling presentation, it certainly was enlightening on digital film making. However, the presentation was quite slow, with some clips being unnecessarily long and boring the viewers. The choice of films was also biased and lacked breadth. The range of photography shown was small and did not capture the extent of things that can be shown through photography.

Final 6 Icons In Color

"Passage"

"Line"

"Repetition"

"Rhythm"

"Intricacy"

"Ornamental"

        For my icons, I decided to focus mostly on analogous and split complimentary patterns. I decided to stay with mostly warm and cool colors, only using neutrals on 1 piece. Originally my plan was to have all of my pieces be in that palette of brown seen in the first piece, but I decided to experiment with each piece and give them their own palette. I can say that I'm satisfied with the individual palettes I gave for each piece, as they emphasize the keyword under each piece well.

Color Test On Icons

        For this portion of our project, we had to experience with colors and how their affected the designs of our logos. I attempted to use neutral, warm, and cool colors to see how they would visually affect my pieces. The process of picking the colors was much harder than I imagined, and I definitely will revisit some of these palettes.

Sample Color Palettes

        In order to help pick colors for the next portion of the project, I used my recent readings into color theory, as well as consideration to the original surroundings of where I had photographed my original images, to pick out color palettes.

        This first swatch was created to reflect the colors found in both the Union Station and Korean War Veterans Memorial. Although from 2 completely different eras and styles of aesthetic, both the monument and building used shades of beige, grey, and brown. The beige most likely remained a popular color choice among both the monument and building due to its symbolism of unification, quiet, and simplicity.While the monument would unite all Korean War Veterans under one homage, the Union Station used to unite people from all over the country by transporting them through trains.

        This second palette sought to deviate away from the surroundings of the monuments themselves and delve more into the meanings of the colors themselves. I selected shades of red and magenta to symbolize the speed and energy that was once found in Union Station. I then chose to contrast the warm shades of red using blues to symbolize peace and loyalty, the main goals of war. The muted tones of each color illustrate the subdued nature of the now historic Union Station and passed time of the Korean War.

        Although very "nature" in appearance, this palette sought to use the greens to symbolize vigor and health of the now aged Union Station. The browns were used in order to symbolize the simplicity and endurance of the Korean War Veterans monument.

        The shades of purple and lavender in this palette illustrate the grace of both structures. While the Union Station has a very decorative Beaux-arts style, the war monument consists of elegant, sharp lines. Purple is also a color commonly associated with war decorations and honor (such as the purple heart award). The color represents the legacy that both the station and monument carry.

Study On Colors

        As an integral part of our next project, we were required to research colors. This included the symbolism behind colors, their psychological implications, and how they physically affect us. Color is very important in the fact that it adds a completely different level of dimension to pieces. If the drawn lines of the piece are considered 2-dimensional, then the color of the piece can be considered giving it its third dimension.
        Color can be employed in many ways to effectively enhance or draw attention to a piece or certain areas of it. Contrasting colors, such as a bright red against a sea of blues will immediately draw the viewers' eyes to the red. This creates emphasis and a very rapid movement of the eye across the art piece itself. However, this movement can be too rapid and can cause the viewer to miss details or become muddled with looking at the piece as a whole. Neutral colors may be used in between areas of complimentary colors in order to slow down the eye and bring focus to the objects within the neutral colored areas.

The artist adds a bright area of white to separate the blue and orange from contrasting too harshly. This also helps slows down the viewers' eyes and draw attention to the sailor.

        Despite adding neutral colors to the piece in order to slow down the viewers' perception of the piece as a whole, the artist must consider the composition as a whole when creating the piece. Warm lights always create cool shadows (as well as the inverse), and the artist must be careful to apply the usage of colors correctly in order to portray their desired image with the piece. "Spot" compliments, or discordant colors deviating from the color scheme itself, can help unify a piece by underlining or exaggerating the unity of the rest of the piece.

The artist uses the bright yellow of the toga to emphasize the figure with the hammer. The discordant yellow helps draw attention to the figure and brings unity to the piece. The separation of complimentary colors (orange and blue) using a neutral is seen here as well.

        Aside from working with what is aesthetically pleasing and artistically sound, people also use color in order to evoke certain emotions from their audiences. Bright colors, such as red and yellow, elicit feelings of excitement and passion. While cooler colors, such as blue and greens, are used to elicit feelings of calmness and trust. However, although colors themselves may elicit emotional responses, none of these psychological implications could exist unless they are combined with another sensory experience. This results in no "true" universal meanings behind colors.
        For example, while red may symbolize passion, love, violence, and blood in the Western world, it is seen as symbolic for good luck, posterity, and happiness in the Eastern world. The Western world also interprets grey as boring, sadness, and conservatism while the Eastern world symbolizes it as trust, durability, and longevity. White, commonly interpreted as purity, reverence, and cleanliness in the Western world, is the color of mourning and funerals of the Eastern world. Colors will always have both negative and positive connotations. A prime example is the color purple, which commonly represents nobility and wealth, but also symbolizes poison and ambiguity (due to its lack of natural occurrences within nature).

Information Sources: [x] [x] [x] [x]

Reducing the Designs Down to Logos

        After selecting the 6 designs we thought portrayed our story the best. We had the opportunity to intermix the designs in order to achieve overall balance with the pieces. From our original set of 12, these are the pieces that I selected:

        Afterwards, we were required to use our cropping tools to select small smaller squares within each image. Using these squares, we had to enlarge the images to 6"x6" squares, no matter the size of our original squares. We then had to trace and cut out the further reduced images.

Finally, deviating away from the paper cutting, we were required to scan our 6"x6" squares and trace them using Adobe Illustrator. This step would allow us to work on them digitally further. Although we were not explicitly informed about what the next step after this would be, we were hinted that it would have to do with colors and logo design.

Response to Visual Symposium #3

        Presented by the head of the Graphic Design department at KCAI, Marty Lane, this week's symposium covered the many applications and uses for graphic design. Through the symposium, graphic design was shown to be a very long and thought out process that included problem solving, communicating visually, responding to content/context, interaction through interdisciplinary practices, and [usually] aiding clients. Graphic design was illustrated to be made out of main recipe of 3 components: type, image, and the problem. Graphic design has many applications, and can be used to re-brand a business, bring cohesion to a line or products, and promote interactivity.
        Although typically viewed flatly on products and the web, graphic design can easily breach those borders and reach into many different fields, including 3D environments and sound. By producing graphics and then transferring them over to 3D sculptures or printers, a graphic can easily become a freestanding object in an environment. The ever-growing use for graphic design has allowed for designers to also produce graphics that aid in informing or illustrate motion.
        Albeit a bit slow, the presentation was very interesting due to the fact that I an aspiring graphic designer. I never realized how expansive the field of graphic design truly was, and this presentation allowed me to think beyond the borders of print ads, logos, and websites. Although Lane failed to talk about the department, how its programs work, or what work is involved with succeeded in the program, it was still an interesting presentation as a whole.

Response to Visual Symposium #2

        Titled "Sculpture - Metaphor and Meaning," this week's symposium covered the many different types of processes, mediums, and symbols behind sculptures.The symposium was led by Karen McCoy and Michael Wickerson, both leaders in the sculpture department of KCAI. The symposium illustrated how sculpture has evolved along with the availability of different mediums today. Sculptors are no longer limited to earthen materials such as clay or stone, and are now on a limitless field as to what medium they can used. Various mediums that have been explored by sculptures include fabrics, synthetic metals, glass, fibers, and recycled materials. The symposium also sought to convey how sculpture can be seen in more unconventional formats, such as architecture and hearing devices. Although curious in their forms, this does not take away from the symbolic nature of sculptures, which can be used to bring light to a social issue or personal stance of the artist.
        While the subject of the symposium was very interesting in itself, the presentation was done poorly and taught me very little of the sculpting department itself. Both McCoy and Wickerson had opened the symposium claiming to discuss the sculpting department, but what I received was a slideshow of different sculptures with McCoy or Wickerson discussing why they liked them. Aside from that, it was a chance for both McCoy and Wickerson to merely display their own artwork without really giving me any details as to why that should sway me (or any other student in the matter) to major in sculpting. Despite the interesting subject, the presentation was done extremely poorly, failed to provide me insight into the sculpting department, and turned into a "look at this pretty sculpture and this is why I like it" presentation.

Negative Space Paper Cutting

        After tracing the pictures multiple times, we were required to cut the pictures out from black Mi-Teintes paper. The cuttings would represent both the dark and light negative space in the pictures. We had to reverse the images to represent the importance of space and how deconstructed photos can be turned into mere design.

Further Revision Along With Tracings

        For the next part of our assignment, we were asked to further reduce the amount of our pictures from 12 to 6, while still conveying the story. Through these 6 photographs, I still attempted to illustrate my journey on foot from the Korean War Veterans Memorial into the Union Station. This journey was symbolic of the juxtaposition of old and new, and how aesthetic changes over the years.

        After selecting 6 photographs, we then had to overlay the images with tracing paper and outline the pictures in graphite. Afterwards, we had to overlay yet another sheet of tracing paper onto the graphite tracings and trace over the most important parts of the picture using Sharpie. Finally, after creating our own cropping tools using sheets of black Mi-Teintes, we had to draw 6"x6" squares onto the Sharpie outlines to further crop our images.

Response to Visual Symposium #1

        On August 30th, the freshman students were able to attend a VS detailing the phenomenon of childish, colorful art found within Japan. Although unfortunately, I was unable to attend, I have read some of my fellow classmates' responses to the VS to get a general idea of the topic matter. I am truly intrigued by what I have read and am astonished that I had not realized the correlation between the tragedies of WWII and the art of Japan today. As a huge fan and follow of Japanese pop culture, I had never realized that the extremely colorful, stylized works of Japanese art would be used as a coping mechanism against the horror the country previously experienced. This creates a whole new depth to the Japanese arts that I greatly admire. As a fan of Japanese art, anime, and manga since I was a young child, the VS really puts things into a historical context for me.

        The second part of the discussion covered the debate of whether or not crafts were considered "art." This made me realize that I had never mused upon this debate before, and that I had no real line of what I considered arts or merely "crafts." The debate caused me to reflect upon my previous definitions of art and how this could adversely affect my interpretations of people and their efforts.

Edited Union Station/Korean War Veteran Memorial Shoot

        From our last shoot, I had to edit my shoot down to 12 shots. Even after removing 6 shots, I still attempted to illustrate my journey from the Korean Veteran War Memorial over to the Union Station. Not only did I wish to illustrate this story on foot, but I attempted to show the shifts from present day, modern design to elegant, decorative design of the past. I attempted to show the juxtaposition of past and present, and how colors were used to portray certain design aesthetics of the time.Through my class viewing and critique, I cropped most of my photos to create focal points/visual interest.

Journey to Korean War Memorial and Union Station

        Originally I had planned to take my photographs at the Plaza where I could also do some shopping, but I decided on a location that had more meaning and connection to the past. My photographs attempt to portray my journey from the humble park to the grandiose structure of Union Station that is located across the street. Compared to Union Station, the park is very small and ordinary looking. However, upon closer inspection, the park contains a very touching monument dedicated to the Korean War and its veterans. I then crossed the Sky Link over to the Union Station. The Link's modern design matches well with the sharp angles of the Korean War monument, but is contrasted strongly by the Beaux-arts style of Union Station.

        Through these photographs, I attempted to express the connection and disparity to the past that is juxtaposed by the many structures of KC.