This is a fairly short post compared to others because once I allow myself to go on on about this topic.. I'll never stop from the exitement.
It all started last summer when my teacher Vince assigned my graphic design 100 sketches. I was a little bit taken aback when I heard this number and wasn't sure how many ideas I would have. I decided that I would make it known on my facebook to my friends around the world (who love celine, and can't afford to see her) that I would gladly take drawing and design requests from them as a way to bring them some cheer. I began to get requests from literally around the world. This was one of my most enjoyable experiences, getting to know people and being able to share a talent. I also feel that it was a great experience in dealing with 'clients.' I encountered the sweet client who was ecstatic with whatever I did and the client who was critical of everything, and I feel I dealt with all of them in a professional manner.
One friend requested a full colour, Valentines Day, portrait of her pets to give to her husband. She was so pleased with it that she said no money could repay me and instead offered me an opening night Celine Dion in Las Vegas ticket and even booked a hotel in advance for me. Well! That certainly is better than money to me! On March 15th I realize my dream of seeing my favourite singer for the first time!
The moral of my story is, when you open your heart to others by using your talents, and never expecting anything in return, good things happen.
As an artist, designer and photographer, I am thrilled to be able to go to Las Vegas and get inspiration for my work. I am excited to take my camera with me to capture what I know will be an unbelievable week!
Friday, February 18, 2011
Wednesday, February 16, 2011
My Artistic Journey
Since this is a design blog, it’s only natural that one of my entries is about my love of art and how I ended up in graphic design. I begin my journey as a child and end with me today: a graphic design student.
When I was about three and a half years old, I came to Canada from El Salvador with my mom so I could meet my father for the first time. My mom had to go to school to acquaint herself with the English language and much to my demise, I had to go to daycare. My screams of anguish for having to be in this horrible place away from my mom were only soothed when I got to paint or create things with my hands. I painted my ‘masterpieces’ and my parents proudly hung them in the basement. I guess to show me their support but not to ruin the décor in the rest of the house. According to them I never painted stick people like most three year olds so they figured I was ‘good’ on some level.
Whether they thought I was good at art or not, they knew I loved it and that’s what mattered to them. I have always questioned them why they didn’t enroll me in art classes- but the only explanation I get now is that they wanted me to take my own course in my interests. And I did.
As I grew I was always fascinated with books because I love to read of course, but also because I knew that someone had taken the time to create that and someone had drawn the images that I spent hours admiring and trying to draw as exact as I could and tried to redraw in my own way. I spent hours watching ‘Art Attack’ (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nDPoAKWVoFk) and “Pappyland’ (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qjr46fxAQXc) because I wanted to do what they did. I wanted to draw. I wanted to create beautiful things out of paper maché and I wanted my parents to please sit still for hours while I tried to draw them. I was intrigued by shapes, and colours and was always very aware of what a difference contrast or just blending one more colour made.
By the time I was in the third grade I had established myself as the school artist. I was picked by teachers to participate in random little competitions and had my art entered in contests and took part in a large mural that was displayed at the Butterfly Conservatory in Niagara Falls. That project killed me inside because I was given an image to draw: howling wolves. I had to paint it as true to the original picture as I could and the original image was so dreary and grey looking with no colour. I suppose that was a lesson to be learned in the difference between a big A artist and a little A artist in that I had to please someone else with my work rather than my own eye.
In highschool when most people are discovering themselves and trying to figure out what their interests are to choose electives, I already knew I wanted art and graphic design classes through my four years in highschool. I loved art class because it was a stress reliever. Just putting on some music while I filled an empty canvas, so to speak, sparked my imagination.
Graphic design was a little bit different for me because I had always envisioned something in my mind and was able to recreate it on paper. Designing on computers was different because it took more effort to create. I found it enjoyable though because I could play with design and start over immediately if I wanted to. With colour illustration I couldn’t make a mistake even though pencil art was more forgiving. As I painted to please others when I was younger, I was now designing to please my teacher. It was a new concept for me and I enjoyed the challenge. I learned that coming from a fine arts background didn’t have to hinder my design ability. If anything, it helped and gave me a greater satisfaction to be able to merge the two skills in order to design in a unique way. I found satisfaction in my designs and apparently they pleased my teachers too. It wasn’t work (in this case homework) to me because I loved what I did and that’s what mattered to me.
The last year of highschool came and I had to make decisions on where my post secondary education would lead me and what career I wanted to pursue. My dad had a major role in affecting the decision I made. I decided I would become a teacher because I had always had a great respect for teachers. I thought that my dad would approve of this more than a career in the art field. I went to the University of Waterloo and studied for a year but it just wasn’t for me. Just like when I was younger, what really satisfied me were hands on activities and the theoretical learning in university didn’t satisfy me.
I made the hard decision of telling my dad I was going to leave university and surprisingly he gave me his blessing to let me do what I wanted. After all, it’s my career he told me. I applied for the Design and Communications Fundamentals program to get my portfolio together so that I would feel prepared for my graphic design interview. I applied to the Graphic Design program the following year and set my heart on this goal of getting into the program. Hard work on portfolio and my wishing paid off because I was told at my interview that I would definitely be getting a confirmation letter.
I’m looking forward to seeing where this program leads me. I am in second year now and although it gets harder every semester, I wouldn’t have it any other way. I enjoy the challenge and now I am applying design elements to my illustrations. The artist in me is becoming or has become a designer and the designer in me is becoming a better fine artist.
When I was about three and a half years old, I came to Canada from El Salvador with my mom so I could meet my father for the first time. My mom had to go to school to acquaint herself with the English language and much to my demise, I had to go to daycare. My screams of anguish for having to be in this horrible place away from my mom were only soothed when I got to paint or create things with my hands. I painted my ‘masterpieces’ and my parents proudly hung them in the basement. I guess to show me their support but not to ruin the décor in the rest of the house. According to them I never painted stick people like most three year olds so they figured I was ‘good’ on some level.
Whether they thought I was good at art or not, they knew I loved it and that’s what mattered to them. I have always questioned them why they didn’t enroll me in art classes- but the only explanation I get now is that they wanted me to take my own course in my interests. And I did.
As I grew I was always fascinated with books because I love to read of course, but also because I knew that someone had taken the time to create that and someone had drawn the images that I spent hours admiring and trying to draw as exact as I could and tried to redraw in my own way. I spent hours watching ‘Art Attack’ (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nDPoAKWVoFk) and “Pappyland’ (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qjr46fxAQXc) because I wanted to do what they did. I wanted to draw. I wanted to create beautiful things out of paper maché and I wanted my parents to please sit still for hours while I tried to draw them. I was intrigued by shapes, and colours and was always very aware of what a difference contrast or just blending one more colour made.
By the time I was in the third grade I had established myself as the school artist. I was picked by teachers to participate in random little competitions and had my art entered in contests and took part in a large mural that was displayed at the Butterfly Conservatory in Niagara Falls. That project killed me inside because I was given an image to draw: howling wolves. I had to paint it as true to the original picture as I could and the original image was so dreary and grey looking with no colour. I suppose that was a lesson to be learned in the difference between a big A artist and a little A artist in that I had to please someone else with my work rather than my own eye.
In highschool when most people are discovering themselves and trying to figure out what their interests are to choose electives, I already knew I wanted art and graphic design classes through my four years in highschool. I loved art class because it was a stress reliever. Just putting on some music while I filled an empty canvas, so to speak, sparked my imagination.
Graphic design was a little bit different for me because I had always envisioned something in my mind and was able to recreate it on paper. Designing on computers was different because it took more effort to create. I found it enjoyable though because I could play with design and start over immediately if I wanted to. With colour illustration I couldn’t make a mistake even though pencil art was more forgiving. As I painted to please others when I was younger, I was now designing to please my teacher. It was a new concept for me and I enjoyed the challenge. I learned that coming from a fine arts background didn’t have to hinder my design ability. If anything, it helped and gave me a greater satisfaction to be able to merge the two skills in order to design in a unique way. I found satisfaction in my designs and apparently they pleased my teachers too. It wasn’t work (in this case homework) to me because I loved what I did and that’s what mattered to me.
The last year of highschool came and I had to make decisions on where my post secondary education would lead me and what career I wanted to pursue. My dad had a major role in affecting the decision I made. I decided I would become a teacher because I had always had a great respect for teachers. I thought that my dad would approve of this more than a career in the art field. I went to the University of Waterloo and studied for a year but it just wasn’t for me. Just like when I was younger, what really satisfied me were hands on activities and the theoretical learning in university didn’t satisfy me.
I made the hard decision of telling my dad I was going to leave university and surprisingly he gave me his blessing to let me do what I wanted. After all, it’s my career he told me. I applied for the Design and Communications Fundamentals program to get my portfolio together so that I would feel prepared for my graphic design interview. I applied to the Graphic Design program the following year and set my heart on this goal of getting into the program. Hard work on portfolio and my wishing paid off because I was told at my interview that I would definitely be getting a confirmation letter.
I’m looking forward to seeing where this program leads me. I am in second year now and although it gets harder every semester, I wouldn’t have it any other way. I enjoy the challenge and now I am applying design elements to my illustrations. The artist in me is becoming or has become a designer and the designer in me is becoming a better fine artist.
Tuesday, February 8, 2011
Stumble Across
I recently ‘stumbled upon’ a very entertaining site. Coincidentally it’s called www.stumbleupon.com. I found the site to be not only an entertaining pass time on the internet- but a very useful resource when it comes to getting design inspiration. To use it, you simply sign up with your email and check off the different types of topics you ‘re interested in stumbling upon. Topics range from design, advertising, and interior design to women’s issues, celebrities, conspiracies and many more. The thing that I find the most useful is that I have found different sites that I would have never come across by googling a topic.
As I ‘stumbled’ along the site, I found some Photoshop tutorials (http://tiny.cc/fsbh) that I found useful because I don’t know the program very well. One of the Photoshop tutorials showed how to create an image out of text. (http://tiny.cc/1q2sb) I was able to work through the tutorial and create my own image. There was a mistake in one of the steps but because I had been working through the other steps and could not only follow the steps, but understood them, I was able to finish my image on my own. (http://tiny.cc/33q8f and http://tiny.cc/vzvdt)
Another thing I stumbled upon was a video (http://tiny.cc/t72k7) of the making of an advertisement for Canon Pixma Printers. The concept behind the advertisement was paint sculptures that were photographed while vibrating sensors made paint droplets ‘dance’ and intermingle in a beautiful display of colour.
The reason I like this site so much is that it opens up the world of the Internet to me and by selecting all the topics I am more likely to stumble across interesting finds that I normally wouldn’t think of looking for on my own. I realize that in order to inspire my designer mind I have to look beyond a narrow field of vision and venture out to look at various resources.
As I ‘stumbled’ along the site, I found some Photoshop tutorials (http://tiny.cc/fsbh) that I found useful because I don’t know the program very well. One of the Photoshop tutorials showed how to create an image out of text. (http://tiny.cc/1q2sb) I was able to work through the tutorial and create my own image. There was a mistake in one of the steps but because I had been working through the other steps and could not only follow the steps, but understood them, I was able to finish my image on my own. (http://tiny.cc/33q8f and http://tiny.cc/vzvdt)
Another thing I stumbled upon was a video (http://tiny.cc/t72k7) of the making of an advertisement for Canon Pixma Printers. The concept behind the advertisement was paint sculptures that were photographed while vibrating sensors made paint droplets ‘dance’ and intermingle in a beautiful display of colour.
The reason I like this site so much is that it opens up the world of the Internet to me and by selecting all the topics I am more likely to stumble across interesting finds that I normally wouldn’t think of looking for on my own. I realize that in order to inspire my designer mind I have to look beyond a narrow field of vision and venture out to look at various resources.
Wednesday, February 2, 2011
'My Kid Could Paint That'
Today I bought and watched ‘My Kid Could Paint That’ (directed by Amir Bar-Lev.) The documentary follows a four year old named Marla Olmstead and her parents. Four-year-old Marla started doing abstract paintings in her diapers on the dining room table. Her parents decided to display them at a friend’s restaurant as a joke and surprisingly the public wanted to buy them. The fact that a four year old painted them didn’t deter many people from buying them, or paying thousands for them!
What I found refreshing was how Marla maintained her childlike innocence through her fame. When asked, by the documentary interviewer to speak about her art, she clearly refused and decided to ask him to help her make a puzzle instead. The documentary takes a turn when there is speculation by the media that Marla might not be the sole creator of her art and that her father either does them for her, or helps and guides her through each thousand-dollar painting. This torments the father because it is evident that it will hurt painting sales. It also doesn’t help the fact that his dream is to make his daughter big in the art cities of Europe. My heart goes out to the mother who clearly wants to protect her daughter from the media and openly struggles on film with the downside that fame brings.
Critics wonder if Marla’s work can be classified as art if she is able to create it but can’t express rationale behind what her work means. A lot of skeptics wanted proof that they were in fact Marla’s paintings and wanted to see live footage of the creation of a painting. Every time cameras would go into the home to videotape, Marla became nervous and couldn’t create a ‘good’ painting. Later on, the parents provide footage in a film called ‘Ocean’ of Marla creating one her better paintings. Marla’s work is compared a lot to the work of Jackson Pollock. This comparison brings about positive critiques from those who believe that abstract art is considered real art. There is also, of course, negative criticism from those who believe abstract work doesn’t deserve to be called art.
I tried to keep an open mind throughout the documentary. I thought that by the end I might have made up my mind on whether to believe that they were indeed her paintings but I couldn’t. I was left pondering what my real thoughts are on modern art and whether or not I believe abstract art can truly be considered art. Whatever, the documentary makes you feel, you can’t deny that four-year-old Marla is an adorable little girl.
What I found refreshing was how Marla maintained her childlike innocence through her fame. When asked, by the documentary interviewer to speak about her art, she clearly refused and decided to ask him to help her make a puzzle instead. The documentary takes a turn when there is speculation by the media that Marla might not be the sole creator of her art and that her father either does them for her, or helps and guides her through each thousand-dollar painting. This torments the father because it is evident that it will hurt painting sales. It also doesn’t help the fact that his dream is to make his daughter big in the art cities of Europe. My heart goes out to the mother who clearly wants to protect her daughter from the media and openly struggles on film with the downside that fame brings.
Critics wonder if Marla’s work can be classified as art if she is able to create it but can’t express rationale behind what her work means. A lot of skeptics wanted proof that they were in fact Marla’s paintings and wanted to see live footage of the creation of a painting. Every time cameras would go into the home to videotape, Marla became nervous and couldn’t create a ‘good’ painting. Later on, the parents provide footage in a film called ‘Ocean’ of Marla creating one her better paintings. Marla’s work is compared a lot to the work of Jackson Pollock. This comparison brings about positive critiques from those who believe that abstract art is considered real art. There is also, of course, negative criticism from those who believe abstract work doesn’t deserve to be called art.
I tried to keep an open mind throughout the documentary. I thought that by the end I might have made up my mind on whether to believe that they were indeed her paintings but I couldn’t. I was left pondering what my real thoughts are on modern art and whether or not I believe abstract art can truly be considered art. Whatever, the documentary makes you feel, you can’t deny that four-year-old Marla is an adorable little girl.
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