3/30 Student Lecture

Today's lecture was very different than most of the previous lectures because it was run by upperclassmen who were kind enough to give us some insight into our future at Tyler. Alex Bloom, a GAID major, shared with us "10 Things I Wish I Knew as a Sophomore". I thought this presentation was very informative and would like to share with you some of his tips now:

1. Stay informed/Go out and see things (movies, shows, blogs) - this can only enrich your life

2. Collaborate and Conquer (like the awesome Trojan Horse sculpture project that incorporated other art schools in Philadelphia)

3. Keep art FUN! (do different and creative projects for yourself)

4. Get a bicycle and get out of North Philly (a Schwinn is probably the best type)

5. You Need What?! Go to Craigslist.com for anything odd that you need for a project. Other places include: Xpedx (free paper), Everything Plastic, Jomar, The Book Trader, Taws art supply

6. Buy groceries and cook

7. Get your sleep on (avoid the internet, parties, and a poor work environment)

8. Drink coffee, and buy your own coffee maker to save some serious $$$

9. Go to the library (im talking urban archives); Free Library of Philadelphia

10. Get exercise even if you don't have time - it increases productivity and happiness

Intro to Gouache Painting

In my drawing class, we are currently working with gouache to achieve specific colors in rendering still lifes. This piece is one of the homework projects we had to complete. I decided to create a triangular composition of three roses from a bouquet that my boyfriend gave me for my birthday. Gouache has been tricky to me since I do not have much experience with using it but I think it worked really well in this painting. I tried to attain the precise colors of the roses and I think the contrast between the pink and green hues is very strong. My professor especially liked the background shadows I included and the harmony of the piece overall. Gouache may not be so bad afterall, even though it is a tad expensive!

Photoshop Changed Image Project

For this Photoshop exercise we took a pre-existing image we created in any media and scanned it in to the computer, which we then enhanced/changed/adjusted in Photoshop using the different tools and techniques. I drew a motorcycle in colored pencil and marker and was inspired by a photograph I had taken of a motorcycle on Temple's campus for the Walk/Bike/Ride assignment earlier in the semester. In Photoshop, I made use of the vibrance and saturation adjustments and used the paintbrush to add areas of color. I also took a license plate and a red and orange reflective light from another photograph and included them on this new image. I wanted a primary color scheme so I adjusted the hue and temperature of the image to get the desired result. Lastly, I wrote the name of the motorcycle, "Metropolitan", on the new image with the paintbrush tool. This project was a good way for me to get comfortable using the various tools in Photoshop, like the Lasso and Paintbrush, and I even happened upon some new ones that I never knew existed, all of which contributed to my new and improved motorcycle.

Lynda Barry, artistic comedian

The humorous Lynda Barry visited Tyler today to give a lecture to the students about what is an image and how she achieves her own unique style in her sketchbooks/story books, which were given out for free last week in the library. She said the first book she wrote took ten days, yet the second took about ten years. This was due to the fact that she wrote it using a paintbrush instead of typing on the computer, which offers a counter-intuitive approach and does not allow for a 'delete' button. A delete button can prevent an artist from finding a new idea the second time around if they erase it the first time. Ms. Barry's work looks like pages in a sketchbook, with the lines on loose-leaf paper showing through and her usage of transparent colors and lose figures that appear to be drawn with marker. Surprisingly, her images of her self prove to have a striking resemblance. She does not like working with expensive paper because she says it "scares her", so instead takes a different approach to the art of image making. Throughout the lecture, Ms. Barry incorporated many funny jokes that kept the audience in complete laughter. She was definitely one of the most energetic and entertaining speakers we have had all year. Of course, the only way for her to end would be to go out with a bang - which she definitely did as she proved she could sing without moving her lips.

PHILAGRAFiKA lecture

I was glad our computer class was able to attend this lecture because I visited this exhibition at Tyler and was really curious about Philagrafika. I like prints and media arts, which make up most of the artwork that Philagrafika is responsible for. This international festival that celebrates print in contemporary art began in 2000. This year it runs from January 29th til April 11th. There are 703 local participating artists out of the total artists, which is 778. This is a great majority and shows the Philadelphia representation very well. There are three major components to Philagrafika - the Graphic Unconscious exhibition, independent projects, and Out of Print (historical collections). The Graphic Unconscious exhibition can be seen at Tyler, Moore, and the Philadelphia Museum of Art, to name a few. A piece from Philagrafika that really stood out to me was Gunilla Klingberg's "Brand New View". This artist from Sweden used local brands as her inspiration to create an orange mandala design on the front of Moore's windows. Another work I thought that was creative was the piece that had a floral design etched into tires and rolled around the walls of a room. There are free maps for Philagrafika, or if you don't mind spending the money, you can purchase a guidebook for $15. I hope to get out and see more of this festival before it closes in April!

Fake-ish Lecture on 3/16

Today's "lecture" was not really a lecture at all. It was more of a question and answer session for registering for fall classes and which sophomore electives to take. A few speakers were present to discuss matters such as taking summer courses, studying abroad in Rome, and the registration dates (around April 1st!). However, it was not very informative because not many questions were taken and some of the speakers went off on some tangents about the new Tyler building. Which wasn't the exact aim of the lecture, but at this point basically anything goes these days.

Robert Sedlack: On how graphic design can help the world

My 2D class got the opportunity to attend a lecture on February 26th featuring graphic designer Robert Sedlack. He titled his lecture IMPACT: A social model for design. He graduated from Notre Dame and teaches both undergraduate and graduate design students. His presentation was really interesting because design is a type of art I am quite passionate about. He focused on demonstrating how graphic design can make an impact both socially and culturally throughout the world. He is the principal of Sedlack Design Associates and works with creating numerous prints, posters, and packaging for various organizations. He has worked with issues concerning gun control and voter participation. His most recent project deals with packaging for good salt in Haiti. This packaging prevents the transmission of lymphatic filariasis in the salt, which could cause Haitians to get sick. Mr. Sedlack worked with students to design a logo for this project, which resulted in the design above. Bon Sel means "good salt" and makes the Haitians aware that the salt they will be using for cooking is healthy. Overall, I was really excited to get the chance to hear from a graphic design professional who is doing his part to better the world by means of design. I have never thought design could make such an impact as Mr. Sedlack is able to do, and is something I am definitely considering as a potential graphic design major.

Portrait using the Pen Tool

For this project we scanned our faces into the computer and recreated them using the pen tool in Illustrator. I had already made something similar to this a few summers ago in Tyler's Pre-College Summer Workshop when I took the Graphic Design & Illustration course, but that portrait was just a straight head shot. The scanner element to this particular picture gave it a cool and odd sense to it that I began to like, even though at first it seemed like this process would be hard to manage. I really had a fun time getting the details in and making it resemble the original photograph as much as possible. I especially liked how the hair turned out, which I designed by using a variety of brushes in different colors and styles. The hand and the necklace were the hardest parts for me to create but I think overall I was pretty successful in attaining a well rendered portrait.

Fibers & Glass Lecture

The latest lecture combined the fields of fibers and glass. Silk painting was touched upon and lots of student work was shown for the fibers part. There are a few fibers classes available to sophomores that include Fabric Pattern & Image, Woven Structure, and Structural Embellishment. These courses do not include only working on the loom; it is actually possible to do most of the work off the loom. You might like to try fibers if you are interested in working with color, texture, and the surface of fabrics. I really loved the Bear Rug by Nathan Vincent and the Bathroom Vest created by Joan Steiner. Christo was another famous artist who incorporated fibers elements into the natural world (see picture). During the glass section of the lecture, a brief overview was given about the art of glass blowing. The aspects of the Glass major at Tyler were also addressed - it is a very team-based type of work that is impossible to do by yourself. It is imperative to help each other and work in teams to help your partner achieve a piece they are satisfied with. The Intro to Pulled Glass is a good glass class to start with next year. There are also a variety of methods that tie into the glass category, like planeworking, which incorporates working on a smaller scale of glass to possibly include in future pieces of art.