Special Edition Blog: Art institute 2

Chuck Close, Self portrait, 2001.

Craft: This piece is a typical forward self portrait shot, but the facial expression makes it more interesting then a typical photograph. The blur of the bottom and also the contrasts make the photograph pop more.

Concept: The concept of this I think is to spark interest in this photo due to the detail being shown and the contrast of the background with the figure.

Composition: The composition, like I have said before is to make the audience interested, and put a little twist on the self portrait that so many have done before. It shows every detail of the face, and blurs out towards the bottom to let the viewer know that the main focus is the face and nothing else.

week 15

lulu

http://www.lulu.com/product/paperback/art-portfolio/10640542

scribd

http://www.scribd.com/doc/30659891/Cg-s10-Kciurej-Magazine

special edition blog: sxu art gallery solina hicks

Craft: for these pieces of art done by Sister Solina, she basically said that she did these pieces out of feeling not thought process. She didn't really have any technique that she was favorable to, but she did what she felt right. The first piece of art, the flowers, was done in oil paint on canvas, while the other was done in mosaic tiles. They are both obviously very well crafted and put together greatly, and are extremely attractive pieces of art.

Concept: the concept of these pieces of art were again quite vague according to Sister Solina, because she just did what she was feeling at that moment. She said that she thought flowers were a great example of light, when the rest of the world is dark. She also did several pieces on holy figures and Catholic symbols as well. She felt that these pieces were interesting and also very important to her life, so she did art accordingly. The concept of the bright flowers coming out of the dark was extremely inspiring because it gives a sense of hope, that not all is lost. The mosaic tiles are very well crafted, and done according to her beliefs in Mary and the Holy Spirit. There were several pieces of crosses and the Holy Spirit, etc. that she enjoyed to paint.

Composition: The compositional arrangements for most of the pieces that Sister Solina Hicks did were of either flowers or Holy concepts. The flower painting, was done in oil and has very bright and vibrant colors with a dark background, relating to her concept that Sister Solina had discussed. The mosaic was of a Holy figure, probably Mary, and done in tiles with the figure being the main focus in the middle of the canvas. She displays very clearly that this is a Holy figure and uses several crosses and holy spirit references in her pieces of art.

special edition blog: Art Institute of Chicago

Craft: For this craft of Monet's "Charing Cross Bridge," Monet uses his theme of painting throughout this piece. He has a consistent painterly quality throughout his pieces, and he puts his art in a fuzzy, almost dream like way. His colors are soft and consistent throughout the piece, and not necessarily realistic. It is not quite abstract, but also not exactly detailed either. He uses oil for this piece, as he does several other pieces that he has painted.

Concept: The concept of these pieces seem to be different variations of land

scapes according to Monet's style. This piece, is done in light pastels and is in an interesting viewpoint and unrealistic color

s. The piece seems to look like it is in a sort of fog, or there is a glazing over it, and the paint is very thick and blotchy. This is Monet's style, and it works very well because it is not necessarily a realistic painting, but it does display nice views of landscaping, where as you can still tell what the painting is supposed to be portraying.

Composition: The composition of this piece is at an interesting viewpoint, and also displaying pastel colors and making the bridge look like it is in some sort of fog or glaze. It is a very appealing painting and very calming and also makes it unclear as to which time of day it is, which is very compositionall

y interesting.

Craft: For this bowl of fruit done by Caravaggio, the piece was done in oil on canvas. The colors are extremely contrasted, brin

ging out the brightes

t colors in the piece. The peaches

and the cherries really stand out most in this painting, and it is extremely eye catching and realistic. This was the style at the time this painting was done, and it was the goal of the artists to craft their paintings to the best of their abilities and realistically. His craft goes beyond that,

by punching out the whites and making the contrast extreme, forcing the co

lors to look vibrant and attractive.

Concept: The concept of this piece is to make the painting look really realistic, but at the same time putting a twist on it. The whites are punched out extremely and makes the contrast high, and so all the detail and color pop out and are really eye catching and bright. The contrast makes the painting look even more realistic and interesting.

Composition: The composition is done very well, with most of the canvas covered. Your eye travels from one corner to the other,

with something to look at any where you look. This painting is very interesting and eye catching and extremely realistic, revealing the talents of this artist to an extreme.

week14

craft: Finishing my magazine, I did the cover as splatter paint with a simple title so people will be aware of what they are about to look at.

concept: this concept is the same consistency throughout, putting the finishing touches on each page and keeping them simple.

composition: the composition also remains the same, making sure the pictures look right on each page and have a consistent theme throughout.

week 13

craft: for the craft of the rest of the images, I just wanted everything to look neat and make sure they all flow together.

concept: the concept is to keep consistency throughout the entire magazine making sure everything looks in the right place.

composition: the composition remains simple, with everything in neat order and the consistent theme still being there.

week 12

craft: for the craft of my next spreads, I am going to make sure that the theme stays consistent to the others, while still keeping it interesting.

concept: the concept is going to be for the same, keeping the magazine simple while also interesting to the eye for the readers.

composition: the composition is going to continue simply and hopefully make a very well laid out magazine in the end.

week 11

craft: for this craft on the second spread, I did basically the same thing as the first one, except made every other picture bigger or smaller.

concept: the concept for this spread is to keep the same pattern or similar as the first one, and keep the composition clean.

composition: for this composition, i want to keep it clean and simple, focusing the viewers eyes on the pictures and the most interesting parts of the pages by drawing their attention there.

special edition blog 1

craft: For my craft on this series, I first had to draw the outlines of each shape with lines. It was tedious, but I tried making the shoe look as realistic as possible. I then went in and did the fill of each object, and made sure the colors looked good together as to draw the eye in. I did not draw the outside of the window at first, but later changed my logic to that.

After filling the objects, I used the gradient tools to make the object look more 3D. For the other illustrations in the series, they are not as realistic as the original blue shoe, but the general idea is presented to the audience on what the illustration is portraying. The lighting for these pictures also had to be correct to make sure that the image is realistic looking and could look 3 dimensional.

One important detail was the fact that after trying out the outside window as a solid color, it was definitely better to add the background to the illustration. Tracing the outside objects and fading them a bit and using the feather seemed to help the picture look accurate. It was very important to go through all these steps to get to the final piece because showing my improvements was helpful to show which illustration looked best.

concept: The concept of this series was somewhat murky at first, but after adding the outside backgrounds to the illustrations it became more clear for everyone viewing these pieces. The outside objects were important to these pieces because it brings the shoe and the atmosphere together into one idea. For the original piece, it was important to display the background as to make the shoe appear more realistic and almost humanized, looking out a window.

The other illustrations in this series also needed the window background to display the themes of each. For example, the pink shoe was placed in front of a window, looking out to a Macy's store, as to display a feminine feel and bring each object together to make one illustration. It was an important move to keep these pieces in context and connecting them all to each other.

compostion: The composition was an important deciding factor when figuring out which photo to use. The shoe at that angle and the viewpoint with the background information helped display a theme of personification of the shoe. It is very important to keep the compositional aspect in perspective when doing this series because it helps hold together all of your pieces perfectly. My series needed to have different background windows for each piece to display the message of each, because without switching around those backgrounds to fit the shoes, the series would not make sense.

week 10

craft: for the second draft of my spread, I plan on fixing up my negative space, and making the pictures more clean cut. I also think I should fix the title and make it more appealing at first glance.

concept: I think I am going to keep my layout clean and to the point, but adding just a little bit of pop to it so the readers stay focused.

composition: the composition is going to stay simple and hopefully that will keep people interested.

week 9

craft: For my first spread in InDesign, I just played around with the layout of my picture with the text to see what will be a good lay out and what will catch the reader's eye most, and i chose to put the pictures of my series in the middle and the text underneath.

concept: The concept for my spread is probably going to be just to try and get as much creativity involved and be able to get the point across about my illustration with the essay that I've written. I have chosen to do the pictures in the middle and text on the bottom to make the reader interested due to the pictures while at the same time making it easy to read the blog in columns.

composition: the composition is a combination of text with pictures, but also adding titles and things to make it more interesting and look like a sophisticated magazine.

week 8

craft: For this illustration, I decided to do a rough outline of the water bottle that I was referencing from. I used a thinner brush, and drew rough squiggles and lines to form the outside of the water bottle. I then did a horizon line to give the background some shape. After doing this, I chose a lighter blue color and began painting the background with a very large brush.

I decided that the blue that I chose was a nice contrast to the black bottle, and then decided to fill the bottom of the bottle with white polygons shapes. I felt these colors worked well together. I chose to put a fill in the bottom polygons with a black outline, while the shapes in the upper part of the bottle are just outlined in white to show the differences in volumes. Instead of doing just complimentary colors for my series, I decided to just do any type of colors, as to broaden my range for the color section.

The outlined and filled shapes in the bottom of the bottle give the bottle a more voluminous feel, and keeps the illustration's message clear, that this is in fact a bottle with some form of liquid. The shapes are all various sizes, and have no pattern or specific size requirements, they are all randomly put there to give the bottle a sharp yet free look. The lines also do not have any specific direction or shape, they were made to look free and messy to contrast the very defined shapes inside the bottle. This is my favorite piece because of the color combinations and freeness of the pen drawing.

concept: The concept behind this piece goes along with the title I chose for my style, which is 'framed mass'. I think that this displays the style well, because of the way the shapes are framed by the black pen, even if the marks are uneven and messy. I did not intentionally make this my style, but eventually as I continued to do the illustrations, the pattern was obvious in the pictures that I made. It is obvious that in this piece and in the rest of the series, that the water bottle is outlined in some sort of way, and there is some kind of volume in every piece.

The concept of the shapes and the lines both being in each piece was to display a flexibility in the make of the illustrations. It allowed me to be free with the way I would paint the illustration, while at the same time leave a common theme within each piece. Also the way the lines in this piece are not stiff helps this piece stray away from reality and allows me to be more creative in the way i constructed these pieces.

composition: At first doing the illustrations, I was being very loose with my compositions. However, as I continued, my compositions became more similar. All of the pieces are generally in the same place of the page, and about the same size. Most of them have different brush styles, but you should be able to tell that each illustration is of the same object. All of the illustrations are rough while at the same time very sharp because of the contrasting shapes with the brush strokes.

In these illustrations, the color is essential to each of them. Starting off just using complimentary colors, I changed that by using any color that worked well with the composition of the bottle. Making them contrast was important and would make it easier to catch someone's eye. I also thought that the rough pen marks with the straightness of the shapes would bring an interesting affect to the composition.

I used the filled shapes at the bottom of each bottle to show volume and make the illustration look somewhat realistic in that sense. I wanted to show the differences from the middle of the bottle, where the shapes were just outlined, and the bottom, where the liquid would be in real life, and fill it. Each composition also has a horizon line or a shadow to give the picture more shape and fill.

week 7

craft: for my craft section on these pen sketches, I tried to roughly sketch the water bottle that I was drawing, first in black ink then later changing the colors. I used complimentary colors for this project, and I used both lines and shapes to fulfill the drawing.

concept: i wanted to get the concept across of just using colors opposite on the color wheel, and making the bottles look like they were full, whether it be using stroke or shapes to fill the bottom of the bottle.

compostion: for these sketches i didn't use any backgrounds really, and just kept the back solid with no volume so that I could focus more on the bottle.

week 6

picture 1: 'kiddie playground'

craft: for this craft, I used the same layout as my original, but I switched the colors to make it look very playful and young.

concept: I wanted to make this image look like it would belong in a kindergarden classroom or something of the sort. I made the colors very bright and simple as to display the young feel to it and happy playful ness.

composition: For this composition, I kept it the same as my original, but switched it up by changing the colors to make it look different.

picture 2: 'camo'

craft: for this version of my original, I used different types of earth tones to make the object look like it was something out of an army scene.

concept: Since my concept for my original piece is shoe personified, I wanted to make each spin off act as a different type of person. For this one, I wanted the shoe to look like an army figure or something of that sort, so I used very earthy camoflauge tones.

composition: I kept the composition the same as the original, but switched the colors to adjust it to my concept.

picture 3: 'girl world'

craft: My last piece was all about girly things. I used all colors that are normally associated with girls to get my point across as to what I was trying to do with my spin off version.

concept: my concept was that of trying to make this piece look as girly as possible. Making the shoe look like it would be something a girl would love to wear or associating its personality with a girl was my main goal.

composition: I kept my composition the same as my original, while just altering the colors to make my point.

week 5

craft: for this craft, I ultimately used the same things I did from previous weeks, except I tweaked certain things to make it look better and more realistic. I also used the feather tool to help smooth out the edges of certain places.

concept: my concept consists of trying to make the shoe look somewhat personified at such a close angle. Making it look like something it's not and somewhat of a face I thought would be pretty interesting.

composition: In order for my concept to be clear, I had to develop my composition and put more of the outside window details into my piece and show the detail that would further show the personified shoe.

week 4

craft: This first shoe was made by doing several steps in adobe illustrator. First, I traced around the front of the shoe with a thick line in the pen tool. Then I used the eye dropper for picking out the color of the line.

After I outlined the shoe, I outlined the dots in the shoe, and filled them with the color that I chose using the eye dropper tool. Then i proceeded to do the far end of the shoe and trace it, and then fill in that with the eye dropper tool as well. After I finished that, I traced some of the details in the background and filled them with their closest color. I did not however go into great detail with the background information, so I could go back to it later when I know a little more about the tools, and then fix it.

Although I spent alot of time on this, I did not go into the details of the lighting and the small details of this photo. I filled the colors as best as I could, while still leaving room for improvement in the colors and details for later on.

concept: the concept behind this image is basically trying to get people to look at this shoe differently then any other shoe. I zoomed in to the shoe to almost personify it and make it look like something it is not. For example, some may say it resembles a face, and it is sitting on a window sill, therefore making it almost more realistic by making it look almost like it is staring out the window.

composition: I wanted this image close up as to see the details of the shoe, such as the scratches and wrinkles and dots of the image. I also wanted to personify it while at the same time giving it somewhat of a background and a setting as to make it more realistic.

week 3

craft: i made this photo by placing the shoe on my window ledge. I thought that the window would be an interesting background for the bright blue shoe, because of the dark lighting outside.

concept: i was trying to display the texture of this shoe while at the same time giving an interesting background and lighting.

composition: i put the frame this way because I wanted to display the front side of the shoe, while at the same time I needed a background for this photo. The lighting worked for me and I thought that the way the shoe was placed and the angle at which we are looking at it makes the shoe interesting to look at and the main focus.

week 2

craft: I made this photo by putting both shoes partially under the bed. I tried to make it look interesting and put the shoes in an imperfect position, while also making sure not to put the shoes in the middle of the frame.

composition: I thought the floor was a good contrast to the shoes and the sheet, therefore i placed them in this position. I wanted the shoes to be in a somewhat different position in comparison to two shoes sitting right in the middle of the photo.

concept: in this picture i was trying to just show what a typical pair of shoes looks like for me, when they are not being worn. They are purposely imperfect because most people kick their shoes off and this is somewhat of an example of what they would look like.

craft: i made this photo when I caught my dog chewing on my shoe. Although it's not a shot of a shoe on someone's foot, I think it is still an action shot and it caught my eye. I wanted to make sure that both the shoe and the dog's face were in this to display the action.

composition: Though I could have put both the entire shoe and the body of the dog in this frame, I thought the most important parts are displayed here. It gives the message of the dog chewing the shoe still very clearly. The focal point is not directly in the center as well, which was important to me to display an interesting photo.

concept: I was trying to give off the common conception of dogs liking to eat shoes. Snatching a human's shoe and chewing it is a cliche of sorts, but it does happen often and I thought it was both humorous and fun to look at.

Week 1

Name: Kelly Ciurej
Hometown: Chicago, Illinois
Major: Art/ Graphic Design
Year: Freshman
Favorite color: red