New Class

I have started my new class Logos and Symbols and our first project is under way. We had to design a logo for a clothing company I decided to do a wedding dress company and below are my black and white images.

Last post

Well this is the last post for my digital storytelling class, I have learned so much from this class. I really like advertising. I hope that I have inspired my readers to look at things differently and also inspired you with the different artists I have posted about. I can not wait for the next class logos and symbols. Looks interesting and just one more step to completing my degree. I will try to do a couple more give aways again, I wish my Flicker photo stream would come back I can not figure out why it has gone away. Anyway thank you all for supporting me and encouraging me. I will post as soon as I get my first assignments for the new class and keep you all informed.

Sometimes

This is something I worked on in my sketch book about the way I feel-

Sometimes
Sometimes I want to argue with everyone just because
Sometimes I want to start over
Sometimes I am lazy
Sometimes I want to be naked and wear heels all day
Sometimes I regret what I said
Sometimes I pretend I am famous
Sometimes I want my lover to hold me all night
Sometimes I want adventure, the kind like in a movie
Sometimes I want someone to know who I really am
Sometimes I want to wear a ball gown
Sometimes I want to shut the world out with my headphones and paint, draw, create
Sometimes I am lost
Sometimes I want to cry
Sometimes I do not say what I really want to
Sometimes I do not like my body
Sometimes I want to runaway

Artist that inspire

This week I found two artist that inspired me to create. They are two totally different artists how ever both gave me the inspiration to draw in my sketch book. The first artist is Glenn Arthur, he is a self taught artist living in Southern California. He grew up in a very conservative household until the day a friend introduced him to painting. His paintings are done on wood panels with acrylic paints. Most of his work is of women, some partially nude, in very sensual provocative poses with powerful icons. I love the way he incorporates the wood grain into each piece. The way he paints their faces is another feature that I like. They have very soft blends and the eyes are very intense. His paintings are very sexy and strong females with a fun and flirty side to them.

The second artist that inspired me is Molly Zakrajsek. I found her through an assignment for Digital Storytelling. What drew me to her was her use of patterns to fill in the spaces of her design instead of using solid color. She did a live mural for Utopia paper at a conference in Chicago that I absolutely fell in love with. She has done a lot of murals some with children and some for other major institutions. Her characters come to life in a very happy and amusing way.  She has a way with color combinations that also inspire my color choices too. Her work is so vibrant and wonderful, her patterns are amazing her work makes me feel happy.

http://glennarthurart.blogspot.com/
http://www.mollyz.net/work/

I will post my sketch book pages in a couple of days but please check out these artists and be inspired!!!!

Wine and Inspiration

Well this week has been a long one, I have been pretty busy writing and sketching. I am really enjoying this class, Digital Storytelling, it is allowing me to think outside the box and be much more creative. I posted one of the stories we had to write and an earlier post this week about labels in the grocery store, well I thought I would share another obsession I have and that is wine bottle labels. I love the art work that is there to represent the wine and I love the short blurbs on the back of the bottles too. However this is about the designs and art work, even though another obsession I have is with glass and I do love brightly colored wine bottles well just bottles in general but I'll save that for another post. Back to the artwork.....I have been to the liquor store many times in search of that great bottle of wine to go with dinner and I notice that usually it is the label that makes me first approach the bottle, other than the fact that it has to be red wine. The name is yet another deciding factor some of my favorites are Cupcake, I mean who does not love a wine that is named after that, Last Chance and Big House. But the artwork always catches my eye whoever is designing these masterpieces has a job I would love to have. Some of them are bold splashes of color thrown across the bottle like an abstract painting. Some are beautiful landscapes that make you feel that you are where the grape is being grown. Some of them are the most wonderful illustrations that you can imagine. For Big House wine they are referring to jail or "The Big House" and they have illustrations of inmates in black and white stripe uniforms escaping with the wine. Some of them have very sexy graphics that make you feel like Barry White is singing on the other end of your glass of wine. All in all wine labels are something everyone one should spend time looking at and reading there is a lot of inspiration in the names, graphics and short stories on the back. Below I posted some of my new favorites.

Super Hero Story

Ok so here is my super hero story that I wrote for Digital Storytelling. I know I asked a lot of you for inspiration so you may find some of your suggestions in this goofy story. I Hope you enjoy!!!

This is a story of a super hero not one that dresses up in a cape and flies through the air but one that helps young children, but first let me start with her back story.  Her name is Mahira, which means energetic in Hebrew. She was a dancer her whole life she performed at a professional level at one point in her life. She was a very athletic person she played many different sports and always enjoyed participating in outdoor activities like kayaking, golf, Frisbee, and loved taking long walks with her dog D’Artagnan. Mahira worked as an art teacher for an afterschool program for kids that needed extra tutoring along with a safe place to stay until their parents came home from work. Now like I said she does not wear a cape or fly through the air but she does have a super power she can make people break dance with her mind and her sidekick D’Artagnan chases anyone around that tries to escape or gets in Mahira’s way, he sometimes wears a cape purple with a big “D” on it in gold. Their archnemesis is Ronald McDonald, with all his bad fast food that makes them lazy and sloth like, even though Mahira and D’Artagnan do like his French fries it is kind of like their kryptonite.

One day when Mahira went to work she felt like there was a presence all around the school. She was not sure what it was but it was somewhat familiar there was a hint of grease in the air. Mahira continued to her class, but paying close attention to what might happen. When she arrived in the classroom she noticed that the kids did not have the snacks they usually were given. She asked why they did not have them they said, “ All the lunchroom doors were locked we could not get in.” So Mahira went to speak with the director of the program, Michael. She found him in his office and asked why he did not give out the healthy snacks to the children to give them energy. He could not respond he had a Big Mac stuffed into his mouth. Mahira immediately called for D’Artagnan with her magic dog whistle. As soon as he arrived she told him Ronald McDonald was back stuffing people full of fattening food we must stop him! D’Artagnan gave a bark and away they went to save the children from fast food. They ran down the hall and into the classroom, but it was too late there in the front of the classroom stood Ronald McDonald getting ready to pass out chicken McNuggets, French fries, sodas and fried apple pies. Mahira said “No do not eat that, it is so bad for you we can break into the lunchroom and get the healthy snacks. Made with fruit, low fat cheese and skim white milk.” The children started to protest and say “No we want McDonald’s, we want McDonald’s, we want McDonald’s.” she knew she had to get them out of here and fast but Ronald McDonald kept enticing them with his happy meals and toys. It was too late they started eating all the bad food so she sent D’Artagnan to round up all the bad food and bite all of their hands if they tried to stop him. It was difficult he had to run around the room more than once they kept hiding the food under their seats, in their backpacks some of the kids even tried to escape the room and hide in another area just so they could eat the entire artery clogging food. Finally D’Artagnan got everything thrown in the trash now they had to go after Ronald McDonald. Together they ran down the hall after him. D’Artagnan grabbed his foot and tossed him back to Mahira once she came into contact with him she used her mind to make him break dance. Soon the children all gathered around and started to laugh watching the big red headed clown break dance all over the halls. Once Mahira and D’Artagnan thought he had learned his lesson they invited him back to the lunchroom and showed him what healthy food looked and tasted like. All the children gained their energy back and realized that eating healthy gave them all the energy they needed to be healthy happy kids. Mahira and D’Artagnan saved the day again. Their next adventure will be teaching kids that exercise can be fun and they will use dance and other fun outdoor activities.

Inspiration

Since I have been in this class, all two weeks, the one thing it has done is make me much more aware of design. Today I was in the grocery store and looking on the shelves for certain items, items I do not always buy but I am having a special dinner tonight. So looking on the shelves for specialty items I noticed that the average American products tended to be almost more geared toward children even the items that are not necessarily marketed for children. Vegetables in the can, no I was not buying those they were next to the dried fruit, all have bright colors and jolly green giants.  However when I looked at the ethnic foods they tend to have bright colors but depending on the country the backgrounds varied. Indian food section was very bright but either showed colorful pictures of the food or brightly colored architectural designs that make the consumer think of India. The Mexican food section was bright colors but more just words, the fonts are very bold yet simple in design easy to read some pictures but usually of a Mexican woman and she is generally the icon for that company. The Asian food section uses very few pictures as well and their fonts are what typical Americans would refer to as oriental something we might see in a movie where the people are in a China town atmosphere. The English food had a lot of landscapes, countrysides, and a more historical feel. The Greek food section was very bright but with mostly blues and yellows if they had pictures they are mostly of the ocean or the typical Greek buildings. They also had a very distinctive font. I just found it interesting today as I shopped and found all of them appealing. I know that when I am cooking something ethnic I like the distinctive branding it makes me feel like I am there. Another thing I love to do is to go to the Ethnic markets, unfortunately I do not have many in my town but whenever I go out of town and have the opportunity I explore those markets and find really wonderful products and because many of them are written in a language I do not speak the labels are usually what makes me even pick it up to look at it. I find these markets and my local markets Ethnic section inspiring in my own artwork and I am guilty of buying a product just for the label so I can cut it off and put it on my inspiration board in my studio. Next time you are in the market you should just take a little longer and really look at the labels you might get inspired too.

New project

As many of you know I am currently attending school at Full Sail university. During one of my previous classes I created this blog as part of a project I gave away several pieces of art to encourage joining my blog and well exceeded my expectations. Well my new class digital storytelling has a blog project and my teacher has allowed me to continue with this blog rather than creating a new one. During this class I will need to post at least once a week a minimum of 250 words, which shouldn't be hard for me, and it should be about design of some sort. So this is my first post for this class and I wanted to introduce you to a Graphic Designer that I was introduced to this week Saul Bass. Many of you will recognize his work especially those of you that are my age or older. He created many of he logos we see everyday, AT&T, Lawery's, Girl Scouts, United Way and United Airlines are just a few. He also created many of my favorite movie posters West Side Story, The Man With the Golden Arm and many more. Saul Bass was a pioneer in his field and even thought outside the box, he was the first to connect graphic design and the film industry by creating the film titling sequences. Title sequencing is utilizing conceptual visuals and sound, something we do not even think about when we watch a movie but without it it would just be words. A new favorite quote is " I want to make beautiful things, even if nobody cares." Saul Bass. I wrote that quote on a post it note and stuck it on my computer so I can remind myself of what it means to create. I have attached some links that I had to read as part of this class they are very interesting and will show some of his work. Saul Bass is now on the top of my favorites list!
http://wellmedicated.com/showcase/saul-bass-jack-of-all-trades/
http://www.aiga.org/medalist-saulbass/

I want-

I want-
A soul wrenching
love that makes me blush and smile
holding hands falling into a great ocean
lying on leopard sheets in a dark air conditioned
room making love all day listening closely to your breathing curled up in your arms with my legs wrapped around your body holding tightly loving losing control and loving every second.........

Winner

Ann from Simi Valley is the winner!!!! Check your email Ann and get back with me so that I can send you a print. Thank You for following!!!!

Its a new month with more give aways make sure everyone checks my page to find out when and who!!!!

oops

I have not forgotten about the give away, I can not see my followers so something must be wrong with the site. I will post the winner as soon as I can see you all again. Thank you for your understanding.....crazy computers.

Secrets.....

Secrets we all have them, whats yours...........

Mixed Media abstract

New winner!!!

Congrats to Maniak Manny you are the new winner!!!! Check your email for the information and THANK YOU for following my blog!!!!!

And the winner is.......

Chelsea Alford Gilmore!!!! Congrats to you!!!! email me your info so I can send it out to you along with your pick from the 5 choices below!!!!!!! I will do another drawing on Fri. so everyone keep checking back!!!
and THANK YOU to everyone that has followed my blog!!!!!!

Thank you!!!

I just wanted to take a sec. and tell everyone thank you for following my blog!!! The first give away will be at 7pm for the winners of choice of one of the 5 art prints below. I'm so excited!!! and thank you again!!

Give away

 I have a project to do for my behavioral psych. class, I have to find something that I want to improve upon in 4 weeks. I was a little slow out of the gate because I wasn't sure what I wanted to do then it hit me. I wanted to make my blog more successful. My goal is to have 100 members by the end of my class which is the 28th of May. Beside regular updates and posting of art I decided I would like to do a give away, not just once but at least 3 more times this month. This is the first, I will use a random generator and pick a winner. You have to join in order to be eligible for the drawing. This weeks prize will be the winners choice of a print of one of my paintings. Below are the five to choose from. 

Spring has Sprung!!!!!

Well I spent the day planting over 800 seeds....wow what a day. I also have been working on a few small pieces off and on in between work and springtime, here are a few of the pieces.

The dancing gypsy is a watercolor that I worked on after finding a beautiful painting I found, by an artist unknown to me. The colorful Girl is a sketch I did in my journal. I have a few more things I am working on for my after school program I will post those as soon as they are finished.

Working in the studio

I have been busy working in the studio and teaching the kids at the after school program. Here is one of my recent watercolors and I promise to post some of the kids artwork soon.