Any Ten

   I can't call myself a gamer, since I don't play a lot or own many games, but I have to say that I love Final Fantasy. I only have experience playing four titles, but in all of them the graphics for their generation is top-of-the-line, drop-dead amazing. This one, for example, is a cut from a movie scene from one of the pre-21st century Final Fantasies, I think.

  Final Fantasy XIII. This I believe is one of the most realistic titles. All the graphics look like this, and seeing them makes me wish I had a PS3. Plus I know what great story lines they always have. 

   One none-video image: a painting by Albert Bierdstat. At least I think it's a painting. The lighting, the mood, the perspective, the realism and attention to detail-- every thing is perfect. I would like to learn to create this type of photorealism in Photoshop, just to add a skill to my belt; especially since I may never learn to paint like this on canvas.

 Here is a scene from one of the titles I own; I should have found an animated one. The opening movie cut-scenes are beautifully rendered, particularly for the PS original. Watching games like these has made me consider the possibility of going into video game design, but I doubt I will. Anyway, it would be nice to learn how to create such a flawless series of animation frames with realistic, yet romantic, lighting.  

  I love this game; it's the first Final Fantasy I ever played, and I finished this one. The graphics are breathtaking; I know that FFX was a 1999-2003 project-- right at the turn of the century in cutting-edge computer graphics. In this image, which is also the cover for the box in the U.S., one can see the complexity and luminosity of the landscape. Learning how to layer all that information without subtracting from certain aspects of it, like the part of the character submerged in water, is goal of mine in this class.

 Back to Final Fantasy 7. All the great qualities I spoke of in black-and-white! It gives it the quality of an old film and adds the element of the dramatic. Coupled with the music this scene is kick-ass. Too bad I only have this still image.

  FFX again. The focus in this one for me is the graphic symbol on the title. It transfixes me; somehow the Final Fantasy team comes up with a unique, amazing graphic design logo for each title! I hope to learn to produce phantasmic images like this one. I love the character standing to the left of it too.

  I'm too long-winded for my own good, so in honor of brevity: retro. I think it's important to know how to create the retro backdrops and graphics before learning to do anything else.

  Lord of the Rings? Damn. That's not all I can say to those special effects- gory, realistic, and enchanting. This isn't a special effects class, but I see it as the first step to learning how to design and create realistic CG and CGI effects.

Here I go...DM105

I have to admit that this is rather fun, despite my slight aversion to the dominance of technology in our lives. The biggest trick for me, I think, is to not spend so much time on an image; it took me forever just to make two. Warning: the first one is complete crap.

"At Semester's End"

I almost forgot to do my last post.

     It's that time again-- the end of the semester. For some reason, I don't really start "getting it" until around the end of semester; perhaps that is because I don't practice in my sketchbook the way I should. Oh well. I'm going to try to bring in a good haul this year; I'll try. Frankly, I keep digging that hole that traps me in low-budget time constraints. Not deliberately from laziness, more like from a mismanagement of time that causes priority battles and trepidation in the hours I should be working. For instance, that charcoal-- I can't stand it! It makes lovely drawings, but I never finished! At first, the prep took me too long, and then, I had to learn to dig with that eraser. Sadly, the first few weeks attacked my stamina as well. I kid not when I say that I need to work out. As a result of this, maybe one or two of my charcoal erasure drawings are actually finished, and they, as well as the others, need touch-ups. As far as charcoal practice in the sketchbook, that is actually something that I should have had a few two-page spreads of, but I spent too much time thinking about the best time and place to do it because I wanted to spray fix it and let it dry properly. You know how I am about charcoal dust. Alas, this conceptualization caged me, and I never actually did it. Unfortunate, I know. Drawing 2 has really made me appreciate line-only drawings.
     Which brings me to my next topic: the homework and portfolio. There are several homework assignments that it would have greatly benefited me to rework. But again, I waited too late to do it, so that won't happen either. I've got too much going on with 2D and 3D design for that now. On the bright side, seeing the drawings in their mediocre state at least serves as visual evidence of my process, pacing, and progress throughout the semester. As for the portfolio, I'm going to try to work at some of my in-class drawings a little before turning it in, as a lot of them are far from finished. I hope to come out of Drawing 2 with, heaven help me, a "C". At least I'll pass.
     Despite my disappointments, some good came out of the semester for my growth as an artist. I've slightly picked up my pacing, and I think that some of the experience has edified my confidence, so I hope to perform even better in my future classes. It takes two, baby-- two semesters. Also beneficial, of course, was the exposure to different drawing techniques. The ink wash was a lot of fun, but it was not exactly easy either, simply because of the drying process and the danger of over-inking. I killed the leaves in the center of that plant. Most of all though I'm going to miss our group; we became almost like a little family. I hope that every one has a relaxing and safe Christmas holiday.

The Collage as Fine Art

Max Ernst

This image doesn't relate exactly to what we are doing in class, but I think it's a good example of the way collage can be used to create artwork. One thing Ernst does here that I find successful is divide the space into five "frames": two large rectangles that take up most of the space, two smaller ones toward the bottom, and a single circle that is placed near the top of the picture plane, but is connected to the largest rectangle by a piece of something (cardboard?) and a bow. Although the piece is mostly collage, some drawing/painting is evident. The pattern on the two large rectangles and in the circle have some volume in themselves due to the slight change in value on the diagonal strips: a one-step gradation to darker blues. Another useful thing Ernst did with the space was to overlap some of the elements, creating a pseudo-layer of space. The precision of his cutouts is nicely counterbalanced by the places where Ernst chose to draw jagged lines.

   

Georges Braque

I had to choose the two pioneers of Cubism because I felt their work a perfect example for artists who use collage elements. Unfortunately, enlarging these kills the resolution, so to the analysis. The collage elements in Braque's piece are very simple yet the contrast in value is what makes it work so well. By carefully placing three pieces of yellow-brown paper and using light variations of black to define planes and objects Braque gives the illusion of shallow depth while integrating the collaged paper into the piece as a whole.

Pablo Picasso

What can I say, this one is exquisite. The compression of objects into an ovular frame emphasizes the composition, and the use of a burnt sienna border complements it further. Picasso uses a outline to define the separation between objects where the values become similar and to make the collaged pieces seem like part of the surface. Even though the space is flattened by the line work and pattern, the overlapping and use of warm and cool shades lends to this piece's elegance.

James Rosenquist

 This is a "thumbnail collage"; I like it most for its colors. The cool green and green-blues of the grass and treetop push back in space, especially since the paper collage object is complementary to the cool light-blue sky and the grass and treetop edge. The collage object is actually a pastel hue and has a pink-to-red-to-purple value range. Its edges are smooth and soft, contrasted by the projecting spikes of the collage paper from the right and left edges of the picture plane and the negative space they create. The icicle-edged "V" mask on top of the mid ground object creates another layer of space while emphasizing it. 

Kurt Schwitters

Last but not least, is a collage piece by Kurt Schwitters, a German artist. He was very famous for his collages and "mirtzpah" (I'm not sure about the spelling). Unfortunately, Hitler had all his mirtzpahs destroyed, but the photographs of them still exist. Anyway, here we have a piece that combines newspaper clippings and pieces of objects, for example a washer. Since this piece is nonrepresentational, the angular clippings and crisp edges give the piece a sense of unity, as does the presence of text in the top, bottom, left and right areas. The use of myriad objects contributes a sense of variety.


Finally, I have included a link to an article about another artist who uses collage in some of his work; Robert Rauschenberg.
http://www.brooklynrail.org/2006/04/art/robert-rauschenberg-combines

Astounding!

Albert Bierstadt, I've just discovered, was a Hudson River School artist, so those beautiful images of his on our 2nd blog assignment were not done by photographs, but painted.

I love ink washes! (at least with the brush)

Brush and ink is fun to work with; I feel like I have more control. It's certainly better than repeatedly dipping a stick into an ink well. Working with ink washes is probably the most agreeable thing we've done all semester; once I get past the initial line drawing, the process is relatively easy.
     I was very selective about the location I chose to draw; I didn't want to have to set up in a place where I had to find a support for my drawing board or drag a chair. I finally decided to go behind the library, where there's a patio with tables and chairs.

Noon

Late afternoon

Early evening

I wish I had done a preliminary sketch. Oh well. With the season and daylight savings time, the evening was not the best time to work, since the sun went behind the clouds. It was a beautiful day today, though, especially during high noon. I felt a sense of tranquility and placidity while working on this drawing. I was a little surprised to find myself enjoying this at first, since I generally don't like working outside, but today was a good day, apparently in more ways than one.  For once, I wasn't running from bees or anything like that, and the only thing that startled me and broke my concentration, briefly, was the loud slamming of an upstairs door to the balcony, which happened a few times.