Final Artist Statement

My Big Idea is coexistence. I really tried to focus on coexistence when it came to nature and nature and nature and humans. In the first series I depicted nature within nature. Everything in this first series is natural and untouched. The turtle is eating a piece of nature (flower) and that is another example of how a living organism coexists with its nature and environment. The turtle must "eat" nature to survive but this is all a natural process. My grandmother is inserted as a symbol of "Mother Nature", as a caring figure. I think Mother Nature is always telling us that she is here for us and takes care of us, but we need to do the same as humans. The second series depicts the coexistence between nature and humans. This shows the more unnatural way of how our nature is now due to to our  human integration within nature. For example, the sign in the foreground is an example of how we humans need to be reminded daily that it is our responsibility to take care of this Earth, it is a shame that we are always unable to do it without "reminders." In addition, the boat sinking is another symbolic way of showing how us humans are taking nature down. Global warming, oil spills, pollution, are all issues of the present and it is all due to us. Humans are the more greedy side of the factor, as we always tend to "take-over". At the same time, I tried to show a little positive side to it all with people swimming and with the person in the background in the hammock. I do believe people have an appreciation for nature and what it does for us and how we are able to enjoy it in many different ways, but just to "enjoy" nature has proven to not be enough to save Mother Nature in the most recent years.
I first came up with this idea like stated in my Blog 4 by having appreciation for a man named Jay Haverstick who was from my hometown. He was so fascinated with nature. He could always bring the beauty out in anything he photographed. He was very influential and I believe made people really stop and think about what wonderful and natural things are surrounding us everyday. He always took the time to just stop and look around and take in everything that has been given to us for free. I look up to him for teaching me such a valuable lesson. I think it is important for not only myself, but for everyone to consider nature more and to always be reminded what it has done for us. I think if everyone could ask themselves that then we would not be having so many environmental issues at the present time. It is truly sad and shameful.

Final 1

Final 2

Blog 5

1) I really learned how to make more advanced selections and have greatly understood the concept of layers. When understanding this basic information you can do a whole lot more with photoshop and makes everything so much easier. I am proud of how far I have come since the first day of class.

2) The most challenging learning experience in Photoshop was on my final when I worked with animation a little bit. I have never seen animation before in Photoshop nor have I ever worked with it. Surprisingly, it was much easier than I thought, but I am very happy that I challenged myself with it and was able to do it. Masks were something that I found very difficult and confusing. It was very hard for me to grasp the concept of it in general. Now, not only do I understand how they work but I am also able to easily integrate them into my work.

3) The very first quiz we did (magazine cover) I was not focusing on making a cohesive picture, rather I was focusing on the technique itself and making sure I did everything just to get all of the points. I was unable to think outside of the box as I had not had any experience with any other tools on Photoshop besides what we had learned up to that point. Therefore, it was challenging for me to even think to change the font, use different layer properties, add masks, etc. I look at it now and just see so much more opportunity with it! On the last quiz (movie poster) not only was I focusing on getting all the points, but also I enjoyed re-working the image and using all the techniques I now know to make a movie poster that could actually be used! I was able to re-work the color completely, add images, change the fonts, etc. It was a really fun process for me. It was definitely one of my favorite projects as it incorporated technique and visual creativity.

QUIZ 1                                                                                        

QUIZ 4

Blog 4

1) My big idea is co-existence. Specifically co-existence in reference to nature. I want to show nature without the element of humans in one series and in the next series show how humans integrate with nature and how they use it. It surrounds us everyday, and we use it everyday, and it is important to most people's life-style. I want to execute the pure beauty of nature in my work through my photos from my travels. I also have decided (from your help) to insert a picture of my grandmother in the first series to show that it is "mother nature" and we need to take care of it and look after it, and she (mother nature) will do the same for us. The second series will show boats, houses, people, etc proving we use nature to our advantage and how we may need to adapt our human ways in order to take care of this precious thing (shown by the sign that says "no dumping on the sand dunes."

2) I was first influenced by a guy named Jay Haverstick. He was a man from my hometown who was a restaurant owner but also a photographer. He loved the outdoors and traveled all over the world to take pictures. I have a calendar of his that shows his pictures from his travels and I have always loved looking at it. The pictures are all so naturally beautiful. His pictures even meant more to me after his death in 2009 in Death Valley National Park from extreme heat and pre-existing medical conditions. He was out there to shoot pictures of the sand dunes. It was extremely sad but his spirit continues through his pictures.

Another artist I have enjoyed researching and learning about is Bill Atkinson. He has been greatly influenced by nature since the age of ten ( I believe he may be in his sixties) and like Haverstick, really appreciates the outdoors and loves exploring what nature has to offer.
http://www.billatkinson.com/Homepage.pl





Lastly, it may seem odd, but I also am greatly influenced by my mother. My mom loves being outdoors and there is nothing she loves more (besides family haha) than gardening. She never ceases to amaze me what she can do with the beauty that is on this Earth. She is Mother Nature! We have won the beautification award two times for making our community a better place by making it beautiful! She is the reason why I love being outside and the reason why I wanted to focus my final project on nature. It is something most people take for granted and it is hard for most people to appreciate the little things nature gives to us.

3) I will attempt to use animation, if that does not go as planned, I will strive to make more complicated selections to make a cohesive picture and to alter those selections more using more masks.

Quiz 4

 The movie posters I chose were Mean Girls and Saw II. Mean Girls target audience are girls who are in their late teens as it depicts life as a high school student with more mature humor. The poster includes a lot of different shades of pink and even features all girls on the cover. All the “mean girls” are considered girly-girls as suggested by the poster with all of them wearing skirts, high-heels, and make-up.  The leader of the pack, Regina George, is the ultimate mean girl with the intimidating look on her face and with the fact she is in front of the other two. Cady Herron is the helpless new girl as seen by the distance between the two groups and by the worried look on her face.

         Saw II is for an 18-24 years old male crowd. It is for an audience that does not mind being scared. The fonts, doll face, red/blood color, and fingers all suggest this movie will not be a happy one. The background is black with the creepy doll face glowing. Even the subtitle has the word blood in it. All of these visual cues turn this movie poster into a scary one. 

Midterm

Artist Statement

My big idea is the concept of unique. At first I struggled what I wanted to do with my big idea, but then my cohort partner and I began discussing the idea and it truly helped me figure out what I wanted to do with my project. I attempted to look at two opposite sides of the word. My series explores both sides of trying to find the right balance of uniqueness. On one side you have a girl whose uniqueness has driven her to the point where is depressed because she is considered “too unique”, therefore, making her an outcast and socially ostracized. On the other side, is a young girl who feels alone and empty because she is blending in too much and has not found a way to express her uniqueness, mostly likely due to the fear of losing the “acceptance” feeling from others. In the first part it was important to use dark colors and broken glass to show how unhappy she is with her image. In the second part it was important to use blending and stereotypical images of high school because even though she is surrounded by so many “cookie cutter” types of people, she is still able to feel so alone. This idea is so important to me because I have always strongly believed in just being yourself and letting your uniqueness shine, I think that is the only way to truly live your life.

Blog 3

Lady Gaga is the first artist I chose. She appeals to me because not only does she always out-do every other artist out there with her fashion, but she always out does herself as well. Her fashion is inspiring because she always takes a huge leap with it, she rocks everything she wears and looks so confident and comfortable in everything. I always wonder how she comes up with these ideas, or if they are even hers? I wonder how she got so interested in wearing these outfits and why? My big idea is about being unique..and I think that she always expresses that. She is almost too unique that her fans will now continually expect that from her, which I find very interesting. Is she unique to the point where it almost doesn't make her unique anymore? She will inspire my final project because she will make me explore the idea of having your uniqueness bring you to point where expressing your individuality makes you feel like an outcast and worse than you did when you were uncomfortable with blending in. Blurring/Smudging is a component I definitely plan on using in my project.
Lady Gaga

Lady Gaga Wesbite

 The digital artist I chose is Liu Zheng also known as 96k. This artist appeals to me because it is like the Lady Gaga version in photoshop. Again these women are showing uniqueness through manipulations. I appreciate what the artist did in order to change these women into something "different". This gives me different ideas to use in my project such as colors, selections using multiple images, and pieced it together to form a unified picture. I wonder why the artist finds interest in making images likes this and where the artist finds inspiration. And why are the images mostly women? I hope that my final project will turn out as cohesive as these images.
Liu Zheng

Flickr