Thursday, March 25, 2010

What Is Seeing?

My professor gave me a passage today and told me my artist statement reminded him of this particular quote:

"But this isn't seeing! - But this is seeing! - It must be possible to give both remarks a conceptual justification.
But this is seeing. In what sense is it seeing?
The phenomenon is at first surprising, but a physiological explanation of it will be found.
Is it a genuine visual experience? The question is: in what sense is it one?
Here it is difficult to see that what is at issue is the fixing of concepts. A concept forces itself on one. (This is what you must not forget.)"

My artist statement comments on empathizing with individuals by depicting their struggles through their own perspective; the "sides they want few to see." This quote asks the question: what is it to see? Interestingly enough the word "see" is used in the actual passage which leads me to believe maybe the person who wrote it had no idea what they meant, but it does pose some interesting questions. We use the word "see" loosely, and when you get down to it we understand seeing in two different ways: to comprehend visually or mentally. Perhaps what I meant to say is I am providing visual clarity to actions we normally know as subconscious or conscious. A concept does force itself onto an individual, and you can see it in art. Whether it was your intent, it will instill something on the audience, and for that matter it could also be interpreted no matter what I do to convey another person's perspective I am always portraying my own onto that individual. This passage has given me something to ponder.

Tuesday, March 23, 2010

Distant Community Final Color


I finally finished the color; I've been working on it most of this evening (or really this morning). I have a few issues with my color job; it's lacking value in specific places. The heads of the girls were supposed to have a translucent quality and I don't think I quite captured that. I based my palette on that of Byzantine art, but the one thing I forgot to address were the ornate patterns of that era. Illustrating a patterned, illuminated manuscript type backdrop would really bring this piece together. I also keep neglecting a few techniques in digital art that allow for easier coloring in general, and I need to keep working that way. My coloring gets worse and worse each time since I feel as though I'm creating shortcuts when really I'm creating a huge mess (most of my time working on a piece is spent cleaning up lines and screens). I've definitely learned a lesson from this one.

Monday, March 22, 2010

Distant Community


Here is a final drawing for a piece I'm working on at the moment. I was trying out some new techniques and playing around with some different textures. I think I'll get a portfolio piece out of this, but it is a little freaky, even for me. Don't get me wrong, I'm all for eerie things, but this is a creepy drawing. We'll see what comes of it; I'll post the final piece tomorrow and you guys can tell me what you think.

Sunday, March 7, 2010

Final Drawing of Girl on a Bicycle


Finally, I finished this drawing! Yet again, I have to put this one on the back burner since I have some painting and designing I have to push forward. I'm also having a hard time choosing my color palate, so I need some time to do some experimentation. All in all, the main focus of this drawing was to manipulate perspective and make it believable to the eye. This drawing was definitely a challenge for me, and I feel accomplished in the progression of my work.

Wednesday, March 3, 2010

Tattoo Color Studies







Here are a few quick color studies I've done for a couple of tattoos. My whole color scheme is mostly orange and blue with yellows, pinks, and reds. I want them to be bright but not overbearing, and I feel like a couple of these seem too solid rather than flat and tattoo-like. I guess the best thing to do is create separate textures for each and use those to create the color schemes, so that will be the next step in the process. So far, my favorite is the gun, but again it is too overwhelming and hard for the eye to handle due to the vibration between the orange and blue. I'll have to tone it down. More to come soon!

Also, I've been playing around with Flickr and uploading images in one big file instead of blogging all of them and then editing them into one post. I don't want to hog up room on follower's reading lists. I'll get the hang of it!

Tuesday, March 2, 2010

Ken Dahl


I thought it would be great to talk about a comic book I recently purchased recommended to me by a good friend. "Monsters," created by Ken Dahl, is one of the best auto-biographical comic books I've read in a long time. It's about a young man (Ken Dahl) who gives herpes to his girlfriend, and his life continues on a downward slope as he is at odds with his views on love, sex, and a venereal disease. Everyone shrouds themselves in a certain amount of denial, and it's refreshing to see a person admit his faults and express it in such a clear manner.

The one thing I could definitely relate to in the book was the author's problems concerning insurance. A good portion of my friends don't have any kind of health coverage, and usually that in itself leads to a lot of self diagnoses via internet searches and bizarre home remedies. It's also shocking how much false information is on the internet concerning health problems considering how many people, even those who are insured, self-diagnose. Hell, I'm even guilty of it. I won't ruin the end of the book, but you'll learn a lot about herpes simplex virus type 1 and 2 in the process.

Apparently he book was a limited print so they may be difficult to get, but I've been assured it should be reprinted soon. Definitely try to read it if you get the chance.