Harvard referencing

We had a seminar on harvard referencing today, it was quite interesting but if im honest its still massively confusing. i understand the need for it but there has to be a simpler way of doing it!

Mechanical reproduction

Some time in the 1980s The Guardian ran an April fool’s article on the ‘first’ photograph. Shown on the front page this was deemed to have been taken in the 1790s by a monk in Japan. It was a joke, they did it to prove a point, when people think of a photograph they assume its a window into the past. they don't think of this when they think of paintings, its a very interesting idea. i think that if somebody was to show me a photograph from the 70's , for instance, i would probably believe what i was seeing as the reality of the time. if somebody was to show a photo today, with all of the photo editing software available to just about everyone these days then i think i would be much more sceptical.

The first authentic photograph is the fixing of a camera obscura image. The means of fixing an image is all that distinguishes a photograph from a projected image. is the camera a faithful representation of what the eye sees? no its not, in my opinion, it is a still image of something that, when the eye saw it was a moving, breathing, living landscape. a photograph cant show you truly how momentous a mountain is. it can show you a scale, even place a person next to it but it cant replicate the sense of scale you would get if you were stood there.

The difference between photographs and paintings is more than a matter of their resemblance to things or even their resemblance to each other. Often a painting is said to be 'photographic' when it is realistic. Yet we know that photographs may not appear to be realistic. To understand the significance of the photograph to the modern age we need to remember that it is a special kind of indexical sign - that it bears the imprint of its subject as light. This being so we can say that the photograph has something in common with other indexical signs such as a footprint in the sand. In this sense the photograph is the equivalent of the cast - and casting, in the tradition of sculpture, was understood as a form of mechanical reproduction.

• conventional signs/ image - letters, punctuation, words etc
• iconic signs/ image - pictures

indexical signs - indicate something: shadow indexical of a man, smoke is indexical of fire, footprint indexical that a foot has been there. 

indexical signs are evidence of presence

simulacrum is a copy without an original.

Anton Marrast

I love the simplistic style of Anton Marrast, it reminds me of pop art.

Digital illustrations

Just a few digital illustrations that have inspired me, it is this level of illustration which i strive to in my spare time.

Dylan Cole

Dylan cole is a supremely talented artist, i stumbled on his work when i was looking for difgital painting techniques and tutorials. i bought his matte painting dvd and it helped my work a lot!

Final T-shirt design

Here is the finished piece for my tshirt design. i dont know how but for some reason digital painting just clicked and i made this first attempt. im so pleased with it! obviously i know its not a masterpiece but i feel like the practice has payed off and ive actually gained something from it.

The technique i sued was to draw the design on paper, scan it in then place the drawing above the background colour layer, i then set the drawing to multiply and painted under the sketch layer, i then got it to a stage where id built the 'paint' up enough as to see detail with the sketch and i erased parts of the sketch but left some in to try and give it a traditional feel. i dont think i quite managed that but i do like the effect/

Word and Image

The visual is processed on the right side of the brain
speech is processed on the left side of the brain.

perhaps this is why left handed people are supposedly more talented artists. I don't actually believe that it is true but maybe that is where the myth stems from.

the first alphabets were images called hieroglyphs.

one of the first alphabets was the phoenician script, there alphabet represented the sound we make when we speak, is that where phonetically comes from?

some of the inspiration for my tshirt design

here is a few examples of the illustrations i have been looking at when thinking of my t - shirt design.

Brief 3

The format for this project is a t-shirt, use the digital template provided to produce your final design.

You are required to print out your final design on the template provided on a sheet of A3 paper presented professionally. You are also required to hand in all supporting research and development work.

You are required to produce your review “text” in the format of one word or a short statement (positive or negative) and then illustrate this word or statement. The image and text are to be included in a single design in any size or colour on the front of the t-shirt.

im actually quite excited about this, we can use any medium. ive recently been interested in trying digital painting and this could be the ideal way to practice, photoshop will make it easier to add the text as well.

im also a bit nervous, all of my previous attempts at digital painting have gone pretty badly, i just cant seem to get the hang of it but im going to watch a lot of tutorial videos and i buy the Advanced Photoshop magazine every month, this month has a big section on digital painting so hopefully it will make sense to me this time.

John Ross

We had John Ross in today, he was the guest lecturer. A very interesting and talented guy. He gave out some advice about if you have a hobby or an unrelated talent to art, then use it. if you can bring that into your artwork it gives it an edge that others wont have and it will also give you a signature style.

it reminds me about something brent said at the beginning of the year, he was saying he was obsessed with greek god or something along those lines, a few years ago now i assume, and he used to bring that to his work and people liked it.

Good Typography

 Marian Bantjes is one of my favourite artists, 'click me' is an example of good typography because the font is still legible yet very stylised, it has character.

 Craig Ward is in another of my favourite artists. 'bad typography is everywhere' is something i have pinned on my wall and i think about it everytime i attempt typography. hes used a very clear font, its clear and precise yet very literal, the first time i saw it i didnt see the 'good typogrpahy is everywhere' and it is very true, when you are looking for an example of good typography the amount of really bad type is ridiculous.

I dont know the artist behind this, it came up when i googled craig ward but im fairly certain its not one of his although it does look similar to his style. i like this because its very literal and it makes me want 'candy' as well.

Bad Typography

 I dont even have to explain why this is bad really!, obviously the spacing is a joke. as for the type face chosen i actually think this is one of the only times you could use this and get away with it.

 this is one of the most unprofessional examples of bad type i have ever seen, the spacing is so eclectic and for no apparent reason they have decided to just stick the 'v' under the other letters. I honestly dont know who ok'd this to be the main page of their website but i think somebody needs to sit them down and give them their p45!

This never fails to make me smile, they went through the effort of going on the computer and opening word then writing it but couldnt be bothered lowering the size of the font. it doesnt matter that it is a bad example of typography i suppose because it still gets the message across to the viewer. does that make it good typography in that case? because the aim of it wasnt to be beautiful, the 'maker' wasnt interested in the aesthetics just the message and it does that, no more no less.

Stephen Raw

Today we had a guest lecturer stephen raw. He was very interesting and has done some very beautiful typographical artwork. Although i think his own signature type face is very aesthetically pleasing i also think it can be very illegible, which makes it a piece of ineffective design in my opinion. the type face has its uses but i dont think he can really use it as an all round font, it just doesnt work.

Audrey Kawasaki

i recently found some work by audrey kawasaki and immediately went straight onto heer website to buy prints of her work, she is amazing! as it turns out i cant afford the prints from her but it hasnt stopped me from having her as my wallpaper on both my desktops, i find myself just staring at them, i cant help it. i also use her as inspiration when im painting i like to have a few of my favourite paintings up on one monitor when im painting to inspire me and because it drives me to constantly improve myself, my technique, style and the end finish.

Typography

Digital painting practice

I like this one, it was only supposed to be a bit of light hearted practice and it served its purpose. there was a few techniques i stumbled upon whilst painting this which will definitely help in future.

Aesthetics

many people think Aesthetics is something to be added to your piece of work afterwards, not something that you think about constantly throughout the piece and plan extensively at the beginning. They may be confusing Aesthetics with Style or Decoration.

form and function are subjective. I agree with this comment it is the same argument as 'beauty is in the eye of the beholder' one persons function may well be different to anothers.

beauty is free liking, it is not concerned with satisfying your desire, which in my opinion is what makes something desirable in itself.

photograph may be degraded compared to a painting, a painting is a product of a persons learning and skills, they use forms which carry certain meanings.

Aesthetics inspiration

i couldnt add images without adding a few of my favourite pieces of art ever. michelangelo is a massive inspiration in my paintings and even graphic work, i think if i was to get inspiration from him and other similar artists for my graphic design it could really bring something different to my work. the other reason for adding michelangelo is because after attending the the aesthetics lecture it seemed right, michelangelo was obsessed with aesthetics and finding beauty in everything.

Aesthetics

Aesthetics

Explore how the word is used and compare.
Aesthetic - Beauty, perception of the senses. (Touch, taste,hearing, sight and smell).
Aesthetic also means 'of the senses' - Anesthetic means dulling the senses.

Conception - Mind.
Perception - Visual.

Beauty, truth and goodness - perception over conception.
Beauty is subjective - going on in the mind, there is no common view as everyone is individual.
It is a matter of free liking.
To have proper judgement we should have no interest, separating ourselves from interest and taste.
Association creates interest.
Dis-interest - subjective judgement is universally valid.
You have to see something for it to be beautiful - 'goodness' doesn't have to be seen.

         "Form ever follows function, this is the law." - Louis Sullivan

Photography.

         "You can't judge a photograph for it's own sake" - Roger Scruton

Photography is a message without a code unlike paintings, drawings, lines and crosshatches etc. It is a physical record of something. They are like shadows.

Sublime - goes on forever/ uncontained

Sketchbook examples

These three images are of sketchbooks by Da vinci, an unknown artist and Michelangelo.

Da vinci and Michelangelo are 2 of my all time favourite artists and thier individual styles are something which i wish i could accomplish. i use them for insiration for a lot of work that i do, especially paintings.