Becky's Art

First Monotype Draft

2012-01-13T06:51:00.000-08:00

I picked Georgia. Din't get the little red "ok," but I've got some good comments so that I can rework them. Main aspect to redo is the wrap text. I can fix that :)

First Project!

2012-01-13T06:46:00.000-08:00

Back to business. Here are my MAE posters and web banner. Thank you Rusty for the creepy pictures to utilize for this assignment. Anyway, these didn't take too long, I utilized my four hour budget.

HAPPY 2012!

2012-01-09T17:05:00.001-08:00

New Semester! Time to start blogging again! This time its for VisCommII!

Its all over!

2011-12-12T17:00:00.000-08:00

well, for the semester, so don't worry Rusty, we'll be back together again soon.

So, here is my end of the semester reflection:

Where oh where to start?! I definitely believe that I have learned more about drawing in this class than any other class I've previously taken. Mainly, I learned how to create work for a client. By using sketches, comps, etc, to be approved it really taught me how to make something that the client (in this case Rusty) needs/wants. And along with that, in the client's timeframe. Estimating how long it takes for a project and knowing what you can get done in the allotted amount of time is essential in this class.
When we first started this class, I seriously thought I could never make it through this class. With the countless amounts of line drawings, watercolors, and digital paintings I felt like I was thrown to the sharks. However, somehow, about the time of the product illustration, I reached a point where I knew that I could keep up with the other students. And, throughout the struggles I've had with composition, structure, and learning how to digitally render, I have a body of work that I am actually proud of. I even have reached a point where I can be honestly objective, look at my work and say: "this is terrible" and start over. I have learned a lot about my strengths and weaknesses in illustration and feel confident that I can develop them further and apply them to my future design work.

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

FInal Illustration!

2011-12-12T06:04:00.000-08:00

Here is my very last illustration! woo! I'm quite content with the finished product. I even used the audiobook size for my final portfolio. The main issue I had to deal with was balancing the color. I struggled with the relationship between the background and the fire, by desaturating the sand and glasses, I was able to move the color along. I did the majority of this piece traditionally, with a watercolor/ink for the glasses and background and another one for the fire, and then I digitally combined them and added text. Although the glasses are harder to read what they are, I am happier with the composition of the audiobook and iTunes more than the actual book. Anyways, not too shabby!

Longest Hair

2011-12-06T16:52:00.000-08:00

Rapunzel and Great Wall of China

(Rusty's doing after seeing that I wanted to do Rapunzel for my World Record and hearing that the woman with the longest hair is Chinese...I just sort of went with it.)

World Record piece- overall came together. struggled a lot with the line work. i didn't want it overdone, because i wanted the color washes to take control, however the line was necessary to add structure. completely forgot to add the back wall on the middle part, but thanks to alan it made its way in there. photoshop was also my best friend in this piece, seeing as I completely messed up the girl. So, I then repainted her and added her in. Compositionally, there still are some unresolved issues, like needing probably needing to be closer up on the tower. But, i think the linework and color saved it.

Moonlight Sonata

2011-11-30T07:04:00.000-08:00

This project has been rough for me from the start. Early on, I couldn't come up with a concept (or a concept that I could get approved, rather). Then after I finally came up with the snowglobe idea, I struggled making it. I originally wanted to digitally paint it, however that turned out disastrous. I don't think it is necessarily because it was digital, but because by this point I was stressing and just wanted to get started. Although I had a concept, I didn't have a style or approach planned out, and therefore I just started painting. Soon, it was evident that I clearly didn' have a solid aim. Anyway, I ended up scratching what I had and starting over with watercolor. After I watercolored most of the piece, I added more line digitally and then used the photoshop paintbrush tool to add the snow. Honestly, the blue wash and the snow are the main things that saved this piece, without them, it would be a lot worse. In the end, it turned out better than I imagined it would; however, this is not my best work.

But, on the bright side, its a happy Christmas scene, which reminds me that we've only got TWO WEEKS until break!! So, excited!!

My Thanksgiving Break was nice, short but relaxing. Although, I spent a great portion working on both this piece and the world record, I was also able to stress out about Viscom for hours every night. Yes, I was haunted about dreams involving everything going wrong with printing, seeing as there was a good chance we wouldn't get ink by Sunday, so that I could print my project. But we did get ink!! Thank god! So everything worked out with that, but now I just want a nice break in which there is no homework to take up all my time.

Happy Thanksgiving!

2011-11-28T05:47:00.001-08:00

Hope everyone had a wonderful break!

how appropriate?

2011-11-17T17:07:00.000-08:00

http://today.msnbc.msn.com/id/44531570#.TsWvdGDlPJR

its Guiness World Record Day! Did you plan that?

Native American Heritage Month

2011-11-15T15:27:00.000-08:00

Here it is, not sure what to say about this one. I like the sketchy-scribbly-notebooky aspect to it:)

creative block

2011-11-09T17:52:00.000-08:00

I am having the biggest creativity block ever! I don't think I have ever had this much trouble coming up with an illustration idea before! The thing is I actually like the assignment! I love music! All kinds. I just cannot figure out the best approach to illustrating this song without being totally cliche! Its driving me crazy! Also, for VisCom, I've got good photos and a good concept, I just can't fit it all together the way I'd like! This is proving to be a very frustrating week when it comes to visual problem solving.

Anyway, here is the song that I am working on: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vQVeaIHWWck
Moonlight Sonata by Beethoven.

Wish me luck. I need it to get through these next two weeks. Then, I'll be home eating yummy pumpkin pie:)

Happy Monday!

2011-11-07T06:32:00.000-08:00

Oh, wait I hate Mondays........

My Society of Illustrators piece and first attempt at turning in digital art for a major illustration. Being afraid of doing a total digital painting, I went by combining digital and traditional techniques. I made a series of color washes and paint splatters with watercolors, scanned them in and layered them up. I used digital line to create the line art. I have a few minor problems, but overall, I am happy with the finished product. :)

why do ghosts go to the bars?

2011-11-01T12:33:00.000-07:00

for the boos! HAHA! Happy (belated) Halloween!

I find posting my life and death project right around Halloween so perfect! So here it is! I go the color and the washes perfect right away, but I struggled a lot with the line art. I began just outlining everything the same way, with no variety. So i stopped, talked to Rusty, and tried again. I think I was able to save it and vary it up, making it much more interesting :)

proving Rusty wrong...

2011-10-23T11:51:00.001-07:00

So you know that 48-hour rule you keep talking about? Well, I've had my Life and Death Illustration done since Friday. So that's 72 hours :)

Number 5

2011-10-21T06:04:00.000-07:00

For my number 5 illustration, I decided to make a paint by number and leave the only white blocks left be the number 5. I used watercolors and line art. I was able to play with the opacity to try and make it look like oil paints. I think the application of paint became on of the most redeeming parts of the piece. Anyway, here it is!

Midterm Portfolio

2011-10-16T19:13:00.001-07:00

Here it is my midterm portfolio. (and three days early, might I add) 12 pieces following Rusty's guidelines, that show my best work thus far in the semester. In looking through all my work, I didn't realize how must improvement I had made this year, but boy its a lot! Number one thing I've learned so far is to work faster and with more purpose. No time for playing around, just make a decision and do it and make it look good. Anyway, enjoy!!

Traditional Line

This piece is a part of the assignment to draw 10 of the same thing in 10 different styles. This one stood out amongst all the others because it is deliberate. Yes, the chair is accurately drawn, but what makes it stand out is that it was quick to draw and the lines used serve a purpose. Which is rare in my work, as I tend to overwork my drawings instead of letting the line/tone/whatever do its thing.

I chose this drawing because it is a fun, whimsical rendering of natural subject matter. I believe that the leaves were drawn in an interesting, stylized way, and the fence behind them shows texture and value through line and dots. I especially like the leaf in the lower left-hand side, because the hatching compliments the curvilinear shapes of the contour.

This was a quick, high-contrast sharpie drawing. This highlights my skills in a way that shows through a few lights and darks and a vague background, objects can be given personalities. I especially appreciate the contour of the leaf because it brings a certain life to the piece. However, I could do without the scribbly hatches in the background of the drawing, as it doesn't do much for the overall effect.

Watercolor

This was my first watercolor that I can say I was happy with. Although the foreground desperately needs work, the clouds and sky turned out exactly how I wanted them to (after two other failed attempts at clouds). Also, I believe the mountains were rendered convincingly, which being only my 3rd day of watercolors, this was exciting news.

Why did I choose something with all this typography? Who knows. But, overall, this is one of my best watercolors. It legitimately looks like a box of altoids. This piece shows command over the medium, especially one that tends to run and and splotch.

Traditional Line and Color

This is probably my favorite watercolor. I am so happy with how it turned out. Not only is it a decent portrait (which is one of my biggest weaknesses), but it really exemplifies letting the medium do its thing. The soft pink wash and the limited contour lines work together so well. (Ok, I am patting myself on the back a little too much with this, but hey, sometimes you have to.)

This line and watercolor piece is another of my favorites. I think once I gained a little more patience and was able to wait long enough for the paint to dry before I came in with a pen, my line/color illustrations became line 30x better. This I think was that "aha" moment. I think the composition itself goes with that lesson, too. Soft, pastel colors of a calm boat sailing away = take your time, chill out, take a break.

I especially appreciate the monochrome in this piece. I always have the hardest time completing a monochrome piece, or even a duotone, because I start one and then decided it needs another color and another and another. So, this time I only allowed myself green, and I think it worked out very well. Especially with the line creating definition.

Guache

Guache is…..interesting. I honestly couldn't tell you if I love it or hate it, but I do know that it is challenging. It took a long time to understand the media for this piece. I think this is one of my best pieces this year, despite the fact that the more guache you put on the more it washes away. I think the hand is the best part, I never do hands well and this is clearly a human hand. Also, the caterpillar turned out nice, the colors worked very well for him, especially with the process of continuously adding glazes to make it darker. Unfortunately for the caterpillar, the leaf is terrible. No one actually realizes its a leaf. Sorry, caterpillar.

Digital Line

Wait, what? I did that? I never thought I would be able to make something look good on the Wacom. Sitting next to Colleen, who can pick up any media and master it in 20 minutes, I was freaking out. But after a few sketches, somehow I began to get the hang of it and was able to make a couple of drawings that I am very proud of! Dare I say it, I like the Wacom!! I like this drawing so much because it has a purpose to it. Its not overdone, its not super detailed. Its a quick sketch of a bird. The directional line adds to the bird because it creates texture and gives it a unique style.

Digital Line and Color

There is something about this ice cream cone. I can't put my finger on it, and everyone always points it out (even Rusty during my "oh my god, I have a C" freak out in his office). Despite its obvious adorableness, I think its lovableness stems from the subtle details and coloring in the top of the ice cream. The cone could do without the hatching and the splotch of melted ice cream needs to look 3D. However, the overall piece worked out pretty successfully, if not just because it makes people want some strawberry ice cream.

My Choice

(digital line art)

I chose this piece because I wish I was at the beach right now! Only joking. (Kind of) I picked this for my "your choice" drawing because it is deliberate. Rusty stressed the need for my illustrations to have marks that show purpose. This shows just the right amount of detail to read the image. And, although very stylized, the leaves of the palm trees show the contrast and information necessary to create the look of leaves without drawing every last leaf.

a penny for your thoughts?

2011-10-09T12:47:00.000-07:00

"Use some Cents"

For my Lincoln Illustration, I decided to paint a penny and make a cathy tagline:) Unfortunately, we weren't supposed to actually put our tag lines on the piece, so no one knows how clever I am!! Well, anyway, here it is! I am especially pleased with the way the nickels and dimes turned out. They weren't originally in there, but after many, many re-comps, they made there way in. I'm getting better at the guache, but I think I just dislike the way it looks. I'll be glad when we are done with them.

Just a few more days till midterm break!! YAY! I can't wait to go home and have mom-food:)

3-Image-Guache

2011-10-05T11:56:00.000-07:00

oh mondays...

2011-10-03T19:57:00.000-07:00

Now, I really finished my 3-image montage. And after sever marker comps, got Rusty to approve one! In other news, I got a 44.5/50 on my gradient mesh project, one point away from an A, considering VisComm teachers don't give As, I'd say it was a success.

Its just kinda been a long day. But, I did make time to go to the rec! YAY, healthy habits!! :) Anyways, I'm gonna work on VisComm and then sleep….hot chocolate may also be involved in my night.

Finished the Caterpillar-Chopsticks-in-Space painting

2011-10-02T15:59:00.000-07:00

YAY! It will be posted very soon :) Also, finished my marker comp for the Lincoln project. Warning: for lack of a better concept, my poster does include puns. Sorry, world.

Had to do 90 logo sketches for a stationary set for VisComI. Lets just hope that at least 10 of them are worth anything! :) My non-profit organization is a group called Operation Smile that helps children around the world with cleft palates get surgery. Definitely something I am interested in and would want to help. So, that project should be fun!

Have no idea what this 5-project is, though…way to be vague, Rusty!

gooo-ouch-ee

2011-10-02T11:39:00.000-07:00

My opinion of guache: weird. Its like watercolor, but its not. and when you try to thicken in up saturate it more, it washes away and you have a being white spot. I don't hate it, I'm just very confused by it. I wouldn't have expected it to act like this. Also, the texture is kind of chalky, which gives it a strange look to it, very different than watercolors.
Anyway, I feel like mine is coming along nicely; I just need to be a little more patient and let it dry before i add 3rd and fourth layers to the wet surface. Thats no bueno. My montage is a caterpillar, a hand using chopsticks, and Saturn. Not sure how I chose any of those, but whatever :) I think I chose Saturn because I wanted a round shape, and I drive a Saturn station wagon (which my brother has now taken over and is moving to Iowa with! Bye bye, Clarke! I love you!) Also, I have a photo in my room that I tore out the New York Times Magazine with a hand with red nail polish, eating a fortune cookie, so that inspired the chopsticks…and I love Chinese food! Caterpillar just happened; I wanted to do an animal and just googled till I found something I liked.
Not doing so hot in this class, which is frustrating to say the least, since I actually ignore homework in other classes to do my work for this. But hopefully, my guache montage and my new resolution to blog more will help bring me up to a B. :)

Anyway, more to come!! and def more pics!!

I PASSED PROFICIENCY!!

2011-09-28T20:14:00.001-07:00

holla :)

Alfonso

2011-09-27T13:47:00.000-07:00

20x30 watercolor
Im pretty pleased with the way this turned out! The background isn't great, but the bird, which my roommate named Alfonso, is my favorite part. I actually, enjoyed painting Alfie :) YAY!

proficiency

2011-09-26T07:18:00.000-07:00

Proficiency exhibition went up yesterday. Get evaluated on Wednesday. oOnly mildly freaking out.

Who am I kidding? I TOTALLY freaking out!!

im old now...

2011-09-25T12:07:00.000-07:00

turned 20 on Friday! and just to welcome me into a new decade and to wish me a happy birthday, I was bombarded with an intense amount of work and proficiency this weekend! YAY! ahh, the life of an art major! :)

back to blogging

2011-09-25T12:05:00.000-07:00

The amount of illustrations needing to go up on the blog, has been building up for about a week, so here is the bulk of it. Promise to post the rest soon!

wacom illustrations:

line art:

tablet was definitely hard to get used to...still getting used to. I have a love/hate relationship with it.

line & color (on wacom):

portrait of family member by memory:

Self portraits:

(my best one, it took me a while to get into the "zone" on these and figure out a good way to get these to look good)

misc.

here is my product illustration:

(altoids, yumm)

a wonderful week of watercolors...and gradient mesh.

2011-09-18T11:07:00.000-07:00

This past week has been super crazy. On top of doing, what appears to be a thousand watercolors for illustration, we had a project due for VisComm I. So, being a college art student, I waited until Thursday to print what was due on Friday. The problem was my file was so large, being a gradient mesh project and choosing an image that had lots of tiny little specks of light everywhere (the assignment was to take a photograph and recreate half of it on illustrator to look photo-realistic), it took 2 hours to save as a postscript. Then, another half hour to change from a postscript to a pdf, which didn't work. Then, I decided to save it as an eps, then open it in photoshop and save as a pdf from there. This process took another two hours. During all of this, I was trying to both study for my French test (which I had hardly looked at all year) and finish three watercolors. After it printed, finally, I finished my watercolors, and after the printing day from hell, I got back to my dorm to study for French. I opened my email to the amazing surprise of having class canceled and my test postponed for Monday! It was like magic! So, I guess the universe is on my side :) So yeah, I guess the moral of the story is always have a Plan B.

....and pray your other non-art classes are cancelled, seeing as there is virtually no time for them :)

Miscellaneous

2011-09-18T10:56:00.000-07:00

Mountains!

2011-09-13T17:14:00.000-07:00

We've been working on watercolors during class, as well as outside, and here are a few I've done so far. I really wanted to post these, cause I wanted to show off my rocky mountains :) I'm a little proud... and humble.

watercolor with line art!

2011-09-13T17:11:00.000-07:00

I'm very excited about these because, although they started out pretty shaky, I gradually started to get the hang of i, making this my best set of watercolors yet! So enjoy :)

and again with the architecture

2011-09-11T14:44:00.000-07:00

this set of buildings wasn't as bad as the pen ones, so here's to progress! Also, some of these are pretty okay watercolors, if I do say so myself! I ended up really enjoying painting barns, so you can kinda see my progress with those, and I did a lot of them. Anyway, I hope everyone enjoyed their weekend!

Terry would be so proud.

2011-09-11T14:36:00.000-07:00

This is my first set of watercolors, and my color wheel. Yes, I know that they are about the skill level of a 3rd grader, don't judge me! Well, honestly, watercolor isn't that bad, but it is very different than painting with acryllics. I like, the way watercolors turn out, when they are executed well, but I don't think I am quite there yet. By the end of the semester, I will be! (According to Rusty)

and so it begins

2011-09-09T19:51:00.000-07:00

Somehow, I feel like I can handle things this semester a lot better than I did last. I'm staying considerably less stressed. Even when there is a bunch of things to do for illustration and Matt assigned a 36-hour project for VisCommI. Oh, and Proficiency, which I have three pieces already matted, soo be impressed. Anyway, this is what will get me through this weekend :)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_KZANuDcRO4

It ALWAYS puts me in a good mood, so enjoy!

Line Art People = Stick People?? Apparently Not.

2011-09-06T15:44:00.000-07:00

So, as much as I love people, I hate drawing them. Forrealsies. And in pen? Forget it.

Although, this task sounded impossible, I set out a valiant effort with my pen by my side, and actually was able to make some not-terrible drawings, along with one that I am actually proud of. So, we're getting there, line art, we're getting there.

^this is the one I actually like :)

Ahh, Nature

2011-09-06T15:34:00.000-07:00

More of the "Mass-O-Line Art" for Labor Day weekend. By far my favorite set. I had fun finding things to draw, deciding large scale or small, and playing around with the techniques. LOVE! Plus, it was just a fantastic day, so getting to do my homework outside was a treat! I hope you enjoy looking at these as much as I enjoyed making them!

(personal favorite, I hope my neighbors didn't think I was a total creeper drawing their yard!)

Architectural Line Art

2011-09-02T06:50:00.000-07:00

Here are ten drawings of buildings around campus, of course using line art. Architectural drawings aren't my favorite....

Second Set

2011-09-02T06:46:00.000-07:00

Assignment: Ten lines drawings of the same object, each one using different techniques to make them totally unique from each other.

Don't you just want to take a nap in this comfy chair??

First Set of Line Drawings

2011-09-02T06:41:00.000-07:00

Sorry it took so long, but here are my first ten line drawings! :)

Illustration

2011-08-31T18:54:00.000-07:00

This is my first blog for my Illustration class! I am a Truman State University art student and my professor (hi Rusty!) is having us make blogs to post our work, thoughts, and general stresses of life as a VisComm student. Here we go! :)