The Sunflower Project Part 2

The first idea I had for this project was to use the posterization techniques that I learned toward the end of the semester.  I had a lot of fun creating my posters using Illustrator, and even used this technique to create a very Andy Warhol inspired painting for my ART 204 final.

After posterizing the image of the sunflower, I decided to use four different color combinations to create four different images.  I decided to use complementary colors on each in order to make the images appear "flat"

I hope you all love how these turned out as much as I do!

The Sunflower Project Part 1

The other day, I went to Harvestmoon Farm for their first annual sunflower maze, which is basically a corn maze, but instead of corn, it is made of sunflowers!  This was super fun and super exciting for me, because I love sunflowers...probably an unhealthy amount.

So, me and Zach were at this sunflower maze, and, unfortunately, we got lost.  Yes, I know, a 19 and 21 year old couldn't find their way out of a maze that is supposed to take between 15 and 30 minutes for kids to complete...I think it took us between 45 minutes and an hour...it's sad. I know.

Anyways, I love sunflowers, as stated above, an unhealthy amount, so I have decided to do "The Sunflower Project"

Let me explain: I took a picture of the perfect sunflower, which is where I am going to start this project.  I love this picture.  I love it so much.  So, taking my love of this picture and my love of these flowers, I plan on making a series of images using sunflowers.

I came up with the idea to do a 'series' because of something my ART 204 professor said last semester.  "If you're going to create art, create it in a series.  Give yourself some variety and options to create your best work, because your first idea is not always your best."

So that is what I plan on doing.  Over the course of time (I'm not sure how long I will spend on this one project), I plan on creating many different pieces revolving around sunflowers. 

I hope you all enjoy this project and bear with me while I figure out what I'm doing, and enjoy this picture of the perfect sunflower!

Rain or Shine

Although my semester is over, I want to continue this blog, because it's a great place to keep and share all of my work, and I really enjoy it.  Although not many people look at this, I like having a place where I can share all the work that I do, and if anyone happens to come across this page, I hope they enjoy it, too.

Anyways, tonight I am going to my little brother's high school band banquet.  I was in band for all four years of my high school career, and during my senior year had the privilege of putting together a photo story showing what happens behind the scenes to prepare for performances.  My favorite picture ended up being one that I took on my phone, and then went and edited in Photoshop.

I ended up printing and framing this picture and giving it to my band director as a gift to say thank you for four unforgettable years, and whenever I go back to visit always find myself admiring it hanging in his office.

I titled this picture "Rain or Shine" due to the fact that the picture shows a storm that is approaching from the right.  I don't think it was even five minutes after this picture was taken that the storm had reached us and we were all rushing to get inside.

This is the first picture I ever took that made me think that I could actually do something like this and be good at it, and so I love this picture with all my heart. Quite honestly, I probably have an unhealthy amount of love for this picture, but I don't see a problem with that.  This picture is what got me started.

I hope you all love this picture as much as I do!

A Semester in Review

As this semester is coming to a close, I have had time to reflect on my time in Santi's class.

In the beginning of the semester, I had only dabbled with Photoshop on my own, and didn't know how to use the other Adobe programs at all (InDesign, DreamWeaver, and Illustrator).

After completing this course, I am able to use these programs and effectively.

Throughout this class, I have learned how to enhance and manipulate images in Photoshop, create HTML Codes in Dreamweaver, landscapes and designs in Illustrator, and portfolios in InDesign.

This course has taught me many skills that I will use in my time at UT as an Advertising Major, as well as in life.

My biggest success in this class would have to be my Gradient Mesh Project.  This was the project where I used the Mesh Tool in Illustrator to recreate my ukulele.  While the project was a pain in the ass because of the complicated designs and multiple layers, it was well worth the struggle in the end because it turned out amazing.

My biggest failure, in my opinion, is my Art Project.  This was the project where I replaced the face of the woman on the National Geographic cover with my own face.  While this project was an overall success in my opinion, there was something weird happening on the nose.  If you go back and look at the project, there is a weird line running down my nose where the images didn't quite blend together correctly.  I went back a couple times and tried to fix this, but every time it ended up being worse than the first attempt, so I decided to stick with my first try.

This class was an incredible experience.  I thoroughly enjoyed every minute of it, and each project was well-worth the time, effort, sweat, and tears.

ART 210 Portfolio

As the semester comes to a close, I have put together my final portfolio for Santi's class.  Below are the pages (out of order, obviously...they will be in order once printed and put into a booklet) and on these pages are every project I completed for a grade in this class, plus some other stuff.  Please enjoy my final portfolio.  It's been a fun semester.