Final Propaganda

Winter Break! It's amazing to think that the first semester is over, and I'm in my last semester of high school. I honestly could never imagine this happening, but here we are. For my final piece of the semester, I did a propaganda piece about the value of gun safety and education. "Educate not Regulate." This message is something that means a lot to me. I read the other day that since the tragic Newtown shooting, 194 children have died as a result of guns. Many of these deaths could have been prevented by properly educating gun owners, as well as children in the proper handling, use and danger of firearms. Not everyone can agree that gun regulation will stop deaths, however, you can't argue the value that a little bit of gun education could have in saving the lives of many.

Pier and Beard Propaganda

This week, I was very productive. Not only did I come closer to completion on my portfolio pier piece, but I also completed the propaganda piece that I was assigned. I'm really proud of how both pieces have come together, and I really see these as being probably my best, most professional quality work yet. For the propaganda piece, I'm really proud of my process. I did a whole lot of thinking outside the box and using familiar tools and techniques in new ways that I'd never thought of before, with very good results. This piece came together really quickly, and I feel that it conveys the message in a very potent manner. The idea behind this piece has to do with the fact that the school doesn't allow men to grow facial hair. Being one of those who has very fast growing facial hair, it's a very inconvenient and frustrating rule for me. For me the most basic issue with this rule is the fact that it's my body, and I should be free to do what I want with it. What gives someone else the right to tell me what I can and can't do with my own body? Also, I'm sure I'm not the only student who has to shave frequently but doesn't as it upsets my complexion. My having facial hair doesn't bother anybody, and I keep it well trimmed. I hope to find a way to change this rule by the end of the year, perhaps through this piece.

Pier Propaganda

This week, I started another propaganda piece. This one is based on the ongoing debate over the fate of the St. Pete pier. I personally love the pier, so this piece is promoting the landmark status of it. I'm using the pen tool to recreate the pier in all its iconic upside down pyramid glory in Photoshop. The piece is coming together well, but it's still very difficult. I've put in many hours so far outside of class, but it's not quite done yet.

Pen tool portfolio

This week, I began a new portfolio piece. I'm using the pen tool to redo a piece I did in beginning graphics. The original was my motorcycle which I had used the mixer brush to paint over a picture of. This time I'm recreating the motorcycle using the pen tool, as that has been the style which seems to be my forté. Here is what I have done so far.

Chinese Artist Piece

This week, I created a piece in the style of Chinese digital artist Nod Young, who I found through an article at http://psd.tutsplus.com/tutorials/tutorials-effects/100-artworks-from-the-top-digital-artists-in-asia/ . I really liked his vector based style of art, which is, in many ways, similar to my own style. I really like the way he uses abstract shapes and a flat, smooth texture combined with welcoming, calming, typically pastel colors to create very cool works of art. In my piece, I tried to use the same ideas to create something that shows appreciation of his work, but is still very much my own. I ended up making this piece quite the learning experience in a tool which I'd thought I'd long since mastered, the shape tool. After being unable to find how to make a semicircle, I decided to make my own, and then from there, I really ended up really only using the pen tool and shape tool for the rest of the piece. I really like the way this piece just seemed to create itself, and as a result of that, is very abstract, leaving the viewer to draw their own conclusions as to what is going on in the many elements of the piece.

PROPAGANDA 2

This week, we were assigned to reinterpret old Chinese propaganda posters. I took the original poster that I chose to reinterpret, and I remade it as a vector image. When I did this, I took most elements of the original down to the most basic form that I could without making them unrecognizable. My idea behind this is that when it comes down to it, propaganda posters are nothing more than a collection of lines and curves arranged in such a manner that it becomes something larger than the some of its parts, something that can provoke thought and action from the viewer. It's not what it's made of, but the way its parts are arranged that can elicit a response. This piece is supposed to make the viewer reconsider how they look at propaganda, art, and really anything, to see both the big picture, as well as the small pieces that make it.

Name Piece

This week, we did a propaganda poster based on our names. From last year, I remembered that my name often implies royalty. Because of this, I used a crown like I did last year. I was originally going to create my own textures for the background, but that didn't work out well, so I finally caved and used two free paper textures that I found online, one on top of the other. By doing this, I was able to create the intended old, wrinkled poster/paper effect that I had in mind. I used the difference blending mode on the geometric objects in the piece, as well as the sword and the text. I used the cutout filter on the crown, which really came out very well. Perhaps the most difficult part of the piece was making everything perfectly centered, or at least enough so that it looks right. This piece turned out overall to be very polished and finished, and I'm proud of what I acomplished over the course of the 3 days that I worked on this.