Mar 2014
Twenty Years as an Artist
Sunday/March 23/2014 Filed in: graphic design
Last week I was invited to give a presentation on graphic design to a local high school class. Coincidentally, this May marks twenty years since I graduated from High School. As I was standing before the students showing slides from my portfolio, it suddenly occurred to me that this was an awesome way to reflect on twenty years.
Three things I have learned at a professional artist that I shared with the students:
1. MATH DOES MATTER.
OK, I HATED math! When I was a student, I had this idea that subjects were separated from each other and that as an artist, I would never need to know this stuff. Then I became a Production Artist and Packaging Designer, and learned that to maintain the look and feel of branding from a small box to a larger box, I needed to understand and figure proportions.
2. THE COMPUTER IS A TOOL, NOT THE MAIN THING.
I started college at the time that the computer was emerging and I remember my first design class did not use the computer at all. We enlarged shapes by using a copier and other tools that almost seem obsolete now. Lately, I have come across some well-known designers that have looked at other mediums like photographing crumpled cloth for textures, and realized that to come up with new ideas, it can be fun and refreshing to step outside the computer.
3. LEARN DRAWING AND PAINTING
Drawing teaches you structure and painting teaches you about color. I know that I landed my first two design jobs out of college because I had drawing skills, but beyond that, many artists still sketch their ideas out before executing them on the computer. This saves time and energy.
Three things I have learned at a professional artist that I shared with the students:
1. MATH DOES MATTER.
OK, I HATED math! When I was a student, I had this idea that subjects were separated from each other and that as an artist, I would never need to know this stuff. Then I became a Production Artist and Packaging Designer, and learned that to maintain the look and feel of branding from a small box to a larger box, I needed to understand and figure proportions.
2. THE COMPUTER IS A TOOL, NOT THE MAIN THING.
I started college at the time that the computer was emerging and I remember my first design class did not use the computer at all. We enlarged shapes by using a copier and other tools that almost seem obsolete now. Lately, I have come across some well-known designers that have looked at other mediums like photographing crumpled cloth for textures, and realized that to come up with new ideas, it can be fun and refreshing to step outside the computer.
3. LEARN DRAWING AND PAINTING
Drawing teaches you structure and painting teaches you about color. I know that I landed my first two design jobs out of college because I had drawing skills, but beyond that, many artists still sketch their ideas out before executing them on the computer. This saves time and energy.
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Waiting
Saturday/March 08/2014 Filed in: painting | Encaustic Painting
I put the final touches on this one this past week. This is also oil and encaustic on a Ampersand board and the title is “Waiting”. The image is based on a photograph that I took over two years ago in Albuquerque’s Old Town on Christmas Eve. I started this painting in November and I have been working on it off and on.
Encaustic & Oil
Saturday/March 08/2014 Filed in: painting | Encaustic Painting
Working on another new piece this morning. Encaustic and oil on Ampersand’s Encaustic Board, 12 x 12 inches. I feel like I am getting closer to bringing these mediums together into a integrated, finished piece.
Experimenting
Before I spend the time to do a large painting, I will do small paintings to work out an idea or method.
Last month I have been expanding my repertoire of media to include scrap-booking paper. Being a non-scrap-booker (is that a word?) I had never paid attention to the array of papers that can be bought, until now. The above painting was created with laying down a coat of Encaustic medium to Ampersand Encaustic Board, then attaching a piece of paper. Using alternate layers of encaustic wax and oil, I created this little landscape of New Mexico (above).
The painting above was created in a similar way, but instead I used markers and washes of oil.
The same with this one...letting the paper show through the transparency of oil and wax.
For this one I used a photograph that was taken by Michael Anaya-Gorman.
Last month I have been expanding my repertoire of media to include scrap-booking paper. Being a non-scrap-booker (is that a word?) I had never paid attention to the array of papers that can be bought, until now. The above painting was created with laying down a coat of Encaustic medium to Ampersand Encaustic Board, then attaching a piece of paper. Using alternate layers of encaustic wax and oil, I created this little landscape of New Mexico (above).
The painting above was created in a similar way, but instead I used markers and washes of oil.
The same with this one...letting the paper show through the transparency of oil and wax.
For this one I used a photograph that was taken by Michael Anaya-Gorman.