SUMMER 2014

Hello Art Students! Summer is finally here!

This post will be for anyone interested in the following subjects - ART / Photography / The Art Process and AP Art. As you all know I spend a lot of time setting up pins on my Pinterst boards for inspiration and learning. I have boards for just about everything and add more all the time! Be sure to check out ones you think will encourage and inspire you.

First! Please watch this short video by Artist Gwenn Seemel. Her views on "process" are interesting and her habit of taking photos of that process is incredible to watch. Studio Art - Plan on taking a series of photos of at least one assignment this year.

 

I also want to talk about journals.....sketchbooks, visual collections of thoughts and inspiration. In a way, Pinterest is just like a journal...a journal of what inspires you on line. It is a collection of digital information kept in visual form. The variety of formats for visual journals is endless. When you do a general search for art journal / sketchbook you get millions of hits and an enormous amount of inspiration. I would like to focus on the blending of photos with the idea of a journal in this post.

Photography is just another medium. No different really than a pastel, a hunk of stone or any other raw material. You capture light and trap the instance within a format and composition of your choosing. You choose what the viewer will see and how they will see it. The image you create is just the start! There is no end to what you can do with that image once you capture it! It's yours and it can be manipulated however you see fit to enhance meaning, CHANGE meaning, evoke meaning, or even destroy meaning!

Here are but a few spectacular directions you might consider going in. These images are all from just ONE artist. All of them use photos as a spring board. Her blog entry - CLICK HERE.

This image is soooo inspirational. At it's core it has several design ideas. Repetition, pattern, positive and negative space, surface feel, contrast both high and low, TEXT, text as design, flipped image and more. Consider doing a journal entry that spring boards off of an image....yours or another artists. How can you use the image to inspire a new image with a different flavor.

Disect an image! Re-frame it. Reposition to create Movement. Add commentary! Enter related images. This journal entry is really clean and simple but of high impact. The composition gets your attention with clean lines and mixed with irregular frames. The use of simple red and black integrates the parts. The dissection of an image or images reworked back together or combined expresses a whole new take on the original idea.

Personalize Your Journal!!!! Make this puppy Y.O.U.R.S.! Select that one image that keeps you going! Place an image on the cover that screams I BELONG TO __________.  An artists journal is like a museum of thoughts and ideas. A museum needs a Marquee.

Combine two or more images into one. Be thoughtful about the composition. Consider color and value and how they interact in the whole. Cropping is GOOD! What you leave out is just as important as what you decide to include. Use principles of design to create rhythm, and flow. Get out your other art mediums and see who plays nice. Have some fun. Explore possible ideas for final works.

More resources:

Art Journals and Book Arts my board on Pinterest
Digital Media Art Board

Photography Board

AP Studio Art Board (KH - :-) see the shoe designs that incorporate art styles on this board....I see some fun possibilities for this concept with Architecture and photo manipulation or set up shots. This student scored a 5 on his portfolio.)