Final Mind Map

Statement of Intent (Final)

My major work will revolve around the concepts of time and growth of an individual. The medium to be used will be pencil or felt tip, large water color durable paper, water color and programs on the computer. My work will split itself into two sections, a watercolor painting and an animation. The animation will support the concept as well as the water color painting. The water color work will consist of a child running towards the right side of the frame, a teenager version of the child looking at the audience next to the child version, an adult version of the teenager running to the left of the frame next to the teenager, and finally a senior version of the adult standing still looking to the left of the frame, all the same person, all different time frames. The animation will be the very same, with the person growing as he is running, and the justification for this is because I am currently working on an animation for a teacher who has requested me to and I am learning animation for this. To include animation will strengthen the message of growing physically as an individual and the concepts of time. Look only at the past for how to do things right, look only at the future when wanting to set a goal or endeavor and constantly stay in the present because its a once in a life time moment. I will be creating this piece in the time frame of 4 terms as well as during the Christmas holidays. I will do most of the theory and experimentation during school and the actual work will be made during the Christmas holidays, as well as some sample work and documentation of up-to-date blogging and Visual Art Diary progression.

Drawing Tablet

Drawing with a drawing tablet is not entirely as I had envisioned it. I had used one in year 7 when I hadn't yet unlocked my full potential as an artist and I had found it difficult. However when I went to use one today I looked back and thought it was difficult only because I was young and inexperienced. But when I started to use it today for the first time in 4 years, it came as a massive shock to me that it was very very difficult and that I even performed and preferred the mouse over the tablet. I went online and found different videos that would assist me in setting up my tablet and how to use it and the person that was hosting the video and leading the tutorial said that without a tablet he wouldn't be creating images on Photoshop, he wouldn't be ding a career in it. This made me ask myself is he being truthful or was it for commercial purposes. I am still not sure whether I should just continue with a mouse or keep practicing with a tablet.

If I continue to use the tablet I will have to constantly use it for the purpose of getting into a familiar style or habit of using it efficiently and effectively. There is no point in me continuing if there will be no improvement although Joe said it is an easier route to go down this makes me reconsider my actions. I will have to think about the situation and develop my skills a lot during the last week of school as well as during the holidays as that is when I will complete the work. I need to do my best and not give up!

Digital Drawing

Today I started drawing digitally and I took the advice of Joe and used my mouse to start my drawing. I found it difficult at first but I managed to conjure up a digital drawing using only my mouse and my imagination. It took about 2 hours but I got there and the end result wasn't exactly perfect but it was good enough to be counted as a digital drawing at least.

It was my first time ever trying o draw digitally and for a purpose. Although there are a few minor errors I believe that a failure is better than having nothing to assess and evaluate my skills with. I created each individual shape or part of the face using layers for each one. This will serve a bigger purpose apparently in the future of animating it. I sent off the photo to Joe and am awaiting his reply that will come on Saturday. I still have to create a background for him and I will integrate his advice on layers and correct coloring. Hope I do well!

A Career Opportunity!

Today I met up with an animator named Joe Wakim and he led me through on the basic principles of becoming an animator. I was very excited to meet up with him as I was told I would and I would never let an opportunity like this get by me.When I finish my HSC I plan on doing some animation for myself and for people who want it. I would incorporate my manga style which I know so well and which I cherish now. So when I was told a professional animator would be helping me in developing my skills I was overjoyed and with blazing eyes I accepted the path that would lead me to a career in animation. This was where it all began of course, that's why it was such a big moment for me. Opportunities like this come once in a lifetime and there it was, with a pretty pink bow on top. So I met up with the animator and he talked to me about techniques and programs to use when animating, he also told me about a drawing tablet I can use to create these works. The tips that he gave me were to use Photoshop, use layers within Photoshop and use shapes on each layer when creating people and body parts. He didn't go into depth with animating yet as he only told me how to start animating and where to begin. I will be integrating this animation into my major work somehow as he gave me the idea after our long talk on animation.

Joe also gave me a few tips on animating using a mouse without a drawing tablet as to improve my skills on that first then move on to a tablet. He taught me how to create a background using layers in Photoshop as well and gave me an example. Use a pencil tool to draw, position everything you want to include inside the background, add the base color/s, add details, shadows and then light bouncing off of objects. He also told me to use the program Adobe Aftereffects, which he has not taught me to use yet but I will soon. So much progression has occurred and at the end of all this work it will surely be integrated into my major work. Hopefully it all goes well!

Statement of Intent (Draft!)

I plan on having a young child on the left side of the frame who looks as if he is in the motion of running, he will be facing the right side of the frame and will be racing towards a larger or teenage version of himself. This teenage version will also be facing the right side of the frame and also running in the same direction as the child. The teenager will be in possession of items such as headphones/earphones, a cap, and a book, he will be placed in the middle of the frame, Next to the teenager will be an adult version of himself and he will look as if he is jogging or slowing down next to the rushing teenager. He will have a serene look on his face and he will also be facing the right of the frame. Next to him will be a senior man who has completely come to a halt and is just admiring nothing next to him as the frame stops there. I will create this artwork in water color as well as felt tip pen and pencil and I need a large roll of paper. The reason for me to create such a work is to express my feelings for the past, present, and future, all of which lead to something beyond each other. It shows that each major stage in life will lead to something big and new and will reveal new things to us that was limited in the past. As individuals we don't look back at the past unless as a reference as it does not define us anymore, we look to what we are doing now and if we are doing something productive and we look to the future only as something to hope for and look at as something to achieve. The past present and future all link together but what matters the most is being able to use each period of time properly.

Ideas and Details

I've created a mind map of what I'm going to create for my major work which will definitely support and justify my reasons for each chosen idea or medium I am going to use to create my work.It goes through each and every subject and many mediums that I have thought about and shows my strengths and weaknesses. Making a mind map really helped me find new things about what I could do for my major work as well as what type of methods I should use to approach what I'm going to create. Anime and manga are the best options I can relate to since I'm skilled in drawing those styles of art. Also drawing is definitely my strongest style so I decided to go with that as well. In previous years I haven't gotten to developing or improving skills other than drawing and I'm totally ready to use watercolors to create a magnificent piece of work or collection of works. Anime and manga have been used extensively throughout my work and that's why I don't want to let it go because it has been a large part in my life, it has helped me develop some of my best qualities and it really keeps me happy I suppose.

First Day of HSC

Today was the very first day of HSC. Scary, but still great just because I get to finish school in a years time. I'll also be able to express myself in anyway I want and make it applicable for marking! I have already started formulating idea's as to what I should make. I'm thinking of creating a large drawing of superheroes and it might be painted in watercolor depending on my skill in using water color for drawings. I've seen some beautiful works made in watercolor which really makes it amazing and I want to be able to do some extraordinary drawings for my last work in school. Here are some examples of what I want to be able to mimic:



Breath taking. That's all I can say really. I love these styles of work and really want to be able to make something as beautiful as these. The moment I laid eyes on this style I really got a good feeling about them and wanted to learn how to do them so I will and hopefully I can master it in time to create something incorporating it for my major work. I'm definitely going to have with this and that's why I chose Visual Arts as a subject in the first place. Thanks for reading! Laters

Influencing Artist #2

Welcome back to the second segment of influencing artist number 2! Today I will be discussing the second inspirational artist for another art assessment. The artist that I have decided to take my inspiration from is called Cesar Kuriyama. He as an individual decided to film his life, 1 second everyday. He isn't referred to as an artist because he doesn't put his works in exhibitions, but he did a spectacular piece of filming called "I'm here" in which he filmed for 1 second every single day in 2013 from January 1st to December 31st. He is a true inspiration to me in my video as I integrate the 1 second clips but not for every single day. They vary from up to 5 clips a day to no clips every 2 days. In one of his videos, he talks about this app that he is releasing to the public which records 1 second of video and creates video that mirror his ones. He decides that this will give inspiration to people that the small things in life can be inspiration. Again, I did not copy this concept however it was what my video was about originally. I agree that everything and anything can be counted as inspiration.

Cesar Kuriyama is a Director, Producer, TED speaker, 3D VFX Artist, Animator and educator as stated on his website. He is currently pursuing personal creative endeavors such as 1 second everyday and recently did a TED talk about it. He used to teach courses in computer animation at NYU, Harvard University and his personal works have been featured on publications such as Fast Company, Wired, Mashable, CNN and BBC.

To me as an individual, this person is an inspiration to me and my works as his style suits my way of creating videos and his source of inspiration is the same as my source of inspiration if not even more then my source. We differ for the fact that my inspiration is put in my drawings whereas he doesn't play around with his inspiration, he leaves it as it is.

Art Assessment Progress

Recently I have been given an assessment (as stated in a previous blog) to create a 4-D artwork about the artist and their world and so far it has gone spectacularly! I've been finding lots of footage for the work and I believe the finished product will turn out to be crazy and inventive if I do say so myself. I have over 1 minute of footage so far which might not seem a lot but here is why. I have gathered a lot video footage from anything and everything, from me going to church to me walking in a classroom. All this footage will then be shortened to 1 second each which is why the video sounds to be short when in fact I have over 30 minutes of actual footage that has been cut out!

The music has also been a major problem as previously I was not able to find the correct piece, but now I have found the perfect piece that will set the mood of the film. If you want to listen to the piece copy this link (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rv-j20_ZN48) and paste it in the search bar, trust me when I say this,  it is beautiful. The reason I chose this piece is because first of all I like this type of music, and second I feel it suits the mood that I want to set for the video. The video is about me and my world, where i get my inspiration from essentially and this really helps convey what I feel about the subject. Kingdom Hearts is where the piece is from and it is a great game with great soundtracks so I wanted to share that.

The video will contain footage of me drawing as well as all the different things that go on around me. Daily life things such as walking home from school, getting on a bus, going to class, watching, drawing, reading, everything. I believe that all my inspiration is everything that goes on around me and nothing is useless in the world for me. I want to capture everything in my drawings.
Thanks for reading guys and leave a comment on what your inspirations are for art!! Byeeee

Answers to the Questions!

Here are the answers to the questions below as promised!:

1. Bill Viola’s work The Sleep for Reason is of course an odd and unique piece which symbolises many things both to the audience as well as to the artist himself. The use of time in this work is quite extraordinary and bounces between slow paced time frames to face paced moving pictures and animals and such. The sound is supposed to create a very loud and condescending tone on the audience when the video is fast paced however when the video is slow and shows the TV with the man sleeping, it’s a silent and almost even an eerie sound that is produced. What might this suggest?There seemed to be no technical issues and the possible interpretation of this could be sleeping and the title gives it all away. The title says The Sleep for Reason which should not be confused with reason to sleep. Sleeping happens for a reason and the reason is to strike up inspiration or ideas for people to think about the next day. If sleep didn’t exist where would imagination come from and how would people be able to achieve great and greater things in life.
2. The painting looks like its telling of a raft that has been swept to sea and people are suffering and holding on to each other due to the misery that has taken over them. People of different races are on the raft but they all seem to accept each other in this time of grief. From this i gather that Viola called his work The Raft due to the similar concept of people helping each other and holding each other in time of suffering or grief. People are trying to wave for help, some are lying down injured, some may be dead, others are clasping on to each other and this is a mirror image of what Viola had for his work, the body and facial expressions are the same if not they have minor differences.
3. This statement is true due to the many that put their perspectives in it. To Viola works do come out of boredom and crisis due to his life experiences. Viola as a six year-old child nearly drowned and this comes into play with some of his works incorporating water as well as suffering. The reason this statement is again true is due to other artists that within their own lives have experienced something that later on in their lives felt like they needed to express in some way or form.Thanks for reading and leave a comment below!

Bill Viola

In Class yesterday we were given a task to complete that required me and my classmates to research and answer questions about Bill Viola. For those who don't know who Viola is, he is a man that creates 4-D works and displays them in architectural area's such as churches and galleries for different audience views and perspectives. Many of his works are odd although they have hidden depth and meaning to every individual who ponders on meaning to works. Viola never has a meaning to works but gives certain suggestions to people within his works that allow for deeper study between audience and work filling the meaning less gap with ideas and questions and own interpretations of meaning of the work. Anyways, here are the questions, the answers will be on the next post:
1.Write a panel of wall text for a work by Viola. Refer to the artists use of time, pacing, sound, technical issues and possible interpretations.
2.Go to the website of the Louvre Museum and search for The raft of the Medusa by Theodore Gericault. What is it about? Does it tell a story? What is it? Why do you think Viola called his video work The Raft? What areas of similarity can you see between the two works? Consider subject matter and meaning as well as physical similarities such as body language.
3.Viola says that 'Creativity comes out of two things: boredom and crisis'. Discuss.
Thank you for reading and leave comments below!

New Art Assessment!

I should have mentioned this a few days ago was sidetracked by certain events occurring such as study for my science exam and work for all my subjects at school. But now is the perfect time since I have more to talk about. My class and I were given a task to create a 4-D work that conveys the topic the artist and their world. I had many ideas to  start off with and then soon came to develop mini ideas from the bigger ideas. The idea that I have now decided to go with is one that involves me as the artist and many my life as the art world which is simple enough, however I aim to get much more out of this. The concept of my work will be where inspiration comes from and how it comes to affect the artist when they create their own styles. Not only will it be the where factor but it will also be a when factor. It could come in the morning, the middle of the day, the afternoon, in bed, whenever. I personally feel that this will be a strong subject to talk about and will require much depth as well as filming around the school and my home. Once the video is created I will of course post it online and leave a link in a future blog for it.

For those of you who don't know what a 4-D work is in art, it is a film with sound!

I have already started filming and it doesn't look good so far as it is only the starting product. The finished product is what I am looking forward to as it will be the best. I have filmed me at my own home, getting on certain transport and i will not reveal anymore details but it will soon manifest into a great art form.
Thank you for reading and be sure to leave comments!

Should Artworks Last Forever (Again)

In a previous blog a discussion was struck about whether artworks should last forever or not. The opinion on that was leaning towards the question being answered as no, they shouldn't last forever. Valid points were discussed but there are also reasons that go with the question. Points can be made that suggest positive outcomes in letting artworks last forever. Some points include profit, legacy and leisurely enjoyment.

Old artworks gains large economic value and therefore have a large reason for being kept forever. This value is also impacted upon whether the artist of the work has passed away or not. Money is what makes these artworks desirable as well as why they are kept alive. Legacy is a large factor because it is more of the artists decision whether he wants a legacy to be made on earth or if they don't want a legacy but just to be recognised as an artist that pleases his audience and does not look for a legacy. They would of course be making profit while they are dead and for that reason and there would be no point as to why they would do that  be making a profitable legacy. An artist that is recognised as one that pleases their audience like Banksy, a street artist that illegally does street painting or Miso and Ghost Patrol.They please the audience with their forms of art and each have their own styles and meanings. An artist that wants an artwork to last forever for his audiences and their pleasure has a different purpose however and tends to care about the reactions they get from their audiences as a way to explore different methods and ways in which they can implement the things that the audience liked into their next artworks.

These points prove that it is valid to let artworks last forever but also not for physical gain but mental gain which is gaining a new message about society or anything at all that might catch peoples attention, whether it be an individual or a large group.

Feel free to comment on what you think!

The Artist and Their World

What does an artist have to do to achieve something that catches the eyes of the world and enables them to see what the artist sees? That question breaks through in the subject of the artist and the world around them. What this means is what the artist looks at by the world being their main influence and subject matter or more the basis of their chosen matter. The world doesn't necessarily have to be the subject but has to be an influence in the way that the artist completes their own work and their experiences that led to that. Some artists stick to what the audience around them view while others might express their own personal feelings in them to make a point about something that strikes interest into the hearts and minds of certain individuals and/or groups.

Examples of an artist and their world is Alberto Giacometti. After having to suffer through the horrors of world war 2 a depression of a sort settled on his world and he depicts it in his sculptures and works. The people are thin, fragile and almost deteriorating on the outside but the deeper message that comes from his world also shows that they deteriorate on the inside as well.

This subject of matter is very deep and adds much meaning to everything because it also creates questioning of the art world. Where did the artist get the inspiration to create that piece? Why did the artist use these materials and why did he use them in that way? What was the meaning behind that certain piece of work? These questions create areas of study that relate back to the artist and their world.

Feel free to comment!

Should Artworks Last Forever?.......

Art works are defined by the artist and the audience, which leaves much room for error and criticism by them. Messages can come across in different ways also depending on the way it is displayed and conveyed through artists and artworks. My opinions varied for the fact that I like artworks but there is no reason for them to last other than money and uniqueness. Anyone can put pen on paper but also no one can create a mona lisa out of the blue. People have different opinions on things as well which fall between the points saying that artworks and creations like the mona lisa or anything along those lines should really last for as long as they need to. Nature has to take its toll on things including paintings and artworks and at some point people have to let go of these artificial objects and move on to newer things.

Does a great book live on? Does a great movie stay the greatest of all time? No. Something better always comes along to replace it and it makes things more interesting. If there was no money involvement in the matter I don't doubt for one second that people would be willing to throw away the Mona Lisa and replace it with something from Johnny Romeo. If only it wasn't for money. Money is a form of corruption that doesn't let us see beyond our actions. What is the Mona Lisa worth? $780 Million just for some paint on canvas. A toddler could accidentaly put paint on canvas and create a billion dollar masterpiece! It sounds that easy at least. My opinion however falls on lines on whether  people find value within things like this. Whether it has a deep meannig engraved in it for all people to see. So that we may be shown something that could change the world. Mona Lisa, worth millions, is just a pretty face on a canvas.

Feel free to comment!

Evaluation Questions

Self evaluation questions given to me by my teacher, after my projects completion, really helped me think about future improvement on any project expecially my major work for the HSC. But what these questions also made me realise after completing them was not how well I had done but how badly i had done. I needed to put the effort in after realising that the level that my work was on at the current pace was not going to get me anywhere and made me open up my eyes. What I realised was that i should do more documentation through pictures as well as put more dates on everything i do as reference for future needs. Also more research had to be done before hand meaning i had to look for more flower designs and make more flowers faster which meant building the project from the very beginning of the topic. 

But regardless of the negative impacts these had on my work, the positive impacts still came through in the end. I created a wonderful boquet of flowers each and everyone created by yours truly and snipets of documentation came in the end with testing of different works i could implement as well as concepts for my work.
Thank You !!

Eric Joisel

Eric Joisel was an origami artist, master of the world of origami. He was born into the world on November 15 1956, and was an inspiration to me as a student and individual. He had excellent sense of artistic influence over me and I found his works quite intriguing and creative. His style was something that I wanted to use for my project. Even though the matrerials he uses were initially goin to differ, I still used him as inspiration for what I coud use to create a project, origami. He created many models of origami including large animals, human characters in poses and funny positions and many more which have come to my attention would have taken a great deal of time to create and gave me inspiration. He also began drawing and sculpting when he was 17 years of age which reminded me of myself.




These amazing works all contributed to the success of him being able to encapture me and make me smile at the wondorous things people can create!