Final Laser Cut

I am fascinated by Day of the Dead (Dia De Los Muertos) Art and designs. The overall rituals and celebrations of the ceremony of Day of the Dead, also known as All Saints Day are very interesting. I am Catholic so I have always gone to church for All Saints Day. I like the way the Mexican community chooses to celebrate their lost ones and recognize that on Day of the Dead, their ancestors walk among them and their spirits are present. This is why they choose to celebrate instead of being sad, they make it a fun and colorful day. The skull designs with flowers and other designs are beautiful.

I wanted to take the traditional Day of the Dead skull design, add my own designs onto the skull shape then cut, raster, and engrave different areas to create texture. I chose the material of wood, basically thin plywood that I took to the laser cutter. I am creating a frame around my design so that it is cut out and certain areas between it are also cut out. I put together a somewhat prayer book. I inserted a few pages with prayers and images. These are all Catholic prayers and images. I drilled holes in the left side of my wood pieces and also cut the same holes in my pages. I bound the "book" with palms my mom had given me from church a while back. They last a long time and cannot be thrown away. The long piece has been sitting in my room & I decided this material was strong enough to tie for the book binding. I am not sure how long this will actually last since it has dried out quite a bit. This definitely adds my Catholic side to my design. 

I wanted to integrate my Catholic upbringing with this Mexican view of All Saint's Day. Integrating two different cultures that celebrate the same day in different ways. I feel as though I would rather celebrate Dia De Los Muertos than go to Catholic Church for a more boring celebration of All Saints Day through a mass, literature, and scripture. I am bringing together some of my Catholic views of All Saints Day to tie in those prayers and traditions into this little book that has a Day of the Dead style design on the cover. Integrating cultures and traditions is the overall theme here.

Net Art Proposal

The words across the top will be links to the main 12 pages. The 12 images correspond to the words and will also take you to those same 12 main pages. For example the word "eyes" and the image in the square of an eye will both take you to the main page about Identity and the eyes. All linked pages will be other websites of relevant information dealing with different parts of the body and how the identify you. It is all interesting information along with some quizzes even. It is fun and interesting while also getting the viewer to look and think about their own self and body image and how that related to their identity.
All the pages will link to 4 common pages that talk about "Gender Identity", "Racial Identity", "Ethnic Identity" and "Our Sense of Identity" since every part of the body making up our whole human selves deals with these 4 areas. There will always be the main bar of words across the top so that on any page you may go to another easily with one click.

Net Art Project Ideas Group Critique

Body Image - Identity

Strengths:

- Linking of body/parts and identity lends itself well to fragmentation and/or simultaneous perspectives on a single narrative or event.

- Plenty of aesthetic and navigational options (Operation).

Improvements:

- Might benefit from a very specific focus (i.e. experiences related to a single part/process/issue, etc.)

- Concept might easily into chicles (Vagina Monologues, etc.)

Insight:

- Blind men and the elephant parable, reminisent of

Egon Schiele Illustrator Project

Using only shapes to recreate an Egon Schiele painting in Adobe Illustrator:

Laser Cut Skull File

Live Trace in Illustrator CS6

http://vector.tutsplus.com/tutorials/tools-tips/quick-tip-how-to-use-the-new-image-trace-in-adobe-illustrator-cs6/

Illustrator Tip: Create Custom Pattern Brush

Learn how to draw custom pattern brush easily in Adobe Illustrator. This tip will show you how to make pattern brushes and borders easily using the Brush pattern tool. This pattern brush technique can help you create nice photo frames in Illustrator. Enjoy!

1. Let’s start by drawing 3 squares and fill it will different colors and patterns. You might want to turn on grid to make it easily to draw the square aligning side by side.

2. Select the 3 shapes and drag them to your Brushes Palette as shown. A New Brush window will pop up. Select “New Pattern Brush” and click Ok. Now draw a rectangle and select our new pattern to tile it with the new pattern. You will notice the corner pattern is missing. Let’s fix that in our next step.

3. Select the green square and hold Alt/Option and drag it to the first box to set it as the corner shape.

That’s all. Our decorative pattern border is completed! Hope you have fun making your own custom pattern brush.

(*http://www.vectordiary.com/tips-and-tricks/illustrator-create-a-custom-pattern-brush/)

Simple Shape

Sketch-Up to Pepakura to Illustrator. Eventually to be put into laser cutter and made into 3D shape. Here is the image of my shape unfolded with the cut and fold lines from Pepakura.

Laser Cut Concept

http://www.phobe.com/coffins/more.html

http://hackerscouts.acemonstertoys.org/?p=70

I am going to be creating a coffin formed box out of wood. The top piece will also be wood with my skull cut out and etching. I am going to illuminate using small lighting or fake candle to light through the coffin box, through the skull image. 

Laser Cutter Ideas

3D artwork, layering from skull parts of face to real face with hair.

Idea of life and death represented.

I am not sure I could figure out how to do this but I would really love it!

Also, another idea of layering an image of a skull with wood or a different material. The top layers would be etched or cut into to create a somewhat intricate design into the outline of the skull. 

Identity in New Media Art

Identity in New Media Art and the Internet

I. Definition of IDENTITY

1: sameness of essential or generic character in different instances

b : sameness in all that constitutes the objective reality of a thing : oneness

2: the distinguishing character or personality of an individual : individuality

WHAT IS IDENTITY: Character, feelings, intelligence, and behavior etc; of the individual becomes personality. Tradition, rituals, ideology, practices etc; of the society, gives its significance. This significance becomes identity that identifies individuals and society. Identity varies from society to society and individual to individual as variation of systems or personality.

ART: is a mirror image of identity of individual or society. Yes it is reflection of what we feel, think, practice, ritual, believe, behave and the Character. On the whole ART is a reflection of ideology of the society and feelings and behavior etc; of individuals.

Therefore, art is an instrument to express feelings, desires, behavior, character, etc.
Art is a method of presentation that communicates and reflects the identity. 

(*source: *http://members.tripod.com/sadashivan_nair/freephotos4ursocialstudy/id35.html)

It can be argued that all objects of art concern and surround themselves ultimately with identity. It can be explicitly or implicitly. Collections of art can also be the same, whether they are institutional or personal in terms of the production and also the presentation. 

"Fact" and "fiction" play a role in identity in art. How much can we rely on art to tell us the truth and reflect reality? How do artistic conventions function as "silent" conveyors of identity?

(*source:http://historymatters.gmu.edu/d/6875)

II. Intro of Identity in the world, in our generation, the influence, etc.

III. Identity in New Media Art

IV. Examples
      A. Blackness for Sale - Keither Obadike (cultural context)
      B. Best Flamewar Ever
      C. Brandon - Shu Lea Cheang (gender issues)

Examples:

Rhizome.com is an art base, an online archive. It is a great website for new media art examples. 

-Best Flamewar Ever (King of Bards vs. Squire Rex, June 2004) is a two channel 3D computer animation diptych recreating an online flame war about degrees of expertise around the computer fantasy game Everquest. The specific points of contention may appear recondite at first glance, but gradually the unfolding narrative acquires an unexpected pathos and reveals a glimpse into the shifting codes of masculinity.

-Blackness for Sale (2001) - Keither Obadike

Vector Exercise for Adobe Illustrator

Pen tool exercise for Adobe Illustrator.

Bezold Effect

Using Illustrator, I attempted to create a Bezold Effect. The directions were to use 2 art boards with 2 different background colors, then create a pattern of different colors to use on both art boards. Check out the Bezold Effect the colors in the pattern make on the 2 different backgrounds.

Salvador Dali Exercise for Quick Mask

Exercise for Quick Mask learning in Photoshop

Here, we added a Dali's mustache and eyes onto his cat. Also, I added a text box. I had never used quick masking before so this exercise was very helpful.

Another Working GIF

Just for fun I wanted to go with this idea of the living and the dead. I love all Day of the Dead art, skulls, skeletons, etc. Showing a walking, turning skeleton, walking across the street of China Town in San Francisco, CA. I am still working further on this to perfect it, but I am posting it here as a start.

Final GIF

I made a DJing GIF of DJ Tiesto. I took screen shots of a youtube video. I wanted to capture different movement in the action of DJing. The GIF is a little separated and choppy, but as it plays over and over I like the rhythmic feel it gives. I did not want a smooth video of DJing. I liked the idea of the choppy rhythm of motion. I want the viewers to get this sense of rhythm and feel it in their mind and body; put your own music to the GIF. I tried to add in some lighting effects in a few frames to show a little more movement. I could have carried it throughout the whole GIF but felt as though it may be too distracting. I would have spent more time on the lighting if I could change anything about my final GIF. Hope you all enjoy... : )

*youtube video: Tiesto - Sensation White

Create "Nashville" Instagram Effect in Photoshop

Manually Creating The “Nashville” Effect

Starting Image

Find and image you'd like to play with, fire up either image editor. Save an alternate copy of your image so that you can revert at any time you need to.

Create a new Layer and fill it with a pale yellow color, then set that layer’s blending mode to multiply.

You can use a color similar to this RGB recipe, if you prefer. The RGB recipe of 250, 220, 175 and the hex #fadcaf will both recreate a similar color in either program.

(Author’s note: Changing this color can definitely affect your final result—so experiment with it!)

Jump back to your background layer. We’re going to make three quick adjustments to the background. First, adjust the central slider bar, moving it over toward the left side of the histogram. You should be adjusting in all three channels of your RGB.

To open Levels, Press Ctrl + L in Photoshop

Then, change levels to work in the “Green” channel, and adjust the output levels by moving them closer to the right side of the screen. Be certain to do this in the Green channel, and not any other, or the RGB channel.

Change your levels to adjust the “Blue” channel, and dramatically adjust the Output Levels slider. Once you’ve done all three of these, you can press OK.

With only those few steps, a photo can be dramatically transformed. You can always go further, but this is a fine vintage look in and of itself.

Vintage photo effects sometimes try to destroy detail, such as the flattened blacks and highlights to simulate bad prints or aged photo papers. Additional adjustments to levels can add to this effect, but are not necessary.

*Thanks for this trick from 

http://www.howtogeek.com/68431/create-instagram-style-photo-effects-with-gimp-or-photoshop/

Inspirational Skulls & Day of the Dead Art, Music

                         Sylvia Ji (artist)

Music

 Lauryn Hill

 Rick Ross

 Lil Wayne

Semester Proposal

       I am excited for this flexible artistic class this last semester of my four and a half years at San Jose State University. I do not have an exact "style" or aim for my work in general. I am still striving to find this. Therefore, it is difficult for me to have a clear and direct idea for this proposal for class. Most of my work has been done for class and specific projects. I need to branch out and do more of my own inspired work. 

My gif idea was just random. I enjoy music and recently have been into house music and listen with my friends frequently. We go out and dance to this music. I love to dance. Tiesto is playing at school in a month and I plan to go. I thought to check out videos on youtube of him DJing. I find the action and motions of DJing very interesting and captivating. I decided to do screen shots of different placements of hands and his body movements during one set at a concert. I took these images into Photoshop and turned them into frames. I feel as though my GIF sets a good rhythm of movements of DJing when it is played over and over continuously. I am working on adding a lighting technique over the top of the images, but I really do not know how to do it. I have been trying to look online for technique tips. 

I had other ideas of using a skeleton and mixing the image with a real body form of a person and having a motion of turning or a fade from real to bones. I am working more on this idea and will be doing a second GIF for further practice. I really like the idea of dead and living; mixing skeletons and skulls and bones in contrast to living forms and flowers and natural life. I love Day of the Dead type art and would like to integrate those ideas into my work somehow. I also enjoy urban art and integrating that into my practice.

My style I would say is eclectic and I do not have one set path. I feel as though I am somewhat all over the place. I would really to focus on my true objectives for my work and explore those in this class and figure out exactly what my path is for my design future. 

I will be posting some in the coming days. As the semester goes on, I will add to this proposal and edit as well. As the semester continues, I hope to learn a lot, explore some new techniques, figure out a more consistent subject, and really focus on what "style" I can describe my work as for the future. I have past work but it is mainly from classes so I cannot say that it truly reflects myself or my style. 

Working GIF

I really enjoy music and have been very into house music recently with my friends. When we go out it is mainly what we hear and dance to. I love to dance and move to the rhythmic beat and sounds of House music. I decided to look up videos of DJ Tiesto playing at a concert. I thought it would be interesting to take screen shots of different movements of the action of DJing. I took theses images into Photoshop and turned them into frames for my animation. I placed them in a sequential order. As the animation plays over and over there is a rhythmic feel that the viewer gets (I hope). I like the choppy feel of the video and get a rhythm from the continuous play. I feel as though the GIF is a little dull and I still want to add some lighting techniques over the top of my GIF. I am not sure how to do this so I am researching.