Mural project

To ale a mural was probably one of the hardest projects I have ever done but being able to do it with friends did make the process a whole lot more enjoyable. The theme of courage was a bit difficult to convey but I feel that it turned out pretty successful in the end. To start of we thought of all the words we felt associated with the idea of courage and then we began to sketch out stuff. Bringing our ideas together I think was probably one of the hardest parts but somehow we were able to make it all work. After drawing in detail out indivisible parts in pencil we put it all together in photoshop which I personally am absolutely clueless about. Then it was time to start preparing our surface.
  To start off we covered our entire surface with primer and then let it sit and dry. After that we measured the paper the get even 6inch blocks throughout the surface so it would match the grid on our reference sheets. Following the measuring we lettered and numbered our grids to make life a little easier, then it was time to start drawing. Drawing was very difficult because it was hard to erase lines and it was hard to place everything in the correct place (especially straight lines). I'm not very used to working on a larger scale so that made this project ten times more difficult for me, especially with the figures.

  After I nothing drawing we started to plan out colors. Personally I didn't like the idea of using so many browns and warm colors but I think overall it worked out pretty nicely. Trying to covey the idea of one central light source was hard and I felt it could have been executed better me dramatizing the values with the figures a bit more. I also wish there was a bit more variation in the sky. Maybe some dark purples, pinks or at least more blues. I must say that for a first mural it turned out well and hopefully I can use what I learned from this project for my mural class in the fall

This mural I like

   This mural that I like is by Marion Greenwood. It was repainted in 1972 at the University of Tennessee  but was originally commissioned in 1954. Because of the disapproval of African American students on how a slave was depicted in the mural it was vandalized in May of 1970.

    In this mural maroon was able to strongly depict Tennessee history with strong vibrant colors and dynamic figures. From the history of the blues, religion, and good old country music she was able to compose all the figures in a space and with just the right composition so it could keep your eyes moving throughout the entire image.

   I personally really like the image. I love how she's able to depict the states history with not just the figures but with the colors as well. I also like how she was able to fit so much history in one space. Also I must admit my decision is quite biased considering half of my family is from the south 

                       

Society of Illustrators: Our first field trip

   Last week we went on a field trip. A surprise field trip to the society of illustration. While glancing throughout  the small museum  we saw works by concept artists, animators, and of course illustrators, most well known for their work in movies and comics which was really exciting to see. But I must say the one that really caught my eye was an excerpt from a comic by Jason Caffoe called "Explorer:The Lost Islands."

   What I admired most about his work was his use of vibrant, fun colors, which I happen to use a lot of in my own work (especially paintings). He used digital as his medium which I found unique because most of the work was either in pencil, ink, or some other colorful medium that I could not recognize. Hopefully someday I'll be able to do digital stuff but until then I shall continue to be confined to the comfort of my sketchbook.