Week 8

 

CRAFT: Adobe Illustrator was the main program I used to do these different variations of my original creation. I used the stroke to add emphasis and color to the shapes i made originally using the pen tool in Ai. Using other tools like the gradient tool, I was able to make a halo on the image (bottom right) to give her an almost holy aura. I used the rectangle shape tool to hide the background and the other two figures while adding transparency so they wouldn't be blacked out entirely.

CONCEPT & COMPOSITION: :  Wanting to show how my aunt is one of the most important people in my life and who is often there for me when I feel I'm in a slump. In ways she is my saint, my savior who helps me through the darkness by her radiating light. Thus is why the background is darkened but not fully to give the effect she is glowing and lighting up the place. Every single one of these variations has a different concept to them and it is emphasized by the way they are arranged by color, shapes, gradients and strokes. Depending who or what is my priority or want to emphasize, I adjust every factor possible. Adjusting the transparency helps so much as well when you don't one something either hidden fully by a shape or if you just want something to pop without blinding the viewer.

Special Edition: Midterm

Untitled, 1960 by Lee Bontecou who was an American born in 1951.

It is made of steel and copper wire that she welded together and the canvas she salvaged from a used conveyor belt that had been discarded by a neighbor business and some burlap. The canvas and burlap are stretched and attached with wire onto the copper wire and steel though each fragment is blocked off to create levels and in a sense texture. This caught my eye simply due to the fact that it wasn't just some painting or an object created to look like something. It was on a wall with hardly anything else around to look at though I dare say my mind see's a hollow tree trunk from a bird's eye view looking down. The patches of burlap and canvas add almost like a wood texture to the entirety of the structure while the gaping black hole in the center draws a viewer farther in. It is simple, yet not totally so and it isn't trying to portray or shift into a form that is recognizable though are minds tend to do so automatically, thus my association to the bottom of a tree trunk. Its something truly incredible and one of a kind and although it seems like it doesn't belong in any actual place, this is what grasps my attention and reels me in.
"I am what I am even if I make no sense"
This is what I take from this untitled masterpiece.

Week 7

CRAFT: Using Adobe Illustrator, solely focusing on the pen tool without a stroke and using a fill, I rendered this image from an actual photograph I had taken with my camera. Using the eye drop tool, I filled in the shapes that I created with the pen tool by clicking on the original image and copying a color already present to try to keep it as realistic as the original.

CONCEPT: This is just the original and untouched version of the many I created. This is the first original rendering of the photograph with nothing too extravagant done to it. The three are posing for a picture in the basement, smiles on their faces as they enjoyed the moment and good memories of my sibling's birthday.
COMPOSITION:This is a computerized Adobe Illustrator version of an actual photograph of a few of my family members. The three are the main focus of the image with their colors being far more eye catching than the background. Although there is a fairly amount of good detail, one's eyes always focus on the three in front if not more so the female in the image. There is always something new to look at every time your eyes go around before coming back to the foreground.

Week 6

CRAFT: This is the basic outline of a real photograph from my own images. Using the pen tool in Adobe Illustrator, I was able to outline or trace the shapes I saw within the actual photograph to render my first version of it within the few basic shapes shown above. Each fill was recovered by clicking on the actual photo rather than guessing on the color graph.

CONCEPT: This is the basic outline of shapes of my photograph of my brother, my uncle and aunt. There are also the basic filled shapes of the background and ceiling. There isn't full detail yet because that is to come later in the process.

COMPOSITION: In this image, my eyes immediately fall to my aunt who is in the foreground with her 'pink' shirt. Slowly, they travel around in a semi-circle followed by my brother and finishing up with my uncle who is on the far left. Then the little detail on the ceiling also is quite unique because one can already see the different levels and colors of it. Even with no real detail of texture, it isn't hard to see that there is a sense of depth.

Week 5

CRAFT: Using Adobe Illustrator, I created this image using only the shapes that were given in the panel. Colors and gradients varied in the image as I tried to make a scene.

CONCEPT: It is a futuristic automobile that runs on water or perhaps a form of gas other than gasoline. It also 'flies' in the air (hover).  The gradient for the background also helps give the illusion of either a sunset or sunrise.

COMPOSITION: Focus is immediately on the 'automobile' of my image for it is in the foreground. I made it appear like a snapshot of it in motion so it would appear so boring just floating in some empty space. I also added a few elements to the background to also add some dimension and interest.

Week 4

CRAFT: Adobe illustrator with the bamboo tablet and pen. It was painted in a Mac computer in my Computer Graphics class as one of my color assignments.
CONCEPT: This is my rendering of an abstract painting of sushi of an image from the internet. Using color and volume, this image was done in the different values of a purple, black being the darkest shade possible.

COMPOSITION: Attention is drawn to the black shade of the sushi for it shines more against the mute grey and purple shades it is painted against. Slowly, my eyes move to the left, following the wrap up onto the 'rice' before making a complete circle. Although the back is all swirls, it doesn't take away from the painting because of its mute color pallet. 

Week 3

 

 

 

CRAFT: This was crated with Adobe Illustrator and the Bamboo tablet and pen. The strokes were of 1pt and used the shades between black and white to emphasize its 3D form and volume under a lamp.

CONCEPT: This drawing is of a tea cup in  a nearly dark room lit under a lamp. This was the object I was represented with to draw first with the idea of volume.

COMPOSITION: The shading within the cup emphasized the different shades of light that hit the tea cup from the lamp it was underneath. One can make out the direction of the light source as my eyes go down towards the darkest part of the illustration that is at the bottom left.  

Week 2

CRAFT: This was created using Adobe illustrator and the bamboo drawing tablet. Its an image made of simple single strokes. I tried to keep the images within 100 strokes.
CONCEPT: The image above is that of a cylinder, round coffee pot. This was the first object I was assigned to draw in class.
COMPOSITION: My eyes immediately fall onto the top of the actual pot rather than the handle because of the proximity of the lines. My eyes move down before coming back up to land on the spout. The lines are slanted before finally following the arch of the handle.

Week 1

Karina Ramirez

I am a sophomore at SXU and I major in Graphic Design. I will be the first college graduate from my immediate family also. What I want to do with this major has yet to come to me, but I will hopefully learn and understand how I can make myself and others happy with my creativity.