collagraph

my last project in printmaking was a collagraph. i wasn't a big fan of the process at first, but i've grown to like the odd details you can get from very few light marks. for the first print, i started with a thin piece of particle board a painted the background pattern with gesso (canvas primer and glue substance). i then glued on an m&m wrapper. i finished the plate by cover the wrapper with gesso and tamping my brush on large gobs of the stuff to create the pouring effect. inking the plate takes quite a bit of time. the goal is to spread ink across the surface and get it into the recessed surfaces and then wiping away the ink from the raised surfaces. it's time consuming. but it looks nice when it's all over with.

the assignment was to explore the theme of memory. the majority of my class explored specific memories about vacations, family, etc. i wanted to be a little less obvious with mine. my thoughts were about how memories dissolve like sugar in water. it's there... but rather diluted.

my second print is a monoprint AKA one of a kind print. i need to make six of them in total, so stay tuned for that. my first monotype was complete experimentation. i took my plate out into campus commons and attached a bunch of grass with gesso. there wasn't really a great way of achieving this that didn't rely heavily on the use of my hands. i made quite the mess. after allowing my plate to dry, i inked the plate similar to my collagraph, but then i used a brayer to put different colored ink onto the raised surfaces.

i wasn't completely satisfied with the finished project, mainly because it didn't work exactly how i thought it would... but how often does that happen?

run piggy run

i taught myself how use maya, specifically, how to rig characters in maya today. i modeled my pig character that i'm working on for a class assignment in modo and then brought it over to maya for rigging. the process of rigging and animating isn't so terribly hard... but maya really needs to work on their interface design. it's miserable being a new user. i understand how powerful the software is and how many functions are available... but holy crap. just take a look at the screen shot i took of maya. you're not even given a button label when you hover over anything. it's a complete guess. i'm sure with time i'll become familiar with everything and navigating the endless drop-down menus and tab bars will become second nature. but until then, i will continue to be hit and miss.

but i figured things out enough where i could start animating a running pig. considering that i am a maya/character-rigging virgin, i did pretty well. my pig still needs to get smoothed out, shaded, and put in an environment... but i shall leave that for another day.

block of wood

i made a good decision this semester by adding polar opposite art classes. most of my classes, since i am a multimedia design major, involve staring at a computer for long periods. i generally forget to blink. to counter balance this, i am also taking printmaking which, up to this point, has generally consisted mostly of woodblock prints. it really is a great combination. manually carving a plank of wood is very relaxing and a nice change of pace. there are no key frames to concern myself with. their isn't render times to manage... although... pulling prints and editions can get lengthy... but at least i am doing something as opposed to just staring at a computer monitor.

i really enjoy the look and texture of the prints i have made, especially the one i attached to this post. the digital version does it no justice. this printmaking process has given me some good ideas for animations as well. look for that in the future.

3d job application

i am applying for an internship with an established marketing company in minneapolis and part of the process was to create a blog post that discussed how i thought in social circles (company motto). my original concept that i began working on before spring break was a video about brain tweets. i had a bunch of footage shot, but for some reason i decided not to upload it to my computer before i left for spain.... and for some stupid reason i left my camera bag on the plane in madrid. needless to say, i never saw it again. so i got back from spain (which was awesome!) with no camera, no great blog idea, and a week and a half before the deadline.

after a couple days of going from new idea to new idea, i somehow landed on the thought of doing an anaglyiph 3d animation (the blue/red kind). i'm not sure why. i have never done anything like it before... but i guess what better time to go for the gusto than with a job application?