Sofisti-Phunk

Curious Goods

2011-01-24T07:48:00.000-08:00

I do have some of my own projects going on but this week I discovered Switch Modern. I've been a bit distracted with.... well whatever the internet equivalent of window shopping is.

This is the Hand Hook - Bestow

by Harry Allen for Areaware

Entomo Black - Fine Bone China

by Monica Tsang for The New English

Some recent school work

2010-12-19T17:21:00.000-08:00

To me it seems as if I just made the previous post a few weeks ago. This semester was busy. I did keep 2 out of 3 promises though. I'll get back into the swing of this blogging over the holidays.

Notebook: 10 sheets of notebook paper for different traits
Talkative, Smart, Destructive, Tall, Messy
Hyper, 4-Eyes, Distant, Complicated, Confused

4 Black squares depicting: Order, Bold, Tension, Congestion

Sounds Like Illustration: Nails on a Chalk Board

Sounds Like Illustration: Banshee

Cliche Illustration

Icon - Symbol Set: Chair, Umbrella stand, Bar Cart, Wardrobe

There is a secret group of people who controls EVERYTHING in your life. They call themselves graphic designers.

2010-08-16T19:01:00.000-07:00

It's been quite some time since I was blogging regularly. Be that as it may Google Blogger, I remembered my password and you don't have a choice but to take me back.

There is something I have never told anyone before and Google Blogger, in my long awaited return I want to share my secret insecurity with you. I am horribly afraid of failure so much so that it has sincerely ruined many things for me. I reflect and spend an obscene amount of time trying to discover my style and talent. What I've decided is maybe my work isn't special. Maybe I can't deliver anything any other designer couldn't, but I'm really good at talking and acquiring the things I need. What I'm trying to say is, I may just be the behind the scenes person. Coming from a former community theater actress with several lead roles, that was very difficult to admit to myself. But there it is. I read that several times just now and felt compelled to nod my head at my self. This is what it comes down to, the brilliant artists and designers I admire have a talent for creating things we need and/or desire. Behind all of these things, whether it's the cozy, affordable IKEA chair I'm reclined in as I tap away on my MacBook or Sargent's Madam X hanging in the Met, there is someone(s) that made those things available to us. I am more like that person than Sargent.
So life course, I found my true passion and narrowed in on my target. But what to do with this fear of failure? When I have come to my 80% in progress something shuts down. Every project is anti-climatic. I've been working through these issues and I think I am prepared to conquer this. I lack discipline and structure but I know to get what I want I have to come out on top. To keep myself on course I've decided to do three simple things:
1. Draw Daily no matter what it is, to keep my hand in shape. I cramped in my foundations review BAD but what else would you expect from someone who hadn't drawn anything other than holiday cards in 14 months (that's pretty embarrassing to admit)
2. Study Daily Resources for artists, illustrators, and designers of all types are plentiful. I'm currently reading "Graphic Artists Guild Handbook Pricing and Ethical Standards" twelfth edition.
3. Share Weekly I will be searching for people, places and things to critique and post them here

I've spent the past year quietly observing, anxious, frustrated, and creatively speaking uninspired. I've moped around obsessing over where I was going with this whole graphic design thing (aside from the obvious finishing my degree), feeling pathetic, hating my work, my laziness and my self loathing. I let go and focused on other aspects of my life. Not that I haven't had a terrific year, because it's been awesome. Traveling was involved. My boyfriend and I visited the Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth, the Kimbell Art Museum, the Dallas Museum of Art, the Crow Collection of Asian Art, the Blanton Museum of Art at the University of Texas at Austin, and the Oklahoma City Museum of Art. This has become our thing. While each of these dates were special, romantic and healthy for our relationship, thinking back to these visits collectively- the first thing that crosses my mind is how much $ I witnessed. Today I have fully accepted and embraced the business behind it all. I now have to work harder than I ever worked before, to finish my degree and learn all I can so I can make money.

oh my.

2009-10-06T22:14:00.001-07:00

While I was complaining about work (day job) related situations I realized I've been letting those things I don't honestly care about get under my skin far too easily. I worked through my thoughts and concluded if I were actually spending time doing something other than my day job, I would care about those other things and wouldn't be thinking about work once I clocked out. I simultaneously became aware of how very little I have focused on my passions the past few months. So I'm back :) not that blogging is necessarily a passion but this blog is focused on design, art and creativity. Starting it was originally a way to procrastinate building my design website but in the past it was very helpful to remind me to keep my passions in my day to day life.
I don't have much of a comeback blog for you, but I will share this site I discovered today.

Also, I am admitting my embarrassment for my utter laziness. This blog was started just a little more than a year ago, which means my website has been procrastinated for nearly two years. Seriously pathetic.

Never Can Say Goodbye

2009-06-26T09:17:00.000-07:00

I just started my post series of dedications to my creative influences through out the years and to be completely honest, Michael Jackson was on the list before he passed. I still listen to MJ on a weekly basis. My mother had me in 1985 when she was 22 and I actually grew up watching MTV with her. I developed a taste in music very early. My first favorite video...

My favorite coworker is a 76 year old woman named Marie. This morning she shared a story with me about seeing MJ perform with the Jackson 5 at the Oklahoma City Civic Center.

Because MJ will have millions of tributes to him over the next few weeks I am going to write much less about him than I intended. Already I have heard negativity towards us fans. I just want to say that despite all the controvercies, no one can deny the world of music and entertainment has suffered a tremendous loss. His impact was so great, his shoes will never be filled.

Dr. Seuss

2009-05-28T13:34:00.000-07:00

I'm revisiting some of my earliest creative influences/idols. First up is Dr. Seuss. My all time favorite animation of his stories is "The Lorax" with "The Hooberbloob Highway" a close second.
Seuss was socially relevant, colorful, imaginative and enjoyable for all ages. To me, he is timeless. I had an idea to do a Seuss inspired cityscape for a design project this year. I didn't have the time to do what I originally envisioned but it is definitely a project in my to-do list. While I was browsing Seuss images for this idea I stumbled across something that blew my mind. I knew Seuss was an illustrator aside from just a children's author but I had no idea he did political cartoons. Check out the links , enjoy the cartoon and I hope it brings you the same warm nostalgic feelings it brought me.

Monday bonus post

2009-05-25T13:03:00.001-07:00

This is a painting I did in 2006. I had it framed and gifted it to my mom. It hangs in her hallway.

It's about that time

2009-05-25T12:12:00.000-07:00

Forgive the hiatus. As you might have guessed from my last post I had a lot going on for a while. Then I took a week and a half to chill out and celebrate my birthday :-)

Here are more assignments throughout this past semester that I didn't get posted.

The first set are from Foundations I: 2d Design and are all explorations of different design elements. They're not entirely fleshed out so don't look at them as complete compositions.My color wheel -very difficult to photograph the true colors but I liked the idea of it anyway

complimentary colors scale

The rest of these are all from my Drawing I class
10 quick sketchesstill life, my apologies for the lighting washing it out when it was photographed. tree in inkstill life in charcoal - we worked on this for 3 weeks in class but I missed a class so mine doesn't look quite as finished as it should

And that's the last of it! I've completed another semester of school. I'm out for the summer and it's time to get serious about Design. Working full time and schooling full time all while trying to maintain some sort of social life and complete freelance work the past 5 months taught me that I never want to do that again. In the past month I gained and lost 2 jean sizes. Weight fluctuation for me is the biggest physical sign of unnecessary stress. This summer I'm committed to getting my professional website launched and clearing my freelance plate (getting paid for the jobs I've already committed to). Come fall semester I want to be 100% devoted to design. I'm going to put more effort and time into my school work and begin shaping my portfolio. Most importantly I'll only be working weekends with my day job so I need to be ready and able to get enough freelance work to cover my expenses. I think my life and priorities have been slowly moving toward this path but it's time for me to get serious. I don't feel as if I've reached even half my potential because I'm too stressed out and tired from trying to fit in a full time job to pay for this education. What's the point of the education if you're not really getting the most out of it?

Happiness and Alex Pardee

2009-04-30T22:44:00.000-07:00

A long time friend, Ashley aka Trashley tagged me to write a list. I wouldn't normally consider doing this on my art blog.; I have Facebook for that. However, I think when you're feeling especially bogged down you need to breath and remind yourself of pleasant things to keep up your drive. I'm a firm believer in the philosophy of doing the things that you are most passionate about and if you're generally unhappy you're perfectly capable of changing that.
So, things that make me happy...

1. Mention the person who nominated you (see above).
2. List six unimportant things that make you happy.
3. Tag six blogs, state the rules and notify them with a teeny comment on their blog.

I'm having a difficult time thinking of things that aren't important. That's funny because Ashley's always teased me about being too serious. Ok I can do this....

1. The smell of rain and a cool breeze on a summer evening
2. Success at a perfect fried egg, over medium
3. Cutting paper
4. A really good cup of oolong or pu erh
5. Phone calls from people I miss for no reason
6. art/craft/office supplies

Annnd I'm not going to tag anyone. I'd love to read yours if you feel like doing it. Otherwise here's another artist for your viewing enjoyment: Alex Pardee

I saw this print for sale at the giant peach. I looked at the artist and sort of recognized the name. Looked him up and sure enough he's done several album covers I'm familiar with. I think I like him for a few of the same reasons I like Jeff Soto. I love contrasting disturbing/grotesque/gruesom/dreary images with bright colors. So check him out.
ps, #7 bonus track for happiness, receiving unnecessary gifts

Another 2d design assignment

2009-04-27T20:06:00.000-07:00

The Shoe Movement

2009-04-21T08:56:00.000-07:00

The past several months my sister has been on a kick about Toms shoes. She loves them and wears the hell out of hers, and I've definitely made fun of her. What's so great about them? I just didn't get it. I do love my slip-on Vans especially because I bought them on clearance for $5 and certainly wear the hell out of those but Toms look like any pair of shoes I could pick up at an Asian market for that same price. I thought it was just a silly fad. That is, until I read this article from the L.A. Times by Booth Moore. If ever I was caught with my foot in my mouth...
This company has been around for just about 3 years and what makes them so great is the one for one policy. You buy a pair of shoes for yourself and you're also buying a pair of shoes for a needy child. Beautiful. So I give in and I'll probably be buying a pair this summer.

In-class drawing: live portrait

2009-04-16T21:05:00.000-07:00

Kurt Halsey

2009-04-09T12:53:00.000-07:00

Kurt Halse y is Precious Moments for the hipster, which is probably why I like him so much. I was one of those little girls that had Precious Moments books, dolls, collectibles, and Valentines Cards. So his work seems like a nod to my childhood. The fact that you can buy reproductions of his work at Urban Outfitters proves it's for the hippest of the hipsters. And since you can also buy a pattern of his art from Sublime Stitching, it again reminds me of Precious Moments. Who didn't have a Precious Moments cross stitching kit? There's not too much to say about him or his work other than it is warm and sweet and trendy. The one with the Umbrella is my favorite. And in case you can't see well, the one with the birds says, "We are more than most will ever find" and the post-it says "So don't fuck it up."

9 to 5ers Anthem by Aesop Rock

2009-04-08T08:46:00.000-07:00

"Now we the American working population
Hate the fact that eight hours a day
Is wasted on chasing the dream of someone that isn't us
And we may not hate our jobs
But we hate jobs in general
That don't have to do with fighting our own causes
We the American working population
Hate the nine-to-five day-in day-out
When we'd rather be supporting ourselves
By being paid to perfect the pasttimes
That we have harbored based solely on the fact
That it makes us smile if it sounds dope"

Shepard Fairey

2009-04-07T11:02:00.000-07:00

Please take some time to read Shepard Fairey's statement regarding his legal battle with the Associated Press. He used an AP photo as a reference to create his monumental "Hope" poster for Barack Obama.
A blog on Shepard Fairey (Obey) is probably long past due. He is definitely a huge inspiration. His work is incredibly impactful and though he's humble about it, that "Hope" image was the visual summation of Obama's campaign and a great success. Simultaneously he has definitely gained attention from people who ordinarily wouldn't give his work a second thought. This man is at the forefront of the art and design world and a wonderful role model. He has shared his financial blessings with charities, including the effort in Darfur and also sits on the advisory board for a non-profit organization called Reaching to Embrace Arts.
Most importantly he has taken meaningful, socially relevant art and placed it in dozens of contexts. Art is inseparable from culture and Shepard Fairey demonstrates that eloquently.

*I wrote Shepard Fairey an e-mail of support concerning this issue yesterday and by last night he'd written an e-mail of gratitude back. Unexpected and appreciated. Nice Guy.*

2D Design Assignment #4: Unity & Variety

2009-04-07T10:04:00.000-07:00

Native Art and Recognition in American Pop Culture

2009-04-02T10:43:00.000-07:00

I have decided that I love working with charcoal and am really excited about it. This is assignment #6 from drawing class.

I want to discuss art in a slightly more serious tone. A girl in my drawing class, Kristen, and our professor, Farrah, were discussing another professor. Farrah said when she was in grad school she thought his (the other professor's) work was crap. She said, in a laughter with a tinge of bitterness, that she felt people who do Native American art in this country have a much easier time selling and that they have the biggest market. Farrah and Kristen were right next to me so I decided to chime in.

It's not that they have the biggest market, it's that they have a large niche market. The buyers who like Native American art like this style almost exclusively. However I think Farrah's tinge of bitterness was implying that these artists don't necessarily have to be very talented, educated, or skilled comparatively to artists in other styles. Kristen even compared the exclusive purchasing of Native art to decorating your home head to toe, "white trash". Kristen is part Native, as am I, but we have VERY different opinions of this. OKAY White trash? Keyword=Trash. This is a negative label obviously and it upsets me to hear another person with a similar background as mine to compare the pride of Native heritage to White Trash pride, implying we're ignorant savages. She also said, "I just never got into the dream catchers and all that other stuff." Thanks Kristen, you're not doing anything to advance your people. Do us all a favor and just stop telling people you're part Native.
I know this blog is supposed to be reserved for art but sometimes you just can't deny it's social importance. Artists and artisans that work in cultural relevance are vital to the identity of a society or group of people. This is something that has been on my heart for quite some time. It has recently come to my attention that in general Americans really don't understand what happened to the indigenous people here. It's great that minorities are found in pop culture more and more (even if it's unevenly and almost generically represented). Our country has a huge fascination with Asian culture, and again this is awesome. All cultures interest me, but when was the last time you saw Native Americans in our pop culture? I'm almost positive that you would find at least 100x more Americans that know the differences between ethnicities in Asia than you could Americans who know that there are even differences at all between the Native American tribes.
I don't want to turn this into a rant about the struggles of Native people, but I do want to point out the unacceptable lack of representation in pop culture. I think this even contributes to deep seeded issues similar to my classmate's, Kristen who doesn't feel like it's admirable to have Native pride. But seriously people, if we're not even represented in American pop culture, where is it you think we're represented? At our pow wows, huh? Leave the Native culture to those select events. There's no place for it in your media and your art world...
That's changing, maybe not as fast as I'd like but there are people who are pushing to make these changes, and artists are the most influential to make change in this way. Did you click on the link for Demockratees when I blogged about Lush Life? Well you should check this guy out. As a designer who happens to also have Native American heritage I am ecstatic to see this. There is no reason why we have to do "Native Art" traditionally. It is definitely relevent in preserving what we have left of our culture, but it is also necessary to continue building on this culture.

a few facts relevent to my tribal background, Choctaw:

The Choctaw people were the first to be removed from their land and placed in Indian Territory during the Trail of Tears
It's estimated 70% of the Choctaw people died during this time.
Oklahoma comes from the Choctaw words "ukla" meaning person and "humá" meaning red.
The time period in which public education made it illegal to speak indigeous languages created a gap in the generations. To promote fluency in the language the Choctaw tribe offers free language classes to tribal members. Visit the Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma for more information. Choctaw is also offered at several major universitites, including the University of Oklahoma.

Catching up

2009-03-31T21:02:00.001-07:00

Two posts in one day was not enough. I finally uploaded more pics from drawing class.
This is actually homework assignment #1, the previous posts were #2 and #3

This is in-class still life #4

This is not the finished product of a landscape I did in class. I'll take another pic of the finished once it's been graded.

Two Posts in One Day!

2009-03-31T11:21:00.000-07:00

Home work #2

Home work #3

Lush Life - Late

2009-03-17T11:50:00.001-07:00

A hip hop art & fashion expo at IAO gallery in OKC 03/14/09

Awesome. Great turn out, larger venue would have been nice. In fact, I have a feeling if a larger venue is chosen for next year it could double in attendance and artist participation.

Here are the Indie clothing lines that were featured
Tree and Leaf Clothing
Demockratees
Group Fly
Sikenomics
Cadillac Cowboy
Blooprint Clothing

and Thought Collective for which I have designs coming out this summer. Stay Tuned!

2D design assignment #3

2009-03-15T01:32:00.000-07:00

geometric shapes using various mediums in gray tones: paint, charcoal, pencil & marker

Art Dharma

2009-03-10T10:58:00.001-07:00

I have this professor for 2D design, this very long winded and less helpful professor that I've had for a couple of classes in the past and hasn't changed. However, yesterday he lectured for TWO HOURS. That's pretty excessive for a design class. Normally I just get started on the work but he was actually addressing a student with a problem I've faced many times. This guy was struggling to produce something up to his standards and trashed his work the night before so he had nothing to present for critique. Our professor addressed this issue quoting Van Morrison and Zen concepts. He said he was sympathetic and not offended because sometimes you just don't get the result you expect. But, "A professional works everyday no matter how he feels" just to keep the motivation going even in complete desperation. The push and pressure from a dumb idea can accomplish remarkable results. "Great faith, great doubt, great practice" curiosity & inventiveness... wake up to the possibility. Every artist has to learn how to assimilate this to your own daily creative process.
The creative process..... yeah I'm working on that. I have this awesome work space at home. My walls and shelves are covered with things that inspire me but I just haven't pushed myself enough. I told my friend Loren the other day that I hate drawing because I'm slow and it doesn't come easy. But I love it because once I push myself to finish I've improved. But I hate it. And I hate things I'm not naturally good at. Obviously what I feel about drawing is another one of those love/hate relationships.
New goal: I want to start making my self draw in my sketch book daily.

PS I said I'm going to post all of my work from school this semester and I meant it. I just haven't got around to taking pictures of all of it. But I do have 7 assignments from Drawing class and 7 from 2d design and they will be up sometime this month. Here is my 2nd in-class still life. I turned it in unfinished, again because 3 hours is not enough time for me. About the quality of the photo... yeah I take these with my phone. Get over it =)

Rima Makeup Studio Ad

2009-03-06T14:13:00.000-08:00

Yay, finally some work to show you! Yes, I was the model for this ad but not by choice. She made me because it was last minute and I was the most convenient. It will print 5x15in. and also 5x13 in several of the Oklahoma City area high school papers.

What you miss when you are late for everything

2009-02-23T22:40:00.000-08:00

My friend Brad introduced me to Regina Spektor in the fall of 2007. I have since acquired every one of her albums and memorized the lyrics to nearly every song. I absolutely love her. She's become one of my favorite musical artists. I got on wikipedia tonight because Brad told me a very touching story about her song "Sampson" a while back and I wanted to see if I could find more background. I didn't, but I did discover that she opened for The Strokes during their 2003-2004 Room on Fire tour along with the Kings of Leon...... um wait, I went to that concert!

Yeah, I went and I was incredibly late. I saw the end of Kings of Leon, literally their last two songs. As they were the second opening act, I clearly missed Regina Spektor. I could have been enjoying her songs for at least three years before hand. The Strokes were by the way, an impressive live act, lots of energy. I remember Jules leaning over the railing seperating the crowd from the stage and falling in, on accident, head first right in the middle of a song. He continued to sing and didn't miss a single word all the way to recovering his composure on the other side of the railing. Very entertaining and one of my fondest live music memories.
Anyway, this disapointment may seem trivial, oh wow so you didn't hear a singer when you could have big deal, but it is a big deal to me. Music is a very important part of my life and the writing of various artists have made huge footprints on who I am and helped me acquire new perspectives. Realizing what I missed out on Regina simply because I am not punctual has made me realize I should put a little more effort into moving a little quicker when getting out of the house. Honestly, I am rarely on time for anything. Who knows what else I have missed. From this day forward I will have slightly more motivation to be punctual.

*Brad's music myspace is kind of a joke to him. He never logs in or updates and the recordings do not do his guitar skills justice. This guy is the most amazing guitar player-for-hobby I have ever heard. He's also very artistically inclined for visual media and a lot of fun.

When Arrows Don't Penetrate, Cupid Grabs the Pistol

2009-02-14T09:11:00.000-08:00

This is obviously not an official Outkast video but I love this song and really love Andre 3000. Listen to it and enjoy your V-Day, be it with a significant other, friend, family member, or yourself :-)

Reviews on professional printers

2009-02-12T10:50:00.000-08:00

For the first five years I did design work I never had to deal with a printer or the technical side and requirements of my files. That was the early years back when it was a hobby, before graphic design became my major and before I got paid more than $75 for an ad. Looking back my first experience with a printer was unbelievable. King Kopy in Noman, Oklahoma is amazing. They are friendly and helpful, even when the store front is crowded and busy. Their prices are extremely affordable and my fliers came out perfect. Absolutely no complaints. If you're in the area, I highly recommend them. These files aren't that old actually but I had very little art education and absolutely no design education so of course I'm looking at them now and seeing all my design flaws. BUT when I printed them, the print quality was terrific and that's what this entry is about.

Moving on to the next company I used, Next Day Fliers, it's far from a happy ending. I first ordered business cards for Marion Kay, full color front, black and white back, UV coated, and Rima, full color front and back, also UV coated. These cards looked amazing and you couldn't beat the price **I'd like to interject, because a friend of mine was disappointed in the timeliness she received from another printer, when they say "press ready files the next day" that means the job starts the next day. It does not mean they'll be shipped the next day**. The cutting was great, colors were dead on. My boss liked them so much I a made a 3rd design for all the people who work at her salon. At this point I actually had formal design education under my belt and I know how to create press ready files on my own. I also know to do test prints at home and I know the difference between mustard yellow and a subtle cream. What I didn't know is not all printers care about you, your design or your colors. They care about getting the order out quick and making money. The cards came back in 8 different variations of mustard yellow. They were so hideous. When I called about the colors being so far off I was passed through 3 people over the course of a week. I finally dealt with a very pushy guy who was incredibly condescending. He said he looked at the file and the print sample and said the colors were the same. He mocked me and asked if I understood the difference between RGB and CMYK, if I'd ever used a color index, and refused to give me more than a discount of 40% on my next order. I was so flustered you can't even imagine. For those of you who don't know me personally, I am a pleasant person but when it comes to taking care of business, I always take care of business. I learned from my grandmother, a fantastically strong woman, who knew how to tell a sales person what she was going to pay and walk away with free gifts. The fact that I couldn't get a free re-print out of this guy says that he is really good at his job and that Next Day Fliers has experienced this situation with other customers many times before me. Now, a printer should be allowed some margin of error. Their colors can't be perfect 100% of the time but the color variation in this order was unacceptable. If a company can't take responsibility for such a terrible job, the savings is not worth taking the chance. Sadly, my boss chose to go a head and take the 40% off and reprint with white backgrounds (which she prefers anyway because her design taste is pretty conservative). I vowed to never use them again and I hope you spread the word.
*I'm going to scan and post a document with the failed print job and what the colors should have been at another time*
When it came time to re-order Marion's cards we went with Jak Prints, efficient, environmentally friendly and they offer a hard copy proof. Rima was very enthusiastic about printing green and we were pleased with the final result. Absolutely no complaints on my part! The prices are competitive but a little higher than what Rima wanted to pay for her cards. So she chose a company she had experience with in college, PK Graphics. I thought she knew from the Next Day Fliers fail that it's worth paying a little extra to ensure you'll get exactly what you want. I guess not. The colors are very vivid, although the black ink looks slightly smudged. That however is not the fault that pushed me over the edge. *Again another scanned image to come* It was the atrocious cutting. In an order of 5000, almost all the edges of at least one side were frayed. For about 1/4 of the cards on another side you can see colors that are distinctly from another design order. The cut is made past my safety lines and you see lime green and sky blue.
If Jak Prints is in your budget, I highly recommend them. Not only will you be satisfied, you will be making less of an impact on our planet :-) If they aren't within your budget here are some tips to get a satisfactory print job from another company:

Always use a color index when you design
Pre-print from home and/or the office
Get a hard copy proof
Educate your self on the company's policies and disclaimers
Once you find a company you're satisfied with, hold on to them like gold. Become a loyal customer. Refer friends, colleagues, competitors, anyone and everyone. When your printer does mess up, and they probably will, you can use your loyal customer status as leverage.

Where have all the real fashion designers gone?

2009-02-11T14:12:00.000-08:00

I am so very annoyed with women's fashion right now. I'd like to see more originality and less recycling of the biggest-mistakes-in-the-industry (Marc Jacobs, Why!?!?). I'm going back to my high school mentality of wearing absolutely anything I feel like, but this time I'll do it right :-) (No more pencil thin eyebrows, men's pants that sag in the butt or ill-fitting thrift store find- I own a sewing machine now)
If you like the current trends, more power to you but it's not my taste. What is my taste? It's very eclectic and hard to describe. Sometimes I feel like dressing up but most of the time I dress down. I love hip hop culture and I like almost everything at the Giant Peach.
But actually I've tightened up my budget to save for next year aka my final senior year aka the busiest and most expensive year of my adult life up until now. So I can't shop for clothes for a very long time. That's alright, I think I have enough to re-dress every hipster in Norman. (yes, those are photos of three closets I use. What you don't see in the first closet are 3 drawers on either side of the doors and clothes on both poles pushed back.)

Valentines Cards

2009-02-05T11:06:00.001-08:00

Valentines Day is coming up. One of my favorite hobbies is making greeting cards. I think it's more personal and a lot less stressful than shopping for something that says what you want to say, exactly the way you want it. I actually screen printed my Valentines a few months ago so I don't have anything new of my own work to show you. However, if you're not so crafty yourself check out these cards from Felix Populi (Brini Maxwell/Ben Sander). I think the design concept of "Don't let Love get away" is really cute and there is also a T-shirt available in that design.

In other news this semester I'm taking a drawing class. I definitely don't have a strength in drawing, or at least I'm not confident in it. I don't ever show people my sketch books. Actually, I never keep them. I fill them up and throw them away. I've been forcing myself to sit down and draw more often the past year but I know I need to be pushed more. When I met my drawing instructor I knew right away I was going to hate her in a really good way. She's a short, systematic, strict Asian lady. She makes us do specific drawing exercises every class period for 30 minutes. This is part of a participation grade. We spend the next 3 hours on an in-class assignment. Then she assigns homework to be turned in at the beginning of the next class.
The first in-class assignment was a still life of white styrofoam geometric shapes. Big surprise. I've been given this assignment so many times I can't count. Well I'm very self conscious in school so I like to camp out in the back and not interact with the other students. I don't like to feel discouraged or intimidated at school and art majors tend to be so arrogant. Once the instructor makes her way to me she just stands behind me, watching me work for a few minutes. Finally she says, "How do you feel?" WTF I'm thinking, well I felt ok until you asked me that. What am I doing wrong?? She starts talking about shading all the objects at once instead of working from piece to piece and how to blur things gradually the further they are in the background. Well, duh. I know this but I'm just not that great ok lady? First assignment, give me a break!
Then she surprises me, "I'm telling you this because you are obviously at a different skill level than the rest of the class and I see I'm going to need to challenge you."
Um, what? She left me slightly confused. I get up to get a drink of water and walk the hallway for a few minutes and finally get a glimpse at my classmates work. I don't think it's that different than mine, but when I walk back in the classroom, get a second look and finally get in front of my work I am quite surprised. I am actually at a different skill level than the rest of these students. That is not to say I'm great, just better than I thought. I know that I can definitely improve this semester and I need to get more comfortable with my work SO I've decided to post everything I do in drawing class. This is a big step for me guys so be kind :-)

promises promises:actions speak louder than words

2009-01-29T20:44:00.001-08:00

I haven't been posting much at all. However, I resolved to stay away from facebook and myspace for an entire school semester in hopes to be more productive. It's been two days and I think realistically all I'm going to do is spend that time on other websites and continue to search for substitutes. Dare I create a twitter account? Let's hope I don't stoop to that low.
I started an art wishlist for the holidays and never finished it. oops.
In other news I went to the nation's capital for Obama's inauguration, a once in a lifetime experience. I'm glad it happened in my lifetime.
I also went to NYC the so called hub of the art world.... well I'm pretty sure San Fran is where it's at, but only pretty sure as I've never been there. You tell me. I saw a lot of art in NYC though. Some of it pretty lame but a lot of it was quite awesome. I discovered James Jean and took many photo's of his Kindling show at the Jonathan Levine Gallery.
I also bought a print (18/50 AP) of Jeff Soto's "Turtle God" (see this blog's first ever post). I am quite fond of Jeff Soto and it holds sentimental value for me. I stumbled across his artwork in Juxtapoz the first time I ever picked the magazine up. He is the reason why I continued to buy that magazine, why I started following the type of art I do and how I developed taste. "Turtle God" was the first of his I ever saw so it seems fitting for it to be the first piece of art I ever invest in. No it's not an original but come on, I don't have that kind of money ;-)

Me=Fail. Wiley=?

2008-12-14T22:15:00.000-08:00

5-color, green film, fail. One of my worst days in serigraphy class, 2^nd to last class time, a nazi lab tech, I got really frustrated and scraped that design. But it’s all good because it was actually my plan B. I went to Plan A and did a 5-color (photo technique) for Usugrow’s lotus design with “Namaste” printed underneath. I haven’t taken a picture yet but I’ll get to that. I’ve only made one print (on a black tank top for myself) but I have a bag of shirts I was going to use with this one. Still waiting for my instructor to give me a time I can come to campus and finish it up.

In the mean time, I give you Kehinde Wiley. His works can be found in Harlem, Brooklyn, Chicago, Sheboygan, Columbus, D.C., and Minneapolis, to name a few. I don’t have time to write out my review but I’d like to hear what you have to say. Do you think it works?

I am the stone that the builder refused

2008-12-06T20:37:00.000-08:00

I did not finish my 5-color serigraph yet, but it has to be turned in on Thursday। Surely I'll have it posted by Friday. In the mean time, here is another assignment in Illustrator. I had to create a comic book/coloring book cover. I spent 3 weeks on it, my lines got crazy messy, I trashed it the night before it was due and started over. I slept about 4 hours, woke up and worked all the way up until class. An hour before I needed to leave my house, I had no background, hence the lazy gradient mesh. Needless to say, this was not my original concept but it certainly got the job done. *If you click the picture, you get a larger view but keep in mind this was created for print in CMYK (in other words the computer makes the colors not to be viewed on the monitor but instead for the printer to spit it out, so the appearence isn't exactly the same).

You've got to come Original

2008-12-04T14:35:00.001-08:00

I have a lot of down time at my day job and pass the time sitting behind my laptop, browsing websites, watching YouTube videos, looking up other artists, entering all the freebie drawings at Apartment Therapy. I have tried several times to stop this mindless, pointless, direction-less web surfing at work. I need to try harder. Although I spend a good time enriching myself with artistic stimulation, and it's always good for artists & designers to spring board, I'd have to say it's much more fulfilling to complete something for which all brain storming was done entirely in your mind.
Last night my ridiculously old home desktop overheated when I was getting ready to start my last serigraphy design of the semester. It forced me to work through my head and through my sketch book and my own hands. After drawing, I spent a good 2 hours cutting film. The result is a mere 5 inches, but will be a 5 color print and my key to an A. I'm very excited about this design. It's actually a gift for Rima (my close friend/ex-sorority sister/future sister-in-law/boss). I'll post pics as soon as I'm done, but what are you looking at my crap for? Go create something on your own! :-D

Illustrator class work

2008-12-03T14:24:00.000-08:00

The following designs are not in my particular taste, but I suppose class work won't be the only time I'm assigned to do something I don't like.

For my Illustrator class I had to create 5 black and white logos using my initials. Honestly, I'd never use any of the logos I created for class because I don't think any of them are really me. For graphic design I'd use my sofisiphunk logo, which I just realized I've never posted (I'll get to that later). These were really just a means to play with different styles.

Next I had to choose one of the logos and do it in color . I chose the one with the bumble bee despite how cheesy and lame it really is.

Finally I had to do a business system with that logo. For all you planning on stalking me, sorry to disappoint but that is not my correct information. Business Card

LetterheadEnvelope

Note cards & another T-shirt

2008-11-26T10:25:00.000-08:00

The semester is coming to an end so I've been working almost non-stop. There should be a lot to look at here over the next few weeks. When I've been working so much sometimes I can't stop my mind or my hand... from drawing on everything :-)

Self portrait on bathroom mirror with a dry-erase marker

Usugrow's lotus design, hand cut red film. My ink was too thin so this is the ONLY one that came out clean. Om. very clean lines & perfect registration. I pat myself on the back.

3 NEW prints!!

2008-11-14T08:50:00.001-08:00

I've been neglectful the past month. I was in a slump but I pulled myself out of it. Last night in serigraphy class I did a ton of work and I wanted to share it with you. Next week I'll have 2 more prints to share. My screen for them has already been prepared I just ran out of time. I'm really enjoying screen printing but it's super messy.

I absolutely LOVE the Gnarls Barkley logo. Photo exposure

Once upon a time I was not a dog lover. That old me would punch the new me in the face for printing my dog on a shirt. But Winston is sooo cute and even Rose McGowan loves Boston Terriers! Green Film

This is the heart tree I posted before, only I remade the stencil. Cut paper. I take crappy photos and for that I apologize, but I'm very satisfied with the results.

I love Halloween

2008-11-01T10:05:00.001-07:00

I procrastinated on the decision for a costume until I got off work yesterday. I originally wanted to be Tina Fey as Sarah Palin, but then I discovered it wasn't so original. Wanting a costume cheap as free, I was teetering on Wednesday Addams, the Mad Hatter, and either Columbine or Magenta from Rocky Horror. I ended up deciding on Mia Wallace, Uma Thurman's character in Pulp Fiction. But Mia Wallace was not good enough, no. It had to be Mia Wallace just after being revived from her drug overdose. So aside from the black wig, white dress shirt, and black pants I went barefoot, did *lack of oxygen* makeup, a bloody nose, and a syringe sticking out of my chest. I had a lot of fun.

Being that my costume was so last minute, there weren't any short black wigs to be found in the entire Quail Springs area of N OKC. So I bought a long black one that originally had a crazy braided bun and 4 long braids hanging down the back. My sister proved her worth and helped fix up my wig (she's in cosmetology school). This is what it looked like after we got the braids out.

She told me not to tell people she cut it because "it would look so much better if it were real hair" but i think she did an awesome job considering I gave her 10 minutes and we had to flat iron it and curl it afterward. Reenactment

I've been a slacker, but the wait is well worth it I promise

2008-10-25T11:28:00.001-07:00

I can't say enough good things about Audrey Kawasaki. She does a lot of her work on wood and it's a medium choice for her that's very purposeful. She works with the integrity of the wood grain and her paintings in no way seem forced. Since canvas is now easily accessible to artists, if you're painting on another medium there should be a reason for it. Don't do it just because you want to do something different. Her girls are very lovely, sensual yet innocent, natural, and provocative, they really have a soft glow and enticing demeanor. I think it's in the eyes and mouth. Eyes are the window to the soul, so focusing on projecting all you can with eyes in a painting gives an approachable quality. The mouth of course is the part of the body that can be innocent and sensual at the same time, the tool we tease with.

Painting/drawing the essence of sensuality can be very tricky. There are always exceptions but keeping the subject classy is often a target missed. Either the subject is displayed too conservative to seem as they are sharing something personal or they are too sleazy. Audrey has impeccable perception of how much to show and some how the unconventional boundaries she uses on the wood are almost unnoticeable. The subject are simply missing body parts but the eye isn't drawn to that negative space, it stays right there in the eyes and toggles back and forth to the mouth.
I like to review work and share my thoughts with people but I have always felt composition seems like such a weird topic to analyze. For a viewer of art, it's definitely a good way to deepen your appreciation for an artist and for a piece, to look at all the elements and to really see the intentions. But we can break things apart so mathematically and I highly doubt that all great artists put these compositions together consciously adding them up in the same way. For many artists I think their vision is so intuitive that they can create without the equation. Of course sometimes things don't work or work in the way you intend, so you have to tweak it, but I really do think that Audrey is one of these artists.

Her work on canvas is just as good. This last piece for example, seems like choreography from modern dance. It's animalistic and intelligent.

Just Check him out

2008-10-21T14:08:00.000-07:00

Usugrow. No review necessary, just purely awesome.

Turn the button with your head

2008-10-16T14:20:00.000-07:00

Do you remember that children's song that went, "Hello my name is Joe.... my boss said to me hey Joe are you busy, I said no, he said turn the button with your right hand" Then you pantomime turning a button with your right hand and the song goes on until you're out of limbs...
Well, I guess the song is really saying, at some point you have to draw some boundaries and know when to turn down extra work you can't handle. Thing is, when I was a kid I loved that song. I thought it was so much fun and I'd actually pantomime turning buttons with every body part I could possible move seperate from my hands and feet, like my elbows. So maybe that was a signal to my parents that I was constantly going to keep myself busy. Sigh.
Ok, in short basically I haven't posted any finished projects because I have about a dozen in the works and haven't completed anything in the past week and a half. I'll probably post some other artists for you to explore later on this weekend.

Process of Paul

2008-10-06T00:19:00.001-07:00

1. preliminary sketch 2. crap, he looks a lot like my friend Brad 3. looking kind of not english

4.-6. ok, Paul really does have kind of a lazy eye, hard to paint that on purpose

5. Alright, tired of messing w/face shape 6. makeup training helped me figure out shading

7. Finally finished, touched up Ringo a bit as well.

Topsy Turvy Design

2008-10-04T12:24:00.000-07:00

I no longer dance or act, and so I'm really just stretching to find an excuse to make a purchase like this... But I LOVE these hats. LEFT: Mina, RIGHT: Lady Divina Top Hat from Topsy Turvy Design. I can't remember how I stumbled upon this web page but I've been hankering to create a mad hatter's costume for Halloween ever since. There are several beautiful models on the site, and the website design alone is very original.
Never the less, I'm in awe of these hand made custom hats. When I was 17 I had the lead role in A Curious Savage and went above and beyond what I needed to do for that character (an excuse to dye my hair powder blue). This was also around the time I was really into LCT and studying theater makeup and period hair styling. Never quite got finger waves down. Anyway, I made my own hat for this play and it was extremely difficult. I don't have any pictures but it looks similar to this green one, only it was egg shell and had some gaudy costume broach and feather. I had no idea what I was getting my self into, especially since at that time I had never sewn a pleat. It was incredibly frustrating but I'm also incredibly stubborn so it was completed and I'm sure you could find it somewhere in the dusty costume department in the basement of Lawton High.

1st attempts at serigraphs

2008-10-03T20:00:00.000-07:00

Practice Cuts- Both of these are from Red Film
FYI: The film has a clear layer and a red layer. You cut the red layer like a stencil, expose it onto your screen like a photo negative, lay your silk screen on top, and pull the ink across. The Egyptian looking one I mixed a metallic in and the weird abstract one I blended the blue and green on top of the screen. Sounds simple right?
That's what I thought. I did these, yup simple, and then for my first actual assignment I thought I'd get creative and experiment.

I made the stencil using cardstock, after being advised not to. The stencils are supposed to be really thin so the ink comes through easily but I wanted something that looked really rough. I cut rough and jagged, and I used the cardstock anyway. I also mixed my own shade of reddish brown and used a really deep chocolate in the tree trunk. I liked the rough look and on my first few prints it was just the tree. But being that I had to use so much ink to get through my thick stencil, I decided to experiment further and remove the stencil. Then, the ink was on the screen in the lines of the stencil, and I finished the print by pulling thin layers over it.

Latest Ad Design

2008-10-02T10:00:00.001-07:00

Here is my latest ad design. It'll be 1/4 page in the Gazette for the next 2 months. That's one of Jaime's paintings that are on sale. Check her out because it's way better in color!

Ringo

2008-09-30T11:45:00.001-07:00

Not unlike any other art student, my painting instructor 2 years ago had a strange method of teaching. That is to say, he didn't really teach; he just commented a lot. Mostly he said you have to learn from experimenting "pushing the paint around on your canvas" and there was no right technique for anything. Still, it would have been nice if he made suggestions. So I'm still learning. I'm working on people and getting dimension and depth in their face. To focus on that I've decided to stay in black and white but vivid colors in everything else (same with the Buddha interpretation). Here is Ringo in his Sergent Peppers Lonely Hearts Club Band gear. Paul is nearly finished and already a massive improvement. I've been taking photos from the beginning phase on him so that'll be a bit more interesting to look at.

Useful, Demented Design in the Kitchen

2008-09-26T09:55:00.001-07:00

Perhaps I'm a bit slow picking this one up, but perhaps I'm not the only one. Raffaele Iannello designed this, the most aesthetically amazing set of knives you could ever hope for. If I had an extra $70 lying around and didn't already have a pretty decent set, I'd definitely be ordering this in red.
But I am a bit of a freak in general.

Sports and Art?

2008-09-25T10:12:00.000-07:00

Since I hate football, pretty much every American would discredit anything I have to say about sports so I usually just don't talk sports. However, I do talk art as often as possible. I want to share with you the closing of an article in the April 2008 issue of Juxtapoz (yes I am an avid reader and subscriber) written about Mark Chiarello (Art Director for DC Comics) doing water color portraits for the book, "Heroes". This book is about the Legendary players of the Negro Baseball Leagues. Before this book was written, Chiarello did a set of trading cards back in the 80's. Remember that time, when the true effort to educate on discrimination began? Before that most people didn't really know anything about segregation unless they experienced it. So Chiarello is talking about taking his trading set to a convention commemorating the Negro League,

"and I saw one of the great players of the the League, the late Leon Day, and I showed him the set of cards. I remember him not saying a word, just shuffling through the pile, obviously looking for his card. When he got to his he stopped for a minute with his head down. Finally, he looked up at me with tears in his eyes and said, 'I've never been on a baseball card before.' "

Is that not beautiful? In this article Chiarello also talks about the misfortune that illustrators aren't the superstars they once were since photography has become so readily available and reliable. However, I think Illustration is making a come back. Graphic Design is in high demand and illustration is a huge part of that. Everyone wants custom work for everything. I am not an illustrator, but I hope whatever area I fall into will give me moments of fulfillment like Chiarello's with Leon Day.

I can relate to that sentiment

2008-09-23T11:58:00.000-07:00

"Making art is a really lonely process. You spend a lot of time by yourself, hunched over a desk. It's a lot of solitary time and it can be a bit of a head trip." -Travis Millard

All my life I've had hermit tendencies. My mom told me even as a toddler I enjoyed my time to my self. For the most part it unnerves my family and peers. People hassle me for not being social. I guess they think I don't appreciate them. I let it get to me and started feeling like I shouldn't be this way. So I went through a phase of being extremely social. But I've realized that spending more time on my own is the only way I can truly be who I love being. It's the only way I can create with integrity.

So I'm working on a sgt. peppers lonely hearts club band series. I'll be posting Ringo and Paul this week.

2 1/2 years

2008-09-19T09:53:00.000-07:00

David Minjarez, who has been a close friend of mine since we were 12, asked me to paint a buddah for him in the spring of 2006. I started immediately, finished it & was dissatisfied, painted over it, repainted it, still didn't like it, started over on another piece of canvas but didn't like the size, started it on a canvas board, finished it, repainted it again and finally this past weekend I have a completed interpretation of buddah for my friend David.

*I took this with my camera phone so please excuse the poor photo quality.

Jeff Soto & My Welcome

2008-09-17T19:05:00.000-07:00

Hi and welcome to my art blog. I hope you enjoy my sharing time.

Jeff Soto is one of my favorite discoveries. According to his resume, he received his BFA in 2002 but I distinctly remember finding his work in Juxtapoz during my freshman year (2003-2004). Of course this may not seem as big of an accomplishment to many people who are disinterested in the type of artists featured in this magazine, but to me it's inspiring. He didn't waste anytime after finishing his education. I hope I can say that one day.
I'm also very much in love with his style. The darkness of his characters and the dismay they seem to bring into an otherwise very bright and cheerful atmosphere, the relevance of environment and childish creativity. Mostly I love how so much is happening in one piece without seeming visually, too overwhelming for the viewer but simultaneously overpowering in subject. It's a very abstract spin of action in repose. It's as if each work is literally a window into a world from a very active mind that is perceiving and reinterpreting the real world. He successfully regurgitates the perspective of imagination. I've actually seen many artists attempt to imitate his style. But they fail, and being imitated, however much annoying it be, is a great compliment to an artist.
These two images (w/o permission, please forgive me) I snagged around my first discovery because they were the two pieces that I first fell for.