Connecting

I'm feeling a bit off this weekend ~ a bit disconnected. It's probably from all the work I've been doing lately that's kept me glued to this desk.  With Pink for October in full swing, a massive "To-Do" list of custom projects, and classwork to get through, it doesn't leave much time in the day for outings and frivolity.

Honestly the few moments I spend connecting with friends throughout each day have been through Facebook lately. It's almost embarrassing to admit, until I realize how much happiness it brings me.   I'm lucky in that most of my friends are very positive and post a wonderful assortment of uplifting imagery, messages, and quotes.  I've always been a big believer in "we are what we eat"  ~ or think, or speak, or hear ~ and it certainly seems to be the case for me as I always feel better after reading their posts.

"...there is no gate, no lock, no bolt that you can put in the freedom of my mind."

 

"...não há portão, nem fechadura, nem trinco que você consiga colocar na liberdade da minha mente."
(Virginia Woolf)

Today I found a video on Facebook about, well... Facebook.  It made me stop and realize that even though I've been known to put-it-down right along with all the other naysayers, that in truth Fadebook really is a tool I use each day to connect with friends and family, to bring a bit of happiness and beauty into my life and others.


So maybe it's true, like everything else in life, that it's what we make of it. While I don't have time to play games or get involved in political squabbles I do find the joy of encouragement and connecting with others.  Whatever the case I shamefully admit that I'm thankful for Facebook ~ it helps me connect to those I truly love, like, and appreciate and my life would be far more lonely and isolated without it.

Best~ 

Photo http://www.morguefile.com)
Art http://kingabrit.deviantart.com/ 
Quote http://www.facebook.com/cafecomconhaque)
Translation - Google Translator

An Interview

I had the immense honor of being interviewed by my dear friend and pink comrade in arms, Sherry of finding the Fierce.  Sherry is kicking off a Friday interview series "Telling Remarkable Stories" for the month of October and asked me to be her first.  You can view the complete interview by clicking here.

Thank you so much Sherry, you are an absolutely treasure in this world and make the journey of traveling through this world more beautiful, measurable, and meaningful.

Best~

Color Theory - Final Project

Last week our final project was due for my Color Theory class and so I'm here to share that with you.  I find brain storming for ideas to be the toughest part, probably because I'm used to creating what my customers want so it's like a muscle I don't exercise as often as I should.  Hmmm, sounds like all of my muscles...anyhoo...

Fortunately a friend of mine needed a custom Facebook cover image.  He loves the sea, steampunk, and feels a connection with old British naval ships.  So I went with that and worked to incorporate those elements as well his favorite quote into an original image.

It's funny about classwork because we're supposed to come up with several ideas but for me, usually when I have an idea it comes pretty well in it's completed form and that was the case with this project. Still we have to begin by creating several thumbnails to depict a "narrowing down" process and so this is what I submitted...

 I have to say I had loads of fun drawing that little ship and love the way he came out!

After that we were to work on several color studies with different strategies and so I handed in these...

I knew full well my final project wouldn't look anything like these rough sketches and remembering from last quarter when the professor and students were disappointed to see my project take a dramatic shift from a 2-D visual rendering to a more 3-D style, I made sure to include details in my original project statement that would, in a sense, cover my a_s...
W5A1 Project Plan-SHenry
Next it was time to work on our "final drafts" which in my case meant an awful lot of work in a very short amount of time, primarily because moving into a more 3-dimensional presentation means alot of cutting, pasting, painting, manipulating and layering...

Creating in an almost collage style to come up with an original piece of work is a real challenge but it's something that seems to come naturally to me. I'm not even sure what the process would be called but the end result is successful and that's what counts.

Finally it was time to fullfill my original intent of making this piece appear to be on old weathered map paper with a truly vintage feel, so here is the final outcome....

I'm super happy with the end result and so is my friend.  I ended up getting an A on the project and in the class, which means so much in striving for future scholarships and additional funding as I work toward my degree.

I hope all of you enjoyed this little glimpse into my final project.  Next class begins this week and it's Art History ~ something I've never studied before but am excited to learn more about.  I'm looking forward to sharing what I learn with all of you!

Enjoy~

School Update

I've just finished up one of my classes and wanted to share a bit of what we did. This class was title Fundamentals of Design and I found it really enjoyable! I was honestly amazed with out much I learned; about elements of design and the use of color. Through out the schedule classes we worked on several projects and here is a sampling of some of the work I created...

In the beginning we were only able to use black and white so that more attention was paid to the aspects of designs.

For this assignment we were to create a design that utilized strict formal, radial, or crystallographic symmetry, translation: it had to look the same on all sides, and I chose to create this organic composition.

Next we were to create an asymmetrical layout and I chose incorporate some of my existing design elements, namely the cute stockings from "Adventures of the Striped Stockings", to create some extra movement.

At this point we were able to introduce gray into our designs as we studied textures and depth ~ these are the two patterns I created for that study.

With the next study we were to take what we learned about depth and textures and create a realistic composition that utilized a one or two point perspective. I chose to tackle creating curtains and a wood floor for this stage setting. Several of my classmates felt sorry for the little boy until I reassured them that he was just a zombie looking for some fun playtime on stage.

This last piece was for my final project ~ we were to come up with a composition that utilized all of the design aspects we had learned and included color. I chose to create an image to replace the one I've been using in my banner since that was originally created for a customer. I love how it came out and am looking forward to getting it in place just as soon as I can.

We're beginning a new class today, Color Theory for Web and Multimedia, and I hope to have more chances to post as the course moves along rather than packing it all into one posting. I think this class will be fascinating and I can't wait to share it with all of you!

Enjoy~