Art is life . . .: Catching Up

Hello my avid readers whom I have not seen since before Christmas break! It feels great to see you again! Perhaps (or perhaps not) you are asking yourselves why did I not correspond over the holidays. The truth is, I was well and done with school as soon as my last final exam ended on Friday, December 16th. I wanted nothing to do with the previous semester or anything that would remind me of said semester. This, of course, involved blogging. This is a terrible inconvenience because I love blogging and shouldn't shun it simply because I had a stressful semester. But here I am, once again . . . I feel that that is a song . . . and I couldn't be happier. Last semester was trying, yes, but this semester, so far has been so much more enjoyable and doable! I mean, with a schedule like this, what is not to love? Honestly?

Vis Com II--So much easier than Illustration . . . so far. In fact, I'm sure Illustration gave me the stamina to take Vis Com II on with full force. And dude . . . we have a budget each project and have to keep track of our time/work. How spiffy is that! :D

Survey II (Art History)--Subject is getting much more exciting. Love the class! It's also incredibly short! I mean, what's an hour compared to so many studio courses?

Perspectives in Jazz--I'm learning musical theory and the history of American music. Simply put, I'm having a blast! It's also a shorter class and it's nice to have just a lecture course that relates to nothing in my major, with a subject matter I love. I also want to steal and snuggle my professor. XD

Printmaking--Outlet for stress! Ahhhhhh, it feels so good to carve and do manuel printing labor when you're feeling down! Also goes by quickly because I'm constantly busy. Hard on the back, though. I must remember that I have a stool. XD

Public Speaking--Love the people, professor seems compassionate . . . not so keen on the online work and the actual speeches. But hey, tis unavoidable. :)

Plus work at the office. And a fervor for knitting that has been rekindled. I know how to make handwarmers, ladies and gentlemen! Knit, purl, knit, purl . . .

So, I'm not nearly as stressed as I once was, I am loving school like I did when I was in junior high, and I actually have material to show on this blog! Life is GOOD!

I should probably get to the descriptions of said pieces, but before I do . . . any last thoughts?

-This Christmas was the best of my life so far
-Saawariya, Kama Sutra, The Adventures of TinTin, Burlesque, Freedom Writers, Winnie the Pooh, and Mr. Holland's Opus are the best movies ever. :)
-I finally understand the pain of The Corrs' Heaven Knows and Jason Mraz's I Won't Give Up gives me the will and hope. That is all. :3

Now, enough of my personal life. On to the art!

Soooooooo, I got's a wacom tablet for Christmas! . . . I KNOW, RIGHT?! :D I am far too excited to express myself properly. SO, the vast majority of the artwork I did over the break was playing and figuring out how to use said tablet. I took an old pencil drawing of Dr. Facilier I drew last year and incorporated it into Photoshop. I wasn't going to show this until it was finished, but I'm getting antsy. I'm proud! Please don't judge. Tis but a WIP.

Now, we have work form Vis Com II to add to the Illustration artwork here on ye old blog (which underwent a bit of a makeover, don't cha know?). One of these days, I WILL have Freshman year art work and Vis Com I work on her too, but that will take a bit of time . . . that I'll have to find, somehow. But yes. Vis Com II:

First assignment was a poster/web banner project. Redesigning an MAE recruiting poster. Two photos to use, not such fun type. I know a good designer needs to invest in more than what interests them but can we say mundane? Not to offend anyone, but I was shocked to see that everyone's (mine included) kinda . . . well, sucked. But on the next assignment, everyone rocked! :D It was interesting . . . almost like no one COULD design a good MAE poster. It was damned to bad design for life. LOL

But as I said, the next poster was fun and really good for everyone! Advertising a favorite typeface. Typography poster. Now, I'm not that great with typography, but I certainly appreciate it and all who do it well. I chose Didot . . . I don't know, I just really have a warm attraction to that font. And Just My Type didn't scathe Didot, so I figured, why not?

Now, the grand finale (you ready for this?) is my favorite! A Jazz Combo series poster! AHHHHHH! :D And I'm in Jazz Apprish! Talk about inspiration! First thing, dove straight to Google Images for design ideas. If I had a dollar for every black silhouette, trumpet, sax, piano, microphone, and Ella Fitzgerald-look-alike singer that appeared, I'd be rich. I wanted to be true to the theme, but come up with something a bit more obscure and original, ya know? So, thanks to my Jazz class, I looked up famous quotes by Duke Ellington. I fell for this one:

"By and large, jazz has always been like the man you wouldn't want your daughter to associate with."

Ladies and gentlemen, we have a concept! Oh SNAP. The image of vintage flapper came to my head instantly at those words. It was perfect! Listen to jazz, and soon you'll be drinking illegal booze and acting like a floozie just like all the other flappers! It was elegant, it was sexy, it was jazz! I am so delighted by the end result!

Aaaaaaaaaand . . . that's it so far. LOL Wow. I already wrote a novella. Good thing. So, without further ado, I will present the art! Thank you so much for baring with me, all, and suffering through this gigantic monster of a blog post! You'll be seeing me for regularly very soon!

Cheers! <3