Madness at Utrecth Demo

I got to see James Hemple, a well-known painter in Milwaukee do a portrait at my job. He took his time and was very careful with his strokes. I watched ever chance I could in between customers and other assigned tasks. It took him about 2 hours to complete. The lady stood still the whole time. I know that's not to hard to do, but I know it could have not been me. I move way too much.
Anyway, it was cool to have him there. Most of the customers/guests sat through the whole demo.
He also gives painting lessons, so maybe one day I'll check it out. Great time at Madness!

Yarn away

For 3-D concepts we had to use yarn in different areas of the school that presented the work of Fred Sandback, who used the concept of lines in his pieces.
My partner and I were given a stairwell in the CFA building. Students from a different class had painted the images on the wall a few months ago. So we decided to enhance this space by framing it with the yarn, which was pink and blue. It took about an hour and a half to complete, but it turn out well.

These photos are the preliminary ideas. I'll post pics of the finish installation soon. 

Good Sites VS Bad Sites

So there are tons of websites out there..so good, some bad, and some kind of in the middle.
I'm here to show you two good ones and one bad. My criteria for a good website is that it has a eye-catching home page, good and easy  navigation, and valuable content. A bad website to me is just a useless one. It's doesn't have much to offer and here is too much or too little on it's pages.

Here's the first (good) one:
http://www.deviantart.com/
It's easy to navigate. I can get to where I want to go with no problem. All the links work. The most popular or most recent artwork one the home page is eye-catching and interesting. Although it does seem like there's a lot going on, I think for an art related website this one is pretty good. I like it!

2nd good website:
http://www.ssalimediagroup.com/
This is actually an instructor I had at my previous college. She's a design artist as well, but I'm not sure if she made her own site. Anyway, I like the professional look of the site. The images are nice. I like the color chosen to represent her branding. The navigation is nice. The site is not complicated or clutters because it's simple to get through and it's right for her business.

Now it's time for a bad website:
http://www.artwebsites.net/

I was just doing a random search for art website. I came across this one and it is really basic. Not very good at all. I mean what artist would want to use this site to build their own site. Most web hosting site or web designing sites look good, so the viewer would want to use that site to help their own. This site however doesn't have much to it. I'm surprise it didn't show samples or try to look more professional. I don't know, this site definitely isn't that good to me. I sort of understand that it is offering a service, but whoever designed it could have made it more appealing. There could have been more to it...more creative!!!

Yes I've seen better and I've seen worse, but these are the sites that stuck out to me.
I'm know my classmates will probably find some interesting sites. I'll check them out later.

Monday Night Portrait Sessions at Utrecht Art Supply Store

I just want to let everyone know that Utrecht Art Supply store on Farwell has (this) Monday Night Portrait Sessions from 6:30pm to 9:30pm! The cost is $8 per session or eight sessions for $40.

So if anyone likes to draw or may be interested in trying something new, check this out.

Facebook Page Utrecht Art Supple Store

Event Notice: Madness Party

Another event going on is Utrecht's Madness Party on September 26 from 10am-closing! There will be a raffle, live music, free demos, and more!!! Stop by if you can. Many local artists will be there too!!!
Also get 30% off of non-sale items.

Web Page Group Assignment

I was placed in a group of 3(Aaron, Brianna, and myself) and it didn't take long to figure out what we wanted our web pages to be about: Mustangs (cars). Aaron has the most experienece with HTML so he knew exactly how to get the page to look how we wanted it, plus also share with Brianna and I tips on HTML coding. Brianna and I looked up the information and images needed for the pages. We worked well together and learned from each other. I think we did a nice job.
I'm starting to understand web page structure more and more and the HTML is getting easier to grasp well.
So I'm excited to see what else we'll be learning as I eager to keep this up and become better at it.

Here are some screen shots of our pages:

Box Project

Box Project

In my 3-D concepts class, we had to make a box for our first project and for our second project we're suppose to re-interpret the box into something else. So I decided to make my box into something relatable.
It has 6 sides, all with "cracked" designs and each with a different word associated with feeling broken or fragile: Insecure, sorrow, anxious, lonely, discouraged, and disconnected. Many people can relate to seeming strong and put together, but there are times when they are struggling and seem to be falling apart. Sometimes people hold their feelings in and it's not until they can't take it anymore that they break down.
The box is a symbol of this situation. The box was once clean, smooth surfaces, and durable until things start picking at it. The cracks represents the weakness or vulnerability a person can feeling or going through when those negative feelings start coming at them.
When I'm done with the designing, I'm going to put bubble wrap around it. The wrap will represent the carefulness one needs to have when dealing with these feelings that make someone feel fragile or broken.

HTML WORK

I was having some trouble at first with getting the pages to link to each other, but eventually I figured it out.
Then we learned a few more things:tables, images, etc that I was able to understand and hopefully remember how to do in the future, lol.
I don't know how I didn't know about converting many image's sizes in Photoshop all at once. I definitely will be using that more often.
Yes, this information is coming back to me. As long as I keep taking note, pay close attention, and read the material, I'll be well on my way to understanding web design and digital applications.


This are screen shots of my html coding and my pages:

Our next assignment is to work in pairs. I'm ready...

HTML

I haven't done HTML in a long time, but I'm glad the information on how to make a website using HTML came rushing back to mind. I wouldn't say it's easy, but not to difficult either if I pay close attention to what I'm doing. So far, I've grasp the basics. Now it is just about putting it into practice every week and making it a skill set of mine. As a graphic designer I want to have a variety of skills, so web site building and design would be great to know how to do.

Apps

Apps are apart of our culture. I think it is interesting how many apps are out there. I believe that if a person who usually has a phone or computer device with apps would go crazy if those apps where taken away. People rely on the apps. Apps can either help with location, make posting pics easier, or just provided entertainment. There are now devices specifically made for apps, since they can take up so much space on devices made for other uses.

 I actually think there's too many preset apps on my phone. I don't even use half of them. There are some I can't even delete or it will cause issues with my phone. I do think many of them can be useful, but others are either similar or just not what I need on my phone.

Anyway, apps have helped in some ways advance us, but I think we have to be careful not to fully rely on them. Somethings can have a glitch or give inaccurate information. So it's best to use them if necessary, but not fully depend on them. I think most are purely for entertainment, but some are meant to make life easier, but there's nothing what try to figure things out on your own.

Greetings

Hi, my name is Charmion Thomas and I'm a graphic designer. I already consider myself one even though I'm still working toward my degree in graphic design. I would say I've have 3 years related experience and at first it was self taught until I decided to go to school for it. I've been an artist most of life having been interested in mostly everything art related. I love to draw, paint, do photography, and design. I use my skills in graphic design to make invitations, flyers, posters, cards, etc. I want to learn more and expand my skills in more areas such as web design and interactive media. So I'm looking forward to seeing what I'll learn in digital applications and apply it to my future work. I also look forward to getting to know and interact with my classmates. I know we are all from different walks of life, but there's something to learn from one another. It will be interesting to see everyone's work and be able to collaborate or get pointers from each other.

My logo best represents me because it reminds me of the business I'd like to have someday and I love to express myself artistically. It is actually one of the first logos I've made and I'm not very expreience with making them. This logo might change but it will always be a reminder from where I got started and where I want to be.