Lessons Learned

I have realized after writing these blogs of my experiences with the different programs, that I complain. A lot. I also found out it is about the same things basically over, and over, and over again. There is a common problem that I realize are not the computer being dumb about the same things all the time, but its actually me. I have continuously complained about how this is hard, and because of this, that happened, and I make it all a huge deal. I have come to the conclusion that on ever instance the outcome was because of my "inability" to not be checking to make sure my work was saved, that I was carefully following directions, and to pay attention to the details. I get  so excited about my art work that I think I just rush to get the "first things first" details done so that I can get to the fun stuff of creating work that represents me. I have learned a couple huge lessons this year. 1) Don't under estimate yourself, you can do way more than your head thinks it can 2) Take time in the beginning to get the details you need about your work like the size and format 3) Save, Double Save, AND Triple Save. Then never delete anything. Ever. Even if you are done with college and aren't even doing anything in your life to do with any art. You never know when it will come back to bite you in the butt and you'll have to do it all over again! 

Greatest Year of school yet!

My 15 hours later website

So I used dreamweaver for the first time to make a website, which I cannot complain about because I actually liked it a lot because it was so much easier than text edit! I thought at first that I didn't like web design, because I felt that I couldn't make the website the way I envisioned it since I am just learning how to code. This was a bit disappointing to me because when I first got into the class I was most excited to learn how to do web design because I feel like it is such a wonderful skill. When I started doing it though, i was just disappointed in myself to be honest. And when Sena had us draw out our design, I was concerned because I didn't think even if I drew a layout I could obtain the outcome of what I had drawn. I just finished my website today and I am SO EXCITED about the outcome. It really ended up looking exactly like my sketches and I was very proud of what I had accomplished. Sena's faith in the me while I was making the website and constructive criticism really helped in my process of making the website.Even though I didn't think that I had the compacity to create a website like that, I did! I was soooo excited when I was finished, and I am actually looking forward to my next one! So glad that I learned HTML in text edit so that I could do this:)

Text Edit

Hmm where do I begin. Oh I know, the frustration of Text Edit! Basically I got through this be continually checking back and fourth from tutorials of coding back to text edit. I must admit I ended up making a pretty cool finishing website for going strictly off coding, but the frustration of having one single small detail, like a period, in the wrong place can throw off the entire design makes me a bit crazy. I looked for about two hours to figure out why all of my design wouldn't show up, and finally I discovered that there was a quotation missing so text edit could read what any coding for design said after that. A QUOTATION! So basically my website was close to finished once I got the quotation in there. Good lesson learned though, check your website live continuously. Have of my hours are literally solely based on making up for my mistakes technically. Its like the universe of technology is screaming at me to get the heck out of this major, but I love it way too much! Would I ever tell anyone to use text edit to make their websites? No, but would I tell someone to use text edit to make a website to learn how to code? Definitely. It helped me once I got to dreamweaver significantly, but you'll have to wait for my next blog to hear about it!

Abstract? Or Nah?

I am not abstract. I am not good at making abstract or even at times understanding abstract. I have a project I am working on right now that is required to be "abstract", its 3 different videos and I love videos, but this project has me swirling. How do I create something that isn't what its supposed to be? Or is but doesn't look like it. I feel uncreative when it comes to being abstract and my mind can feel completely blank. I have a style that I feel like is very realistic. I like working with ideas that I can understand, envision, and recreate. Abstract I feel like starts with a realistic idea and then gets so distorted that only your imagination could be responsible for coming up with the meaning. I have gotten alot better since I have taken classes with Sena, but in my other classes I honestly dont feel like it helps in my ideas of abstraction, probably because we dont talk about it as much in those classes. Even though abstraction isn't a huge part of my style of art, I would like to have a better feeling of abstraction and how and when to use it. Maybe i am making this way to difficult and just need to let the abstract find me.

My new favorite media hobby!

I love making videos! I have found that out of all of the media work I could do, videography is my very favorite! I thought when the class started working in final Cut Pro that it would be a drag, and very difficult to learn, but I have found that it is one of the funnest, most rewarding art to create. I have found that it can also be the most time consuming. I currently just finished a personal diary where I had about two hours of footage and had to cut it down to under 10 minutes. This was a task.. The personal diary footage was very detailed and difficult to decide what should stay and go. I put probably 20 hours in two weeks into this personal diary, and it still is not where i want it to be. I anticipate about 6 to 7 more hours of work before I feel like it is ready to be seen in the public. Videos can be so tricky as in the fact you need the lips to align with the sound and I layered 4 shots on top of one another, and you have to have smooth transitioning and the coloring needs to be just right and you have to make it interesting. There is so much that goes into just one video that it can be very overwhelming. That is the thing though, it should be overwhelming, and it times it is, But I love the outcome so much that I dont mind putting in the work.

photoshop. period.

Photoshop. Well we started with adobe illustrated. Which I found quickly I am not a huge fan of. Then I started working on photoshop right after I was getting ahold of Illustrator. There are some similarities, but alot of differences. My favorite tool is the mask tool, because you can make an image you want to out of multiple different images instead of having to stick with just the reality of one pictures limits. I have become more familiar with photoshop now, but I have also come to the realization that a lot of students are much ahead of me in their knowledge of photoshop. Thats actually how I feel about all the programs. Its frustrating because I have to double the time of anyone to get the same results I feel like. I understand that that's part of the learning process and in a year of two someone will be thinking the same thing about me. I have done a few projects in photoshop, one in particular that i am especially proud of where I combined four photos to make one beautifullll picture. I edited the colors and hues of the pictures to look as if they were all in the same lighting so that it would all blend and I loved the outcome and am proud of my work!

If this is art Ch1

I have always had a curiousity how a determination of whether something is art of not was made. In ch 1 it dicusses how central photography wasn’t always declared a contemporary art practice.  In the 1960s and 1970s is when photography became central to communication or artists performances and other temporary works of art. The precedent was a French artist who photographed a urinal, turned it upside down and said art could be anything you wanted it to be. The conceptual art was marked very differently from the modes of fine art photography. Took on a “unauthored or deskilled look which made it feel as if it down played the importance of craftsmanship.  I found this chapter helpful in my understanding of art.