BFAwesome :: editorial

{remember how i used to write about my classes after the end of each semester? well, a new one is about to start, so i figure i'd better catch up....}

fall '09 marked my first semester in the illustration BFA program. the BFA (bachelor of fine arts) program is different from the BA (bachelor of arts), because it has a separate application process after you spend a year in the BA program. once in the BFA, it takes about an extra year (or in my case, 2...or 3) to graduate because you are then required to take more specialized courses.

i take lots of different types of illustration classes. so. for you non-art people out there, when you think of illustration, what do you think of? (no, really. i'm curious--what DO you think of? leave it in the comments section!)

go ahead, i'll wait....

...

ok. well, one way that illustration can be used is in editorial work. these pieces would go into a magazine, newspaper (or as the industry goes nowadays--) news website, etc.

one of the courses i took was editorial illustration, with richard hull and chris thornock. editorial is different from narrative illustration (such as children's books) because it takes an abstract idea or concept and by way of visual symbols, communicate their meaning (via a finished piece of artwork). cool, eh?

it takes lots of creativity and patience. and time. lots of that. we learned how to use acrylic paint in this class, and i really enjoyed it since i hadn't painted in acrylic seriously since i worked for guy francis back in high school.

the first few paintings we did were just studies, to learn how to use the medium in different ways. for these, we had to use the style of a particular artist we admired from either the communication arts or society of illustrators annual magazines.

the first is in the style of josh cochran and we had to design a 1950's pick up truck, vespa scooter, or small sailboat. and the second...well, i don't really remember. but we had to use transparent washes.

'cupcake', used acrylic washes

'city scoot', used palate knife

the next two pieces were just to help us to take abstract concepts and get us thinking outside of the box.

 'the new world' -- use an abstract word (i used 'flat') to create something with meaning
we had to use a toned palette (one base color to create color harmony)

'cloud 9' -- reinvent a cliché to give it new meaning. as you can see, 9 is storming,
and not quite as chipper as the other clouds....
we had to use a specific typical cliché symbol (i chose 'cloud')

the next three pieces were interesting. look first, then read the explanation.

'tracks'
had to use cross-hatching and split complementary palette

the above piece was based off of this news article, regarding locational privacy. kind of a scary thought...knowing that we can be stalked in a number of ways these days.

'thou shalt be clean'
same specs as 'tracks' piece

the above piece was based off this article, regarding a study about the correlation between literal cleanliness and morality. it's really quite an interesting concept when you think about it.

now, last but not least:

'a thing with feathers'

the last was one of my favorites to do. the prompt was, 'secret garden: what are we really and secretly nurturing in our hearts?' this one actually has a lot of meaning behind it...but i'll leave that up to you. ;)

(by the way...illustration is, by nature, narrative. it tells a story of some sort. thus, there's not supposed to be as much guesswork for the viewer, like a gallery or studio arts piece, but it's nice to not spell everything out all the time. just to clarify:)

i carried this

{from my new york journal, regarding the society of illustrators internship in june}

for all you illustrators out there::

i got to carry this piece down a couple levels from the permanent collections room into the society of illustrators' hall of fame gallery (in the dining room). i was completely art-twitterpated.

this was illustrated by n.c. wyeth, who was trained by howard pyle, who is known as the father of American illustration.

i'm so glad i took both of bethanne's 'history of American illustration' classes before my society internship. i feel really grateful that i was able to more fully appreciate all the amazing art by which i found myself surrounded.

hopefully i'll be able to expound on that later. unfortunately, you'll never know til you see it. ;)

pencil crime

{this is from my NY journal: 6/14/2010}

today i came in and one of the paintings we did last time had four pencil-stab wounds and rips in it. brett told me "by no fault of yours, we're going to re-do this one. it was a bad drawing to start out with." i looked at the ruined paper with half-disbelief. he explained, "this is how i commit to re-doing it." he said something about how if he doesn't destroy it, he has the chance to try to noodle around to make it better, but in the end, you can't make a bad drawing into a good painting (that last part was my interpretation). i love it. what a great thing. i often get too attached to my art, and i need to remember, it's just art. like brett says, it's just paper and pencil.

i remember that when cary henrie came to byu as a guest artist, he was talking about the risks of art. i remember him saying something like, 'it's just a painting! if i mess it up, i can re-do it! it's not like i'm doing brain surgery. now that's scary.'

compare the differences in the top right drawing and the one on bottom.

ten points to brett for not settling! by the way, this shows some of brett's process: the above is an example of what 'underpaintings' are. {according to wikipedia, "in art, an underpainting is an initial layer of paint applied to a ground, which serves as a base for subsequent layers of paint. underpaintings are often monochromatic and help to define colour values for later painting. "} brett does his underpaintings in acryllic first; this was my job during my time there. then he comes back in and oil paints on top of them. in this particular case, the final paintings are all monochromatic, because the book that i was helping him to illustrate will be printed in black and white.

it was pretty rad. : )

the fun theory

isn't. this. awesome. (?!)



why don't we do this with everything? i love this whole concept. let's do it.

ps, anyone have any ideas on how to make eating veggies fun? i know i'm like five years old or something, but i still have trouble making myself eat 'em....

oh, twicia.

since i've been back from new york, i've been doing a lot with one of my very best friends, tricia. the reason?

she got married on saturday. i took their engagement picutures and designed their wedding invitations. it was lots of work, and lots of fun!

here's what she and her boy logan look like when they're together.

...and i couldn't be happier for them. {by the way, their engagements were such a blast to shoot! probably because tricia and i are pretty much the same person, so we ride the same wavelength. in so many ways.}

her reception was friday, july 31, and the next morning she and her man got married in the salt lake l.d.s. temple at approximately ten a.m. i was her maid of honor, photographer, and best friend. so, i felt honored and happy to be a part of it! both their families helped out with everything at the reception: her mom did all the flowers, his sister did the cake, her dad and a brother did the food (and it was a meal!), his mom was there to help direct, her brothers helped set up, his groomsmen helped set up...regardless of the chaos that always occurs during wedding times, it was a wonderful two days.

i haven't edited all their pictures yet, but the reception had lotsa dancing, so....

if you won't tell her i showed you, i won't. jus' sayin.