Pedalpalooza 2019

Holy COW! I’m doing another art thing!

Big shout out to Taylor Valdes! She’s the awesome founder of The Venderia, which offers the “Weirdest, Wildest Vending Machines” in Portland, Oregon. This summer, she’s put together an amazing scavenger hunt ride for Pedalpalooza 2019! I am participating along with dozens of local artists. We have produced original artwork, destined for bicycle spokes, to be spun all over the City of Roses!

Take a look:

I’ve created these images because I want to remember the future. This is not about the future that is (or will be), but the future anticipated by American children of the 1980s and 1990s. It was a retro futurism that existed for just one bright neon moment, culturally rendered through the Trapper Keepers, video arcades, television commercials, and the LASER backdrops on yearbook photos.

I want to remember that brief moment when Cold War fears were dissolved and displaced by Slap-bracelets and Hypercolor optimism.

XOXOFest 2018!

I had suuuuch a blast at my first XOXOFest! Swag was great - tokens for drinks at an extraterrestrial speakeasy, interactive installations, projects for future selves, morning fun runs, VR and AR demos at Mozilla, Adobe Creative Jam, FANTASTIC SPEAKERS (Cameron Esposito, Monica Dinculescu, Natalie Wynn, John Hodgman, Jean Grae, and more!), Indie Games Arcade and tabletop games blew my mind!

Don’t hate me for my swag, hate me for my awesome Ziggy Stardust shirt!

Taking seats before the opening

Those user agreements (we don’t read), and how they stack up

One of the proudest moments… Nude Burt Reynolds projected onto a huge screen

Sometimes it just has to be said

Adam Conover talks about why we should Preach to the Choir

Augmented

The best win state I have ever seen in a game - a tasty cocktail

New Content!

I've added new work under the Sculpture section of my Art + Design page. It was a bittersweet experience to work at the metal shop in Neuberger Hall. We were the final Jewelry/Metalsmithing class for the foreseeable future. These facilities are now closed, and will soon be torn down. Big shout-out to everyone in the class: so many awesome pieces were made, and I was truly humbled by the innovation and creativity these folks applied to every project. Specific mention: Professor Gunnar Adamovics, who was always there for help, advice, tools, materials, general assistance, tutorials, and more. Also, kudos to the fine folks at Free Geek Portland, they provided me with extra cheap silicon (Core2Duo® CPUs for FIVE FRICKIN' DOLLARS!!!!!!? WHAAAT?). I went with a humble Pentium 4® in the end.

PHOTOSHOP CALISTHENICS

Reference can be found here.

“1) Use the selection tools + refine edge to isolate objects from the Culture Catalogue image, then copy and paste them into a New Document, so that each is on a new layer.  Rename the layers, save as: lastname-isolated-objects.psd”

Click here to download a copy.

“2) Use Retouch and Repair tools to modify radically alter the castle while maintaining a ‘realist’ aesthetic.  Save as lastname-weird-castle.psd”

Click here to download a copy.

“3) Recombine objects from the Culture Catalogue within the Castle image, using refine-edge to integrate the objects more seamlessly.  Save as lastname-weird-castle-2.psd”

PHOTOSHOP INTRODUCTION

Week 3 – Day 2

Photoshop tutorial 

First, make sure you change three defaults:

Auto-select/Layers/Show Transform Controls 

SELECTION TOOLS

Marquee//Lasso//Wand

Modify Selections by holding down SHIFT to add to a selection or Option to subtract from a selection.

Note: By default, when copy/pasting, it is added to a new layer

Checkerboard pattern indicates a transparent background

When selecting an object on a white background, you may get a white edge.

Use Refine Edge:

Option under selection tool.

Brush based retouch and repair tools

            Healing Brush

            Patch Tool

            Content-Aware

I started with this image:

Source: Flickr User – “tickr”

I then decided it was time to “patch” this castle to its former glory…

I expanded the vertical dimensions by more than 400%, and then proceeded to “build” more layers of bricks, up into the sky. I used the lens distortion tools to create an illusion of perspective. Finally, I decided to add a “window” by cloning and inverting one of the smaller doors. Overall, I am pleased with how convincing this image is, but there are a few “bugs” in the picture (redundant, duplicate patterns) that detract from the overall realism. Still, I think I’ve done a better job than North Korea, and their use of Photoshop.

We miss you, Jon.

Source: The Guardian

PROJECT 1: FINAL PRODUCT

That’s all, folks!

My final three images for the typographic portraits:

Even the letters in my name are "accident-prone."

This letter is serious business...pinky-swear!

A good magician can make a rabbit disappear behind their name.

Illustrator Files:

Accident-Prone

Hostage

Magician

(Link to Google Drive require @pdx.edu account)

PROJECT-1: WEEKEND UPDATE

I’ve taken the criticisms into careful consideration, and here are the latest image updates:

I spent a lot of time figuring out how to use perspective to give the blood spatter a solid “floor,” but the letters felt too flat against that perspective surface. Carl had some input on this, and the end solution was to include a 3D Extrude stylization filter to give depth and dimension to the letter “A”. There is a nice contrast with the flat letters in the background, and a slightly more gray value is applied to the background letters to emphasize this.The blood was given more detail by using the Wrinkle Tool. Overall, this is a pleasing change and I’m much happier with the results than earlier versions.

hat kind of magician would I be without a rabbit? The peer critique included an earlier, rougher version of this critter, but I’ve refined it to a point where it is a welcome distraction and not just a proof of concept. The sparse grayscale image really Pops thanks to the included red bowtie. This was created as a series of shape (Rectangle Tool) and a thicker brush setting for the outline. A heavy use of Gradient was applied to multiple Layers of the top-hat to give it a more three-dimensional appearance. Abracadabra!

The lion’s share of time went into this third image. Carl had an interesting suggestion to give the background a crumpled paper appearance. I scoured the web for a few options on how to do this. One suggested using a gradient tool in Photoshop and importing that image into Illustrator like so:

This wasn’t a bad approach, but it didn’t really “look right” in Illustrator. The better solution I found came from a multistep approach involving actual crumpled paper (Read here). I started by crumpling a folded piece of paper, and then scanning a highDPI image of it and saving the PNG for use in Illustrator. I then used the Image Trace tool to assign shapes their corresponding values (4 shades of gray). The end effect was more convincing because it was derived from the genuine object. Next, I created improved letter “clippings” for the ransom note stylization by choosing a variety of fonts and color combinations, grouped with rectangles that were altered using Transform to give them a more natural appearance.

The final steps involved creating a severed finger – because just one pool of blood in a project is never enough. I started with the Rectangle tool and created two segments, for the third segment (the fingertip), I used a pair of Ellipse tool shapes (fingertip and fingernail), which I altered with the Pen Tool. I then used a gradient fill to give the nail some depth, but struggled to find a gradient to give the finger segments an illusion of depth. I decided to hold off on that detail and used a regular color fill from the Skin Tone Library (color swatch). I then rotated the segments to give the finger a more curled appearance, and the Pen Tool to create the creases in the skin.

Solution for creating depth: I layered four stacks of cloned finger (object groups) on top of one another and then used the Eraser to create a gradation of shadows (Stylization and Drop Shadow)to create a rounder appearance. The end effect is consistently cartoonish with the rest of the image.

Finally, I created a “blood soaked paper” effect by changing the fill color of the surrounding Image Trace generated shapes and the Wrinkle Tool to give it a more distressed appearance. The one effect I want but haven’t been able to figure out is how to “crinkle” the ransom note letters themselves. They feel a bit too flat, and out of place, but after a few failed attempts with the Knife Tool to create segments I’ve decided to error on the side of caution. If I come up with a solution by Monday, I’ll be sure to update the results here.

PROJECT 1 UPDATE

Minimal Realism:

” When I look at a wildlife or nature subject, I don’t see the feathers in the wings, I just count the wings. I see exciting shapes, color combinations, patterns, textures…”

Illustrator Demo

Type Text “CARL”

Object -> Make Outline

DON’T FORGET TO: Ungroup Text

Knife Tool -> Cut “waves” through the text.

Color the top half “Fill” Brown

Color the bottom half “Fill” Blue

Brush Pallet (icon looks like books on a shelf (i.e., library))

            Using the brush tool change the outline of the letters to give a more “watery” look. Change stroke size to amplify effect.

Texture Pallet

            Just like the brush library, you can fill an object with a variety of textures.

Command: Paste in place

This creates a copy of an object directly on top of the original; useful because you do not need to align the new object.

How to make triangles:

Use the Polygon tool, and then rightclick for a menu to select “sides”, change to: 3

Create object from center:

Hold down the option key

How to create “Distressing” shapes

Use the “Warp Tools”. The Icon looks somewhat like a tulip.

PNG Export: (For blog)

            Use Artboard

            300 DPI (High)

Background color: White

Critique Notes:

As of Wednesday evening this was the status of my three images:

My peers had some excellent suggestions.

Image one (accident-prone), is too flat. Consider moving the other letters of the text “back” into the image to create more depth

Image two (magician), needs more color. Black and white images are less interesting in this context, and more stylization of the letters would really help. Just as adding a gradient to the “wand tips” gave greater depth, consider adding more depth to this image as well.

Image three (hostage). This is an early start, and needs more work. Particularly, the texture on the letter “A” isn’t working well. The concept is interesting, but more details will make this a successful piece.

PROJECT 1: TYPOGRAPHIC PORTRAIT

The first day of the week and we’ve hit the ground running on this first project. It’s almost the end of class and I’m just now getting to the 2nd (of three) portraits. I asked for help on my first iteration, because it seemed like something was missing. I had followed the basic draft pretty closely, but it felt bare and uninteresting.

After talking with the professor, it was clear that I needed to express a greater range of tools. This was my second iteration:

Better, but not great. I added an organic shape and used the gradient tool to create a shadow effect. Still, the image felt a little too flat. One more tweak:

This simple vertical offset creates a bit more motion and surprise. I’m not sure what more I could add or subtract at this point. On to my second portrait…

In order to create a three-dimensional “floor” I used the perspective grid tool:

It isn’t really easy to see what I’m experimenting with just by looking at the image, but I have several elements that are grouped into logical objects. The “wand tips”are made using the rectangle Shape Tool, arranged above the Text and then individually grouped with their respective “T”s. Same for the “shirt buttons” on the “M”, as well as the top-hat. I’m not sure if this one would benefit from color or not. Perhaps I can use the gradient tool to give the “wand” more of a cylindrical appearance?

PROJECT 1: TYPOGRAPHIC PORTRAIT

Our first project in Digital Media / Time Design is a “Typographic Portrait.” What is a typographic portrait? It’s a combination of visual communication through stylization, combining graphical and textual elements. Here is the professor’s example:

Image by Carl Diehl, art119.wordpress.com

As you can see from the above example, the name represents visual elements implying both “land” and “water”. The earth-tone brown is combined with wavy aquamarine/teal. Since amphibians are able to live both underwater and on dry land, this graphical representation is appropriate.

Our first step is to select from six options and perform a similar stylization on our own name:

Hello my name is Matt … I’m a magician

I’m accident-prone

I’m losing my temper

I’m visiting Portland

I’m afraid of the dark

Hello my name is _________ (fill in the blank)

Each image has some advantage. I tend to think that it is better to make work that is provocative than safe. The “ransom note” lettering is fun, but includes a dark humor component, the “magician” is playful but a bit on the nose, the “marksman” is very literal, but exists within the context of America’s gun violence epidemic (a controversial subject, to say the least), and the “Portland” is a bit more esoteric, and depends on a person’s familiarity with the sketch comedy of Portlandia‘s “Put a bird on it”. We’ll see what the professor has to say during today’s lab.

OPEN HOUSE EVENT – ART119

Wednesday night there was an Open House event at Portland State University. After leaving my Digital Media studio class, I walked down to the art building to check out the work in the MFA studios. I spent last quarter in this building and the TA was kind enough to show us the studio space back in January. What was particularly nice was the before-and-after perspective of in-studio work. In some cases it was due to refinement (painting studio space) of earlier work, in others it was in the form of additional iterations (animation and film). Finally, it was time to visit my former TA, Emily.

Her graphic novel was printed up (half of it, anyway), and the level of detail was stunning. The subject matter was particularly dark (child abuse, unwanted children, alcohol, isolation, etc.) and this was complimented by the heavy use of black filling in the positive space of each and every frame. The ink budget would be substantial on a mass-volume production. In addition to the printed work, there was also a running stop-motion animation, and a diorama of a future installation, as well as full-scale production materials.

As I consider my own future, it is good to see people in the process of developing their professional skills and realizing their own dreams. This work space is being put to good use and every MFA student seems genuinely proud of their work. There was a fair amount of discussion about the costs of education, and some of this may be reflective of the relatively higher tuition costs of grad school and the fact that we are in an election year, but overall it was a cheerful environment.

On my way out there were two elderly women who shared some of their print work with Emily and me. Clearly for some, art is a lifelong passion. I hope this is true for me as well.

TIME DESIGN: ART119- SPRING 2016

Time Design relies on a few key elements: recurrence, subjectivity, intensity, and scope.

Scope: The range of actions or viewpoints within a given moment, and, conceptually, the range of ideas one’s mind can grasp.

his single-panel sketch compacts an efficient narrative: We see a toaster oven, still plugged in, and a grave site next to the counter where toast never materialized.

Subjectivity: Depicting a subject experiencing the passage of time through emotion, action, or movement.

In this three-panel sketch, we see Subjectivity at work, with intensification. The subject is seen waiting in the first pane, and then a stylization of toast as a clock signifies a passage of time (to reinforce/intensify the wristwatch from the first pane), and then in the final panel, we see a skull with attached cobwebs. This peak intensity, coupled with a toaster that still hasn’t produced toast, exaggerates the feeling of waiting – literally forever.

Intensity: Sequential exaggeration of particular attributes within a series of images.

n this final sequence, a four-panel sketch, we see a similar use of intensification. The subject ages, and dies. The toast materializes only after the subject has passed.