Digital Self Portrait

After nearly completing my Introduction to Digital Media class, looking back I can say that my one of my favorite pieces was one that I completed in Photoshop. My digital self portrait, was the first project we had in Photoshop. I had some experience with Photoshop, but originally took that class to improve upon those skills. I may of been somewhat blind before to not knowing the full extent of that amazing program, and even now I still feel like there is so much more that I can still learn. 

When creating my self portrait, I wanted it to mostly be black and white. I wanted to use the color in a subtle matter, to accent certain parts of images. I took many photos with imagery that may be recognizable to many viewers, and wanted to make them unrecognizable.  I tried to make my eyes the main focus, by repeating them twice. Once on the portrait of my face, and then again in the background but more subtly. I didn't want the second set of eyes to take away from the first. I think my self portrait is successful because I wanted it to come off strong and bold, but subtle at the same time. These characteristics are ones I also share, shy and quite sometimes, and other times opinionated and bold. 

Online Portfolio

Today I just finished my online portfolio in Dreamweaver. My first online portfolio I made was last year, in iWeb. Even though it lacked many design elements, it was still a great learning experience. I learned a lot about a efficient web layout and how to upload my final web site through an ftp:// program. I was just talking to my design professor yesterday, and we looked at my personal identity system; with my letterhead, business card, and envelope. He was saying that I will probably want to redesign it later on, and he was right. I have already redesigned my resume, from 2 months ago, to match the look and feel of my website. After completing my second online portfolio, I already want to redesign that one as well. I think that since being a student, all of my work is a "work in progress." I know that from now, until when I graduate in a year and a half, that my portfolio book, online portfolio, and work will be dramatically different. I just keep learning so many new things, that keeps making me change and grow as a designer. 

www.denicekinney.com

The Incredibles

I recently watched the animated Pixar film, "The Incredibles." After recently learning the basics of creating a simple animation, I found this film to be more astounding that the other times I had watched it before. My character developing for my short animation didn't involve too much time because I was really only thinking about 2D. For the computer animated film, they often use a 3D animation technique. I found this image, and was amazed as to how many creative people they must have involved in the making of a full length computer animated movie. They not only have 2D sketches but also make small sculptors of characters to see how they will look in 3D. They employee over 700 people. They range from sculptors, designers, 3D computer artists, to executives and janitors. 

Flash Animation

It appears that my Flash Animation, is finally coming together. It has taken me about a month to create a 2 minute animation. I am hoping to be able to create another animation later, where I will have more time to make the animation with more detail. I learned so much from just creating a short animation, that I am hoping to have the time to come back to Flash sometime soon. 

Flash Shape Tweens

For my shape animation that we worked on in class on Wednesday, the emotion I was trying to convey was sadness. I wanted  to do so by using dark blues, and purples to convey a dark, sad, down emotion. The shapes that I used very referencing to paint dripping, water falling, and then to tears. I had used Flash before, but I had never used a shape tween. It was different than a motion tween. But one thing that I had trouble with was once I made a shape on a keyframe, and then changed it on another, and then connecting them with the shape tween, I had trouble getting the shape to do what I wanted through the change in motion. I wanted it to be rather simple, but in trying to represent, what I thought was a simple motion of paint dripping... turned out to not be so easy to portray. 

Animation

Coldplay - Yellow

I found this animation on You Tube. Its a animation done in Flash. We will be using flash on our next project,  but this animation involves so much more than  I know. I only know simple tweens and keyframes! These basics were probably used to create the animation, but it took a greater amount of time to create a 3 minute animation.

I liked this animation because it was made to go along to one of my favorite bands, Coldplay. The animation also is created with the same feel that a movie would have. The camera angle panning across a scene, the fade ins and outs. The movement of each figure is rather simple, either their eyes blinking, or hand moving. There wasn't any full body movement, which I liked. It got the message across with rather simple movements. I like the illustrative style the the figures were created in. They are stylized, with rather geometric lines. 

Computer Graphics Animation

The term computer graphics term came about to describe what was on a computer that wasn't sound or text. This started out the base for computer animation. Which is the same idea that typical 2D animation is, except for the graphics that are used to create the animation are in 3D instead of 2D. The same concepts that we learned for gif animation in class on Wednesday, is amazingly the same way in which they do computer animation. They take the 3D images, just like our simple 2D photoshop images we used for our gif animation, and move each frame after frame, slightly differently than the one before to create their animations.  

Net Art

Casey Reas

The artist Casey Reas, wanted to be able to create a software that was as fluid and artistic as drawing and painting was. He spent a lot of time creating a core piece of coding, and then gradually began altering it to make it do different things. He wanted to make the "software drawings" fluid and organic like real drawings. 

After looking at several of his pieces, I think he was successful in making a computer generated image look like the fluid nature of drawing. You loose yourself in his pure organic forms, and the elegant subtle movement they create. The subject of his works are abstract, nonrepresentational. 

The basic idea to his works are many simple shapes, duplicating upon themselves to draw and create larger shapes. The movement that is shown by the smaller shapes creating the bigger picture ads to the elegance of the work. Even though his works are rather simple, consisting of black and white, or few colors, they are very elegant and entertaining to look at. 

Fossil Talk

This week I went and saw Tim Hale, the Senior Vice President of Communication and Design at Fossil. I found many different things he talked about very informative. I found it very eco friendly that even back in 1984 when the company was founded, they wanted to design a packaging that was something they consumer would want to hold onto and not throw away, just like the watches they designed. So they came up with putting their watches in tins, a unique retro way to package their product. Each tin was uniquely design and printed to go along with their branding for the time.

Handcoloring Photos

2002 Eric R. Jeschke

I have been researching the effects of hand coloring photographs for one of my recent projects. I came across this image and it stood out to me because of the strength of the image and the contrast between the B & W image and the color one. Since taking the Intro to Digital Media class, I have learned many more effects in photoshop that I didn't know before taking the class. We learned hand coloring the other week, and I have been able to apply the techniques to my images in my graphic design class. My reasoning for taking the class was to better my photoshop skills, and so far it has proved to be a success. 

Animal Photo Composite

http://sixinchstiletto.be/img/backlith.jpg

I found this image and I was drawn to it because I am interested in animals as well. The background that they bears, parrots, and smaller creatures are in is a surrealistic one. I like how the green background contrasts with the full color imagery of the animals. You can tell that the images were combined together to create a piece of art, but they are put together so well that the environment in which the animals live could really exist.

Self Portraits

I found these images to be helpful when creating my digital self portrait. They are both women showing their interests in life, in a similar way. On the left, Vigee LeBrun uses more classical techniques to do so, by painting on canvas and having a more traditional dress. On the right, she uses technology to replace her clothing, which represents her in a different aspect compared to LeBrun's. Both are shown as working women, which similar stances. I find both to be effective, but in different contexts. 

"A self portrait is a representation of an artist, drawn, painted, photograph, or sculpted by the artist"

This work is one of my favorites. I came across this painting in a retail store by surprise, and I was never able to forget it. I used it as my inspiration for the first painting on canvas I ever created for my self. I liked it because of its simple design, shapes and colors. Today when I design I still try to use the simple shapes and elements similar to that of Kandinksy's. 

Denice Kinney

www.denicekinney.com

Things in my life that give me inspiration are drawing, painting, photography, and design. I found a passion for art early on in life, and ever since then I my love has continued to grow. In middle school, for my class year book I was voted most artistic and then in high school I took every art class I could. Then when I reached college I knew what  I was going to major in... art. My family and friends were doubtful in my ability to be able to succeed in what seemed like to them, a dead end major. But I was set on proving them wrong, that I could follow my passion and still be able to have a career in it. It took me several attempts to make it into the BFA Graphic Design program, but it was all worth it. I feel that things that come easy to you in life, aren't worth as much if you don't have to work hard to get them. 

My boyfriend, Aaron, is also someone who inspires me to do my best and never give up. We have been together for 2 years now, and all of it long distance. Me living in Bloomington, IN and him in Michigan. There have been many struggles in the time we have been together, but he means so much to me, that I couldn't ever picture my life without him. We help each other out when we feel like the world is against us. He is my best friend, and I can tell him anything. I can be fully and completely myself around him, which allows me to feel secure with who I am, and know that I should never compromise my believes and values for anything or anyone.