Right Brain Workout: State of the Union-Post 1

Ok...so...I've been away for a year, and now I'm beginning Illustration 5. This is the first in a series of posts to allow me to reflect on the work I've done both in and out of Illustration class.

What media do you like working in? List them.
My favorite personal medium is photography, I guess, if it counts, but I haven't made much use of it in my class work, except for drawing reference. I've used photography for years as an extension of my eyes and memory,

to capture and hold moments in time that I'm afraid might not come up again, I guess.

I love working with Adobe Photoshop,

I gave Frida a new dress...

and have developed an appreciation for (though not as much skill as I'd like to have with) Adobe Illustrator, as well. I enjoy working with dry, hard pastels; maybe it's the control freak in me, or maybe it's just that I like getting my hands dirty---having a very tactile experience with the medium. I suppose graphite and charcoal fall into that sort of smeary, get-dirty category, too, but I'm allergic to charcoal, so that takes some of the fun out of working with it. I also like to paint...with acrylics more than watercolors...but I enjoy them both, even if my results aren't as consistent as I want them to be.

What media do you hate working in? Why?
Hate's a strong word...I'm not sure I actually hate anything, and I feel reasonably confident that if I used anything often enough, I'd probably feel more comfortable about working with it. Since I've never worked successfully in colored pencils though, I guess I'm not crazy about them, and I feel the same way about oil pastels for the same reason. I think I also tend to avoid media that are less forgiving---hard to correct where errors are concerned, and easy to make mistakes with; litho-crayon was like that, cut paper, paper craft, and ink, too, even though I really, really like the way they all look when I'm able to use them properly, I definitely dread working with them.

What media would you like to try, but haven't?
I've never done anything in oils, and I've been told I'd like them, because they dry so slowly, and I'm a slow painter. I've always thought I'd enjoy working in clay and wood.

List three non-illustration classes that have influenced you and/or your work, positively. Explain.
2D, where I leaned how to properly use an X-acto knife (despite my irrational fear of sharp objects), and about careful craftsmanship.

Life Drawing & Drawing Comp., because they gave me new skills and gave me more confidence in the skills I already had.

Classes involving digital media, because they gave me new skills and more confidence in the skills I already had.

How has the work of your peers influenced you and your work?
I think many of my peers must've begun making art in the womb.

They amaze me. The sheer numbers of incredible ideas they have, astound me. Their work generally makes me feel as though my own imagination and work are extremely limited, but at the same time, their ideas and what they produce inspire me tremendously. Their efforts make me want to be better and more innovative with my ideas and in my work.

What sort of subject matter do you like to create work about?
I don't have a lot of experience with anything much but what I've done at MCA. In class, I guess I've enjoyed creating pieces that were tied to stories, more than those based on more abstract concepts.

This is some work that I did in Surface Design that I felt strongly about, that had to do with the subject of intolerance. The idea that art can be used to protest the wrongs in the world appeals to me, though I'm not much of an activist.

Pretty Hate Dress

Work that explores my personal experiences interests me, too. This piece was part of a Design Systems assignment.

The only work I've done that seems to allow me complete freedom with my subject matter is photography (it's easy, so I can do it for fun), and those subjects are almost exclusively front and back yard flora and fauna.

I enjoy my pet commissions more than schoolwork, but I don't know if that's because I like using pastels, or because I set my own deadlines and I'm not usually rushed. It's definitely not because I'm partial to dogs, because I like them, but I'm actually more of a cat person.

(this is Anastasia, my favorite part is the chair)

I like the idea of creating work...drawing or painting...that involves clothing, especially vintage clothing, and I collect images all the time, but have never gone anywhere with the idea.

image source

I've long considered doing illustrations for children's books, but so far, I've not done anything with that idea, either. Illustrating my own writing is something I'd really like to do.

What sort of subject matter do you like to read about?
The books I read are almost always strictly for entertainment...speculative fiction or regular fiction...usually nothing that requires a huge amount of deep thinking. http://www.terrypratchettbooks.com/
http://www.randomhouse.com/features/auel/webroot/
http://www.neilgaiman.com/works/

Specific real world subjects that I read about most often are:
art,
archaeology,
paleoanthropology,
space exploration,
quantum mechanics (as much as I can understand, anyway),
string theory,
anything out of the ordinary,
strange,
or unusual,
and cooking.

What kind of music do you like? Why?
I'm mostly a song person, rather than a band person or a specific type of music person. Much of the time, it depends on how the song sounds...what emotions the music evokes, not necessarily what the words say. I'm usually one of those people who thinks that life should come with a soundtrack, though when I'm feeling bad, physically, I often can't stand to listen to anything, because it seems to overload my wonky brain.

My musical tastes are varied, though to the shock and dismay of many people I know, I'm not a fan of most jazz or blues. What I listen to depends on what I'm doing, how I'm feeling, physically, and/or what mood I'm in. Sometimes I have to have classical for homework, sometimes it has to be 80's hair bands, sometimes New Age-y stuff. If I'm having problems with homework, loud and angry is good, if things are going well, something quiet is great; if it's early on in the creation process, loud is best, when I'm close to finished with whatever I'm working on, quieter is nice. If I'm cleaning house, or doing something really physical, I definitely need some kind of rock or metal.

Slash image source

My regular song list includes:

Black Eyed Peas, Rasputina, Jefferson Airplane, The Mamas and the Papas, Ozzy Osbourne, Linkin Park, Cameo, Jason Derulo, Disturbed, GunsNRoses, Prince, Offspring, Metisse, Suzanne Vega, Bob Dylan, Joan Baez, Placebo, Warren Zevon, Simon & Garfunkel, Crash Test Dummies, Saliva, Fleetwood Mac, Korn, Lady Gaga, The Beatles, the soundtrack to Rock Horror Picture Show, world music with African drums, or a Middle Eastern, or Bollywood sound, and other seemingly random choices.

My favorite homework music is the soundtrack from Conan the Barbarian. It's on a cassette tape...I've just about worn it out.

My favorite piece of classical music is Barber's Adagio for Strings; it makes me cry. My second favorite classical piece is Borodin's Polovtsian Dances from Prince Igor; the first time I ever heard it was when I was a little kid, in the soundtrack of a cheesy 50's movie, called Fire Maidens From Outer Space, and I never forgot it.

What non-art related interests/hobbies/skills do you have?
I grow things...

I read quite a bit,

I'm a good cook

(shrimp with mango sauce)

I can sew,

I'm an avid escapist movie-goer and television watcher,

I write a little,
I used to sing,

and I can find four-leaf clovers without really having to look for them.