Back from Unintended Hiatus!

Oops. I forgot that I have a blog.

Sorry to anyone who wondered why I dropped off the face of the earth--school's been kinda demanding.
But, this coming week is finals week, and after that it's winter break. I have lots of work to post, so expect a lot of content in December.

Thanks for your patience. My early New Year's Resolution is to be a better blogger! :)

-Daisy

I See a Little Silhouetto of a Man...

This was another past assignment in my 2D Design class. The focus was on compositional balance and form. We had to think of a scary story--either a real story or one we thought of ourselves--and make papercuts based on the story.

Being me, I couldn't resist the opportunity to make a Phantom of the Opera-themed project.




I really, really enjoyed working with papercutting. It's easy, it's fun, and the end result looks great.

Quicktips for Papercutting

• You're going to need:
• An exacto-knife or artist's scalpel. Scissors will not help you here.
• Glue stick or rubber cement. Don't use tape, it peels and and you might lose an important piece of your picture if the tape falls off.*
•  Black construction paper [Really, you can use any color that will show up against the background]
• Bristol board, printer paper, cardstock, anything you want to use as a background color. If you use black construction paper, a white background works best.

*Spoken from experience with a different project. There was a piece that really wasn't meant to be attached to the project at all, which I taped down so I could get it to class safely. It was windy out and that piece came dangerously close to being swept into rush-hour traffic.

Plan out what you want your image to look like before you start cutting. Decide whether you want the image to be mostly the foreground or background color, or a balance between the two.

These are three basic ways of representing a subject with papercut--each has its own benefits, depending on what you're trying to communicate with a picture.



Disregard that artistic handwriting of mine.

-Integrated silhouette involves representing the same subject both with the foreground and background colors, balancing them to make the image clear.
-Vignette is a simple silhouette, portraying the subject with no details aside from the outline.
-Ambiguity is similar to, but not exactly like integrated--with integrated silhouette, both colors are balanced to form equal parts of the subject. Ambiguity is designed to make it unclear whether the focus is on the foreground or background color.

Once you've got your picture planned out, either draw it on your foreground paper or use tracing paper to copy your plan over. Take your time cutting any small details.

Once you have the whole thing cut out, arrange the pieces on the background paper and glue them on. Make sure the pieces are glued down flat, with no wrinkles or bubbles of glue underneath, and the edges are attached firmly. Give it a little time to dry before displaying--it sounds like a no-brainer, but if you don't wait the pieces could slip a bit and mess up the composition of the piece, not to mention leave glue streaks.

If you think this sounds fun, go give it a try. You most likely have everything you need already! And be careful not to give yourself a papercut! =P

Daisy
[Apologies to Queen for the post title.]

No Clever Plaster Pun, Sorry.

I finished this one a while ago. This was the second assignment in my 3D Design class: plaster sculpting.

Bow Wow!

I didn't mention in the previous post, but at the start of 3D Design we each had to pick an animal to theme all of our projects off of. I picked dog, simply because of the wealth of possibilities for dogs as a theme animal. I mean, my actual favorite animal is the Honduran white bat, but there's only so much inspiration you can get from fluffy flying cotton-ball critters that sleep in leaf tents.

You can't really tell from the photo, but the sculpture is sitting in a wagon. Plaster is HEAVY, especially when you've got about 10 gallons worth of it, and I couldn't lift the thing! Don't even ask me how I got it up the stairs to my second class which was on the second story of a building with no elevator...

Plaster sculpting, though, is pretty fun if you want to make something sturdy and permanent. I'm pretty sure this thing here is going to be a family heirloom.


Plaster Sculpting for Beginners
[Done the way my class did the project]

• First off, take caution! Plaster dust is harmful if inhaled, so get a dust mask. It doesn't have to be the super-expensive kind, if just has to filter air effectively.
• You'll need:
• Plaster powder
• Water
• Dust mask
• Rubber gloves
• A large bucket
• Trash bags
• Cardboard
• Duct tape
• First, decide what you're going to be sculpting and how big. Bear in mind that my project--about a 1.5 feet tall, and a foot wide at the base--took about 10 GALLONS of plaster. The faint of heart or the faint of wallet may want to make something smaller.
• Create a fold-up box out of cardboard, roughly in the dimensions you want your work to be.  Like this:
• Duct tape all over the outside of the box. Tape it as neatly as you can, to avoid leaks and air pockets in the plaster.
• Next, put on the rubber gloves, and (if you want to make sure they don't fall off in the plaster) tape them to your wrists. Place a trash bag in the bucket and secure it around the rim somehow. Try to push out any air between the bag and the bucket or you won't be able to see what you're doing.
• Pour water into the bucket--don't fill it all the way up! Then slowly pour in plaster powder, a little at a time, mixing it constantly with one hand. Crumble up any chunks of plaster so the finished product doesn't have unsightly bumps.
• Trust me, the plaster will take a while to start setting. When it has the consistency of thick mud, pour it into your cardboard mold.
• Now you'll need some patience. My plaster block took 6 days to even START to dry. Don't get frustrated!
• Now, after 6 days is when I started working on my sculpture, but you might want to adjust how long you wait for it to dry based on the size of the work.

Now we can focus on actually CARVING!

• You'll want chisels and scrapers for this part. The art store I frequent doesn't carry chisels, so I made do with screwdrivers, hammers and other plain tools. You can do this too if you can't afford or don't want to get chisels, but it will make carving small corners kind of difficult.
• Carving plaster is pretty messy. I worked in the garage so I wouldn't get plaster all over the house. If you have room in your garage, I'd suggest doing that, but anywhere that the mess isn't as much of an issue is good. Wear old clothes that you don't care if you get plaster on. Set a ripped-open trashbag or an old sheet under your work area to make cleanup easier (I wish doing this had occured to me at the time!)
• Keep an old paintbrush on hand too. Bits of plaster will be all over the place, and if you have an easy way to get the bits off of the sculpture, you'll have an easier time seeing what you're doing.
• Carve the basic shape before doing tiny details--that way you won't put lots of effort into carving a piece that's going to be hacked off anyway.

Well, that's pretty much it for plaster carving. Once you're satisfied with your sculpture, give it a few more days to dry and display it! Take pride in having a knickknack you can say you made! =]


Daisy

I'm Not Perfect--And So Can You!

A common worry among people who want to tap into their creative side but don't because of the constant fear of messing up. If I had a nickel for every time someone said "I can't draw" to me, I'd be...well, I wouldn't be rich, but I'd have at least a nickel.

No matter how talented you are--no matter if art runs in your veins--everyone has to start somewhere. You can't improve without practice. For example:


Made for my Mom when I was almost 3. 

Is it silly and flawed? Of course, I made it at 3 years old! But that's just where I started. If I'd looked at that crayon drawing at the tender age of 3 and decided I wasn't any good at art, I wouldn't have the skills I have now.

I'm just going to throw a pretty trite old phrase out there for good measure: "You can't succeed if you don't try." You may roll your eyes, but somehow when it comes to art, people forget those words of wisdom. They assume that if they can't create something to rival Picasso and Van Gogh the first time they put a crayon to paper, they'll never be any good.

Now, I'm not saying it's not normal to doubt your work. Even the most talented of artists have their off-days. There's not one artist who hasn't crumpled up a work, thrown it at something, and declared themselves a hack. But the trick is moving past that and working to improve.

Not to mention, no one's perfect! We've only seen the real "works" of the old masters. Their homes were probably filled with stuff they considered sub par for themselves. And however good you are, you'll still screw up now and then. I even consider that a good thing--when you make something that you consider bad, it's an opportunity to reflect on what went wrong, and how you can do things better the next time around.

Case In Point:
A couple weeks ago, my 3D Design instructor handed each student an 8' two-by-four and said "make something out of this." Oh dear.

I planned for a long time. I ran around town, trying to find a place where I could get the damn thing cut into manageable pieces.
Then this happened:


This isn't even all of them. A total of 96 little tiny boards--NINETY SIX OF THEM!

And then THIS happened: 

Play dead, Board-Fido!

Flimsy. That was how the instructor described it, and I can't blame him. I had no prior experience working with wood, and it showed. Disaster struck about 20 times while I worked on that fence--I named it "A Testament to OH NO". It was supposed to represent freedom from society's bounds, and exploration of your world...and instead it represented things that break when you carry them into the classroom.

But you know what? I'm glad I messed up that project, because now I have some degree of know-how. I'm going to redo the assignment, and I'm going to do it RIGHT (I'll post it here upon finishing it!) I'm not about to throw in the towel because one instructor thinks my work is "flimsy".

Anyway, if you've been arguing with yourself over whether to try your hand at creativity, go for it. It might go better than you think, and if it doesn't, then you can always try again. :D

Off to the Home Depot to get a two-by-four!

Daisy

Ctrl+C, Ctrl+V

This was the first assignment in my 2D Design class this semester--collage. Pretty easy, very fun, a good way to get the class into the art zone. We had to bring in a stack of magazines to cut up, and all I had was video game magazines so...



I do not own Mario. Mario and such stuff property of Nintendo. (Background from an ad for a Sega game.)

 I'm pretty proud of the overlapping on the bottom half of the picture. I wish I'd had a little more time to work with, so I could have spruced up the top right corner a bit more.

Now, collage is one of those art forms that most people have tried at some point. However, there's more to it than just cutting and gluing (although you do a lot of both).

QUICKTIPS FOR COLLAGE

• Don't start gluing immediately. Cut out any and all bits you want to use, or think you may possibly want to use, and move them around on the paper to see how they fit together the most harmoniously (or least, if that's the style you're going for. Sharp contrast can add a lot to a work.)
• With collage, just like any other art form, you want to make something with good composition! Sometimes people making collage just cut squares out and glue them roughly side by side--which works if you're making "Ode to Story Quilt." Don't be afraid to overlap, cut crazy shapes and chop off bits and pieces.
• Use a scalpel or exactoknife if you can. It's very helpful for cutting out inner sections without going through the whole fold-paper-in-half-and-fumble-with-scissors rigamarole. [It's nothing to be ashamed of. You know you've done it too.]
• If you want to create a scene rather than just an abstract collage, try seperating the piece with a background, middle ground, and foreground. Things that are farther back can be fainter in color, bluer, or smaller. For features in the foreground, shoot for brighter colors and consider placing the pieces lower on the page.
• Don't be afraid of asymmetry! The focal point by no means has to be in the center of the page, although it certainly can be. Off-kilter pieces that draw the eye to crazy angles can look stunning done right.

Other than that, just have fun! Enjoy going back to an art style from childhood, while creating something great. This is one of those art forms you're likely to have all the supplies for already, so go make some art! :D


Daisy

I Like Dolphins Do You Like Dolphins

I finished my most recent art project just yesterday, so I thought I'd kick off the blog by posting it. The assignment was to create an interlocking block print and print it in a 2x2 grid. I decided I wanted it to have dolphins.



WHEE

 This project was pretty hard to do. I didn't know what I was getting myself into with all those spirals. That said, I'm happy with the way it turned out. Printmaking's pretty fun as long as you give yourself plenty of time to work with.

QUICKTIPS FOR LINOLEUM BLOCK PRINTMAKING WITH OIL-BASED INK
FROM A BEGINNER FOR BEGINNERS
[Done the way my class did the project]

-You'll need ink, an ink brayer, a block to cut, linoleum cutters, a surface to spread ink on that you don't need for anything else (no printing directly on the kitchen table! Unless you like ink-flavored toast in the morning.), and paper to print on. You should also have a wooden spoon, rags and baby powder.
-Remember when you're putting your design on the block, it's going to print the reverse! So if you make a print with words on it, plan ahead. Sounds obvious, but mistakes happen.
-Cut slowly and always away from you. Lino cutters are pointy. If you can, turn the block instead of the cutter when you have to cut curves.
-Thinner areas don't have to be cut too deep, but wider open areas should be cut deeper so the ink doesn't ooze in.
-Once you've cut the pattern, spread a _SMALL_ amount of ink onto your surface and roll it out evenly with the brayer. [My class used some sort of glass sheet for ink spreading.] Once it rolls out evenly, roll ink evenly onto the block. Place paper on top of the block and attack viciously with the bottom of a wooden spoon. What you want to do here is make sure the paper stays in place--I, personally, focused on rubbing the center of the print first. Ink is kinda sticky, so it held the paper on. Peel the page off carefully.
-If you see that areas are picking up ink that shouldn't be, pour baby powder on the block and wipe with a rag. This just makes it so you don't get ink everywhere when you go back to cutting the block. =D
-Once you have a print you're happy with, pour a little bit of baby powder on the picture--make sure it gets on all ink-covered spots--and brush it off or tap on the back of the page over a trash can.

As far as composition goes, just be careful with spirals and super-thin cuts--you don't want to slip and mess up the whole print (this almost happened to me several times.)

If you decide to try out printmaking for the first time, be careful and have fun! Craft stores tend to sell fairly inexpensive block-printing kits so you can get started.

Your truly (and still covered in ink)
Daisy

Grand Opening

Welcome to Art Because Art.

My name is Daisy--I'm a drawing major with major interest in all art forms, not just drawing.
I got sick of the lack of helpful, fun art blogs on the interwebs so I decided to take action. Here at Art Because Art I'll post helpful tips for creating artwork, as well as anecdotes of the witty sort.

Since my classes have me making all sorts of work, I'll also post progress and finished projects on here as the semesters and years go by.

Whether you're a student who just likes to look at pretty pictures, an accomplished artist, or someone looking for a way to start creating, I hope you have fun while you're here! =]

Daisy