Skill of the Month - Screen Printing

I really don't want to come across as lazy with this months skill of the month, however the main skill I learnt I already blogged about I will link to it below and you can check it out, theres lots of pictures and I wrote quite a lot, I don't want to get repetitive!!

Enjoy :)

http://katiepatchett.blogspot.co.uk/2014/11/screen-printing-workshop-11112014.html

Film/TV Graphic Designer of the Week - Saul Bass

Saul Bass designed the famous title sequence to Sir Alfred Hitchcock's hit movie 'Vertigo' this movie sequence was released in 1958 and made people more suspicious than the actual films. They didn't think they would be confused at the title sequence with the wondering eye, eery music and the animated typography. 



Sir Alfred was well known for his suspicious films and programmes however none of the other title sequences worked a as well as well as well this one.

Interesting find of the week - Light Motif

Light Motif from Frédéric Bonpapa on Vimeo.

Artist of the week- Hallo, ich bin Erik - The German Letterman.

Paul Heys was our lecturer on the 20/11/14 as John was elsewhere, Paul had thought about this lecture and with what way he wanted to go about it so he decided it would be best to recap on work from the past 7 weeks.

We were first shown a video called gestalten by Erik Speichmann, it shows the process of typography printing, this looks outstanding and I'd love to see this really happen as I think it looks outstanding the way you set out your letters depending on font and if you make an error you have to start again. Paul then goes on to say, that he 
wants us to understand, that the process and production is bound to make mistakes and certainly not all perfect there will always be problems but the more research and chipping into the work we do, the bigger our outcome, which is exactly how Erik speaks about hard typography. 

Erik talks about how on Photoshop you can cover it up easily, however if you have set up a printer with individual letters and you do it wrong, you have to start all over again, he has letters that have connecting blocks of wood to make it more smoothly transitioned. 

I feel this form of typography would suit me extremely well and that it would be something I am more interested in doing in the future.


Hello, I am Erik—The German Letterman from Gestalten on Vimeo.

Marilyn Monroe

Importing Images:

The best way to import an image and it not be blurred or badly damaged is to click File and Place. The original image used to create this photo is a publicity still for the 1953 film Niagara - all rights reserved to the original copyright holder.

Layers:

Double clicking on image enables isolation mode to exit this mode click esc on your keyboard. If you click on the layer and lower the opacity down to 50% of the image, then lock it in order to trace a new layer.

Trace around the face to start with and once you have joined this up you can add anchor points to create softer curves within the face. 

The circle symbol, which appears shows that this would create a closed shape.

Hold down Alt and click on the handle to adjust its position.

Click on the anchor to remove the last curve handle.

Selection tool (objects-groups of objects).

Direct selection tool( handles and anchor points).

When creating two neighbouring cures you can smooth the join by selecting the circle and moving up.

After creating the outline of her face we now begin tracing around the hair.

Once this step has been completed you can trace around the shadow cast below her head (while tracing make the base outlines invisible).

Shadow:

To create the shadow cast underneath her jaw trace around the shaded area as seen on the photograph with the pen tool and then select a light brown colouring which will compliment well against the peach colour used for her skin-tone. Take off the stroke to the tracing and select an appropriate fill colour.

Eyes:

Draw around the dark area of her eyes which indicates she is wearing eyeliner and then invert the foreground and background colours. While tracing around this area be careful not to join up the end anchor point with the beginning anchor point; otherwise the shape required will not be in place.For the eyelashes create a simple curve and then open

the stroke options, add depth to the line by expanding the weight to size 3/4 and then select show options; this opens up more advanced details for the profile of the lash. Change the profile to width profile 4 – this starts off thick, which simulates the look of an eyelash to which we require. While you have the lash selected hold down the Alt key and drag to create a duplicate.

To create the Iris and Pupil:

Hold down the shift key to create a perfect circle and hold down Alt if you want to create it from the middle outwards. Use the Scissors tool to remove unneeded parts of the shape. When using this tool select one point on the path and select a second point, this will bring up a dotted line to denote where the scissors will take away from. Then using the selection tool delete this top half. Create the light highlight within the eye by simply creating an oval like shape. Repeat this first step to create the pupil.

Select all elements of the eye and go to object in the menu bar and select group. While holding down alt drag this across and then use the reflect tool to create the left-hand side eye. You may need to alter the angle of the eye and the pupil in order to achieve a realistic look.

Defining the Hair: 

You can go back to the original image and trace over this to get a shape you want to use to shape Marilyn Monroe’s curls. The easiest way to do this is by creating another art-board and while holding down alt(to duplicate) drag the original image to the new board alternatively if you prefer to do this step traditionally simply print off the image and use tracing paper to practise.

For her nose simply create curved lines to imply the curvature of her features(you don’t need to draw the whole nose and if you were to do so this may look very odd when using fill or outline.

For the beauty spot simply create a small black circle.

Follow the same steps mentioned above. Though this time after filling the shapes in with colour we can then add some black stroke lines individually onto the top of the lip to give definition.

For her eyebrows we have crated two simple curved lines and then altered the profile style to width profile 4 and then applied a curved cap as to soften the thick end of the brow.

Book of the Month - The Thames & Hudson Dictionary of Graphic Design and Designers (World of Art)

This one book alone as helped me get through my first term of University, whenever I have been lost with my course and not known which designers to use, I kept on looking at google and pinterest and couldn't find anything exciting however, I got recommended this book by my personal tutor and instantly went onto www.amazon.co.uk and ordered it online, I did this because although it is in stores priced at just £9.95 you can buy them used (they do not look used believe me) for less than £5, which is brilliant as a student saving money, I also know that I will always be using this whilst I carry on with Graphic Design. This will see me through university quite happily!! 

I know that you can't see the writing all that well however it gives you a brief idea as to what the book is set out like, honestly can not recommend this book enough to other Graphic Designers. 

Film/TV Graphic Designer of the Week - Kyle Cooper

Kyle Cooper is the Motion Graphic Designer who created the title sequence for the hit movie 'se7en' starring Brad Pitt.



I feel that this title sequence is one of the best ones I have been shown to date, the way it works with the camera angles, sound, the features and materials just all works amazing together, this title sequence inspired me to use handwritten and styles within my foundation studio project, the handwritten and the old styled hand sewn pages made me want to show this within my project. 

Interesting find of the week - Film titles through the years.

I found this video extremely exciting, as I like seeing all the well recognisable film titles and the famous ones of my era such as the 'Casino Royale' opening sequence. I like the way it challenges the different forms of type and how technology is driving us more and more each year.

A Brief History of Title Design from Ian Albinson on Vimeo.

Cultural Diversity

What is Cultural Diversity?

In approximately 1970 the main popularity was the white western communities. Many producers, designers, writers, poets and other form of artists were challenged to show different perspectives of different cultures and residencies. Many things that got questioned was things such as: 

'Why do we have blind spots to cultural racism?'

'What do we deny in cultures?' 

'Who makes representations?' 

We were then shown imagery from all around the world and through different era's the images below, are from the powerpoint we were shown within the lecture. 

Tracey Moffatt, 

Something More 1, 

1989.

                                                                                  

Still images from the film

'Jedda'

Directed and produced by Charles Cauvrel

1955.

Arthur Boyd, 

Wimmera Landscape,

1975 

Albert Namatjira

Towards the James Range

1954

Albert Namatjira - Who painted 'Towards the James Range' above.

Albert Namatjira - With olympians, 1956.

 Jimmy Little

Australian Country and Western singer and actor in Moffatt’s

'Night Cries: A Rural Tragedy'

I feel that through the images it shows how times are changing not only with technology but through revolutions and seeing what makes people happy. 

Artist of the week- Stefan Sagmeister

Stefan Sagmeister is a Graphic deisgner born in Austria, he is now at the age of 52 living in New York City after he moved that almost 20 years ago. He then created a company called Sagmeister & Walsh, http://www.sagmeisterwalsh.com/. The companies website states on its home page '3rd world offices, 1st world prices'.

Sagmeister's most famous work which I have been using within my Graphics brief currently, was his art work for Lou Reed. In which he designed his album cover with Lou's face and many words written across his face, his most shocking piece of work is linked into this image as well which is, of his own body used for the film 'The Happy Film' in which he designed his body with many words in different sizes, different layouts, different script. 

http://www.greynotgrey.com/blog/2013/02/05/the-happy-film-stefan-sagmeister/

I feel that his work has influenced me with the way he designs on bodies, as I can link that into my city in flux brief. I am wanting to study the mental health issues within a town centre, and feel that I could design the face and body images, with the help of adobe and my tutors I would be able to show different forms of mental health on different people and be able to showcase it in a hard hitting way. 


I then found this video on a website called, 

http://www.ted.com/talks/stefan_sagmeister_shares_happy_design?language=en 

in which Stefan discusses his life and the things he has done that have made him happy. It is a long video but well worth the watch.

Art Terminology

Abbozzo - 

Under painting in monochrome, used to indicate the general composition of a picture before its final colouring.

http://www.bellica.it/onori3b.html

Serial Imagery - 

The same image repeated several times, slight variations, in a painting or sculpture. The image chosen can be figurative (Andy Warhol) or abstract (Don Judd and other minimal sculptors).

                                                 http://www.foundwonders.com/art/illustrations/striking-advertising-imagery-serial-cut/

Abstract Illusionism - 

A tendency in American Abstract painting of the late 1960's and 1970's in which forms and brush-strokes, normally experienced by the spectator as things lying flat on the canvas, are separated from it by various illusory devices (cast shadows, etc.) so that they seem to float in front of the picture plane. The term was first used c.1967. 

http://fineartamerica.com/art/paintings/abstract+illusionism/all

Dwarf Gallery - 

A low exterior wall passage, lit by an equally low arcade, usually just below the roof of a building. Met with in German and Lombardic romanesque architecture. 

http://www.trebic.cz/en/unesco/bazilika-sv-prokopa-trpaslici-galerie.asp?p1=1021

Calligraphic Painting - 

     1. Modern art, usually abstract and dating from the 1940's onwards, which puts the stress on the 'written' quality of the brush-stroke, with a consequent resemblance to oriental calligraphy. 

     2. Chinese and Japanese ink-painting, made with the same brush as for writing and built up from the same repertoire of strokes.

http://hyakamaru.deviantart.com/art/arabic-calligraphy-painting-2-173433430

Balance - 

The impression of equilibrium in a pictorial or sculptural composition. In order to achieve it, the forms are generally arranged about an axe. Balance depends both on the arrangement of forms (a small form which is further from the imagined fulcrum or point of rest may be a perfectly adequate counterweight to a large which is a much nearer the same point) and on colour (a dark form looks heavier than a light form of the same size, even though it will also look smaller.) It also depends on associative and physcological factors: For example, if the form is not abstract, but represents something the viewer knows to be heavy in reality, then he or she will experience it as heavy. Similarly, if it represents something the viewer thinks of as being particularly expressive - a face, for instance- he or she will automatically give it added importance, and therefore weight, when assessing the balance of the composition. 

http://www.3dtotalgames.com/game-balance/

Body Art - 

A type of action or happening, in which the artist uses his or her own body as the primary medium of expression. The term has been used from c.1967. Synonym: Living Sculpture.

http://www.bodyartdance.com/work/

Celtic Art - 

The art produced by Celtic people in western europe from C. 450 BC to ADc.700, notable for its use of asymmetrical and curvilinear abstract ornament, often combined with zoomorphic decoration. It falls into two main phases: an earlier, which was produced on the continent and often called the la tene style (to the beginning of the AD), and a later confined to Britain and Ireland, from about AD 150, and often showing signs of contact with Roman art, Jewellery, Woodcarving, Pottery and Metal Work are some of the most typical products of Celtic Art.

http://www.comicbookradioshow.com/CelticLeague/celtic-art.html

Discharge Printing - 

A method of decorating previously dyed textiles by printing the design with bleach, thus creating a white pattern against a coloured ground. 

http://333ways.blogspot.com/2009/06/bleach-discharge-painting.html

Embroidery - 

A method decorating textiles with stitched threads in different patterns. (As opposed to tapestry where the design is woven into the fabrics.)

http://embroidpo.net/embroidery-from-the-embroidery-studio/

Earth Colours - 

Pigments such as brown or yellow, which occur naturally in earth of clay and are usually metallic oxides. Chemically, they are the most stable of all pigments and therefore the least subject to change in the ageing process. 

http://www.creativecolorschemes.com/resources/free-color-schemes/earth-tone-color-scheme.shtml

Tantra Art - 

Tantra is a buddhist and hindu mystical cult focused on a vision of cosmic sexuality. The earliest surviving complete texts relating to it date from AD c.600. In different forms it is found almost throughout Asia- in China, Tibet, Nepal, Mongolia and Cambodia, but perhaps most characteristically in India. In its Hindu form it is based on the worship of Shakti, goddess of power or energy, and aims at an expansion of consciousness through contemplation of appropriate images of the gods (who are usually presented in their most violent and ferocious aspect), objects with a sexual connotation such as the Lingam, and abstract diagrams called yantras. 

http://www.tricycle.com/special-section/tantric-art-maps-enlightenment

All terminology was taken from the book- 

'The Thames & Hudson Dictionary of Art Terms'

Screen Printing Workshop- 11/11/2014.

Today I did my first workshop of 'workshop week' at University, I decided to go to the 'Screen Printing' workshop in Halifax. I was interested in doing this as the last time I did screen painting was when I was 15 so nearly 4 years ago as a part of my GCSE textiles class. I wanted to see how it would be different at a degree level and how it would change from textile materials to graphic materials. For those that missed it or are interested in how its done here is my step by step guide:

Materials: 
Pencil or Pen, Pencil is recommended as it can easily be erased
Eraser 
Cutting mat
Craft knife
Quality Paper 
250ml Acrylic Paint (Amount varies as to how big your image your working with is)
250ml Medium Solution (Amount varies as to how big your image your working with is)
Silk Screen
Squeegee 
Palette Knife/Spoon 


Step One: 
Design your print.

We started by drawing an images with just ordinary shapes and rulers, we could do whatever we liked and were allowed to use as many objects as possible, we then went on to draw to rectangles roughly 7"x5" on a section we thought looked most interesting and most abstract. I then went on to get an A2 piece of paper and draw to A4 sized rectangles on the sheet, I then blew up my boxes by drawing them 3 times their original size (see below) 

I decided to take fewer lines into my blown up image as it reminded me of Russian Constructivism, I then erased a few lines to make it a clean cut design. I decided to go with the image, above left, as I felt there were more shapes to work with and preferred this image over all, so the next step was to get draft paper (tracing paper) and put it over the top and sketch. 

I then went on to choose my favourite images on two sheets of paper and decide which images I wanted to use, the first one on the left hand side went wrong originally, as I wasn't aware you needed to leave gaps however I worked through it and ended up making more designs. You take a craft knife and cut out the shapes you want to use, however leaving a gap to make sure they don't connect. (This is step two.)

Step Three: 

Masking Tape

You then place the screen flat side up and masking tape the cut out image onto the screen. 

Step Four: 

Positioning. 

You then need to proceed by placing the screen print (sides up) onto the material but make sure its fully covered so no paint leaks through the silk screen and on to either your quality paper/card or other material such as fabric. 

Step Five: 

Paint. 

Following on from placing the screen down, you need to mix your paint by getting a plastic cup (easier to throw away and not have to clean up as much mess!!) You then mix Medium Solution and acrylic paint with a 50/50 ratio. I made pastel based colours from primary colours so I mixed 100ml of Medium solution, with 30ml of Red Acrylic and 70ml of White Acrylic, I then made the same solution two more times however swapping the Red for colours such as Blue and Green, this was the outcome! 

You then go on to spoon out the paint onto the silk screen in a line at the top of the silk screen! 

Then holding your Squeegee at a 45 degree angle you pull the paint smoothly down, you can repeat this, I did it three times for a more full out hard colour and made sure it had the pattern I wanted, with the excess you lift up the squeegee and put the excess back in the pot to reuse! 

Then slowly lift up the screen and make sure to hold the paper down, as to not get it stuck and smudge the image! Then wash the screen and squeegee down we got to use these powerful cleaners!! 

We then dried out our image, stencil, squeegee and silk screen to reuse and keep on repeating with different colour and placing the stencils on the page to create a design. 

This was our sample so we went on to finish our image from what we learnt with our simple and this is what I created! 

I did this by running down the silk screen 3 times with the green and once with the pink. I wanted to link this into my current brief of City in Flux by making the colours representing minds, as I am wanting to show mental health within a city. The green represents a tidy mind in which only a few problems cause an issue however, the pink one represents a mentally challenged mind as it has messy sides (representing not knowing where to stop). 

I found this class so exciting!! 

I know the images don't follow properly I got so into the workshop that I forgot completely about taking photo's!! I think I covered it well though!