Typewalk Poster
Have you heard of the AIGA? It's the Associated Institute of Graphic Arts. I joined the Reno/Tahoe chapter in 2011 and have tried my best to attend as many of the meetings as my schedule allows. We also have a student group which I recently became president of. A crazy move on my normally super shy selfs part! But hey, I need to step up and be a little more outgoing. I also think that it will force me into networking within the local design scene, which will be immensely beneficial as I am about to graduate and enter the field of my chosen profession.
This past June the Reno/Tahoe AIGA group held their second annual type walk. Unfortunately I missed out on the first one, but I had heard from fellow group members how fun it was, so I made sure to make time for this one. Designers love our typography, and the typewalk sends us into our little city in search of all the unique typography we see and often take for granted. The first year it was held in downtown Reno. This past one was in Reno's Midtown district.
We paired off and were given a map to confine our journeys to a certain area. And we were off! We walked around in search of fabulous examples of typography. You could try and get the entire alphabet if you wanted. I was in search of an awesome K, for Kristine of course. But I also thought unique letters like X and Q would be fun finds.
Everyone then submits their photos and from them one of each letter is chosen to create the annual Typewalk poster! Here are my submissions...
And here is the final poster. My F and G made the cut!
Until next time. XO. K.
Rockwell Type Specimen
The Rockettes were formed around the same time this typeface was created, so I decided to use that imagery. I feel it also helps to support Rockwell's "showy" nature, since it is a typeface well suited to large type, like headlines and titles.
Please click the link below to view the PDF... and as always, I'd love to here what you think!
XO. -K
Rockwell Type Specimen
The Finished Product
So the first project in my commercial printing processes class was to design a business card for ourselves. I used my typography self portrait from a couple semesters ago. Overall, I am pretty proud of how they turned out. I even went all over achiever and did a two sided design, which was not a requirement, but I like two sided designs better. I'd love to here what you think!
Photograms
Preliminary
Just wanted to stop in for a minute to share my preliminary work for my business card design. I need to get used to my new school schedule. I'm juggling it, but I feel very disorganized and I am severely lacking sleep.
This first design is a style I'm a fan of. It got mixed reviews. It basically breaks all the design "rules" so my classmates were not very fond of it. There's no hierarchy, margin or leading. Oh no! But I like it. And my instructor liked it. If I went into my portfolio class with this business card newer designers might like that I chose to pursue this concept, he said. But old school designers may not be a fan of it. So I tested it on my old school instructor. He said it looked like a junky magazine cover!
*this post finished March 29th
Yikes! What a gap. I started writing this post to share my preliminary work, but I ran into problems uploading with Flikr, so off to the back burner it went. My business cards are done and printed, and I would have a picture of the finished product, but my camera died. I have been so into my film camera, that my digital has been in it's bag since December! Today I at least have my preliminary designs. I decided to print the second design.
Black and White Photography
My life is nowhere near as interesting and adventurous, so I mostly snap pictures around my house and my city, Reno. Here are a few of my favorites that I've hung in the hall ways of my college. I am also considering entering one or two in the upcoming student art show. I'd love to hear what you think!
Baby Devin's First Photoshoot (and mine too)
So when my boyfriends sister said she loved my pictures and asked if I would take some of her new baby I jumped at the offer.
I've always wanted the experience, and that's how you learn. And boy did I learn. Newborn photography isn't easy. I even read some pointers online before our session, but still, baby Devin just didn't like it. At all.
It was super fun to raid my house for cute baby props, my favorite is the vintage suitcase in the first picture. And the pictures made a lovely (and cheap) Christmas present for the family.
So here are my favorites, tell me what you think!
Supermodel vs. Zombie
Here are my pictures....
Model
Original
Zombie
Obviously
for the super model one I didn't have to do much. Just kidding! I took
away all my blemishes, freckles and moles. I took out my nose stud. I
fixed my teeth and whitened them. I lightened my eye color and darkened
my eye shadow and lips. I changed my hair color, gave my skin a glow and
fixed the background.
For
the Zombie I used a watermelon rind to give my skin texture via layers
and blendmodes. I altered my cheekbones and jaw line. Added a maggot
infested open wound to my chest, changed my eyes to green and darkened
the image overall.
Lemonade Party
It is also going to be her first ever slumber party. I cannot believe my little bug is going to be seven in a little more than a week! Eep. I feel kind of old. My life, my pace, right? Too bad my pace has been more like molasses lately. I am totally blaming the heat. No really. I have been suffering horrible headaches on nearly a daily basis, so I really haven't been my normal self this past month. Usually I have Celeste's birthday party planned to the T a month in advance. Not so this year. I am taking a crash course in procrastination 101 with this party. Hope I pull it off. Let the list making begin!
For the invitations, I made a "cup" of lemonade by gluing to pieces of scrapbook paper back to back, with a slit cut at the top for the "lemonade" invite to slip in and out of. Simply pull up on the straw to reveal your invitation!
Sources- DCWV, Basic Grey, Colorbok, Studio G, Sharpie
Digital Portfolio
Norma, my cute little waitress on the front cover and the fifties style signs on the index page, were created in Adobe Illustrator specifically for this PDF. All other works were part of assignments. Hope you enjoy! By the way, while my instructor did say it was beautiful, I was critized for the abundance of hyphenated text in my justified text boxes and my extreme leading on some pages. If I had the program to fix it, I would have, but school's out so it is what it is.
Portfolio Kt
I used some free fonts in some assignments and part of the liscensing restrictions is the inability to be embedded into a PDF. So here are the way those are supposed to look:
And here's a better picture of Norma for you, the PDF appears pretty pixelated.
Show and Tell
When Lovers Meet
Last semester in my printmaking class one of our projects was an artists collaboration. We had a large shape we divided into 12x12 sections. Each artist carved a twelve by twelve piece of linoleum to create a relief print of their chosen image. We then glued all the pieces down to create our shape and a large print was created from that. This large print is actually going on display for the Annual Reno Art Town event. The above painting is a painting created based off that image. I really loved how my print turned out, but since it became part of a larger work, I no longer have the block and cannot make prints. So I decided to create a painting based off the same sketch. This is now the latest work available in my shop! XO.
Just Thinking About it
I am so proud of myself for opening my Etsy shop, I have wanted to do it for a really long time. But I am a bit nervous at how much I can devote to it with a course load added to my busy life. I am just going to keep adding artwork at what ever pace I can and hope for the best!
On that note here is another item I've added to the shop. I called this one Soak up the Sun. I love her smiling happy face just soaking up the suns rays. It has been unseasonably warm here and it is just such a tease! I can't wait for the warmer weather, as much as I love scarves, mittens, sweaters and wool socks I am eagerly awaiting the days when I do not move so frigidly because I'm freezing!
XO.
Hold onto your Heart.
Print is available for purchase here.
And this weeks coupon code is heartmoon. Enter at checkout for 15% off your order.
Stop by tomorrow for Project Monday!
-XO.
Project 365- plus what i wore today
1/365
2/365
As you may have read, I have decided to do a project 365 this year. I will be taking a photo a day. At first I thought it would be neat to do a self portrait 365, to see the difference a year can make, but yesterday I was so busy painting that I didn't get dressed! So there was no way my first 365 photo would be me, makeup-less in my pj's! So I took a picture of what I was working on instead. And for day two, it is me, in my outfit for my niece Havin's birthday at Build a Bear. I have never been, it was so cute! I may not post my 365 photo's every single day, but I will put them up..... XO!
The first five.... coupon code
This series of paintings was really fun to create. I love so many foods and drinks, so I decided to translate that adoration into a series of paintings. I used really limited colors, mostly bold and bright. I wanted to keep it simple. It's a great experience to step out of my normal realm of portraiture, but fear not, I will be listing portraits also!
Any how, for my blogging friends, you can use coupon code "moongrand10" for 10% off your entire order during my grand opening month. I will be posting more coupon codes as time goes on, so check back with me soon....
My 11 for 2011
1. Start my Etsy Shop- I will be crossing this off my list tomorrow. I am so excited, and so nervous at the same time. I have really wanted to do this for a while. I think I have been so held up by making sure everything's perfect, but I have finally settled on the fact that your own business is a constant work in progress, and it will never be perfectly ready. Wish me luck!
3. Dye my hair red- since I finally took the plunge this past year and dyed my hair dark brown after seven years of au natural, I think it would be fun to try a striking color some time in the next year.
4. Wear lipstick- I love the way lipstick looks, but feel a little awkward in it myself. So I am going to try to incorporate it into my everyday makeup routine more often.
5. Decorate my bedroom- I sort of started this year, I bought a lamp, duvet cover and headboard and footboard. But this year I want it complete, with painted walls, art work and an area rug.
6. Buy more handmade- I love shopping handmade and local, so I want to make more of an effort to shop this way during the new year.
7.Thrift often!- It is so much fun to find that thrifted treasure, so I want to make a point of checking out more thrift stores in my area, as well as trips away from my town.
8.
9. Project 365- I think it will be fun to take a photo everyday. I haven't decided if it will be a self portrait 365 or not. It would be neat to see the daily progression over a years time though, wouldn't it?
10. A painting a week- I want to finish a painting every week, so I have plenty of new material for my Etsy shop.
11. Start block printing at home- I've loved making prints since I first experienced it in high school, and this past semesters print making class reignited my love, block printing can be done easily from home, so I want to gather the supplies and start making some prints!
Happy New Year.... be safe and happy. XO
What Fills Your Heart? Project Monday
While many things fill my heart, I chose only three photos to fill this heart. This heart is filled with the love of my daughter. My beautiful and precious girl is one of my greatest sources of inspiration and happiness. Daved, my boyfriend, is also in my heart. Without his love, compassion and support I do not think I would be the person I am today. He has helped me through some difficult times, as I have returned the favor, and together we continue to work towards my dreams and goals. He says he doesn't have any, but I will help him too when he figures it all out! Lastly is a picture of myself, and this is representational of my creativity and inspiration in all my artistic endeavors, which fill my heart everyday. My desire to create is my driving force, and it is a part everything I do.
What fills your heart? If you would like to follow along with Project Monday, visit Bubblegum Life for your appointment with Friday, when Carrie and Gloria will give you your photo prompt. They are a good dose of inspiration, so head on over to check it out!
Solar Plate Print
Reduction Cut Woes
A reduction cut is a form of printing where you take one block and make several layers with the one block. As you print each layer, you cut away your block to make the next layer, thus destroying your plate in the process of making your print. So the prints you have at the end of the process are all the prints you will ever get from that block.
So where did I go wrong? Well there are a few things I have attributed to my lack of good prints at the end of this process.
1. this is the first time I've done this
2. tearing paper (as is the fashion of printmaking) often leads to less than perfect edges
3. my registration guide didn't work (I don't know why, maybe the less than perfect edges!)
4. I may have chosen too detailed of an image for my first time at this, guess I'm an over achiever
5. I should have done more prints, thus increasing my odds of "a good one"
Here are some crappy cell phone pictures that I have been taking of this process. You can see as those last layers get added, my print just loses all is beauty. But it was a fun process to experience, and I'm not saying I'll never do it again, I'll just be more careful in my image choice and my registration! I will post a better quality, scanned image when the ink dries.
This is my block on the registration guide.
This is the first layer printed.
Second layer.
Second layer.
Third layer.
Final layer.
Final layer.
Final layer.
Original sketch.
Daved's Birthday and Printmaking
Yesterday was Daved's Birthday. We just had a small get together at our home, which was nice. I made him a chocolate mocha cheesecake, which was a hit. I will post pictures and the recipe tomorrow, for project Monday. We barbecued Jack Daniel's marinated tri tip and had mashed potatoes and salad along with that. It was really nice, low key, a good time. In honor of my sweetie, a small list of reasons I absolutely adore him.
- he really knows me, and appreciates who I am
- he helps so much around the house and with my little girl
- he does sweet things for no reason
- he doesn't yell or get angry
- he knows we're absolutely perfect for each other, and tries not to let me forget it!
I didn't get him anything super cool for his birthday, just some jeans, a sweater and lots of boxers... I am soooo tired of seeing him in Christmas boxers year round, so I made sure he has plenty of non-holiday ones to wear. I did pick up one themed pair, but it has cassette tapes on it, so it's not designated to a particular time of year!
We have also moved on to our final project in my print making course, can you believe this semester is nearing to an end? I am looking forward to having the free time and hopefully accumulating enough artwork to start making and selling prints on Etsy. In fact I started a new series of watercolors today that I hope to sell prints for in my Etsy shop, so keep in touch!
Off on a tangent there... but these pictures are of a solar plate I did in class on Friday. I can't wait to see how these prints come out. I took the sketch above that I did earlier in the semester, shrunk it down on the computer, along with a few photos I've taken, then had them printed onto a transparency and exposed my plate with these images. I will then cut the plate apart so I can print the images individually or in any grouping I choose. I just had to take pictures of the plate though, it is like a gorgeous copper etching! The drawing of the legs is another sketch I've done for a print. The legs are for my reduction cut print. It is definitely an experience, and I will post pictures of those prints when they are completed. I have one more layer of color to print, but I lose prints with every layer due to them not lining up properly, but my goal is to end up with at least three good prints!
Sketch Book Project- First Two Completed!
I just wanted to share the first two sketches that I have completed in my sketch book for the Sketch Book Project.
Unfortunately my main drawing time is on my breaks at work, so I am eating and drawing! And, as you can see, I got something on that poor guys face and the graphite has totally stuck to it... oh well kinda looks like he has a mole, right? I also have some pictures of my completed linoleum cutting, which I will be making some prints from next Friday before it goes away forever. (notice it is the same kissing couple as my second sketch!)
I forgot to mention on my weekly update post that Daved took me to a show. We saw Civil Twilight, Crash Kings and Anberlin. It was an awesome show, Civil Twilight was amazing. I don't think I have ever seen a band perform live that sounds exactly like the album. After their performance they manned their own table selling shirts and Cd's, so I purchased a t-shirt and let them know that I thought their show was amazing! It was like the days of old when I would go to shows all the time and talk to the bands and have them sign my poster. Which I did, I had Civil Twilight sign my poster. I feel like I'm thirteen all over again...
-XO K.
Working out the Kinks
This is weird for me because I rely heavily on shadow when I draw, I think it helps bring "life" to the imagery, but this is what I got so far:
I plan on repeating the pattern in on the right all the way up the side, and of course more detail with the tree texture. This line drawing is a far cry from my usual drawings, where I try to avoid line and go with mostly shades, like this (sorry, a bit blurry):
