Julien Berthier - Welcome Home (found on "but does it float")

Blogs are a great way to find out about interesting artists and learn something new every day. Here are a few great art and design blogs:

• but does it float – a curated stream of contemporary art.
• Escape Into Life – showcasing interesting artists and illustrators.
• Everyone Forever – “a stream of exploratory thinking.”
• Übersuper – “Mostly inspiring images, moods & colors, artists and their work series and sometimes just funny & geeky stuff.”
• Inspiration Lab – daily design inspiration.
• Aesthetics of Joy – “exploring the intersection between design and positive emotion.”
• Networked_Performance – network-based new media art.
• VVORK – great slides and links to artists websites.
• Heart Fish – art / design / craft inspiration.
• Art Fag City – New York art news and great articles.
• we make money not art – “We visit art galleries, listen to conferences, cover art and design events, take a lot of pictures, interview creative people, and we document these findings in order to share them with you.”
• Daily Routines – “how writers, artists, and other interesting people organize their days.” No longer updated, but still full of great material.
• Library Finds – beautiful photography and writing about antique books.

In Class 6 we looked more closely at Assignment 2, including some Diptych Examples.

Kenojuak Ashevak - Siilavut, Nunavut

For our second assignment, we’ll create a diptych, or two images that go together. The word diptych originally meant a pair of panels attached with a hinge. Historical examples of diptychs often involve religious iconography (altarpieces, book covers, and so on). Today, the word is often used to describe two images which are meant to be seen together. Using Adobe Illustrator to create a diptych will help you practice combining elements from multiple files, copying and pasting, and editing individual shapes, and will lead into upcoming assignments where we’ll work with multiple images.

Placing two images beside each other creates something new. Our brains create new associations between the two images, even if they are completely different. It activates the space between the two images and can suggest a sense of time, movement, or narrative. This relates to the way that we read comic books – Scott McCloud writes about this in Understanding Comics. It also relates to how our eyes perceive film and video.

Diptychs don’t have to be two images placed side by side. You can have vertical diptychs, or diagonal ones (think of the symmetry of playing cards). The two images do not have to be the same size or shape, and you can experiment with the distance between them.

In this class’s Illustrator demonstration, we looked at working with multiple documents, including switching between windows, copying and pasting, and changing the document size. When working with diptychs in Illustrator, you can work on one large document, or you can start two separate documents and combine them. You can get elements from one document to another by copying and pasting (note that pasting does not preserve layer information). We looked at advanced ways of making selections, such as the Magic Wand and Lasso, and Select Similar Shapes. I also demonstrated the Warp, Twirl, Pucker, and related tools, and we looked at grouping objects. Remember, you can use the “Knockout Group” option on the Transparency panel to group transparent objects without them overlapping. There was a demonstration of a few ways of working with paths, such as Offset Path, Outline Stroke, and Simplify Path. Finally, we looked at the Live Paint tool.

Kristan Horton - from Dr. Strangelove, Dr. Strangelove

Here are some examples of artists working with diptychs, which we looked at in Class 6:

Artists working with diptychs or related forms:

• Piero della Francesca – Montefeltro portraits
• Kenojuak Ashevak – Siilavut, Nunavut
• Kunisada
• M.C. Escher – Day and Night
• Andy Warhol – Marilyn Diptych
• Tim Lee – My My Hey Hey
• David Hockney – Pearblossom Highway
• Siggi Eggertsson
• Kristan Horton – Dr. Strangelove Dr. Strangelove
• Charles Burns – One Eye
• Susan Coolen – Parlance
• Claudia Cortinez
• John Baldessari – Hands And/Or Feet (Part Two) (more)
• Frédéric Delangle – CERN diptychs

Collaborative diptych projects:

• 3191: A Year of Mornings
• A collaborative diptych project by two Montreal photographers
• Daily Diptych

Other interesting links:

• One photographer’s take on diptychs
• Polyptychs in Japanese printmaking

We spent this class looking at everyone’s work for Assignment 1. There were some interesting approaches to the project, and I thought the critiques went well.

I also handed out Assignment 2, which we’ll talk about in more detail on Friday.

One of the things that visiting artist Guy Langevin talked about was how he avoids using the filters and effects that are built into Photoshop. This is something that I always try to point out to students as well. Software such as Photoshop and Illustrator always includes various “special effects” that you can apply to your work. However, it is a good idea to use these sparingly, as many people are familiar with these effects and overusing them can make your work look amateurish. For example, notice how Langevin was using photos of sand to add texture to his work, even though there is a Photoshop effect called Add Noise which could be used to add texture instantly. Going to the trouble of creating his own textures adds a depth and character to Langevin’s work which would otherwise be lost. When working with digital imaging software, it is important to try to “think outside the box”. Software seems like it offers limitless possibilities, but can be fairly restricting in some ways. When you do use filters and effects in your work, a good strategy is to try to combine multiple effects to create something new.

We’ll talk about this some more when we start using Photoshop. The idea of what is cliché and what isn’t can be subjective, but here are a couple of blogs which point out some things which are commonly considered Photoshop clichés. Most of these apply to Illustrator, too.

Guy Langevin - from Les Bijoux

In our fourth class, we spent some time working on the first assignment, which is due on September 22.

We also had a visit from visiting artist Guy Langevin, who showed us some of his work and talked about his use of digital imaging. Langevin has been active as a printmaker and photographer since 1978, and often produces large prints and paintings that are figurative with abstract elements. We discussed how software and the web has changed how he works over the years, and his use of poetry and text. He opened one of his files in Photoshop to demonstrate how he works with layers, and gave us a tour of his website.

I also gave a quick demonstration about how to get help when using Illustrator. We looked at the built-in Help menu, which you can access at the top of the screen at any time. Tooltips (the little yellow boxes that pop up when you hover the mouse over buttons and menus) are a good way to find your way around Illustrator and other software. Paying attention to tooltips will also help you learn shortcut keys, which will let you work more quickly. Shortcut keys that I find indispensable in Illustrator include Spacebar (to quickly get the Hand tool), and ⌘+ and ⌘- (to zoom in and out). The “⌘” key is called the Command key. If you’re using Windows, use the Ctrl key instead of Command.

Remember, you can also search the web to find Adobe Illustrator help and tutorials.

Hey Guys,

So these are some minimalist movie posters I was looking at as inspiration for the first project and I thought you would like to see them. More can be found here.

At the start of our third class, I demonstrated how you can log in and post things to the class website. You can use the website to post links that you want to share with the class, post artwork you are working on, or leave comments on other posts.

There was an Illustrator demonstration where we looked at the Swatches, Stroke, and Align palettes in detail, how to access palette options, and reviewed the brush and symbol libraries. We looked at the Pen tool, including how to add and delete path points and convert anchor points into curves and corners. The Gradient tool was introduced and we looked at different ways to work with gradients. We also went over how to use the Type tool, including using “Create Outlines” to turn type objects into editable shapes, and how to use Type On A Path to turn a path into a line of text. I showed a couple of ways to mask your artwork so that the artboard has clean edges. Finally, we looked at combining some of these tools in different ways.

The rest of this class was studio time to work on Assignment 1.

http://www.deviantart.com/

I just thought I’d add this for the class. Some people already know of this, but deviantART is a website based on all kinds of artists where they can collaborate and help improve each other. It’s a great place to see what artists are doing nowadays in a wide range of media, and to gain great inspiration!

Cheers,

Jade.

Vuk Ćosić - Venus

While we’re looking at early digital artwork and also vector images, I thought you might like to see Vuk Ćosić’s The History of Art for Airports.

Vera Molnar - untitled plotter drawing (1968)

Digital imaging refers to using computers to create and work with images. Digital imaging has been around ever since someone first connected a computer to a video display (most examples of early “digital art” are from the 1960s, for example plotter drawings). As computers continue to become more important in work, communication, and daily life, more and more artists find themselves working with digital technology – for example, photographers, filmmakers, and even ceramicists are working with computers more than ever before. So learning to work with computers as part of your art practice is useful, even if you do not see yourself as a “digital artist”.

Digital imaging is used not only for artmaking, but in many other fields as well. Digital imaging technology is very important for designers, photographers, cartographers, journalists, doctors, engineers, and many other professionals.

In this class, we will look at digital imaging as it is used for making art. You can think of digital imaging as part of a larger field of art called digital art, or more broadly, new media. Instead of traditional art media such as painting and sculpture, new media artists work with emerging technology to make art. Besides digital imaging, new media includes media such as video art and video installation, sound art, digital animation, interactive art and internet art, physical computing and electronics, art using computer code, biotechnology art, and even virtual art. Because it involves technology which is evolving quickly, the definition of new media is always changing. The Canada Council for the Arts defines new media as “Artworks that use multimedia, computers or communications technologies in creative expression”.

Digital imaging is an intuitive place to get started making art with computers, because you can use your drawing, painting, photography skills to create digital art. As the class progresses, we’ll look at other ways to make digital art, using the web, video and animation, and even working with computer code. Digital artists are doing a lot of interesting and exciting things. New media does not have the vast history of traditional media like painting or sculpture – it is really a whole new world.

In our second class, I introduced this class website, which you can use to refer back to class notes and documents. You can also use the website to post interesting links you want to share with the class (I will e-mail everyone with instructions about how to log in to the class website).

We started out by asking the questions: What is digital imaging, and what is new media? See the Digital Imaging and New Media post for these notes.

Following that, we looked at some examples of vector images and related work, including contemporary artists who use vector images, other artists whose work uses similar graphical structures and strategies, and other examples of what vector imaging is used for, including graphic design. See the Vector Imaging Examples post for these links.

I introduced Assignment 1, which is due on September 22. When considering the quote in Assignment 1, think about the differences between screen media and print media.

Finally, there was an Illustrator demonstration. We revisited tools such as the Layers palette and Free Transform, and looked at working with colour using the Swatches and Color palettes. We also looked at the Brush and Symbol Sprayer tools, including how to use the Brush and Symbol libraries. The Transparency palette was also introduced. During the working time afterwards, we looked quickly at gradients and combining shapes, which will be covered in more detail in upcoming classes.

Siggi Eggertsson - Landscape

Here are some links we looked at in Class 2.

Contemporary artists and illustrators working with vector graphics (or related techniques):

• Siggi Eggertsson
• Alex Hohlov
• Catalina Estrada
• Tom Whalen
• Cristiano Siqueira

Non-digital artists whose work looks similar (just for inspiration – these are not vector images):

• Chris Ware
• Tauba Auerbach
• Piet Mondrian
• Bridget Riley
• Barbara Kruger
• Peter Halley
• Robert Indiana
• Takashi Murakami
• Wassily Kandinsky
• Andy Warhol
• Keith Haring
• Ed Ruscha
• Banksy

Vector graphics are often used by graphic designers and illustrators:

• Logo design, for example the work of Saul Bass
• Poster design (for some great examples, see The Hurricane Poster Project)
• Book cover design
• Other print publications like magazines, brochures, billboards (keep in mind that one advantage of vector images is that they scale so well).
• T-shirt design (see Threadless for examples)
• Typography
• Webcomics and animation (for example, Homestar Runner and Penny Arcade)
• Maps and wayfinding (the London Underground map is a classic example).

Mac OS X Desktop

Throughout the semester, I will post short summaries of each class here, so you can refer back to them if you need to.

During our first class we went over the course outline, including the class objectives, content, and workload, the materials you need for class (a USB drive, and your usual artist’s supplies), studio safety (it’s all about ergonomics!), evaluation, and the attendance policy.

There was a short introduction to Mac OS X, including the Desktop, Dock, and Dashboard, and how to use Finder to open applications. Remember, you can put applications that you use a lot on the Dock, so they are easy to access. We went over some differences between Macs and PCs, how to save files, and how to use a USB drive with Mac OS.

In the second part of the class, we talked about digital imaging and the difference between vector and raster images. We’ll start by learning to work with vector images, using Adobe Illustrator. There was an Adobe Illustrator demonstration, which covered starting a new document, how the user interface is organized, and some of the basic tools which are used to select and manipulate objects. The Layers palette is particularly important, as it allows you to organize your drawing.

Remember, when working in Illustrator, if you are looking for a particular palette and can’t find it, you can always find it listed in the Windows menu at the top of the screen.

This is the class website for VART 2600. We’ll use this website to keep a record of the class as we progress, and post links relevant to class discussions. You can also access documents such as the course outline and assignments (see the list on the left side menu).