Font Homework

Dwayne tasked us with creating fonts.  Thankfully we were allowed to used to tutorials rather than coming up with something on our own.  Below are the two I built.  We're supposed to have one printed for tomorrow, but I'm not sure which I'll use.

Despite the claim on these tutorials that each should take about an hour I easily tripled that.  I didn't make it easy on myself, though, and departed from each tutorial in ways that forced me to learn the ins and outs of the tools.  Now I just need to finish up my interior/exterior perspective grid drawings.  Too much to do and no time to do it...

Assignment 4: Live Trace and Gradient Mesh

Assignment 4 consisted of two separate projects.  The first is to use Live Trace on an existing image and then make a logo out of it.  The logo can be a re-imagining of an existing logo or something completely made up.  The second must be an object made with the Gradient Mesh tool.

I made up a logo for an imaginary company called Darkmoon Publishing.  I used Live Trace on the books and the moon and then further edited each to create my logo.  Here are the results:

I decided to challenge myself for the Gradient Mesh part of the assignment.  I decided to recreate one of the masks in Emil Nolde's Masks using only this tool.  I'm not entirely happy with the results but considering the limitations of the tool I think it turned out alright.   My rendition is on top and Nolde's original [full] canvas is below.

Learning the tools: gradient meshes in Illustrator

Last Wednesday we learned to use the gradient mesh tool, which can be used to sculpt and add depth to objects.  Here are some examples I created:

In the first of these two objects, the cherries, I did a manual trace of the cherries with the pen tool, then went back and used the gradient mesh to recolor and add depth to the flat "cherries" I drew.  In the second I started with a raw, generic rectangle and sculpted a sort of emerald out of it.

Live Trace Assignment: Dwayne

Dear Shephard Fairey,
   Please don't sue me.

Yours truly,
Rick

More Illustrator Learnin'

In addition to the blend tool, we also learned how to combine shapes to create new objects.  I think (hope?) this is what Dwayne meant by the "ring tutorial" he said he gave us.  We then used the 3D filter to add depth to text (and other objects).  Below are my results of these tutorials.

Yes, National Annoy A Graphic Designer Day does use the trifecta of rainbow colors, Comic Sans, and Papyrus.  It also has "A" capitalized to annoy grammar teachers.  I was going to add a lens flare, too, but that just would have been mean.

We also had to make 5 "3d objects."  Yeah... I wasn't able to finish.  I got SOMETHING, though!

Learning the Tools: Blending in Illustrator

Today we learned how to use the blending tool.  It was not unlike tweening in Photoshop animation.  We had to build 5 blended drawings.  Here is what I came up with:

Learning the tools: vectors and Illustrator

Last Wednesday dove into Illustrator for the first time... or I did anyway.  I had played with it before but mostly felt lost.  With the more formal introduction and Illustrator's ability to lay itself out like Photoshop I was able to find myself around a bit better.  This first image is what I did doodling around during class as we learned the tools.

Very simplistic, I know.  Keep in mind that I'm just learning the tools here.  Toward the end of class we were told that our assignment for the weekend was do draw out 5 scenes using the entire artboard in Illustrator.  The instructor suggested this would take between 10 and 20 minutes for each.  It took a lot longer for me.  I probably spent at least 30 minutes on each and still feel like what I made is pretty basic:

For some reason a few of these remind me of video games from the early/mid 90s.  The table especially conjures up images of old adventure games like Police Quest.  I'm not sure why.

I found the tools in Illustrator cumbersome and somewhat difficult to work with.  This was especially so when it came to cropping or deleting portions of an object I had drawn.  The process wasn't exactly difficult once I figured it out, but it was still a damn site more complicated than it strictly needed to be.  I still haven't figured out how to get the dropper tool working the way I expect it to.  I guess I need to keep playing.

Vector Art!

So, we're supposed to have some examples (at least 10) of vector art that we find on the web. I know what vector art is (images using shapes based on algorithms instead of a bitmap) and why it is important (much like fractals, vectors can be infinitely resized or shrunk without losing detail or becoming aliased/blocky). However, I had a hard time finding verifiable examples of things I just really liked. So, instead, I simply found examples of vectors I could verify were not just cleverly designed bitmaps. Here goes:

1) This telephone is built using vectors and is in the SVG, or scalable vector graphics, format. If you can't see the image below then it's time to upgrade your browser, kid.




2) This logo for the PostgreSQL project is also an SVG.




3) This logo is for the Linux project.




4) Vector graphics have more of a hand-drawn quality to them. This peacock is rendered as Arabic calligraphy.




5) Most people don't realize this, but animations done in Adobe Flash often use vector graphics.




6) Though this is a JPG export, this portrait was drawn using vectors. The artist is Ghiditya and the piece is called Orange Girl.



7) A character from the very rad graphic novel Scott Pilgrim vs. The World (later a pretty rad movie). The original art is by Bryan Lee O'Malley but this drawing is from mrockz.




8) Another portrait. This one, by SuperPalits, seems to use some pretty advanced techniques.




9) Vectors seem to almost have a cartoonish look to them. Almost as if they are about to start to move.




10) The artist who created this animation took original vector images and animated them with Adobe AfterEffects instead of Flash.

Arting Out - 3 & 4 of 5

(art event 3/5) I failed to write about it previously, but I went to the Cooper Young Festival a month or so ago. Cooper-Young is more of a community awareness event than strictly being about the arts, but many local artists participate by selling their work. While not universal, much of what can be found during the event is somewhat commercial--maybe even pedestrian--and may not be considered "high art" by some. However, there are a few gems for those willing to look. I was especially impressed by some of the found art artists such as the folks operating under the name "Shove It" who recycle old skateboards into jewelry and other works.

(art event 4/5) My family attended the Dia De Lost Muertos event at University of Memphis this past Saturday, October 29th. There were several traditional memorials, ofrendas, setup throughout the main hallway of what is to be the new Fine Art building on campus (previously the law building). The Aztec sand sculpture at the very rear was incredible, too. Unfortunately, I missed the performances due to a misunderstanding of the schedule: they only performed on Sunday.