Pictures. Pictures? PICTURES?!!?!!?!?!!?!

Welp my little followers, the title says it all. PICTURES. TONS AND TONS OF PICTURES. (A side note for Stamper. I took the ACT with Alec today and we discussed arts beforehand. Be proud!!) Anyhow. I'm not entirely sure about this whole media exploration blog thing. But I'm pretty sure I've already been doing that in my sketches. First offff. Let me note that my concentration is based off Mauri Islanders (New Zealand) so I'm trying to incorporate that into everything as much as possible. My first pictures doesn't really have much to do with media exploration, but I'm interested in seeing how it turns out once we actually start to work with clay.

If you look really close, you can notice all these weird little men-looking creatures. They're called hei tikis, and are given to Mauri children by their parents as... Let's say... A 16th, 18th, or 21st birthday gift. It's a sign they're growing up, basically. I have all these different designs/looks for it, and it's going to have a green glaze, as most actually hei tikis are made from a substance called taonga (greenstone).






My second "media exploration" was the watercoloring. I'm sure you've already seen it, but I'm going to put another picture up to jog your memory. :P

I'm not sure exactly what project I'm going to incorporate these watercolored faces into, but I'm going to do it in something we do. We're kindof transitioning into 3d elements in the second semester, or at least right now, so I'm just waiting to be able to use it. I've really taken a fancy to watercolor this past year; and I really will enjoy watercoloring faces. It will seriously help me with my issues with human anatomy since I'm having to draw a different ethnicity and make the features shape accordingly. Overall, I feel successful with this medium. :)



Then there's the last one, and the first project we really did. The whole carving out lithography stuff. And that woman.

These four are in order of how I practiced printing. The pencil (design), checking to make sure everything was carved out correctly and exploring rainbow rolls, checking once again that I carved correctly, and then an actual print I was trying to make.
I really wanted to find some project to incorporate this into, but when I tried it with the mixed media project, it turned out horribly. I attempted to print ontop of what I had already made (it seemed awesome in my head) but it just didn't work out at all. It smudged and was horrible. HORRIBLE. But... That doesn't mean I can't keep on using it for printmaking by itself.


Well.... THAT'S ALL FOR RIGHT NOW....
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Here are some random pictures.

Berea College

Ever since I talked with Mr.Whitley about it, and how much he seemed to enjoy it (given that was... more than a few years ago), I started researching it. And the prospect of not paying for ANYTHING except room and board when I go to college seems so amazing. I could end up going to grad school and having half the debt I would if I went to, let's say, Murray State, UK, or anywhere else. Of course, since the college is free, the admissions rate is very low. One of the most difficult colleges in Kentucky to apply to. The acceptance rate is around 19%. However, the requirements for acceptance are very limited, and luckily for me, I believe I have all of those requirements. Here they are:
http://www.berea.edu/admissions/admissioninformation/admission-requirements.asp
I find it interesting that 2 years of laboratory science is required by this college. That makes me feel extremely confident, because as of right now, I know about only about 20 students at Lone Oak High School of the 1,200 that go here that have 2 years of actual laboratory science. Berea is one of the top liberal arts colleges in the United States. I find it amazing the diversity in classes, people, ethnicity, and majors that keeps on popping up in reviews I've read. Another thing I find interesting is that the deadline for applications is on April 30th, a lot later than other colleges or universities.
The arts department is very well-focused and formed at Berea because of the fact it is a liberal arts college. It doesn't say exactly what the portfolio requirements are, but it does recommend an AP studio course, and a recent portfolio from that. The portfolio will be judged by the ENTIRE art faculty, which is kind of nerve-wracking, and they will determine whether your concentration best be fit in Studio, General, or Art History. It seems like they take their "arting" seriously, and I'm glad they do. :)
Here's the link to the art department.
http://www.berea.edu/cataloghandbook/dpc/art-prg.asp
Here's the link to the general website.
http://www.berea.edu/

"Lady with an Ermine" ? ? ?

This is an odd painting by Leonardo da Vinci, circa. 1490. It's entitled "Lady with an Ermine". I don't know what attracted me to feature this as one of my own "oh so elaborate, in-depth, life-changing elaborate art evaluations". Perhaps it's that I feel as if Leonardo had a sense of a humor whilst commissioning this piece. I like to imagine him painting this and thinking "Maiiiinnnn. This woman be crazy, holdin a ermine and makin me paint her and dat nasty thang."----- What even is an ermine? Google time. Oh. It's a weasel. Why is she holding a weasel? 15th century women are crazy. Oh. Now to get to the elements and principles of art hidden within this exhilarating portrait. Oh, they're in there, hiding in the ermine's eyes, no doubt.. Just look in those eyes... Gaze deep... Deeper... Deeper. Ah. There's that life-changing experience. Now you can go around and tell people you've stared into the eyes of an ermine.... Let's study little leo's painting now! Okay, here's the analysis of the principles and elements. So one thing that I've noticed and am surprised immensely by... is Leonardo's use of line, shape/form, space/perspective, or rather, lack thereof. He seems to do quite well, no surprise there, on the colors and values of the woman's clothes. He follows the contours and records them very well... Every shadow, every crevice of them, recorded with the need of a shadow or highlight. He clearly understands how to paint a value scale. Notice how he paints her skin, and how he also tries to apply this process to it as well. It's not as detailed and precise as the clothing, though. Now notice how he applies this detail on the ermine as well.  However... Look at the woman again. There are some trivial details that I deem... Unexpected... from Da Vinci. First, look at her headband. There is no use of perspective there. It is simply a straight line across her forehead and her hair. It doesn't follow her head, or curve to imply that her head is round. IT ISN'T FLAT, LEO! While you're near her head, also, notice the unibrow looking thing. (What?) Second, notice her hair. He uses the correct value on it, yes, but THERE'S NO LINE. It simply looks like a giant blob to me. If he had used line on her hair with that use of value, it would have created a wonderful example of implied texture. Another thing I noticed... He didn't use perspective or form/shape on her necklace correctly, either. It looks like he simply painted circles on her neck. There isn't enough emphasis on the value to manipulate it to look like a sphere. While we're at it, look at the background. Black? Feeling depressed today, Da Vinci?
All in all, I think leo coulda stepped up his game on this a bit. Come on leo. Get serious, bruh. I don't care if she's holding an ermine and you can't help from laughing.

Bucknell University ( and maybe a few others :3 )

Let me introduce you to the private, non-profit Bucknell University, of Lewisburg, Pennsylvania. You may be like "Clayton. You is crazy. Why PA, bruh?" I don't know. Shut up and listen to me talk about it. Get out of my life if you don't want to listen. :) I really have no idea why I'm so intensely drawn toward schools in Pennsylvania. This is legitimately the 4th college there that I've been considering. Possibly due to my ability to make things more difficult than they're supposed to be, of no surprise, all of these colleges are difficult to get into to, or extremely expensive. This one is no exception. The minimum ACT scores required by the college are a 27-31. Wowowowoww! So obviously chock full of smart people.... Good. That's what I enjoy.... Let's see the out of state tuition... *scrolly scrolly... lookie lookie...* OH MY GOD. WHAT IS THIS I DON'T EVEN... $50,000 tuition. Screw life. Although, there is an average $23,000 scholarship/ financial aid. Let's see admission rate.... *hesitantly scrolly... sad face* 30% acceptance. PENNSYLVANIA, Y U NO MAKE MY LIFE EASY? I'll link the website that I find all of this on at the very end of this. In fact, let's just ALL THE LINKS at the bottom. Alas, tiempo to get serious for a second. I really enjoy this college. It seems very successful with all of these benefits: 1:10 teacher/student ratio, 97% of professors have the highest degree in their field, 67% of students say they have manageable workload, students are teachers are friendly, 93% of students come back after their first year, gives credit for AP CLASSES... It seems fun! Most popular majors are Social Sciences & Liberal Arts, and Language & Literature. My kindof school. :333 I explored the website of the actual University for a while, and it seems quite interesting. I am legitimately considering this school now for my higher education after my basics here in Kentucky. I just hope that my debt won't be too large. It sucks that the school is so expensive. But I'm extremely drawn towards it. I couldn't really find a specific application process for the arts department, however, I saved a few links that are helpful. Here they are. :)) 

Summarized info about Bucknell: http://collegeprowler.com/bucknell-university/

School website: http://www.bucknell.edu/

Admissions (application) website: http://www.bucknell.edu/x68.xml#

Arts scholarships: http://www.bucknell.edu/x67410.xml

Art department: http://www.bucknell.edu/x722.xml

What is Art? (Article Brief)

Clayton Tracy
Mrs. Stamper
Art III
http://www.smashingmagazine.com/2010/07/23/what-do-we-really-mean-by-art/

• This article was composed by Marilina Maraviglia. She is a college student, a translator, and a freelance writer. I will only summarize the first 3 parts, as the article is very, very long. Check for yourself, if you wish. She starts out the article asking "What is Art?". To me, that is a question like "What is the meaning of life?" I believe that art is what we make of it, and. like most things in life, what we put into it is what we get out of it. She gives the literal definition of art, "...something that expresses an idea, an emotion, or, more generally, a world view." She then goes on to argue how the definition of art has changed with the time period, and how it is a "controversial topic". I do slightly agree with her about art changing over the time period, but not necessarily the definition of art being "controversial". Regardless of however many different cultures have different views on what art is "considered", I believe that art is simply a way that humans connect with one another, and show off their OWN culture, as not two cultures of the world have exactly the same perspective on something.
• In the second part of her article, she appeals to two professional european artists, Alexander Daniloff and Johnathan Ball, to explain the where traditional art met contemporary. Alexander explains that one cannot trace a straight line back to this point, but rather, a few parabolas, or... a spiral. He then goes on to explain the types of artwork he enjoys, and then artist Johnathan Ball explains his digital design work, and says "Yes, most definitely (we can draw a line from traditional to contemporary art). Many of the same techniques are used, just in slightly different ways and with different tools. The same principles apply, however you create art." I don't particularly care the part of the article where the artist explain the type of artwork they enjoy, I simply care for the topic, how tradition met contemporary. They go off on these little talks about their own artwork, artwork they don't like, etc., but they do have interesting views on how the two subjects met, as I've highlighted in italics. I agree completely with Daniloff, as there are many upon many different sub-categories of artwork and not all of them had reached the "tradition-contemporary line" at the same point. I, however, do not agree with Ball. He claims that the same techniques and principles are applied when you create art, you just do it with different tools than people  in the past did. No. No no no no no no. Some techniques die out, and some new are born. Some principles of art are outdated, and new are created. Even though there are the basic principles of art, movement, harmony, unity, etc., people who created traditional art may not have necessarily even known what some of those techniques were. I can guarantee you not all of those techniques were commonly known until the contemporary time period. Regardless, both artists are qualified to talk about where they believe contemporary met traditional, and have the right to their own opinion. 
• In her third part of the article, she speaks of aesthetics in digital art. She argues that because of the effortlessness that a person can put into a digital artwork, many people believe that it isn't really art or an art form by itself. She, again, appeals to an artist, Jan Willem Wennekes. I completely agree with Wennekes on most everything that she says about digital art. She claims that, digital art is just like an other art form, where one must master the tools, for example, color theory, position of lighting, and once one does master these, their artwork shows it. Regardless of what form of art it is. Wennekes then goes on to talk about how digital art is, in a sense, an overlap of all kings of different art forms, as shown by how some digital art look like photographs, some look like paintings, etc. 
• I would have read the rest of the article and posted about it, but it's just toooooooo long. I would have so much writing to do and be sitting here for hours. I hope you get the jist of it all from these 3 paragraphs. :) 

Halloween!!... Not really.

Hey there guys! :) I thought I was going to do a blog this week over halloween or something creepy to fit the theme, but I found this instead. I'd stumbled upon this before, I believe. But theses were more interesting.

Here's a link to the site that I found them on. http://www.stumbleupon.com/su/2JlFTo/24flinching.com/word/gold-seal/inspiring-artists/still-life-still-alive/

I just think that this artist is amazing. As I've been looking through modern/contemporary artwork over the last couple of months, I've noticed that many artist nowadays seem to actually produce their artwork "on-scene" in a gallery or some other such place. This in itself adds a sortof "excitement" to the artwork, if you will. But just because an artist does that, doesn't necessarily mean they are talented. However, this woman seems exceptionally talented. Not only does she play with the viewers' perception of her artwork, but she knows how to paint very well. She knows what values/shades need to go where to create a certain shadow or lack thereof, highlights in the right places, etc. With this type of artwork, you MUST get all of this perfectly correct or it will ruin the entire piece. Yet, she never faltered. Placement was also very important. If the model was too close or too far away, the illusion would be ruined. But, placing the model directly infront of the background allows the viewers' eyes to connect the two, and connect them "as one". Kudos to this woman. I'd love to see one of these additions to a gallery in person. If you ever want to search for this on your own, just type in "still life still alive" on google and I promise some of these will pop up. :)

Disgusting...

This is my exact face and question I asked to the employers (but really myself) that posted this online job application to be a "Sports Merchandizing Art Director".
http://www.jobsinsports.com/job-listing/sports-merchandiser-art-director-scotts-valley-ca-453169578?source=simplyhired.com&utm_medium=cpc&utm_term=Art%20Director&utm_content=Scotts%20Valley,%20CA&utm_campaign=simplyhired
Contrary to popular belief, I'm just fine with sports. I don't care for them, but I don't profusely dislike them for no reason. However... This job just seems absolutely horrid. I mean, the requirements just scream out to me "HEY! YOU! YEAH YOU! BE OUR ART/MARKET/RESEARCH/MERCHANDISE/ORGANIZING/OFFICE DIRECTOR AND DO EVERYTHING WE TELL YOU AND LOVE THE COMPANY PUHLEASEEE?!?!?!?!?!?"
If you actually read all of the requirements, some of them are just ridiculous. Just to cite a few..

Understands the brand and is passionate about its past, present and future.


Take the lead on all creative projects and be able to balance great design with cost and time requirements.

• Command Skills: Relishes leading; takes unpopular stands if necessary, encourages direct and tough debate but isn’t afraid to end it and move on, is looked to for direction in a crisis and is energized by tough challenges.
• Conflict Management: Steps up to conflicts, seeing them as opportunities, reads situations quickly and is good at focused listening
  • Flexibility and the ability to handle constructive criticism are essential
  • Must be able to turn around projects quickly and accurately
  • Meet deadlines and work under pressure
    
    
    If you actually read all of the requirements, some of them are just ridiculous. Just to cite a few..
    I mean, it may just be me, but it seems like this company just wants you do to all of the things they don't want to do, and you need to be happy about it while you're doing. The entire job description basically says : You're going to have to work with people all the time, and they're most likely to be people you don't like, and if you all fight, you have to deal with it. You also have to do every project we tell you about (and occasionally we get mad at you for ones you didn't do that we didn't tell you about), and you have to organize everything in the office, do all of our research for us, collaborate with other companies (don't screw that up!!), and by the way, you have to do all of this under extreme deadlines and pressure, and just... Be happy about it all! Kthxbye. 
    
    
    I'd absolutely hate this job. 

Tour Eiffel

This isn't the real eiffel tower! :O I fooled you guys. :3 I think this is really cool. Also how the woman is just standing there on the sidewalk, derpin. I assume whomever the artist was, he took photoshop or some other type of image-altering program, and just had at it! :O Let us review this wonderful contemporary artwork and the elements/principles contained with it. <--- lol. Okay!!!!! So. The artist obviously uses the lines contained within the eiffel tower and recreates them to suit his/her idea. Instead of the metal framework being contained and brought to a single point, he/she JUST GOES ABSOLUTELY INSANE. It's like they're trying to create a roller coaster track, almost. The lines comes out of the eiffel tower, twisting and turning in every direction, even coming towards you. Almost like the eiffel tower is whipping its hair back and forth. GOIN CRAZY. Which leads me to the proportion/perspective. It is obviously a one point perspective, and the vanishing point being somewhere near the bottom of the eiffel tower. But what I find so cool about this is how the artist skews the surroundings to curve inward, toward the tower itself. The proportion is... Normal, as it was a photograph to begin with. However, the big giant metal arm coming towards you actually makes you imagine being there, and the woman standing next to it on the sidewalk gives you an appreciation of how big the actual tower is. Ohhh... What else.. Oh! Space. Of course you're smart enough to figure this out. The foreground being the woman (kindof), the buildings, and the sideway, middle-ground being the tower, and background being the treesssssss...... and the far away streets/beginning of other parts of the city. Happy blogging! :P

Dat lotus eater.

Guys. This website is so intense. Like... I just have no idea how to explain to you how amazed I am by this  artist. I never post a week ahead of time, I've never had my jaw open while starting at artwork, and I've never felt truly emotionally moved by any artist. Yes, over the years as I have grown as an artist, I have seen what is defined as "truly great" or a "masterpiece", I've seen and experienced what an artist must go through to create an astonishing piece, I've seen the "masters" work... But pertaining the most... I've seen that some artists rely on emotions to connect with their viewers.. But I've never seen such a great example of it. This person... Whomever they may be... I believe is a genius. The music of course, brings a completely different atmosphere to his/her work than if it simply did not exist. I've never felt the actual depression, or sadness of a piece of art. Please go to this website and maybe you'll understand how I felt. Like I said, sound is just as important as the artwork itself. You'll notice that once you get to the website, there are little black roses on the right side of the picture frame. Hover over them to navigate the website. The little hovering black dots on the opposite side of the picture frame let you see his/her different pieces of art. You'll understand after you see it for yourself.

www.thelotuseater.com/

Here's a direct quote from my friend Emily Hannan, which I believe really does explain this artwork completely.
"This is crazy... It's like I'm walking through a nightmare. It's like a good feeling, but at the same time, it's not."
For some reason, this artist wants his/her identity to stay unknown. I've researched it for a while, and even on their deviantart account, they don't have any personal information. This artwork is just astonishing to me. The artist is a master at the grey-scale, shown by how they use close to every value of grey I can possibly think of. It creates a nice sense of unity throughout the pieces. The intensity is, of course, on the darker side. He/she is also wonderful at creating texture throughout the pieces, as shown by the rocks, canyons, wood planks, etc. One thing that I found that stood out throughout the pieces is the anatomy of the characters. You will notice if you look carefully how the artist makes it a point to show characters actually GROWING into the ground or, in one case, their own face. I just absolutely loved this website and wish I knew who the artist was.

Restorin' Dat Artwork

Hey guys. :) Today Ima blog about what I'd do if I were to pick a career in art. Mkay? Kay. Sooo....
Ever heard of art restoration? It's so much more of a complicated process than you think. First, let's start with what art restoration even is. It's simply the process by which a trained professional cleans, repairs, and restores a damaged or old (we're talking hundreds of years) painting, sculpture, vase, basically ANY artwork you can think of. Many people just think art restoration is simply going over and repainting something to make it look brand new. Right? WRONG. Professional restorers need to know or have the following skills :

• Some degree of scientific knowledge as far as chemistry goes.
• Degrees in studio art, fine art, and art history are needed.. Along with graduate programs in fine art conservation.
• A background or in depth understanding of painting (or sculpting, etc., depending on your choice of medium).
• Obviously because of all the above, you will need to have a Bachelor of Fine Arts (BFA) or Master of Fine Arts (MFA) courses... Which can go up to five years. 

Wait? Chemistry? Why chemistry. Well guys, sorry for the bad news, but I don't have an amazing video for this one. But.. It does sorta show you why you need some knowledge of chemistry to be a prof. restorer. WATCH THIS.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c-7epo34-lY&feature=fvwrel

You'll see in the beginning of the video he uses an NH3 (Ammonia) compound to remove the layers of dust and grime caked on the surface of the painting after years upon years of existing. So, there's the chemistry part for you.
Where in the world would you find a job after you're training is complete and are an "aspiring professional"? Simple. Go to ANY museum and tell them you're a prof. restorer. They'll absolutely eat you up if you have the credentials. However, art restoration is a VERY competitive career choice. So, you have to have a strong sense of business and impress very high-ranking people in the art world. I think that I'd love this job because... I'd personally love to challenge myself in order to impress people and actually make my indirect mark upon the art world. Not to mention my perfectionist type attitude and my slight chemistry background would definitely help with the miniature details and compounds I'd have to mix to clean the paintings (or medium of my choice).
Ahhh... The money. After intensive internet research (about 5 minutes of it) I've come to the conclusion that depending upon your locality... You can earn anywhere from $15 to $100 an hour as a prof. art restorer, with an avg. yearly income (of all art restoration related careers) about $60,000. Pretty good, eh? :) Happy blogging!

References:
http://www.careerage.com/career/cc/art/
http://www.simplyhired.com/a/salary/search/q-Art+Restoration
http://www.ehow.com/list_6195741_art-restoration-careers.html

Watercolourssssss

Got another link for ya here, followers. You know the drill. :P

http://www.marion-b.com/index.php?/paintings/sneak-peek/

I stumbled upon this interesting artist earlier in the week, and I had lost her link for a while. It slightly upset me because I wanted to do my next project based on her style. But, lo and behold! I had outsmarted myself and had written down the link. :) The artist's name is Marion Bolognesi, as you may have noticed. She lives in New York City, and has a Bachelors in Fine Arts Degree (BFA) from Massachusetts College of Art & Design in Boston. So, she definitely knows what she's doing. :P But what peaked my interest the most is that she has a - successful, nonetheless - art career in accessories design in NEW YORK CITY, the city of fashion itself! Imagine how she had to fight to the top and work hours upon hours with designs after designs. I admire her for that. But what I admire her for more is that even though she has this (most likely) time consuming career, she still makes just as much time to work on her personal portfolio.

Both of the pictures below I will probably use as inspiration for MY portfolio. So interesting!

The Sistine Chapel (Historical)

 Io benvenuto voi al mio blog, amici. (nell'italiano) :)

Ever seen something that wasn't quite a picture or quite a video, but a mixture of both at the same time? Why dontcha check the link below. For me? Please? :( Go. DO IT.

http://www.vatican.va/various/cappelle/sistina_vr/index.html

Pretty cool, huh? I thought it was like a version of minecraft with better graphics. Also, you know all those stupid memes that have the greek looking God in them always pointing to something, or connecting his index finger with that of a man? :) Yeah. That's from the sistine chapel. Note for MRS.STAMPER (got your attention, didn't it? :P ) : The paragraph explaining the principles and elements of art is below the next paragraph.

 Oh what to say about the sistine chapel... If you know your history, you'll know it's one of the world's most renowned pieces of artwork from the renaissance era, even to this day. But it qualifies as so much more than just artwork. Yes, it is a true masterpiece devoted to the roman catholic religion, the pope, and tells the story of the book of genesis from the creation, to the fall of Jesus Christ... But, inadvertently has became a major symbol of the religion itself. Who painted this astronomic masterpiece? A famous and highly-qualified artist who specialized in painting, right? WRONG BRO. An artist named "Michelangelo" actually commissioned this artwork. Michelangelo had actually never painted since he had been a student of art, and when he was hired to paint this, he had already spent years.. Most of his life.. Perfecting his forte as a sculptor. Why did he have to paint this then? Why didn't he say no? Simple. The pope asked him to, and if you disobeyed the pope in this era, YOU DEAD. Anywho, ONWARD TO EXPLAINING THE ARTISTIC SIDE OF IT!

Of course, more professional artists than I ever will be have done entire studies of this artwork and have their definition of the "right" way to describe it. But, it is my personal belief that artwork wouldn't be artwork if we all didn't have different perceptions of a piece. You will notice that Michelangelo seemed to have kept his values relatively the same throughout the entire piece. Some artists have trouble doing that with a simple canvas painting, much less an entire ceiling! This smooth flowing of the light and dark, along with moving some scenes over onto another section (or properly called, frescos) creates such a stark case of rhythm between the different scenes, it just completely amazes me. This also leads me to my next point. I know this piece is not actually symmetrical, rather, asymmetrical, but Michelangelo does something astounding with his piece that I can't really explain. When I look at the commission (piece) from a distance away, I feel a sense of implied symmetry, or a better term, balance. If you cut the building in half, you will notice similarities between both sides of the piece that make the whole piece flow together, even though each fresco has a different scene. Follow me? Cool. :) Lastly, let us not forget the proportion he was painting on. HE PAINTED ON THE CEILING OF A ROMAN CHAPEL. Case and point, it was huge.

While Michelanglo's sculptures and other pieces of artwork were very professional, I believe he will forever go down in history as the man who created the astonishing sistine chapel scene. He was a great artist, and very representative of the renaissance. Also, did you know that there is almost an undisputed belief that Michelangelo wasn't attracted to women? Score one for us. ;) Go read about it! 

"Andare avanti e rendere prospero... Come un artista." - Me. :) 

Them Frenchies just steal my little artistic heart!

Hey there! :) First off, do as I tell you. GO WATCH THIS VIDEO. It's completely worth it. If the school has it blocked for some godly unknown and most likely irrational reason, go ask Mrs. Stamper to type in her magic password and whatnot so you can. Or watch it at home. Once again, let me reiterate. IT'S COMPLETELY WORTH IT. Go now, my little bloggers! Watch, and come back!

http://vimeo.com/15076572

Here's a picture of the end product related to the video for those of you that don't want to be amazed.

(This part is for both you video-viewers and non-video-viewers!)

This picture doesn't really do much justice to the one in the video, but oh well. Basically, this duo of urban or "street" artists from france named "Supakitch and Koralie" joined together a few years back to spread how urban artwork isn't just graffiti and spraypaint. There IS an actual process of art behind it. Both of them are very heavily influenced by japanese artwork and culture, as they grew up watching french/japanese anime and manga, which is apparently VERY popular in France. Recently, actual galleries have hired them to install their street artwork in their refined walls, unaccustomed to such contemporary and modern ideas. As you may have noticed in the video, their use of mediums was unusual, but not more than the ordinary artists would use. Felt-tip pins, ink, acrylic and watercolor paints, vinyl, hardbacked paper. I believe the reason they are so successful is because of their pre-planning, laying out exactly what needs to go where at one time, their understanding of unity (majorly), and how they are confident in what they do. They don't hesitate when they draw lines on the wall or paint. They go right into it, knowing exactly what they want. Also, a bit of background info. They weren't a couple in this video, even though they may look it. Supakitch didn't propose to Koralie until a later installation in the streets of New York City. Very romantic. You should check it out. :) Check the first link below for their website where they have merchandise for sale and their artwork on view. Check the second link below for another cool video that is an advertisement for an art convention in France that Supa and Kora were in. It's not.. necessarily... school appropriate. So don't watch it in class, or if you do, make sure Stamper watches it first and says it's okay or whatever. DON'T GET ME IN TROUBLE, K? Happy blogging. :3

http://www.METROPLASTIQUE.com
http://vimeo.com/22391248

About that 1970s artwork...

Hey guys! :) This post is gonna be (as you could've guessed) about 1960-70s circa artwork! Ah... What a wonderful time I didn't live in. Around every corner there were signs of social reform, feminist and anti-war movements, whisperings of potential-space colonies, and whole heaps of exciting things that would change the outcome of what we are today! No wonder the artwork from this period is so unique! After a bit of internet searching, I found this absolutely compelling and interesting piece created by a college art student from Australia.  

This guy is just absolutely amazing at what he does, not just cause he's kinda cute (come on girls, you know it!), but because of the complicated and hard work he seemed to have put into the piece. First off, let me inform you this is a self-portrait by a guy named "John Thompson" created in 2006, based on 1960s - 1970s british pop artwork.  The  process he used to create this is so absolutely astounding and complicated to me, I can't easily explain it. But that's not going to stop me from trying! He began with a digital image of himself, manipulated it, separated it into different tones, printed, cut out, posted on vinyl, (couldn't stop there) and used elements of graffiti and spray art, along with stenciling. Wow! I believe he definitely captured the essence of the "psychedelic 70s" by using starkly contrasting colors, upping the intensity, using flowing lines, and placing himself directly in the foreground. This makes it that much more visually appealing and makes your eye flow across the whole piece. You can't just look at one corner of the artwork and move on. Props to John for making a very interesting piece. 
Hope ya enjoyed the post. :)