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Creative Stimulation

Well, this may be really late but I still wanted to make my post!

I think my biggest draw of inspiration for my work has always been of Asian influence, I've always been drawn to the beautiful brush strokes and vivid colors they use in their artwork. My favorite artist being Ando Hiroshige, I have many of his works hung in my house and they inspire me everyday. This is something I have been interested in since I was about 13 years old and it grows everyday as I learn more and more. Though these types of art are created by woodblock technique, it's the look the work has to it and the colors used that I take away from it, it's simple brush strokes that still somehow manage to look so complex and life like.





Another big part of my artistic drive comes from vintage art advertisements, I've always thought they have such beautiful placement and grid. They have this amazing look and feel to them with such few elements that they use to such an extreme, the colors and typography all have the same feel from poster to poster you would think that they were a series but in fact each one is usually a different artist. I love to look back at past artists work to draw inspiration from, so much of the work today is all based on something in the past, so I think in order to truly become a better artist you must first understand everything that has happened before us.





A more modern type of art that I draw from is in the motion graphics field, the intros and logo design pieces you see on TV. I love the way they make things flawlessly flow together and pulling you into the start of the story. Some favorite types of opening credits are Sweeney Todd and the Series of Unfortunate Events. I love the combination of still paper-like animation mixed with real life, I've always been drawn to that look in artwork. The stark contrast is so eye grabbing, then the placement of text is co crucial to creating the mood in credits. Typography is also another section of art that I am very interested in and I think that credits are actually more based on type than the imagery, but both are needed to work together to create the perfect intro sequence, it's just really interesting to me.

My Inspiration…

Carlene Frances' Color Field-6 is the first image that comes to mind. I like her use of expressive and complementary colors. Her style reminds me of Rothko’s mystical paintings. As we discussed earlier in class: a work of art has a “good” design if it leaves you speechless.
http://www.carlenefrances.com/Carlene_Frances_|_Artist/Field_of_Color_Series.html

The Pollock Expo in MoMa tv spot is another source of inspiration. It is an animation that emphasizes the dynamism of action painting. The first time I watched this video I felt like exploring a new world--it keeps you engaged from beginning to end. In the future, I’d love to experiment with ink effects and liquid animation.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EQ6bu0_txoU

I am also interested in Web Design and Interactive Media. I admire the work of John Maeda and his interest in the combination of art/design and technology.
http://www.maedastudio.com/index.php

Inspiration, ahoy

When I look around me, the entire world seems to be bright and full of things that are worthy of notice. I think that creating art is a way of adding more interest to our lives, and design even more so. The way things are designed can effect the way that people see the world around them. The way we adorn ourselves, the way we decorate our rooms, the purchases we make, the books we read, the movies we watch...All of these things are impacted by design, whether or not we consciously realise it. 

That being said, I know that the point here is to highlight specifics that inspire us. To that end, my first choice is the introduction to the television show "Carnivale" seen here. The entire piece works together perfectly, from the colour to the graphics to the music and typography. The way the scene seamlessly fades from illustration to photograph and back again, and how space is used to make 2D images seem as though they have depth is simply amazing. 

A designer whom I admire is named Antonio Cerriteno, and part of why I admire him is his versatility of style while still having the same 'feel' to the pieces. The contrast between dark and light, the use of bold colours and designs, and the overall crisp feeling that he engenders makes me want to push my skills to where I can do things like that, and more.

Finally, a more traditional artist. I have followed her work and her life for many years now (thanks to the wonders of blogging), and she is walking inspiration. Not only do I enjoy her artwork, which is off beat and usually amusing, but as a person she is witty and focused and truly loves to create. She takes her ideas and applies them to life, whether it be the soap labels designed, the "Lol Wut" pear that now roams the internet, or the surprising outcome of becoming a childrens' author. Each piece of art has a story, a meaning, and often times there are amusing anecdotes for them all. Her vivacity just makes me want to create - whether it's design, painting, animation. An example of her work.

Mike Baker's "What gets me goin'" Post

I would say the focus of what I want to design is interactive design. This is probably because I've been playing video games for my whole life and I'm pretty interested and passionate about them. Sometimes in the more normal sense of, "Man, this game totally rocks, you get to kill zombies!" However, more recently I've been much more interested in games that are trying to do something more than that. Last year, this game came out called Braid for Xbox Live Arcade. On the surface, it doesn't look like anything particularly special; sure, it has a nice art style and it plays like a classic platforming game with some puzzle solving thrown into the mix. It's the ending that I think did something really special in interactive design, particularly in video games that I've rarely seen done in a video game. Without ruining the whole thing, I'll just say that the narrative being told in the ending is actually told through the player's actions. In most games, narrative and story is not something that is truly interactive, and in fact is usually not interactive at all. You sit back and watch the story unfold. This is what really struck me about Braid, and it's why I'd recommend it to anyone in class that has an Xbox 360.

Another game on Xbox Live Arcade that I wanna mention is Castle Crashers. This game didn't really elicit the same reaction that Braid did for me, but it is a really fun game overall. Why I want to mention it is because it was made by two guys that made the game became known through Newgrounds, a website for all things Flash. This game kind of gave me hope that anyone can "make it" in this industry if they make a quality product, even if all they did was use Flash to make it. They didn't have to have any fancy computer programming that a lot of games have, and they made one of the most popular games on Xbox Live Arcade.

The last game I'll talk about is a game called Passage. It was made by one guy and is a game about the passage of life. I don't think it was really successful in it's attempt at interactive storytelling because the story was told even if the player never touched the keyboard. However, if it was played as it was intended to be played, I think it's a pretty unique game. You can download it for free here. It only takes a couple minutes to play, so give it a try.

Is this thing on?

If I had to narrow down my list of influences and inspiration to three, I guess I'd have to start with Everything2.com. It's basically wikipedia with a sense of humor and a certain literary bent. This is a particularly entertaining page RE: The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy.



Next, I'd have to speak of my affinity for technology, computers, shiny things, etc. I play video games, read blogs and check out youtube and whatnot. I recently came across this mac vs pc video. It's worth watching. And this is a good one discovered by Gerald last semester.

Lastly, I am quite a fan of Tool and their sort-of official artist Alex Grey. They both rule.

My Artistic Drive?

This was an interesting question to ask myself. I wasn't artistic as a kid, at least not in the sense of needing to visual express myself. I didn't even take an art class until my senior year of high school. I always thought that art was reserved for the super talented who possessed skills I just wasn't born with. It wasn't until I took my first digital media class, that I started to gain an appreciation for art, at least the stuff that existed within my computer screen. I was blown away by the complexity and freshness that graphic design seemed to possess. Later, I was introduced to motion graphics; I thought that was some of the coolest I had ever seen. It just adds more excitement and life to already cool looking designs. I love how crisp and original digital designs can be. Traditional Art can be sloppy and textured and chaotic but somehow, designs made on the computer look neat and professional, but can still give that same expression and feeling as a traditional piece. Good designs actually look like someone took the time to create them, not all art is that apparent. I love looking at old paintings and sculptures anywhere from the Greek Era, all the way up to the late 19th Century. Art seemed to work its way into everything back then. Anyways, this is the type of stuff I'm into. I love looking at crisp, funky, and exciting visuals that make me stop and wonder how the artist created it.  Applying art to realistic, useful objects is what design is all about for me. 

Poster DesignThis is a good example of the type of motion graphics which inspire me, GoMedia. 

Also, this is a site I've been visiting for years, it has a bunch of tutorials for different programs, and it stays up to date with new designs, Pixel2LIfe.