What inspires me this week?

In my spanish class we were given an assignment where we have to make our own day of the dead alter. With this assignment i had to look up some background on the day of the dead. This really started to inspire me. Usually I only want to do work that is in black and white. I am not a big fan of color, but with this assignment it has opened my eyes to the mexican culture. Everything they do is full of color. even though in the U.S. we see death as a time of mourning, in Mexico they see it as a time of celebration. They show this with the day of the dead by using many bright colors. The thing about the day of the dead that is inspiring me this week is the sugar skulls. They are filled with so much color and they are so intricate with detail every single one is different. It really has inspired me to mix together colors that I normally would not. Maybe for a change it would be refreshing to use color.....

Larger than Life

when i read the blog I wanted to find an artist that was completely out of my comfort zone and something that i would never to be able to create. I had no idea where to start looking then I found this amazing site of Street Artists. There are 6 different street artists from around the world shown on this site and I was going to pick one, but I couldn't decide I know you may be thinking graffiti, but that is not it. You will just have to see for yourself....

Below are a few pictures of Street Art. To see more go to this link:

http://www.lifeinthefastlane.ca/worlds-top-six-amazing-street-artists/art

by Blu

by Faile

by JR

by JR

by Nunca

When I Grow Up...

There are some people in life to know exactly what they want to do at a young age. They have it all figured out, and there is no doubt in their minds that they are making the wrong career choice decision. I have never been one of those lucky people. My mind has changed many times since I was little. I remember for a project in second grade we had to choose what we thought we would be when we grew up and I chose a garbage man because I wanted to ride on the back of the garbage truck. What was I thinking?! I'll answer that I wasn't. Over the years my career plans have changed many times, but other than the garbage man career they have always been involved with art.

Since I sm graduating this year I was told by my mom that I need to figure out what I want to do with the rest of my life. and I finally came t the conclusion that i want to be a photographer!! My dream job would be to be a fashion photographer for a magazine or runway. So i can see me moving to LA!

I am planning to go to college for 4 years to get my degree because there is a lot more things I need to learn about photography to be successful.  I don't think not going to college would be a very smart idea. And then off into the world to find a job, hopefully I will be able to get one with this economy!

Black and White Photography

There has always been something about black and white photography that has always inspired me and brought me to think up of many ideas for my own photography. I don't know exactly how to pin pint it, but  i have always been drawn to black and white photography. Maybe because it has and old fashion style to it, but at the same time you can make it look really modern and clean. It inspires me to look at another artist's previous photography and see what has been done before and then take it and change it to my style and uniqueness. even just looking at black and white photography gets ideas flowing through my head. Black and white photography inspires me to go out and take more and more photography, and I will take from it tips and lessons on how i can make my own black and white photography even better!!

Self Portrait

After reading the article about self portraiture i agree with the author that myspace and Facebook has definitely changed the way that people look at self portraits. Now, self portraits are seen as a quick snapshot from an arm lengths distance, which is sad for those in the art world. I wish that there was just a different names for the tacky and posed myspace and Facebook pictures. Those pictures are only taken so that they can be put on Facebook for all people too see, and everyone knows that when they put a picture up that everyone will look at it. So, i totally agree with what the author is saying about self portraiture of this generation.

I myself se self portraiture as a way to express myself and to show a true side of me. I put a lot of thought into my self portraits, like the layout, design and the whole concept of the piece. To me a self portrait is not at all a picture you can take in two seconds when you are bored.

All in all, myspace and Facebook have totally changed self portraiture for the worst. They have taken what should be a thought out way to express yourself and be artistic, but now they are seen as an arms length picture taken with a crappy digital camera.

Inspiration

I look for possible art everywhere around me; everywhere I go I am constantly thinking, oh that would be a really good photograph or that would look really cool edited in Photoshop. I can never go a day without thinking about art. This may sound weird, but I feel as if I am a walking Photoshop. Every time I look at a picture I automatically edit it in my head to how I think it would look the best. I am I very hard critique, especially to myself. If something bothers me I have to fix it.

Art can be made from anything. The key is that you just have to look for it, the most interesting things are usually hidden. I like to catch things as they are naturally, but at the same time I like when art is posed and modern. Not only do I get inspiration from everything around me, but I am continuously looking at magazines. Magazines are constantly coming out with a new and modern take on how to display a product. This helps to give me ideas on  how I can make my photograph or project interesting and something that no one has ever done before. I also like to do a lot of collage work, so I often use magazine clippings in my artwork. And another way I get inspiration in particular is from movie posters and CD covers. They are all so unique. They make me think outside my boundaries and make me want to do something crazy.

Inspiration can come from anywhere, you just have to be creative.

My Portfolio

After reading the list from the Milwaukee Institute of Art and Design, I feel that the easiest thing for me to include will be drawing from observation of nature. For some reason drawing nature such as flowers and trees is much easier than than drawing a still life of random objects. I do not know exactly why it is easier for me. It may be because I don't necessarily worry about proportions with nature, but when I am drawing a still life I am so worried about getting the proportions and placement perfect. I guess you can say I am a perfectionist because if something is off I have to fix it or it will continue to bother me until I fix it. For myself personally, drawing from a still life is very difficult. Every time I draw a still life I get the proportions wrong. I have not practiced drawing from them enough that I have to continuously look back and forth from my paper to the still life. The one thing that surprised me from the list is that it recommends that high school students have nude figuring drawing in their portfolio. I know that in college nude figure drawing is common, but i didn't expect that it was recommended for a high school portfolio. 


In my portfolio, I plan to put a good amount of photography in it because I am thinking about majoring or minoring in photography in college.This year I would like to really explore with collage projects. I have done a few collage projects in the past and they have been some of my favorite and most interesting projects other than my photography. For college, I am actually applying to FAA, or the College of Fine and Applied Arts at University of Illinois in Champaign. I am applying to the priority filing period, so I have to apply before November 1st, and in my application I have to submit a digital portfolio of ten pieces. I am very nervous, but hopefully I will be accepted.