so here it is...

Okay so, I pretty much finished the magazine. The only thing I have left to do is the table of contents and back cover, page numbers and other minor details. Just want to get some feedback...

I did multiple covers but these were the two I really love. I can't choose which one.

MORE OBSCURTIES

Seminar Post 06: And That Was That

So I haven't posted much here recently, been trying to finish making art so I can focus solely on how I'm going to show it. But before that, a small sampler of what I have made recently:



OK, so back to displays. The goal here is that there will be some sort of interchangeability between captions underneath the pieces. In class, we have discussed a number of options on how to do this. I did some product research on the magnetic paint John McVey mentioned last semester and the reviews (although varied) seemed quite negative about the product's effectiveness. Not something I want to drop $20 into and find out that it doesn't work, so other options might be better. Although I may try it out just to be safe.

There was the envelope idea that was briefly mentioned last week and after thinking that one over, I'm not convinced it's a good alternative either. Sure they will line up perfectly every time, but getting them in and out of a paper sleeve seems tedious and not to mention not very interesting. Seems to me that more people will be doing more work to move them around and will discourage interaction.

That leaves me with the other digital options, in which I create a flash generator and have it set up to randomly generate an image with a caption. Makes things a lot simpler but it also kills whatever fun there might be had in this whole experience. I know I'm a slacker and all, but I wouldn't want to ruin all the fun just because it's easier for me.

I have two weeks to get this method all ready, the last two I'm reserving for other duties regarding the show. Personally, I'm open to hearing out any ideas anyone might have at this point.

So, I went through my old drawings from when I was much younger and found some of my initial costume designs for this character. Here's a side by side evolution (left to right) of the character as I developed him and redeveloped him over the years.

Stand-Ups & Coloring Book Box

Today I created my first mock up for my stand-up dogs. I want these dogs to be place around my area in the gallery, to bring my drawn dogs to life. I tried to keep the paper dog to the size of the actual dog but this one ended up being a bit bigger. I really like the way it turned out, although I had to use a bit duct tape and extra pieces of foam board to give the stand up more support in the back. I thought about having kids color in the stand-up dogs but I like them way too much as line drawings to have them colored in. 

For the packaging I would have like to have the three coloring books stored in a custom clamshell box, but based on money and time this is not going to happen. The average price people wanted for one box was around $125, and it wasn't guaranteed they would be done by the time of the show. Seeing as I myself do not know how to make them, I am trying out a different idea. I bought a box that is used to store photos or scrap book items. I cut about 1.5 inches off of it because it would have still been far too tall once the books were in it, and this brings it to the exact size I was looking for. I plan to spray paint one box to see if the paper will hold the paint, but for now I am please with the size of this box for my coloring books.

Exhibition Thoughts

I have been considering what to include in my exhibition. I had been taking video footage of most of the dogs I saw over the past two semesters just incase I thought of something along the line. I am now talking with someone who knows how to edit the video footage, as well as audio recordings and we plan to meet up and discuss creating a short (about 5 minute) "documentary" of the dogs that are featured in the coloring books, as well as incorporating footage of kids actually coloring the books and their interaction with it and the information within it. I had done a lot of broad research last semester and this is a way to incorporate it into my show. I'm sorting through information I have and figuring out what point I want to convey through out the 5 minute video.

I have been thinking of how to get my work off the wall and give it a more physical being. Tomorrow I am going to print one of the line drawings of a dog to the life size scale and make it into a stand-up. I considered blowing up one of the photos to life size, but I run into the same issue as before - each dog was photographed on different days and the lighting in the photos is so drastically different.

OBSCURITIES

Here are a couple of the photos I’ve been working on.

I’m very pleased with the direction these photos are taking. More to come soon.

some color pallets .

One of John's suggestions was to vary the color pallets a little from book to book. These are just some color schemes I made up (all including shades of pink, of course) and saved on my computer for future reference.

I also came up with another "store"/ book that i'll show in class since the books don't photograph well, and are hard to imagine on screen.