(((O)))

Fruit pixilated

2011-05-09T14:35:00.000-07:00

(14"x17" Acrylic on Bristol)

Rotoscoping: Still Life

2011-05-09T14:32:00.000-07:00

(14"x17" Acrylic on Bristol)

2011-05-09T14:28:00.000-07:00

Perspective: Objects in Space

2011-05-09T14:21:00.000-07:00

(4 point perspective)

(3 point perspective)

Charcoal

2011-05-09T14:18:00.000-07:00

2011-05-02T18:04:00.000-07:00

When I took my first screen printing class I took that little water color I did, blew it up, and turned it into a silk screen print. This is 18" x 24"

Posters

2011-05-02T16:04:00.000-07:00

For this assignment we were asked to draw an animal of our choice using only the letters found in its regular and scientific name, and then design a promotional poster for the Smithsonian National Zoo. (2008)

This is a poster that I created for Japan based on its history, traditions, and cultural interpretations of color. (2009)

A re-design of the USDA Food Pyramid.

Light project

2011-05-02T15:40:00.000-07:00

For this project we were asked to build a sculpture out of what ever materials we wanted to display light in an interesting way. This piece is made out of scored paper that I was then able to bend and connect in whatever way I wanted. I used 5 different light sources and two different colors of light to create this.

Project 3

2011-05-02T15:33:00.000-07:00

Project 2

2011-05-02T15:31:00.000-07:00

Project 1

2011-05-02T15:27:00.000-07:00

Fall 3D class

2011-05-02T15:21:00.000-07:00

This wall hanging was inspired by a road map of NYC. I find a lot of beauty in the line and organization of road maps. They are fascinating to me.

This sculpture was constructed by spot welding 1in. strips of sheet metal together, and it ended up being 6 x 4.5 ft long.

Book Club Mixes

2011-05-02T15:15:00.000-07:00

My mix cover for the month of March.

InDesign class project (2009)

2011-05-02T14:58:00.000-07:00

We were given an assignment to create our own magazine layout. I have always wanted to visit the Greek Islands so I chose that to be my theme.

2009-09-07T07:47:00.000-07:00

Introducing Kevin: The Giant 11ft. Ostrich that I built and decorated for Anthropologie.

2009-08-26T15:33:00.000-07:00

2009-08-23T10:50:00.000-07:00

Where Are We? 10"x10" silkscreen

2009-08-23T10:21:00.000-07:00

Untitled, 7"x7", gouache and ink on paper

2009-08-23T10:10:00.000-07:00

Migration, 4"x6" multimedia on paper

My August postcard for Paper Mail. I'll put it in the mail first thing tomorrow. I hope it gets to its destination in one piece!!

2009-08-19T22:21:00.000-07:00

Down in the corner of a dark mountain crack
There's a hole to a cave that is darker than black.

Behind lurks a monster with slimy green scales

Horns on it's head, and a spike for a tail.

Etsko! Etsko! Etsko! You can hear
As the monster comes closer and starts to appear.

Oh gasp! Oh fear!
This monster takes shape
Look at those arms, those legs
There are eight!

Eyes of pale blue looking this way and that . . .

____________________________________________________________________________

This is a rough draft of the potential first 4 pages of the book. I tried it in this comic book type style because I found that the story needed more images for each line than just one and this was a straight forward way to put them together. Again, its just a rough draft and subject to much change. Let me know what you all think :)

2009-08-19T13:09:00.000-07:00

A few water colors Ive done recently . . .

the NATIONAL CENTER FOR PLASTIC SURGERY

2009-08-19T11:17:00.000-07:00

My dad needed a logo for his new surgery center, so I got a few of my talented family members (Annie, Brooke, and Lizzie) together and we had a contest. This was my entry.

2009-08-19T10:43:00.000-07:00

This is a fictional company I came up with for an Illustrator class my first semester of school.

BABY JAMES

2009-08-19T10:34:00.001-07:00

When I found out that my sister was going to have her first baby, I started thinking about what I could give her as a present. I was taking a Lithography class at the time and came up with these two prints for her nursery.

2009-08-19T10:27:00.000-07:00

Wrapping paper

2009-08-19T09:09:00.000-07:00

These are a few designs I came up with for a color theory class. We were asked to base our wrapping paper designs on one of Andy Goldsworthy's sculptures.

Getting started . . .

2009-08-09T18:26:00.000-07:00

Here are are the first rough draft images that I turned in for my final project. Personally I think the image of the crack needs some work. The opening verse says:

Down in the corner of a dark mountain crack
There's a hole to a cave that is darker than black.

Im really going to have to play with the image for this one. Here's the problem, the "dark mountain" is a house and the "hole to a cave" is supposed to be the door of the house. I cant reveal the true identity of the monster until the end, but how do I go from a dark crack in the door to a back lit silhouette of the monster? Thinking about it now, maybe the silhouette doesnt have to have a light backround. Maybe the backround can just be slightly lighter than the monsters outline . . . hmmm.

my poor eyes.

Also, the image above the house is no where near completed. I still have a ton of painting in to do, like the light coming in from the door, the stairs, etc. For the purposes of the assignment I painted in the people so it looked somewhat finished, but i think that its way too soon to be seeing so much detail, so Im going to have to go back and paint over them some more. At this point in the story, we really shouldn't be able to tell what the monster is yet.

Another thing Im seeing here is that the second and third images have basically the same depth of feild, yet in the third one the monster is all of a sudden more clear? This is a problem.

Preliminary Sketches for Etsko

2009-08-09T17:36:00.000-07:00

Etsko, The Monster by: Melinda Davis

2009-08-09T17:13:00.000-07:00

THE POEM

Down in the corner of a dark mountain crack
There's a hole to a cave that is darker than black.

Behind lurks a monster with slimy green scales
Horns on its head
and a spike for a tail.

Etsko! Etsko! Etsko!
You can hear
As the monster comes closer and starts to appear.

Oh Gasp! Oh fear!
This monster takes shape
Look at those arms those legs
There are eight!

Eyes of pale blue looking this way and that
But what is it doing? Wait.
It's gone back?

Oh. It's forgotten it's hat.

Back in the cave there's a yell and a sigh.
It shows up once more but it's shoes are untied.

Now out of the cave our suspense is now less
As the monster emerges still only half dressed.

Too many feet for too many shoes,
Too many shirts for one to choose.

There are buttons to button
And zippers to zip
The bathroom? Again?
This is your third trip!

The monster is now ready
With it's mix-matching clothes
A stain on it's shorts and it's wipe-needing nose.

Now it's not so scary,
In it's shirt and it's tie---
For the monster has made only one person cry.
_____________________________________

Cute poem right? Illustrating it has proven to be a fun and difficult challenge! I started this project by taking pictures of Melinda, her kids, and some of her nieces and nephews ( I thought it would be cool to have the author in the illustrations. A neat, sort of hidden thing that only her friends and relatives (and you guys) would know about.) From these photos I began doing some sketches, trying to figure out how to draw these characters. The ones I liked I drew over in pen and scanned into Illustrator. From there, lucky ones went on to Photoshop to be painted in and over.

This is no where near done, but Ive gotten off to a good start. Many changes with incur over the next weeks, so stay tuned and let me know what you think along the way!!

Feild Trip

2009-08-09T16:04:00.000-07:00

Sadly I missed the class field trip a few Saturday's ago so here I am trying to make up for it. I went to see these exhibitions last week and I loved them. Here are a few notes on what I saw and what I liked.

At the Building Museum I visited the three photographic exhibitions, the first of which was titled Architecture of Authority by Richard Ross. I loved the stark emptiness of these photographs, and was fascinated by the subject matter. It was really interesting being, in a way, forced to pay attention to the design or architecture of places that you would ordinarily never notice because of what else goes on there. I particularly like the minimalism of the holding cell/interrogation room photos. I could feel the isolation.

Next I saw Storefront Churches by José Vergara. It was about Religion in America today, and the photographs were taken of inner city churches, members, and leaders from cities like Chicago, Detroit, Los Angeles, and New York. This was not my favorite exhibition, but I did like it. I especially like the portraits of the various religious leaders. People always fascinate me and I felt that these photographs really captured a part of those people. Being religious myself, I can appreciate the point of the series and could see that even in the dreariest of places you can always find a little spark of hope.

My favorite exhibit in the Building Museum was the third one I saw titled Form and Movement by Philip Trager. I loved it!!!! And I wished that I could have spent more time in this one (the building was closing so I only had five minutes). What I found interesting was how the artist conveyed the concept of suspended movement. He used dancers and statues to portray this and the images were incredible. Other concepts that the artist touched on were point of view and perspective. I loved the pictures of buildings, views, and portraits he used to show this. They were beautiful.

From the Building Museum I went on to the National Portrait Gallery. There I went to an exhibit on the second floor where self portraits or "autobiographies" of various famous artists were displayed. This gave me chills! Artists fascinate me. Their minds fascinate me. So, I loved being able to get a glimpse of how they viewed and portrayed themselves as artists. Amazing. My favorite by far was Robert Rauschenberg's triptych. I loved the composition of each one, and how they each can stand on their own yet go together at the same time. At first glance it isn't obvious that they are about the artist at all, but after a thorough reading of the side panel, I got it! and appreciated the art work even more. The triptych is titled Autobiography and each composition contains layered signifiers of his identity such as:
- nn astrological chart of his birth sign: Libra.
- an x-ray of himself
- a spiraling narrative of his life and career.
- pictures that document his home town of Port Arthur, TX as well as the NY skyline that referred to his residence in Manhattan.

How is this a series or triptych? Well, there are several unifier's. One being the shapes he used. Each contain circles and squares. They are mostly composed of black and white imagery, and his presence can be found in each piece in both physical and other forms. I found these to be extremely inspiring and I couldn't believe that they were lithography prints!! Having taken a litho class myself, the scale of these alone blow my mind. So cool.

Next I went to visit Faith Ringgold and her piece titled Seven Passages to a Flight(there is a both a book and a quilt with this title). Her work has always interested me. I wouldn't call it my favorite aesthetic per say, but I adore the subject matter, its message, and the childlike way she conveys it. It is packed with meaning and tradition, and it is so personal.

The idea of flight being a metaphor for overcoming the challenges she encountered as a black woman is touching. There is a quote on the plaque that says "Anyone can fly. All you have to do is have somewhere to go that you cant get to any other way." Flying "is about achieving a seemingly impossible goal with no more guarantee of success than an avowed commitment to it." Very inspiring stuff.

Over all, it was a wonderful trip to the museum. Thanks Selila.

I must be missing Utah . . . subconciously.

2009-07-22T13:48:00.000-07:00

I had no clue what this was going to be when I started it. I love water color and have been really inspired lately by some of the works of Maxine Masterfield. So, Ive been experimenting with the methods and materials that she uses. She always talks about letting the painting be what it wants to be. It turned out that this one wanted to be a mountain range.

Adventures in Photoshop

2009-07-07T16:13:00.000-07:00

I must say, this assignment marked the beginning of a beautiful friendship. Photoshop has completely opened my mind and I am SO grateful. This was the first project Ive ever done where I really just let my creativity do its thing, and Im so proud of the result. Maybe I can do this whole designer/artist thing. Hmmm . . . .

FIREWORKS

2009-07-07T14:32:00.000-07:00

My family and I spent some time in NYC for a few days this past 4th of July weekend. So, I had the idea of photographing as many of the fireworks that I could to then compile them together in photoshop (btw, I truly love photoshop now). Here is what came of it. I ended up creating two photos because I had so many pictures (70 to be exact). Don't you wish a fireworks show like this one existed?!