Mind-blown (glass)

"The Sun" by Dale Chihuly

Over thanksgiving break, I stayed in Dallas with some family. My aunt took me to the Arboretum to see a blown glass exhibit by Dale Chihuly. (If you've never heard of him, he's responsible for the masterpiece on the roof of the Bellagio hotel in Las Vegas.) The sculptures exhibited at the arboretum were so incredible that I couldn't not blog about it. There were fifteen different pieces to the exhibit, but the one that stood out to me the most is called "The Sun" (see photo above) and it was truly mind blowing, though the entire collection of pieces was gorgeous. Chihuly's Sun piece had all these different glass pieces spiraling out from the center in varying shades of yellow and red, and was arranged above a bed of yellow flowers, which complemented the sculpture perfectly. We went to the exhibit during the day, so the piece looked bright and fun, but I'm told it's a whole other experience to pay a visit at night, where the works are illuminated dramatically. I really wish I had gotten a chance to go see it at night just to see how differently it all looked, but I'm really glad that I got to go at all. I definitely would recommend anyone in Dallas right now to go visit the Arboretum before November 5, when the exhibit ends.

Being inspiring

I've been thinking a lot about inspiration lately. How can I not? It's in everything I do. It worries me sometimes that a lot of what I create might be seen as nothing more than a refined version of something that's already been done before. I often wonder if this makes me unoriginal as both an artist and a designer. I try not to let this thought get to me, and I suspect it's something that all artists struggle with from time to time. I've come to the conclusion that it's perfectly acceptable (and inevitable) to draw ideas from other artists as long as you make your creation entirely your own. I challenged myself to do just that over the summer after feeling inspired by the mixed media creations of Nikki Farquharson, a talented graphic artist who's work I stumbled upon while browsing through the design category on pinterest (a frequent pastime of mine). I recommend you look at her portfolio, because it's truly incredible (Click here to see it).  I found a picture of myself to attempt to recreate in her style. I particularly enjoyed this project because it required my drawing skills, something I hadn't had a chance put to use in a while. My version of a Farquharson portrait is a mix of photography, drawings, and work on Photoshop and Illustrator to edit both the aforementioned mediums respectively. The result is pictured below:

I still have moments where I doubt my own creativity from time to time, but I think it's important to keep reminding myself that not only is it acceptable to draw inspiration from others, but it's encouraged. I really wish I could contact Nikki Farquharson somehow and let her know how talented I think she is and how I admire her work so much that I made my own version of it. I can't imagine that she wouldn't enjoy knowing how appreciated I think her contributions to design are. If there was ever someone out there who felt that way about my work, I would want to know about it. I hope I can create something amazing enough to inspire someone else one of these days, and I'll never stop trying.

Illustrate Your Illustrations

I was an art major my first year of college at St. Edward's University, and I learned two important things about myself. 1) I was in the wrong major, and 2) I was at the wrong school. I can admit to myself when I make a mistake, even one as big as choosing the wrong college, but I've never been the kind of person to just suck it up and deal with the consequences. So I did something about it. I switched schools, and I switched majors. In the midst of this stressful process, I learned the hard way that things don't always go as planned the first time around. I picked the wrong university at first, I wasn't admitted to the college of communication til my second time applying, and I also wasn't accepted to the Texas Creative sequence til my second attempt at nailing the application. In the midst of all this stress, I knew I had to learn quickly how to adapt my art skills to the type of creativity valued in the advertising industry. I immediately became familiar with photoshop in preparation, and I luckily caught on quickly to the way it works. Illustrator took a little more time getting used to, but I gave myself a project over the summer to familiarize myself with the program.

As I said in my previous post, Dalek inspired me to create a geometric piece of my own, which I am staring at as I write this post ( I keep it hung above my desk to motivate me and remind myself how far I've come). I decided that since this one piece marked my versatility in my art, it was only appropriate that I attempt to recreate it on illustrator as a sort of symbol of my ability to evolve my skill to mediums other than paper and canvases. Here is the final result:

Practice, practice, practice is the only way to familiarize yourself with a program as complex as Illustrator, and nothing is as rewarding as not only learning the ropes of it, but doing so by digitally rendering something you created yourself.

My Art Evolution + Dalek

I only very recently became familiar with Adobe photoshop and illustrator, but I've been creating art my whole life. It's weird to look back and see how far I've come, from my crayon Shamu drawings (which were impressive considering I  was only five at the time) to my portrait drawings from those middle school glory days, to the time I dropped the pencil and picked up the paintbrush in high school. And now most of the art I create is all done on the computer. I noticed a pattern because as my art mediums changed, so did my subjects. The things I created became more and more modern as time went on, a trend most prevalent in comparing my portrait drawings to what I do now. I draw inspiration from all sorts of sources, and one that I feel had a huge impact in my art is the work of James Marshall, better know as Dalek.

The first Dalek piece that ever caught my eye.

I discovered Dalek's art completely by accident years ago, but I'm so glad I did. His work is colorful, geometric, and extremely precise. At the time of my discovery, none of my works could ever be described as any of those things, but I was so intrigued by his creations that I stepped outside my comfort zone and attempted to make something in a similar style. Dalek definitely helped me evolve as an artist/ designer and I would be lying if I said his work doesn't continue to influence me in everything I make to this day.

I was lost til LostType

Have you ever experienced something that just completely changed your life? Whether it was a certain song you heard, a piece of art you saw, a certain food you tried....you get the idea. I recently had a discovery that was almost as enlightening as the first time I heard The Shins way back in the day, and I just can't wait to gush about it.
For someone who lives for art and anything visual, I am really terrible with fonts. It's ironic because I'm hoping to be an art director, yet I always feel like my writing is always infinitely better than the font I put it in. I usually just stick with Century Gothic because it's all but identical to my own handwriting, which people tell me is perfection. My days of sticking with the same font over and over came to an end very recently when I discovered a little website known by the name of losttype.com. For starters, they have this snazzy logo that just reels you in. But wait, it gets better! The browse button takes you to a small collection of some of the most amazing fonts I've ever laid eyes on. I've been experimenting a lot lately with typography to try and improve my font expertise, and I would be lying if I said 100% of the fonts I've been working with didn't come from this website. It definitely makes my life slightly easier as an art director because even though I'm still not-so-great with choosing fonts, I know anything I pick from this website is going to have a lot of potential.

Your eyes aren't bigger than your fro-yo

I've been a loyal self-serve frozen yogurt customer ever since the day they started popping up all over Austin, which is why I'm not sure how the revelation I had at Red Mango today only just occurred to me. Am I the only one who is barely noticing how freakishly large these serving bowls are? Incidentally, I want to point out that I realize this might be my first non-advertising or art-related blog, but I'm just so dumbfounded that I can't not write about this right now.
You should probably know that when it comes to things that are blatantly obvious to most people, they usually aren't to me. Anyone who knows me pretty well understands that I tend to be a little slow on the uptake, but even this is crossing a line. I don't think you realize how often I consume frozen yogurt, but just to be clear, it's often. This should give you an idea: yesterday my sister and I were arguing about where to eat dinner, and she shot down my Mandola's suggestion because "we just had Italian last night." I responded by reminding her that we just got fro-yo a couple hours ago, but that doesn't mean I'm gonna wait two weeks before I have it again. In fact, I probably wouldn't wait two days (I didn't, by the way).
If you think about it, it's actually really smart of them to only offer serving size options of huge and huger. It makes people feel like they need to fill up and they end up spending more money. It's a good strategy, and now that I've been exposed to it, I can attest that not only does it work, but it works well. I could consider my fro-yo servings to be closer to the size of a meal than a snack, albeit an unhealthy one once I pile on the chocolate sprinkles and brownie bites. I suppose this is one way that bigger is better.

The Glorious Jack and Brad Combo

I realize how ironic it is for me to keep a blog about advertising and dedicate the first post to an experience that was anything short of spectacular. So here’s a story of one of my favorite advertising experiences for one very obvious reason. I’ll never forget the glorious day that Jack in the Box commercials received my full undivided attention. It was June 20 of this year, and I know this because that day I tweeted, “@BradPaisley’s jack in the box commercial makes me want jack in the box.” For the record, I've never craved Jack in the Box in my life. Ever. However, my cravings for Brad go way back. (If you’ve never heard of him, go listen to the song ‘Water’ WITH the music video. Do it now. You’re welcome). I know celebrity endorsements are nothing new to the world of advertising, but more than the fact that my favorite country artist was actually in it, the commercial was genuinely clever. I've seen Jack-in-the-Box commercials before, and never thought they were bad, but they weren't good enough to have me marching out the door headed straight to eat there (not til June 20 at least). I've always thought the Jack in the Box character had a decent sense of humor, and my obsession with Brad Paisley/ everything he sings, writes, says, or does has taught me that his wit is very similar to mine, so the interaction between the two is brilliant. Their banter reminded me of conversations I have with my own friends. I actually felt like the commercial was made just with me in mind, hoping I’d eat there. If that’s the case, well played, Jack-In-The-Box. Well played indeed.