Photo Projects: Let's Get Started - Project Proposal

Wow. Posting this online is more terrifying than I imagined. My hands are shaking and my heart is pounding, but that has to be a sign that this series will be incredibly inspired right? I won't let the fear stop me. I'll let it be the driving force that makes me go above and beyond and really push myself harder and further than I've ever gone before. So, here it goes…. ** Deep Breath **

While this series will require a much higher level of refinement to be successful, here is the general idea of what I am thinking. I want to expose drug addiction and the recovery process in a way that can allow addicts to express emotions and relate to the images in a therapeutic way. In this I hope to also show non-addicts a new view on addiction that they may have been ignorant to previously. The reason I am feeling so passionately about this idea is due to my recent life change in choosing to leave my addiction driven life behind and start living a clean life on the road to recovery. Due to the anonymity of the recovery process, I may face many challenges and be forced to expose my personal struggles more than I would be comfortable with, but I will take this one day at a time and see how it develops. I want to take a surrealist take on this idea in order to keep the series within my personal aesthetic.

I do have a few back up ideas that need a bit more development as well just incase I face too many issues with the addiction series. My next steps will be creating a mood board, finalizing my end goal, and creating a timeline with deadlines for myself. Please with me luck in my endeavors, I hope for an outcome that can be life changing and effect at least one person's life. Thanks for reading.

-- Stay Positive My Friends! --

Mood Board #1: General Idea

Spring 2014: A New Year!

Thank God for a beautiful new year to clean out the old gunk and bring in the new! 

I am feeling more motivated and driven than ever. 

While there is a lot to do, I am ready to kick some serious ass (in the kindest way possible). 

Love to you all and have a great year!

-- Stay Positive My Friends! --

Reduce, Reuse, Refinish. Final Post of the Semester

Hello All! Well I decided before the end of this spring semester to refinish both of my individual projects. So here is my final update for Design for Media:

The first project is the "figure as landscape" project. I re-configured the composition, removed all of the yarn, then reapplied it all in a much more specific fashion. I think it looks immensely better and I am very happy with it now. Here are some product shots of the refinished project:

The second project I refinished was my free choice project, which was also the final project of the semester. I literally started from scratch with only 24 hours to complete it, which deemed to still leave me with difficulties in the craftsmanship. I am still not completely satisfied with this project, but I do know it would be very successful if I was able to spend time on it and not rush the creation. So maybe this project will be re-finished yet again. Here are the product shots of the current version:

Well... I am exhausted. This has been a wonderful and trying semester. Summer is here! This may be my last blog post because one of my projects for the summer is to create a legitimate website somewhere. Who knows?! I'm going to go enjoy this beautiful day. Adios!

- Stay Positive My Friends -

Final Project: Post 5

Oh my god. I am so tired. I finally "finished" the yoga cloth. I put that in quotations because I feel far from honestly complete with it. I will be creating an adequate hanging method and adding small lights to it before thursday. I was not able to manage my time for this project very well at all. I think my biggest mistake was how many new materials I was working with. Even though I tested all of the materials, it was on such a small scale I never realized how much time it would take on such a large scale. If I was to continue this project I would completely remake this one, then figure out a way to create a consistency between each cloth.

Here is an image of my test section of fabric:

I tested the iron-ons, painting the fabric, coloring the fabric, and applying yarn. 

Here are all of the detail shots of the product as of now. I ended up hand painting the figure due to a lot of issues with lining up the iron on as well as unexpected discoloration. I would like to redo all of the chakras with as perfect precision as I possibly can because I think that would really add to the craftsmanship of this product, but the amount of time that would have taken I did not have for this specific piece. Also, some of the colors on the product shots got a little funky, so I will upload new product shots soon. I will also include an "in use" shot with the next phase of images.

Hopefully this will not be the last you see of this idea, but for now I must call it a night.

- Stay Positive My Friends -

Final Project: Post 4

Almost there!

Since production truly began in the past week I have found myself hitting a few road bumps. After speaking with one of my professors about the liquid light process, she suggested I use iron on transfers instead due to photo emulsion processes cracking when put on material. I also decided to change my figure from a photograph to a drawing of a figure.

I decided to use ink and quill pen. I like the organic aesthetic to it and not having such an obvious form allows for the figure to appear more as an aura. Also, since it is a generalized female figure, it is much more relatable for the general viewer (or user) of the product. After experimenting with drawing this figure, I was able to visualize the possibility of continuing with the idea of a "yoga cloth" by drawing the figure in different yoga poses creating all shapes and sizes for more product options.

Here is the figure drawn and then slightly edited through photoshop:

 

I broke up the figure into printable sections, printed them on transfer paper, all ready to put together

I put everything together and now it's time to iron! I placed pieces of yarn on the figure to represent where the chakras will be placed. 

Now all that's left is ironing and adding the chakras and final details! 

I am really excited for the finished product!!! Here we go!

- Stay Positive My Friends -

Final Project: Post 3

Well things are definitely coming together! I officially have all of my materials, my image, my plan for making the negatives (that showed to be much more difficult than I had planned), and sketched out my chakra designs.

Here are my materials:

 I totally forgot to buy the blue yarn. I'm such a dummy... Oh well, another trip to Joanns.

I had to make sure that I got a natural fabric for the liquid light process so I chose a very simple cotton. I  decided to buy three yard so I had a bit of wiggle room just in case. After I print the image I will be using the yarn to create the design for each Chakra in the appropriate placement. Once these are completed I decided to color them in with fabric dye using that applicator bottle pictured in the bottom left corner. I am getting SO excited to start this part of the process!

Here are my sketches for my Chakra designs. I will be creating more detailed and exact sketches to create a pattern for myself so I don't go in blind.

 Here is the image I have decided to use for the print:

I want to make the figure life size, so about 6 feet from the toes to the finger tips. This means the fabric will have to stretch beyond it slightly both ways to create a visually pleasing composition. Since creating one digital negative this large has been extremely difficult to figure out, I decided I will be breaking my figure up into a multitude of 8x10 digital negatives which I will cut up, arrange, and tape down during my exposure process. I plan to create an example in photoshop to give an idea of this look.

Well, I still have a lot to do, so I better get back to it. *Don't forget the blue yarn, don't forget the blue yarn, don't forget the blue yarn.* More next week! Good night all!

- Stay Positive My Friends -

Final Project: Post 2

So, I tend to find myself often over ambitious and pushing myself to the limits. I realized in the short amount of time we have left this semester, I have taken on two extra projects in two of my classes in the video genre in which I have never had any experience. In coming to grips with my stress level for the next four weeks, I have decided to eliminate both of these video projects from my game plan and make the summer projects so I can really spend time and work on them. On that note, I have changed my focus for the final project in this class solely to my Yoga Cloth, or whatever you want to call it!

This week I did a lot of research and planning on what exactly I wanted to do and how I'm going to work out all of the details. I am contemplating which pose I would like myself or the figure to be in. These are the three (two very similar) that are still in the running. I am also deciding how detailed I want the image to be or if I just want a silhouette. Either way it needs to be high contrast in order for the printing method to work.

 Here are some examples of rough ideas for the figure:

(All of these images were taken off the internet then manipulated)

While brainstorming I also decided I would like to incorporate the chakras. For those of you who are unfamiliar:

Anyways... I want to incorporate them by using yarn to embroider them into the material in the correct placements on the figure. I will be creating my own unique symbols inspired by different ones I have found on the internet to represent each chakra. Here is some information I found:

So after this decision I began getting worried about color scheme. The plant based dyes I was wanting to use are only bright colors and each option I had would end up clashing with one of the chakra colors, and the colors of the chakras are very important to their symbolism. This made me come to the conclusion of using liquid light instead of plant based dyes. Using this method also gives me the ability to paint the light sensitive liquid onto the material giving me more control over the appearance. I am thinking about giving it obvious brush strokes and letting it appear very organic.

I still have a few details to work out, but I feel solid enough to begin shooting and editing the image as well as gathering my materials. Once I have my materials I can make a set color scheme and develop final drafts of the project layout. I am feeling much more excited and enthusiastic about this project idea now!

Also, Here is an updated, more finalized calendar:

- Stay Positive My Friends! -