Observation #4/4 : I Killed my Plant with Purpose

I decided to correlate the plants health with my own as this semester continued on. I took key events that happened to me over this last 4 months and observed the state of the plant to see if there is any correlation to my state of mind and body to the plants.

I found that there are two things that can kill a plant. Being to busy and unable to care for yourself. I was gone so much this semester with business and with seeing my girlfriend that I neglected the plant and the life that I worked so hard to build up. I also got very sick and had a hung unexpected chain of events that through me out of the loop for a while.

All in all. Everything was worth it and a ton of lessons were learned. I learned that I never will be that old man saying ,"I wish I would have taken more risks." nor will I ever say, "I should have not lived life and worked more." I have found a new calling and that is family, friends, and taking care of those who need it ten times more then me. Don't get me wrong I will be going for my MBA in Houston and be working but no one will see me work as hard as I have this last 10 years but they will see me smile more. Time with people and helping people is far more rewarding then time at an office trying to get that bigger better iPhone but rather spend that on new adventures and live life the way it is supposed to be lived.

Other events that you do not see on the time line:

1. Sold my beautiful Jeep.
2. Went to Vegas.
3. Fell in love with girlfriends twin 10 year old girls
4. Gained a freeloading roommate (stay tuned for the "Shit My Roomate Says" series---Hilarious)
5. and Life.

Great Semester.

Project 4x4 - 4/4

Link: Behance (pativette)

For my final 4x4, I decided to apply my research and make a website of my own. Behance is a solid start, as it's a popular platform for freelancers and other illustrators. While I do have a lot of work I could put into this portfolio, I found that only my strongest and most recent or relevant work would benefit from being uploaded for various reasons. Old (read: high school) art isn't reflective of my current body of work, and neither is work from my foundation classes. It took a bit of weeding out, and I wasn't left with much - but it's got to start somewhere!

My work is chiefly digital painting, in Photoshop. I also use Illustrator and InDesign for specific projects (the weapon pattern was made in Illustrator!). As for inspiration, a lot of it comes from other illustrators and digital artists such as Claire Hummel and Leslie Hung. I'm also heavily influenced by video game design, which has pushed me to make work involving mythology and fantasy elements combined with digital media. My history and foundation as an artist is deeply rooted in video games and its rising popularity in the industry and artistic culture, so it doesn't come as a surprise that I would pursue a career as a freelance illustrator with a focus in video game design and/or visual development.

For the past 2 years, I've focused on exploring on various concepts and styles rather than a single body of work focused on one overarching concept. I find that I'm learning a lot more about what I like in my work and ultimately what it will have to say about themes relevant to me and my life, including but not limited to nostalgia, grief, and mortality. My work will not always have a story to tell, as illustrators are not only storytellers but also designers - but in the future, I hope what I have now will develop into something much closer to that goal.

love letters to the gallery trash. 4x4.

Final 4x4 - Joel Minan

For my final4x4 I connected another project from another class with this project. In my Human Factors class I had to work with IHS Honduras. My role in the group was to create illustrations that the people from Honduras could identify with. Then the group laid out all of my illustrations into a small book. This book will be taken to Hounduras during IHS's October trip and have a test run.

Last 4x4 People Watching and Quiet

People Watching from Megan Kowalski on Vimeo.

Quiet from Megan Kowalski on Vimeo.

4x4 final Matrix - Scott Werner

To put my final matrix together I decided to use the words that Grayson has to yet to develope. All my observations have been either visual or sound. Each section of 3 represents an observation. The last is my words summing it all up.

4x4 Kids Play When Adults Away - Scott Werner

For my fourth observation I decided to have my teenage daughter Haylee use a video camera and photo camera to capture moments with my niece Grayson. She did this while babysitting and no other adults were around. My intent was to observe in the second person through the imagery caught by Haylee. The video below is the result of going through sixty phots and over an hour of video.

What I noticed is that Grayson pays more attention than we realize. Seeing her at the highchair following Haylee while she prepped food for Grayson shows this. You can see her eyes follow and view the eagerness or desire for food. I could also see the emotional connection being made between the two of them through the interaction.

The song I choose has multiple meanings in this particular situation. On a personal level I'm faced with losing relative sometime in the next year. At the same time I am in awe of the wonder the Grayson sees soaking up as much as she can. I felt this song conveyed my feelings and inner turmoil that not only am I losing someone but so is Grayson and she doesn't see that and is not affected by it.

Here is my video:

"In their voice"

Library from Megan Kowalski on Vimeo.

Your Voice - Scott Werner in Joel's view

So my stomach has been expanding quite a bit over the last year and I really don't like to exercise. I know that Joel likes to take things that are not fun and find a way to make them fun. I also know that he likes to try new processes. So I decided that I would start my walk routes again this summer but I needed more incentive to do them.

I made a map of my area and put my current walk routes on it. It was amazing to see the distance that I used to walk. I then decided to highlight parks, food places, and my favorite hot spots. I then decided that a new process would be to see the parks in my area that I haven't seen before. I then found nine new routes using these parks. I then determined that if I complete a route I could buy myself a treat from one of my hot spots.

My poster shows these routes and says 10 weeks, 10 routes. The tenth route is the one I discover while doing these routes. I am very excited to try this new process in losing weight.

Take Your Cle - Scott Werner - New Art Matrix

Through blind selection I came up with the following:

Medium - glue
Surface - brick
Style - surrealism
Content - flying jump ropes
Audience - lawyers
Inspiration - Pixar
Presentation - wall prints

The final project ended up being an advertisment for lawyers to take thier Cle classes. This snapshot inspired by pixar is part of a series of animation sequences that would say to stop skipping around and take your Cle classes. The background picture is a surreal pic of a group of lawyers. We (my youngest daughter and I) painted jump ropes on bricks with sparkle glue and then smushed the bricks onto the acetate cells. I used white vinyl letters and put them on different layers to represent the different sequences. We added additional jump ropes on the top layer as well

Enjoy!

Tribute, Parody, in the voice of, Worship.

Tribute, Parody, in the voice of, Worship.

As you guys think of examples - post them













Parody & admiration

Billy Bragg: New England:
 

Billy Bragg: Levi Stubbs

Bill Bailey -



Billy Bragg Chip Shop - Bewilderness

For the Artist, creator, inventor, and everyone

Thank you Emma for this suggestion!!!

Neil Gaiman:  Several pieces of advice for the artist starting their career.





Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five - the message


The Young Aborigines - Asshole (short clip with studio chatter)



a project that was done "for fun"

on barriers

Bel Pesce:  5 ways to kill your dreams

Next bigger/next smaller - Applying it to another class's project

Instead of using an object, I chose to apply this concept to an elevator speech project from Sophomore Seminar and document the process from idea to finish.

What goes into an elevator speech can be very broad, but the goal of this project specifically was to pitch myself as an artist and briefly summarize my work. It's very similar to an artist statement, so that's where I began. Before writing anything, I compiled all of my previous artist statements for reference. These ended up going all the way back to 2012, so having them in one place helped see changes in writing and other differences in content. I found that my overall goal stayed the same, but my concept took different routes of explanation constantly. There were subtle similarities, but with each iteration I found that my work became about something more and more specific.

After reviewing these artist statements, I moved into brainstorming. There are usually a lot of different ways I do this in terms of writing, but this time around I wrote in a stream of consciousness whatever came to my mind. Later this list of phrases and words worked its way into a draft, and after finishing that I edited it into a final product.

Final Speech:

"My name is Patty Rodriguez, and I am an illustration major at MCAD seeking a focus in design and visual development. My work mainly involves storytelling through various concepts and tying them into a single or series of illustrations. This work is heavily inspired by mythology and fantasy elements combined with digital media, including inspiration from a many different digital artists such as Claire Hummel, Jen Zee, and James Jean, as well as my history deeply rooted in video games and its ever-rising popularity in industry & artistic culture.

I do think my work, as a result of varying inspiration, has taken both graphic and conceptual qualities. There is a side of my work that is chiefly design, with minimal thematic impact and a major focus on the visuals of the final product. And then there’s a side of my work that reflects my passion for video game culture and its rich fantasy settings, which ultimately adapts some themes especially relevant to me and my life including but not limited to grief, ephemerality, and purpose. I believe exaggerating certain aspects of life and humanity through fantasy reveal to us how truly important and necessary those fantastical moments are in the course of our lives. My goal is to make a combination of those two sides of my work and create something far more impactful, and someday contribute back to the video game industry that raised me and my work."

4x4: Apartment View

Personal/Research project: Serbia, history and family ties