End of the semester

I think this semester of Digital Art has been one of my best so far. I am very proud of the body of work I have created over the past few months. One thing I really like is that I have a lot more work to show in this series than semesters in the past. I think this is because I finally found something that I enjoy working on more than anything else I have done before. The hands-on feeling of working with the spray-paint and stencils really gives me more sense of accomplishment and pride in my work than if everything was done solely on a computer.


As far as being ready for finals weeks... That could be a different story. We ran into a slight problem when we were printing my backgrounds. We ran out of canvas, so I'm going to have to (quickly) find an alternate type of paper to print on. All but one of my stencils are cut out (which will take 10 minutes). All I have to do is paint my stencils... I just have to wait on my backgrounds to be printed on something different... Hopefully that decision will be made within an hour of this post, and everything will be printed by this evening so I can get it all done over the weekend.


The end is near, I can see it!! I just need these backgrounds! It is frustrating when you have everything ready to go, you just have to wait for something to be printed. Oh well, I was thrown a curveball when we ran out of canvas, so we'll see how I'll handle it. Hopefully I can hit it out of the park on this one!

Cutting it close.

Literally.
Heres the last 4 pieces (I have 5 total. The 5th is the "Star" one you all saw earlier)
I think I'm done with them but suggestions are still welcomed. After the critique, I'll do what editing I can, but I have to get these things submitted to be printed (Along with my backgrounds) so I can cut them out and paint them. And every one of these has multiple layers. Yep, I'm cutting it close.

I struggled with this first one a bit, but this is the outcome:

 This is the second, I tried to keep some things in common between each one, to try to tie them together:

And the third. If you look back, I made the flowers on this one A LOT more simple on this one. I realized that the flowers I had before were far too impossible to cut out.

This is the fourth. I made this one right before Thanksgiving break... I had spent  lot of time on it but compared to my three newest, it just doesn't seem to fit in. I really like the idea.. and I think it is my favorite out of all of them, but it just doesn't seem to fit. It doesn't have the elements of the other ones... so I'm not sure what to do about that...

And remember, all of these will be sprayed on the patterned backgrounds that you all saw in class, and will have a black border, so don't mind how some of the edges are. They will most likely be covered up. 

So I think that covers most of it... I still have a bunch of work to do, but I guess I'm all done on-screen! (Unless you guys rip my ideas to shreds and have a lot for me to fix!)

Progress

I'm just going to keep doing what I've been doing... Printing, cutting, and painting. I think I'm done with one, and another is in progress. I just have to get the last three printed and I'll be good to go.

Print - cut - paint.

That's what I've been doing, and that's what I'm going to keep doing.

Inspiring?

I've noticed a few small "tags" throughout campus lately. Someone has been spray-painting their name (or something else, I can't read it) on the rocks throughout campus. No, its not some fraternity or sorority, because it appears to have deliberately placed on top of their brightly colored 'works of art' to deface them. I think I've also seen this same tag n the back door of Kettering. It has since been painted over.
Legal? Probably not.
Inspiring? I think so.

Now I want to go and stencil all of the rocks around campus with a smaller version of my "Art is Power" stencil. Sounds like an adventure!

Progress

Right now I am in the process of stretching the four canvas backgrounds that I had printed earlier in the week. I'm waiting on my "Art Is Power" stencil to be  printed so I can cut it and stencil it. I'm finally getting some progress off screen, and I'm excited to be starting the hands on part of this project.

Updates

Inspirational Artists

Probably one of my biggest influences in my current body of work has to be Banksy. (www.banksy.co.uk/)


He is a stencil/graffiti street artist, painter, and a political activist. I find it amazing that no one knows who this guy is, and when and where his artwork will appear next. That mystery really intrigues me. Not only that, but the style he uses, along with the political messages hidden in every image, sparked my interest. From the very first image I saw of his, i've been hooked. Hooked enough to try something like this myself.


Peat Wollager (http://www.stensoul.com/) is another stencil artist that has grabbed my attention recently. He pays more attention to detail than Banksy would. (Heck, Banksy's stencils have to be simple, he pretty much has to stencil on the run to avoid being caught.) Rather than painting on the street, he paints artwork that can be transported (His artwork can be displayed in galleries.) He focuses more on multi-layed stencils. The use of multiple stencils allows you to use more colors and add more detail into the pieces. Although he does not paint political propaganda, he artwork is still interesting. It is more "fine-art" stenciling.