Senior Project: Part 3 Unpublished Book

Senior Project

04/5/11

Interview 

A fashionable middle aged man enters a classy café. He sits near a window at a small table with two chairs. He places a small bag that he was carrying on the floor next to the table. He takes a book and a pencil from his bag, placing them on the table then turning to the window. He looks out the window, staring into the distance. The cafe is busy and he has chosen the last good seat with a view out the window. Another man, walks up to his table. 

Klimt: Hello, Sir. Might I take this extra seat? There doesn’t seem to be any other seat left with a beautiful view like this. 

Mucha: Certainly, my fine fellow. Take a seat. 

The other man takes the seat, looking at the other man strangely. The man sitting across from him seemed oddly familiar.  

Klimt: You look familiar. Hove we met before? 

Mucha: No, not that I know of, but now that you mention it, you do seem familiar to me. My name is Alfons Mucha. 

Perhaps we met before through out art?

Klimt: It is quite an honor, my name is Gustav Klimt. I, like yourself, am an artist. 

The two men stood up out of their seats, shook hands, and say again. It was a polite gesture towards a fellow artist. They then took their seats and sat thinking of questions to ask the other. 

Klimt: How did you get started? Where did it all begin?

Mucha:  I shall start from the beginning then, I was born on July 24 in the Ivancice, a southern town in Moravian. When I was ten I became a choirboy, which was not going to last forever. When I turned 14, I returned home and on a trip back to my hometown I visited a church while the painter Umlauf was at work. For the first time in my life I realized my hobby of drawing could become something more, not just to pass the time but a way of life. This was the moment I knew what I wanted to become, I wished to be an artist. My father on the other hand did not agree on my choice of futures. To him, the artists life was far too risky, so for a short while I became a municipal clerk. I did apply to the Academy of Visual Arts in Prague, where I was unfortunately denied admission.  This did not discourage me however, and I continued to draw. Soon I traveled to Vienna and became an apprentice to a scene painter. Here I started taking drawing classes. After that I left for Mikulov and worked for Court Cart Khuen for two years restoring portraits and painting murals.The work I did for Khuen’s family caught the eye of a Professor at the Academy of Visual Arts in Munich. He was able to gain me admission in Munich where I received my first formal training as an artist. Having an interest in being trained in a more traditional artistic career I left to attend the Academie Julian in Paris and  Acamemis Colarossi. At this time was when I started my career in as a Graphic Artist. 

Might I ask you the same? 

Klimt: Well, I was born in Baumgarten, right outside Vienna. I was one of the oldest of my seven siblings. The arts are heavily practiced in my family. My father is a gold engraver, my mother a musician and my brothers display talents like I. My brothers, Ernst and Georg, were gifted craftsman and painters. Many of the frames for my paintings were designed by my brother, Georg. He was a talented sculptor. God bless his soul. Back then it was hard back then, we were poor because the stock market crashed. My father wasn’t getting any jobs. Who needs a gold engraver when no one could afford any gold? We moved so much back then, my younger sister was so ill, the moving didn’t help and she passed away at the age of five poor. I digress, when I was fourteen, I entered the School of Arts and Crafts, I learned alongside my talented brothers. My brothers and I were liked by our Professors so much that we were allowed to work on our own projects.1899 was the start of my career, I was commissioned to decorate the music room in Nikolaus Dumba’s villa. You did work in interior design?

Mucha: Yes, like my design for the front of Geoge Fouquet’s Boutique Fouquet. Along with the interior of the shop and the designs of some of the jewelry, I was commissioned by the owner to design some pieces for sale. Continue with your story, this was when you painted Shubert at the Piano. 

Klimt: Yes, now can you name the work I was commissioned by the Ministry of Culture and Education to create? 

Mucha: In the controversial Philosophy, Medicine and Jurisprudence.  

Klimt: Those paintings caused a scandal. I was incriminated for pornography. To spite them I painted Goldfish. Personally I wish I had titled that piece “To my Critics”. At this point I realized this was not the life for me. I wanted to paint but without restrictions on my artistic expression. I joined the Cooperative Society of Artists. Which is a group of us branched off and made the Association of Austrian Visual Artists.  

Mucha: An appreciation for your homeland that is something I can understand. My greatest work, is the painting I am currently working on. I call it “The Slav Epic” a painting devoted to my people. As I stated before I was the Chairman of the Association of Slavic Painters.

Klimt: Tell me, what gave you your start? 

Mucha: To give you an idea of where my fame started Sarah Bernhardt. The posters I did for her Theater de la Renaissance have to be my most popular work. She was part of the turning point of my career I must say. The poster was an advertisement of the play Gismonda. She was quite a model a woman, so full of expression. Those posters didn’t just help my career but hers as well her popularity sky rocketed. I signed a six year contract with Sarah to work on the advertisement for her growing playhouse. Gismonda was my breakthrough. Before Gismonda I was mostly an unknown artist but after that poster I had overnight fame. It was no wonder she wished to have a contract with me. 

Klimt: With the work you created, anyone with half a brain would want you on a contract. On the other hand, I am far too controversial to be making advertisements to be posted in a public forum.   

Mucha: A piece of me wishes I had stayed with being a traditional painter, opposed to a graphic artist. I suppose whatever will be, will be. 

Klimt: It was great to meet you my friend. But I really must go. 

Mucha: And you as well. Hopefully, our paths cross again. 

They shake hands again, Gustav Klimt stands from his chair and leaves the cafe. Mucha stares out the window, pencil in hand.

Husslein-Arco, Agnes. Alphonse Mucha. Munich: Prestel, 2009. Print.

Mucha, Alphonse, and Ann Bridges. Alphonse Mucha, the Complete Graphic Works.
New York: Harmony, 1980. Print.

Nebehay, Christian Michael, and Gustav Klimt. Gustav Klimt: from Drawing to Painting.
New York: H.N. Abrams, 1994. Print.

The New Book Case: Preparation

The first steps have been made, I sanded the whole thing down to rough up the finish. My plan is to paint the whole bookcase instead of re-staining it. I'm taking the easy was out and just going to add a few coats of paint and maybe a design. The light spots are wood fill just to fix up some of the un-needed holes. I might need to to a few layers because some of the holes we deep. After I get that done I'll be ready to paint the main bookcase. 

One of the main issues I'm going to have is I need to make a new shelf, I think I'll replace the original removable shelf with a new one as well so that they are the same width. 

Junk: Part 1

During my time at college I worked on a number of projects that I didn't finish or were just for a moment fun. On Facebook I commonly would post a "will draw anything" status and my friends would throw ideas at me. Many times the most random things one could possible think of. Currently, I have a number I still need to finish for my Facebook friends but here is a look back on some of the drawing junk laying around my lab top's hard drive.

Iggy the piggy in his Santa hat looking joyful for Christmas. This my cartoon character, I've animated him and even made comics about him. He happens to be the first character I ever draw in comic panels. Mostly, he gets himself into trouble with hair brain schemes or just a bad attitude which leads to negative  repercussions do to his actions.  This illustration was for Abstract Ink's Holiday cards. 

As I stated before Iggy is was the first character I've ever drawn in a comic. This isn't the first comic he appeared in but this was my first published piece. It may only have appear in the Farmingdale Rambler, and that is nothing to write home about but it's still was printed and more then just my friends saw it. Looking back on this one, I see a few things I would fix but other then that I still love my first Iggy the piggy published comic. 

This was one of two t-shirt designs I submitted to the art club. During that semester I had so much work on my plate that it was hard for me to do anything extra. So, I took an old sketch I did and converted into a vector in Illustrator. I actively tried not to sell this t-shirt, when people asked me which one I worked on I said this one but then suggested for them to buy a different design. My pride for this design was 0. Some people did like it, but in the long run that doesn't matter, I felt like I didn't give me best effort so I took it out on the piece. 

This one was my second design which I never finished due to the time and assignment I had due that semester. In hindsight I didn't like it came out that bad but I still has an unfinished feel to it. Maybe in the next few months I might take an re-do this piece and have a post on the making and improving of.

During my last semester at Farmingdale, I was the vice-president of my schools HVZ club. I appointed myself as lead graphic designer and made the logo for the club. Here is a few example of flies I made for the events and even the logo for the webpage. My goal for that was to make it seems like we took over the campus. Looking back on this why don't have have this in my portfolio. 

This was one of those facebook memes, make an random album cover by picking up random stuff from a few websites. Like the title says this is junk I did. 

Here is the start of my Facebook status commission. This purple image was a request for a bad ass chick, so I drew my character Alex. 

Someone asked me to draw an Angel, they didn't know anything about Doctor Who, I knew this so I drew a weeping angel anyway. 

Guess who this guy is? 

My friend Calvin just asked me to draw a picture of himself. 

This request was from a friend who wanted me to draw a picture of Hank and Dean Venture dressed up as Booster Gold and Blue Beetle. Being a huge fan of the show,  I knew Hank would never draw as anyone but the BAT. 

Guy with a sword fighting a robot with a rocket on a monster truck with chainsaws tapped to the doors. 

Guy with a sword fighting a robot with a rocket on a monster truck with chainsaws tapped to the doors. 

Booster gold dressed in a Matrix jacket. 

My friend know I'm a fan of Booster Gold so I sometimes get number of request involving the character. This was one of my favorites because I sometimes wish the character would deck Hal Jordan. 

Here was just a simple request for a few zombies. Noticing a pattern in the subject matter of my work? 

I wanted to get just the right cell phone bathroom mirror photograph. Everyone else was taking them and as an art student it was a challenge just to get the right bad photography. I put the image though a number of photoshop filters to get the right pixelated blurry goodness. 

Another failed contest submission of mine; this was for the Icon t-shirt contest. This is another piece now in hindsight I could do so much better now. 

This was my first junk post for old sketch or unhappy work I've done. I will in the next upcoming weeks have a new set of Facebook Status Sketches. 

Sketch Night in the City

Tuesdays and Thursdays the society of Illustrators has a sketch night with live models. I've know about this for a while now. Ever since my first time at SoI but never worked up the courage to go. The day came and I went, the night was amazing and fun. I love getting any chance to visit NYC and for drawing makes Sketch night my favorite night of the week. 

Drawing that night made me realize how rusty I am when it comes to figure drawing. At the night progressed I got better but I need a few more of these sessions before I'm back to the level I was last year. 

Kubert School Sketch Book

During my time at Kubert School I did a lot more sketches and unfinished pieces then completed work. Later on in this blog I may take a detailed look into certain pieces that I liked or would like to finish in the future. 

Senior Project: Part 2 Unpublished Book

Senior Project

04/5/11

Questions

Describe the first time you became aware of different typefaces. 

The first time that I became aware of different typefaces was when I first started working on a computer. Around the Christmas of 98 when my family bought our first computer and I was able to use programs with different typefaces. I remember writing silly stories and trying to find the perfect font that fit with the genre of my tale. I was a horrible typographer and had no sense for type. Even in high school as I worked in photoshop to make posters for events at my campus, I wish I knew what I knew now about typography. After learning indesign and looking though Communication Arts I can see what could be done with typefaces and words. That words can be just as beautiful as the things that they are used to describe. It wasn’t till Typography II when I really became aware of type as an art form. 

Describe the first time you became aware of “graphic designers”.

The first time I became aware of Graphic Designers is when I started paying attention to different graphic artists. When I started reading Manga in high school I started realizing books where done my the same artist and that showed in the art work. I began to notice this in other works how similar they are in the style or use of type and color in book covers and advertisements. In some cases I could tell who worked on what simply by the feels of the artist illustrations. When I started taking my second year classes at Farmingdale I begin to realize that everything was designed and to watch Tv just for the commercials. When I did that I would critique the advertisement, then check Communication Arts to see if they where featured as best ads of that year.   

What is it that made you want to be a graphic designer?

Ever since I was little I always was drawn to art, I even made a point of drawing everyday just in the hope that one day I could be a good artist. I remember sitting in my first grade class after being asked what I wanted to be when I grew up and I said animator. As I grew older I enjoined any chance I had to be creative and collected books I found inspiring. When I was little my mother used to read me stories, many of them had beautiful illustrations. By middle school I discovered Manga and Japanese animation which love for was fueled by the animations when my early childhood like Batman and Superman the animated series. When I entered High School I began to take more and more Art classes from Studio Art to 3D Animation. When I entered my senior year I researched different colleges and careers I could be trained in and realized the best career would be Graphic Designer with the interests I had. I never really told myself I want to be a graphic designer but the most I work I realized how I wish to work in this field. 

Name the graphic designer that most influences you and explain why.

I can’t say which single graphic designer influenced me nor can I say which single artist sparked my interest in this field. I can say that after learning about Mucha I realized how much of a muse he has been on my thinking when it comes to design today. Bruce Timm was an big childhood inspiration when it came to animation, Superman and Batman the animated series made me want to become an animator along with many other animations I enjoyed through out my childhood.

What type of design work have other told you are most successful with? Why do you think this is? 

Illustration is the type that most have told me that I am successful at, I haven’t incorporated it in to much of my work in school but in my sketch books the designs. The reason that I think this might be is because I try to draw as much as I can and I draw a lot of cartoon characters. I also read a massive amount of comics from american to the far east, while still watching cartoons. I watch less for entertainment but for inspirations and to critique whether I feels they are well done and good for children. 

What type of design work would you like to do when you graduate? Describe the style as well as why you chosen this field.

I would love to work as Illustrator after I graduate, my dream job would be working for a major comic book company in some form, either as a inker or penciler. The type of job I expect to get when I graduate is working for a design company and working my way into maybe as a free lance graphic designer.  

How do you think your work compares to others students in the program and professional designers? 

Most of the time I feel like the kid in the group, the novice that one who is still learning but one step behind everyone else. I know I have the potential to make work that is finished and professional looking but I feel as if sometimes I don’t fully reach that full spotential. 

Kubert School

The summer of 2012, I went to Kubert School's summer camp. Ironically, it wasn't till I turned 23 years of age before I went to my first summer camp. Poking fun at myself aside I did do work while I was away on my little artist vacation. The first week was Pencilling and Inking below are two of the pieces I worked on that week. 

 

To the left is an original piece for two characters I created, Muse and Cody Hawkins. On the right, I inked over an Andy Kubert pencil copy from Batman and Son. 

Second week was focused on coloring, which I loved. Especially since I found a great new medium that I will have many future projects done in, Gouache. 

Left, I hope I captured the actors likeness enough I don't have to say who it is, this piece was in colored pencil. Colored pencil has always been a challenging medium for myself, I have fun but I don't consider myself skilled. On the right is my favorite panel in all of comics, Blue Beetle and Booster Gold confessing to stealing J'onn's cookies. 

The third week I don't seem to have any finished work, I will upload scans from my sketch book later on. The fourth week  I sadly only have one finished piece and looking over it a second time I'm not happy with it. 

From left to right is page one of issue one of the Muse, the first is my pencils, seconded my inking and last a bit of coloring fun.  I don't have much more to say; I didn't want to leave an orphan at the end of the page. It's a graphic design thing.