Descending Night Repair: Take 1

 Adolf Alexander Weinman was a german born artist who move to American in 1880; he lived from 1870 to 1852. For the Panama-Pacific International Exposition of 1915 in San-Francisco, he sculpted two pieces "Descending Night" and "Rising Day"(cast in bronze). Both personifications of part of the day. Descending Night gracefully landing, representing the last moment of sun light at the day transforms to night. Her toes extending at her feet grasp at the ground as she lands and her wings push down about to envelope her. Her brother Rising Day (or Sun) is standing chest out, on the tips of his toes, ready to take flight with arms and wings extended. Something about him gives the air of Icarus, maybe not intended by the artist as he was the personification of a new day, a new beginning. 

This has to be my personal favorite sculpture, as much as I do love "Transformation of Daphne" which is a masterpiece without any need of defense.  Something about "Descending Night" touches a part of my heart and causes me to consider her my favorite. I was introduced to the sculpture after writing a piece about her in an essay for American Art History. After finishing that piece I quickly search for a miniature to purchase. I succeeded but due to a dreadful habit of mine, I was careless and broke her. At the time I didn't think it was possible to fix her but didn't have the heart to throw her away. After taking an internship which taught my key skills in repairing objects broken like her, I began my repair. 

Unfortunately, all but her legs kept and I needed to take my drastic measures to keep her from braking at the knees.  My solution will be revealed in Take 2. 

Bad Photography

When I take photos I like to capture what I find interesting but sometimes it isn't something that conforms to what is considered a worthy subject matter or just a bad shot that I liked for some reason. 

This picture has an air of mystery with it, without the other photographs around it I wouldn't have figured out its that jam they put between those italian cookies stuck to the edge of the box. 

Express Train to Babylon

These are a pair of night shots that were taking in different days and locations. The top was at Farmingdale State College, the bottom in the Babylon area. 

I love this photo, but it isn't a pretty one is it. That fly was just relaxing on the rosebud, he let me take a whole bunch of shots before flying off. 

Hole in the ground 

Broken Glass on Campus

This is the reason we can have nice things. 

I think this was a good shot, just the focus was a tab, just a slight bit, maybe I little off. 

Farmingdale meets Silent Hill

New Book Case: Final

For the past number of weeks this have been my project, redesign an old bookcase for my room.

I decided to be cheap and lazy with my bookcase, so I painted it instead of staining. 

I used a sponge to add the copper color, which I think came out better then I expected. 

Finished and set up in my room, I love it. It fits with my decor, I even have more room for books. 

The cat in the center, may become my next project. I need to fix his ear and I have the a black apoxy clay for it too.
He was a gift from a friend and I feel its only right for me to make the little guy whole again with my skills. 

Junk Continues - Comic book edition

This is the only piece I'm presenting that may make it's way to the final product. 

One of the side project that I am working on is a comic called Gravediggers. Most of the main story still need to be fleshed out but I do have part of two side stories written. They are not finished and will be something that I will work on in the next couple of months. I'm hoping by december to have a finalize script for the first two issue of Alex's story. 

The girl with the purple hair is Alex the character I created for this project. She was based on an experience I had when I became very ill and was bed ridden for almost 3 full weeks. A person like myself would lose their mind being stuck like that I did a little. The experience was very inspiring and has effected my life greatly along with helping me create a rather interested character. The picture to the right is of her shared dorm room from before the earth was overrun by zombies. 

These are the pages to the first chapter of Alex's Story. Sadly, all of them will not be used in the finished comic, I plan to redo all of them after the script has been re-worked. These pages we more of a test run to get my started in making a comic and to show how willing I was to put the time into a project. This isn't my best work but I know the more practice I get the better I will be at making comic pages. 

When it comes of Gravediggers most of my concept art has been done traditional. That even goes for any of my projects really. Talking about other projects I do happen to have some digital work involving those. 

This above was an idea that came to me one day and I didn't know how to make it work. It never had a name but I wanted to make a world that was turned upside down, by an experiment which pretty much broke reality. The main characters had to travel around the new world to reset what was changed by the accident. The moment this accident happened everyone got one wish to come true and the world had to make all of them work. Which caused this really weird overlapping for science fiction and fantasy. Some of my concepts I really fell in love with and I mean to implement in other projects. For example that tower in the first panel, it connect the earth with the moon, the two looking sort of like a odd looking molecule.

That story evolved into another which throws out most of the ideas that I had. But the new idea I tell you is a lot better and has a more concise storyline. It's name is Project 5. 

This lady is my superhero, her name is the Muse. Another project that I will be working on and I hope by February of 2013 to have the first two issues scripts finished and ready to be turned into a comic. 

I tend to bite of more then I can chew when it comes to things I want to work one. Currently, I have  7 full comic book ideas which I want to work on. These range for short stories to full length series. From four panel comics to 40 issue story arcs, which currently I only have myself to work on them with. Once I get a few of them going I think I may find myself a partner for continuing the stories.

I'm still eager to work with other people on projects so that I mean build my skills. Hopefully this blog will be the place for which I summit future progress on my projects. 

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.