german work gallery showing

So, my fellow German/American exchange peers and I are putting on an exhibition to present the work that we did while studying in Hildesheim. I was afraid in the beginning that I would be the only one setting up in the gallery but luckily the others jumped in with a bit of their work to present. I think that it should be a pretty interesting experience to go through. On opening night we are presenting our thoughts and experiences on the exchange and then our work will be critiqued by professors of our choice to see if the credits actually transfer to where we were hoping they would... that might prove to be a depressing situation. If there isn't enough work presented to cover a course then they will stick those credits into an ART-XXX meaning something not toward my major. Well, no point in worrying about it now!

Through this poster together for the exhibition tonight. Need to add some info but basically has the feel I was looking for.

final poster

The poster is finished. Pretty simple overall. I wish I would have had more time on my hands to work with the type but my schooling is crushing down on me so I made due with what I could. I enjoy the evolution of the placement with the type, which first started off in one row above her head as though it was a masthead of a magazine. I think I will mess with the illustration a little more when I get some free time to mess around with some filters and textures. I want to explore the more painterly side of things that photoshop has to offer so I can push my style a bit more. Enjoy!

-- Edit --

Found a little typo in the in her word blurb, good thing I didn't send this out yet! Now that is much better. You've got to love catching typos at the last second.

coloring

Now comes the color. I'm messing around with a technique that one of my more admired illustrators uses for his work. It is based on simply messing around with selective color in masked off sections and it works wonders, plus you can mess around with the color all you want without having to repaint the elements. I'll make sure to have a bigger chunk done with the next post.

poster in progress

I received the guidelines to this poster contest the morning after I started on the first line work... so I decided to start fresh and figure out a more appropriate composition. Still holding true to that sexual appeal that I was aiming for in the first start but this time it is a little more blunt. Once the colors go on that should just add to the feeling. I am loving the process so far, simply experimenting with elements in photoshop I am not so accustomed to using. Background is a little wanky but I am thinking it will be a bit more loose as I get deeper into it.

poster process

I have just started up work on a poster design/illustration for a random contest out of the Twin Cities. I'm hoping to do about two different compositions by the end of next week. As of now I am working toward developing a more sensual atmosphere with this piece. Started out with the woman having a cigarette but as of now I am changing up the line art so that she is holding a rose instead. Should be a fun process to go through. I'll throw up my progress over the next couple days.

dr. sketchy"s

I recently returned from my 11 month study abroad adventure to my wonderfully familiar home city of Brooklyn Park... what a crazy feeling. I need to make sure I don't fall into my old routines because I don't want to live my old life, I want to start my new one.

But on a different note and to the main point of this entry, my parents happened to go to this bar in downtown Minneapolis called the 331 Club and they were having a cool little event there called Dr. Sketchy, which is basically life drawing for the public but with a nice Avant Garde feel to it. So my dad headed back to pick me up to participate in the event along with my mom. The models that came in were two wonderfully charismatic burlesque dancers out of Chicago. Mind you I was here with my parents, aunt and uncle, and my friend and his dad. But it was just a great time. After doing a few warm up poses the dancers would do a quick routine that ended up being pretty entertaining and then we would get into some longer poses.

It was nice to get back into some real life drawing sessions but what really hit me about this whole event was how it revealed the reason of my love for living in the city, simply to be around all the strange off beat culture and to get involved in it. Events and little things like this are what give the city-life spirit and appeal and it really opened up my eyes to getting more involved in all the fun experiences like this one.

Here is the composition I spent the most time on. I was the winner of the best color use competition and I received a free entry pass to the next Dr. Sketchy event, which by the way is happening on 22nd of August for any of the readers that are interested!! You won't be disappointed on the entertainment level. Plus this 331 Club has amazing Bloody Marys. Haha!
Enjoy!

done with micron pens, super fat pilot marker, copic markers

last days

So here I am packing up all my life, tying the loose ends of everything and preparing to leave the place that I have called home for almost a year... It is amazing how fast I can just throw everything together in my suitcases, how all that made up my life here has to fit into the confines of these four simple bags... of course there is all the things that I can't be put into bags that either stay with me as a person or with the people that I have met here and the places that I have been.

I am getting my mind ready to merge the new with the old; preparing for the clash, the adaptation, the culture shock that really shouldn't come as any surprise to me considering I have lived in such a culture for 20 years of my life... it is simply a feeling that can't be described. The worst part is I don't think this all is going to hit me until I am sitting down in my seat, ready for take off.

I think this is the last entry from me until I am home. From that point I will update everything on all the trips I have taken over the past weeks along with my future plans.

Keep an eye out for it all. Another chapter of life starts up (again).