Special Edition-Final Gallery Visit

Beverly Art Center

I visited the Beverly Art Center and viewed their gallery which at the time was filled with art contributed by local artists. There were many different types of art in this gallery. There was photography, mixed media, sculptures, drawings, and my favorite was the mixed media. I loved seeing the things that people did with material that you would never think were art materials.
The last photograph that I took was a mixed media project titled "young love" and it was done by painting jeans and positioning them. This project won an award and I think it was deserving because I never would have thought of using clothing materials to base my art project.

Week 14

http://www.lulu.com/content/paperback-book/artistic-combinations/8018645

That link sends you to the purchasing page of my book completed for computer graphics called "Artistic Combinations." The book exactly as the title states, a combination of the art that I have created while a student at Saint Xavier University.

Week 13

My Magazine Cover

My front cover was constructed around one of the projects I completed for my graphic design 1 class. I chose this picture because it was one that I had not used within the contents of my magazine. I inverted the colors so that the art would show up onto a black background and then chose a font for my title that went along with the overall feel of the art displayed. I chose the name artistic combinations because that is exactly what the contents of my magazine are. They are a vast combination of the artwork that I completed while earning my minor in graphic art at Saint Xavier University.

Week 12

Happy Thanksgiving

Week 11

Week 10

Craft
I constructed all of these images using Adobe Illustrator. All of these illustrations were done using the pen & tablet tool available to all art students. The use of the color tablet was an important feature in these illustrations especially the first and the last one which feature fire in the fireplace.

Concept
These illustrations are of the fireplace in my parent's home. The fireplace is my favorite place in the entire house simply because in the winter it is the only thing that keeps us warm. Yes, I have heat in my house but nothing emits heat like that fireplace. A downfall of this fireplace is that when it is on the rest of the house is freezing because the heat will not kick on. When it is cold in the winter I come to expect the fire place to be on at almost all times, but when it is not and I am cold, I get angry, really angry. Because the fireplace was previously on the house is still freezing and when it is turned off there is no heat source available which is an extreme annoyance.
In two of the illustrations I decided to try to capture the essence of the heat that comes from the fireplace. In the top illustration I tried to show the overall feel of the fireplace by adding color to the walls and to the bricks on the fireplace. The middle illustration shows more of a contemporary view of how the fireplace could look in a more modern house, as opposed to my house which has more of a country feel to it.

Composition
In the top illustration I used a very thick, charcoal brush to make the picture look sketchy, yet realistic. I used different color strokes on the brushes to add color to the bricks and the walls surrounding the fireplace. I think the color adds to the warmth of the illustration as well as the realism with the color in the fire.

In the 2nd illustration I used only the pen tool to create a very geometric version of the fireplace, because of the lack of versitility/knowledge of the tool, fire was not added because I believe that a geometric fire would take away from the realism of the main piece, the fireplace.

The 3rd illustration used the artistic brush tool and created a simple sketch of the fireplace. The sketch is realistic yet lacks detail in the wall color and in the bricks when compared to illustration number 1. The color of the fire is really the only color in the picture which is not a negative feature because it shows how warm fire is and that it is the main part of the picture & my favorite part of the object.

Special Edition-Extra Credit

This is the illustration I created for the week the Chicago Bears played the Atlanta Falcons. I basically used two separate photos of the Chicago skyline and used to pen tool to recreate it and then did the same with the Atlanta skyline. I also used the pen tool to make the helmets and used pictures of the helmets to recreate the logos. I placed a gradient in the back to create a differentiation in the sky.

Week 9

I Created All Of These Using Adobe Illustrator.

This illustration was created based off of reality. I chose the color scheme that was the most similar to the actual perfume bottle. All of the lines I used came from the same family I believe it was artistic. I placed the bottle in the corner because from my memory that is where it was when I removed it for class use.

This bottle is a twist on reality. Again I used lines from the same family and in this case it was the ink family. I chose colors I felt would stand out against each other yet were not too far from the actual bottles colors. I placed this bottle in the forefront of the illustration by creating a father away horizon line.

This picture is the farthest away from reality and is the most sketchy of the three. I chose colors complete opposite of reality yet colors that would still make sense with the text in the illustration. The fill and the horizon were all done with chalk and that is why it looks the most messy.

I did this illustration using the pen tool and connecting all of the lines similar to how it has been done in the past assignment. This illustration was the simplest of the three due to the lack of lines and points and the simple fill done on the inside of the pot. Due to time constraints when doing this illustration the background was not complete so there is a random looking box in the background.

This illustration was done with a series of lines drawn to create the outer section of the teapot and the shadows on the bottom of the teapot. Although this teapot is extremely sketchy it looks pretty close to realistic with the outer lines providing a shape to the teapot.

This illustration is the same as the one above it, however this one has the additional element of color. The color, similar to the outer part of the pot, was done with a series of lines to stay consistent with the sketchy-ness of the drawing. The color makes the teapot look even more realistic, yet it reminds me of something out of a children's book which would be fantasy.

Week 8

This picture above all is my favorite. I like the effect that the sketching had on the overall look of the illustration. I was looking for something to make it look like it was raining, because of a suggestion in class critique. The sketch effect made the rainy look possible for me. I also darkened the clouds and the sign to make it seem like it is even darker outside. The underneath part of the stadium has darker outlines to make them seem more distinct, and it almost gives them a wet look. I also really like the way the sketching is tilted the same way that the flag is blowing to indicate wind.
I decided to do this picture as the opposite of the one below. This to me represents the perfect day for a baseball game, beautiful skies with a slight breeze, which is indicated by the flag. All of the colors in every aspect of this illustration were lightened to achieve this particular effect. This picture could perhaps by symbolic of the beginning of a new season, everything is fresh, and new, and the future is bright for Cubs fans.

By suggestion of the class I decided to make one of the illustrations really focus on windiness because it is the "Windy City." I did this by darkening everything in the picture including the background colors, the clouds, the sign, and the outlines on the underneath of the stadium. I also added a flag that is blowing in the wind to the top of the flag pole. To me this picture could be symbolic of the way the Cubs seasons always seem to end, as a disappointment.

In this illustration I decided to play with the colors of the sign and the clouds, still making it look realistic, but adding depth to the illustration as well. I added depth by placing a few drop shadows throughout the illustration in places like the railways and the flag pole on the top of the stadium. I added gradients to the clouds so that they would look slightly more realistic and less choppy as they did in the previous versions. I also changed the colors of the Cubs sign to make it seem more vibrant so that it would move more the forefront of the illustration and be more noticed.

This is the original version of the composition done in Adobe Illustrator. I based it completely off of reality, and this is how it turned out. The colors are slightly off from the photograph but that is because of the pixel that was selected to represent the particular object. For example, the background of the Cubs sign is actually a light blue in real life, however in this illustration it looks grey.

Week 7

The picture above is of Baltimore's Power Plant as it exists today.

Power Plant is made up of three structures, and is one of the 11 existing structures that survived the Great Baltimore Fire of 1904.

Week 5

Craft- I constructed this illustration of Wrigley Field using Adobe Illustrator. I utilized the layers tool to it's full capacity in making completely sure that all of my components of this illustration are completely organized for easy access.

Concept- As I realize this is not a completed illustration, I decided to make sure that I finished the parts that I believed were most important to getting the point across of exactly what this illustration is of.

Composition- Due to lack of work time, many parts of this illustration are left out. I took more time on parts that I believed were the main focus. During the critique it became obvious that I should have spent some more time on the sky background since the different colors of the clouds are a very important part to making this illustration realistic.

Week 4

AFTER

BEFORE

Craft- I started to make an illustration of the before photograph by using adobe illustrator. I decided to make the largest structures first before I got into the ornate small structures that make up the stadium.

Concept- I chose to use this photograph because it is a very known feature of the neighborhood, and it looked like it would be the most ideal photo to make the first illustration.

Composition- I included the structure of the sign in the illustration because it is the main object in the photograph and by including it at the beginning of the illustration process it makes the illustration look closest to the photograph.

Week 3

Craft- I created this image using Adobe Illustrator, as part of an in class tutorial on how to use the program.

Concept- The reason that I chose the colors that I did for this assignment is because I have always liked red cars, so when I was told to make a car I automatically knew I wanted to make it red. It just happened to work out that my name that I had made the week prior was red as well so it worked out that I didn't have to change the color for my name.

Composition- I included the background shape because it was a requirement for the assignment, however I made it wide and very geometric so that I could make sure that it would fully cover the car as well as my name and anything else I wanted to add to the illustration. As I first made the car it was very boxy so I just used to curve point tool to make it at least resemble a car. We were told to make a circle inside of a circle to practice removing sections so I did that in a place where it looks similar to a moon, to give the illustration a little bit more of a setting.

Week 2

Craft: I took this picture of the famous Wrigley Field sign by pointing and clicking my digital camera. I zoomed in the camera lens a little bit in order to cut out a little bit of the unnecessary background and just focus on the sign as the main part of the picture.

Concept: I shot this photo because it is one of the most famous places in Wrigleyville to take a picture of. Because Wrigley Field is one of the oldest baseball stadiums in the nation and it is the reason the neighborhood is named what it is, I definitely knew that this picture was the staple of the group from this neighborhood.

Composition: I included a little bit of the actual stadium around the Wrigley Field sign so that the picture would not look as generic. I feel that by showing the people standing around the top of the stadium that it would show that it was in fact a game day, and it would give the picture a little bit more life.

Week 1

Name: Erin Rickabaugh
Major: I am a Mass Communication major and I am minoring in Art.
Year: I am a senior graduating in December!!
Favorite Band/Musician: Kenny Chesney, or mostly anything country
Hometown: I am from Belvidere, IL but I usually just say Rockford because it is easier.
Mode of Transportation: I own a small Saturn that I am praying won't die before graduation!