Hey everyone!

 

This school year is getting pretty crazy. It’s getting to be pretty tough to do all my homework and still get all the paperwork for my Australia trip together. But somehow, with the little time we have left, I’m managing to put in a decent amount of work for my finals.

 

Anyway, since we’ve moved onto our final project, I’m happy to say the Art and Design poster project is OVER. Not to say I didn’t really enjoy it. I did! I think poster design might be one of my favorite facets of design. I look forward to doing another one. But I probably got to see what a big budget project in a professional design company might be like. We were all essentially working on our very final design for the poster like 3 weeks out of the due date. We had some serious time to nit-pick and question teeny-tiny details. Felt like we were working on it forever!

 

Well, I happy to say, after it’s all done, I tied for third place in the contest. I tied with my classmate Kurt, who’s an amazing designer and does some really knock-out work, so I’m really pleased to be considered on par with him. Our classmate Patty finished second, and I really loved her design idea. Like, I’d hang that in my room. It was pretty awesome.

 

The winner wasn’t from our class, but she had an awesome type-based design. I’m actually happy to see someone design only with type and make a splash, because I love type!

 

Anyway, finals are marching right up, so I better get back to it! See you all soon!

Hi everyone! The weather is beautiful, but I won't state the obvious. My weeks are getting busier and busier thanks to the end of my sophomore year approaching quickly. It seems that after spring break, professors bombarded us with work to do. Of course I am going to blame the professors in this case, no doubt. I'm just an innocent college student, afterall. One that would NEVER procrastinate.....

 

Either way, last week was quite eventful. I had a chance to attend the opening for the Senior Thesis (what is the plural of thesis?) projects in the San Guiseppe art gallery on Friday night. For those of you who aren't familiar with MSJ, that's the art gallery located in the art building on campus. The seniors had hung their thesis' (plural...again?) and were proudly showing them off to family, friends, faculty, and anybody else who wanted to attend. It really was wonderful. My favorite professor, Kathy Salchow,  thus far at the college was also giving her "last lecture" (i must put this in quotes to avoid any reference to Randy Pausch, for I hope Kathy Salchow lives a long and healthy life following this weeks event).It was amazing to see how many students showed up! Kathy was my 2D and 3D design professor last year when I was a freshman. I HATED HER CLASS! But little did i know, during the dreaded morning studio classes, I was learning so much and being graced with the presence of a true design genius. Kathy (or "Salchow" as we lovingly referred to her in the studio) was an adjunct professor who also taught at the University of Cincinnati. Her husband, Gordon Salchow, helped found the DAAP program at the University of Cincinnati (a well esteemed art program, one of the best in the nation!) as well as recieved a masters degree in fine arts from Yale. WHEW! That's impressive . Kathy taught me so much, and has inspired me in many ways. It was awesome to suck the knowlege out of her for the few hours I managed to get each week. I often thought to myself, "I'm getting a DAAP education right here in Delhi!". 

 

I thought I'd include some pictures from the art opening, as well as a few of my favorite photos of the thesis exhibits. I would encourage anyone who has the opportunity to stop by and take a look at the graphic design senior thesis projects that are up right now, because they truly are amazing and inspiring! It's only going to be up for another 3 days...so hurry!

 

It's unbelievable how quickly the end of this year is approaching. One huge hint was today in my philosophy of art class, when I looked around and took note of how many seniors in the graphic design major either looked like zombies or were out cold. That's because senior thesis is approaching. Now, I couldn't quite tell you what exactly senior thesis is, because I haven't reached a full definition myself. All I know is it is a big project that is due/presented at the end of senior year for Graphic Design majors. I also know that if I say the words "senior thesis" around anyone planning to graduate this year, I usually get groans and pain noises similar to those of a woman in labor. So, until it's my turn....I simply will not ask 

 

I have been searching endlessly for a summer job, since I will be relocating to an apartment in Delhi rather than going back home to live with my parents (sorry Mom & Dad). I applied to a few places...Target, Biggs, Donatos...however there are not many options around here. I applied through the MSJ Summer Employment Initiative (I think that's what it is called...), which sounds pretty cool too. Basically, we were given a grant that helps MSJ to place students in summer jobs at various local (mostly) non-profit organizations. The pay is pretty excellent and the jobs that were listed are all things that are going to be helping other people in one way or another, so it is rewarding in that way as well. I am keeping my fingers crossed that I get an offer for one of those opportunities because they sound really cool. 

 

Happy Easter, everyone! 

Hey everyone!

 

Just sitting watching the Olympics! I remember when the summer Olympics were on in Beijing, and I definitely love them! You get a lot more homework to work on on your own in College classes…especially in Graphics classes!

 

I’ve noticed as I get further into college, I’m expected to do a lot of improvement on my own. We’re working on a big project right now: the art and design poster for the college. It’s a class project that we have to turn in for a grade, but it’s also a contest among the Graphics students to create the poster that will be given to high school art classes to let students know about the Art program at the Mount. Let me tell you, I’ve been working on it like crazy!

 

But that class (Graphic Design 4: Identity Design), we only meet once a week. And between those classes I’m supposed have a huge amount of work done. It’s really been a design sprint, trying to get everything done in time!

 

I’ve been having a ton of fun designing, but tonight I’m working on some other stuff, taking a much-needed break, and I’ll have to get back to working on it later this weekend. I’ll have to show you guys what it looks like after it’s all done!

 

Anyway, it’s super late… I should think about bed! See you guys all soon!

I wanted to share with you all my spin on one of the assignments for my Art Experiences for Children class.  We were supposed to create an animal, one that no one had ever seen before.  We were asked to fill out a fact card on that animal with it habitat and classifications and all of that stuff.  Then we were supposed to draw our animal and color it.  after the drawing we were asked to construct our animals using model magic and pipe cleaners... the whole project was right up my alley... I LOVED it!  But to make thing EVEN BETTER, for homework we were asked to write about our animals.  Our objective was to present the animal to our class (in the future) as a mascot and role model for our kids.  That's pretty much all mrs. Dick told us because she wanted to see where we would take the assignment on our own without too much guidance from her.  Here's where I went with it:

             Somewhere in the south there’s a place… place that can only exist if you truly believe in it.  The place is called Flagrance and it’s packed full of interesting and unique animals just waiting to be found.  It is in the steamy land Flagrance, and only there, that you can meet the dwindling race of the equiferno.  Now remember… you have to believe, because nothing is ever true if you don’t completely believe in it…

Do you believe? Good.

Now close your eyes and open your imagination as I tell you the story of an equiferno different than any other equiferno in Flagrance.  This fun-loving and caring equiferno goes by the name Morph. Why Morph?  Well because he is the only equiferno in all the land to be so brightly colored.  Morph is ten years old and he has a mother, a father and a little sister named Finale.  If you were to see Morph with his family you would never know that he was part of it.  Why?  Well because he is so brightly colored.  Let me tell you what his parents and sister look like and then you will know why that is so different.

Morph’s parents and Finale look mostly the same as one another and mostly the same as all the other equiferno families in Flagrance.  They have coal black bodies embellished with orange flames and large, powerful gray wings.  “Well that’s different than anything I’ve ever heard of before,” you say?  Well, yes, but remember… you’re imagining a world that no one has ever seen before.  So how is Morph so different?  Well Morph is a rich and royal blue color.  His mane and tail flames are made of the brightest blues, oranges, and yellows.  The powerful wings on either side of his sleek body are the most elegant violet you could possibly imagine and the lightning bolt (that all equifernos have) is a bright blue instead of the usual white.

What’s that you say?  It must be pretty cool to be the brightest in all the land?  Well that’s not how Morph feels.  Think about all the kids you go to school with… most of them enjoy the same things, wear the same kinds of clothes and like the same movies.  Now what would happen if someone new came along that was different than anyone ever before.  People would probably talk about that person, even make fun of them, wouldn’t they? You might even be the one to do it.  Well Morph would like to tell you something…

“I have come a long, long way to your class, from my home in Flagrance, to share an important lesson with you and I will be visiting all year!” says Morph.  “I want you all to try really hard to except one another for the person that each and every one of you is inside.  Each one of you is unique and special inside, just like I am on the outside, and I want you to know that even if you look different on the outside too, that’s okay.  When I catch someone in the classroom doing something especially nice for one of their classmates, that person will get the chance to spend the whole class with me at their desk!  My goal is to spend a day with everyone in this class at least once this year and in order to do that it’s going to take a team effort on your part, an effort to be kind and caring, all of the time, whenever you walk through Mrs. Rudd’s classroom door.  I know you can all do it and I’ll be here all along to show you how fun it can be to BE DIFFERENT!”

We were supposed to write as if we were writing to our own class in the future.  I will be teaching elementary school so I was aiming for 7 to 9-year-olds.  My 7 -year-old niece loved it and so did her 8-year-old brother... it may seem kind of silly, but I am really proud of this story! As soon as Morph (the statue) is finished I will post pictures of him along with my fact shet and drawing of him :)

Until next time...

 

Last night was one of those nights... you know, the ones where nothing ever goes right and you flip out and say, hmmm I dunno, you completely tear apart your room, rearrange it, drop a futon on your toe, get mad and go to bed.  Well notice there was NO hmework anywhere in that sentence, none at all.  Know what that means?  That means that it had to be done this morning.

I was up at 4:00 this morning, I wrote a two page response on instructional and institutional responsibilities to students with exceptionalities, I completed twelve math problems that were review for my math test tonight, I read the 10 page selection that we have a quiz on for Dr. Green's class today, I got dressd, ate breakfast and packed a lunch.  I joined the throngs of other morning commuters fighting for spots on the high way and pulled into the parking lot here at the Mount at promptly 7:45 (somehow, exactly when I planned on being here).  I will be here until 8:30 tonight which makes for a VERY long day, but you know what??  I'm happy...

It's light outside, the sky looks slightly like cotton candy, warmer weather is on its way and the birds are singing their good morning songa again.  I have an incredibly busy day today but I'm not dreading it because Tuesdays and Thursdays are the days that I learn the most from my classes here at MSJ.  Tues/Thurs are full days, but they are satisfying and beneficial... they do their job by giving me the fundations on which t build a successful career as an educator in the real world. 

Mr. Santoro's class is about to start, so I'll have to post my art project later today.

Until next time...

 

Hey all!

 

We’re winding down for the semester over here. But the end of the semester around here you have the most to do. We like to burn out bright over here at the mount.

 

But the end of the semester in graphics tends to get rather time consuming. And money consuming. Every project that we complete has to be printed professionally before our final critique. I’m okay with that, but we don’t have very many printers that are of an acceptable quality on campus. I think we have 3 now that the graphics students can use that will get your print out as good as it needs to be. The problem is, the two of them can only print 8.5 inches wide and frequently our projects are bigger than that. And our other printer is a nice Epson, but it has some driver issues and wasn’t printing right last time I used it. I did see some students that were higher up in the program than me printing on it a few nights ago, so hopefully they got it working.

 

I have had a chance to talk to a few other students in programs around the city (a few students from Antonelli, a few students from UC) and when they also have computers on campus, but when their final is due, they go off campus to print, just like I do.

 

Again, I don’t mind the process. I’ll print off campus. But I’ve spent an incredible amount of money getting stuff printed this semester. And because of the economy, I was unable to find a job this semester, so that much money really hurts!

 

Oh well, my paper for my next project is here and I hope the project comes out well enough that I can put it in my portfolio! I have to get back to working on that!

 

I’ll see you guys soon!

Hey everyone!

Finals are upon us!

“But Tom!” the crowd cries despairingly. “How can you have finals? It is not finals week!”

I’ve written a blog about this before, but it’s a question that I get more often than I would have thought, from both high schoolers and my classmates right here at college. I have had three prospective students ask about this, so I thought I'd write about it once more. :)

In my art classes (like the ones I’m taking now: Drawing II, Digital Design, Photography,  and Web Design), I do not have a sit-down exam as you would in other majors’ subjects like sciences and math. We have final projects instead. In Drawing II, I have to come in and do a complete drawing on exam day that will have elements of all the different techniques we learned this semester. In Digital Design, we’ve had projects that individually used Adobe Illustrator, Photoshop, and InDesign. Our final project uses all three. In Web Design, we have spent the second half of this semester working exclusively with Adobe Flash. My final will require me to make a fully working website completely in Flash. Photography we have to make a video compilation of a comprehensive photographic study on the subject of our choice, in the style of our choice.

“Cool!” Everyone says to me. “You don’t have to sit down and take any tests?” Well, not this semester. My core classes still have exams, classes like psychology and sociology, or math courses. Many of my English courses either had a presentation or a final report in lieu of an exam.  

BUT. While it is cool that I don’t have any sit-down exams (that’s very cool, I don’t like exams either!), there is a down side to my lack of tests. I’ve been assigned all my finals for about 3 weeks, and I’ve been working on them hard. I’ve already pulled a couple all-nighters in order to get this stuff in to my professors on time.

Though it’s true, I won’t have quite as much to do during exam week, (I think I only need to be in twice) I’ve already done much more work on my finals than say a math major might have.

That’s right! Being an art major is cool, but remember, there’s still art to do! Lots of it!

Speaking of finals…I have Photography and Digital Design! I gotta get to work!

See you guys!

Hey everyone!

Man, drawing today was a blast! Classes are starting to work towards finals, and things are getting a little hectic, but still, it was super fun!

We’re wrapping up Drawing II class, and we’re starting to study the figure extensively. One of the course objectives is to be able to draw the figure in special context. This is important for every artist, because our world revolves around the figure, but it’s especially important to interior designers. The Interior Design folks have to be able to design a space, then draw the figure in that space so that we can see what it looks like in relation to a human form.

I’m a graphic designer, not interior, but I still get to draw lots of humans, so it’s just as useful for me. Not to mention I love it.

Moral of the story! We had a live model come in and pose for us today. Her name was Martha, and she was amazing. I always used to think that being a model for a drawing class would be a cushy job, but man. Martha was almost like a dancer. She could place herself very gracefully in complex poses and then hold them for a long, long time.

We started out drawing like 3 minute gesture drawings…I’ll have to see if I can take a picture of some of them and show you. But we had to map the figure in about a minute an a half, and that’s drawing a stick figure with the correct proportions. Then we had maybe another minute to put in contours, or the curved edges of the body. We then drew 5-6 minute sketches which included the background and the space around our model.

Then we drew a two hour finished piece. Martha got up to stretch every half hour, then placed herself in the exact same pose in the exact same spot. She was really amazing.

We only get to draw the figure just a little bit in Drawing II. There’s another class called Figure Drawing where that’s literally all you do. I’m hoping to take it before I graduate!

Anyway, I gotta get back to work! Finals are coming, so much to do!

See you all soon!

Well what a busy and exciting weekend!!

            This weekend I went up to Indianapolis and Chicago with my Modern Art class.  We loaded up the twelve passenger College of Mount St. Joseph vans and headed up to the windy city.  We first stopped at the Indianapolis Art Museum and stayed there from 11am-4pm.  And let me tell you that was not enough time to look at everything that they had.  It was also a gorgeous facility with 3 floors of nothing but wonderful artwork and tempting giftshops.  A really neat exhibit that was at the Indianapolis Museum was a fashion exhibit.  It was really interesting to see how the styles of clothing have progressed and how some styles mimic each other.  From Indianapolis we headed to Chicago.  We arrived at about 7:15pm and everyone got settled.  We then had free time for the rest of the evening.  My friends and I decided to get dressed up and go out to dinner.  After walking, walking and more walking we decided to go to Rosebuds, at least I think that is the name.  It was an expensive Italian restaurant, we sat outside and ate, and it was such a wonderful time.  The next morning we headed to the Chicago Institute of Art.  That was really an enjoyable time seeing such famous paintings by Monet and so many others.  The really awesome part about the trip is that when I was looking at the art I knew who a lot of the artists were before I even read their names.  Our Modern Art teacher Shawnee has taught us well.  If you ever get a chance to take an art history course at MSJ try to get Shawnee as your teacher, she really makes learning so enjoyable and understandable.  Well I should finish up my homework…talk to you later.