Have to make this quick--inbetween shower and putting my shoes on. I am tumbled, shaken--or another way of looking at it--learning by fear--We showed our 50 thumbnails to each other--seeing how others dealt with the nighttime exercise. It was very interesting and I have a page of notes that I should transcribe right here so it doesnt go anywhere. Bunny and Dennis, which turning the projects around, adding, subtracting,-in the most part moving most people out of their zone of comfort and into a sinking mire that muscle (work) will affect. Murray has been coaching me--telling me he isn't giving me any space for my antics and that I will be listening to him to move from a creator of spots for a full fledged illustrator. He is kicking me out of my nest and seeing when, just when will I start beating my wings. We'll see what happens today. We can work today and Thursday--6 finished designs with one in color.
Jean Tuttle was our speaker yesterday--a balm in this time of turmoil. She is amazing. Jean was a student of Murray's in the mid/late seventies. She is truly a decorative illustrator who delights in her work and her clients. Jean'ss work is beautifully rendered --with an original impression of simple on first glance, but as it's peeled back, has multiple layers of color and pattern. She is a queen of promotion including all sorts of cards (Halloween, Christmas, Easter, Valentines Day) that she uses to try new techniques and showcase them. Her Halloween cards using scratchboard as an example--became a new look that stemmed from her sample. She offered us cards, hot pink pens and a wonderful cat head button (note, buttons for Ithaca Art Trail would be great). I plan on writing about her as it will give me an opportunity to dig into her work and look at it as I want to better understand her look.
(note to self: try out making a palette from bringing an image into illustrator, breaking it into flat colors using Live Trace (you can sample with an eye dropper too--in both illustrator and Photoshop. Jean brought Grant Wood's palette into a project this way. Very inspiring. Another "don't forget"--my classmates if they dont have a scanner use their cameras (or phones) to shoot their work to show. Very simple idea...but a good bail out).
My class is opening up as a group--as all of us are in suspension--and it is remarkable to see the growth that is happening albeit in two days. What about the end of this week. Compared to a week of figure painting-- this is the right way to jump start a degree program. Another signature of Murray's genius and the team of Dennis and Bunny's way to bump each student off center to start the change of work and headset. Remarkable.
>>More later.