Photography

I think photography can be really awesome if the photos are properly taken and edited, I think it is a great skill to be able to ake nice pictures, and it is something I would love to learn a little bit about.


It is so beautiful this time of the year! And I usually find myself taking pictures on my phone and uploading them to instagram, but I figured this year I would try taking a few better quality pictures.

I'm really lucky, and I have lots of trees behind my house, so I always get to see the colours change, and I get to see how the trees look under different lighting at different points in the day.  While walking home today, I realised how nice it was, a little cloudy, but mostly sunny, and really warm.  So I went outside for a bit and took some picture.  I came inside, uploaded them to my computer and edited them.  I really like the outcome of them! I used http://www.befunky.com/ it's a really great site! It's actually the same app that I always use on my phone so I was familiar with it as well.  Anyways here are my edited pictures.

 I really love the look of the tops of trees with the sky as the background, it will become more clear as you scroll down because I have quite a few of these.

 Im really a big fan of a focus point, it makes one part look really clear and awesome! Also, I put an effect in the backround to make it look kind of mystical.

 I liked the look of this one, I blurred the backround on high, the middle ground on medium, and right in front of the front on low.  It really puts the focus at the front of the picture.

I edited this picture three different times because I wasn't sure which way I liked it best.  It looked really lame before I edited it because there was a fence right in front of the trees, after I edited it looked so much better! Kind of like a panorama I thought.

 I love how bright this one is in the front and how dark it is the back.  But there both different shades of green, awesome contrast!

Video Update

My class JUST finished the taping of our introduction video.  I taped all of the scenes.  It was hard to get a lot of my class to participate, but the ones who did, did an awesome job!

Here are a few 'sneak peak' videos, before any editing has touched them.

Here is a video our our Canadian flag, I decided to film this because our Canadian culture greatly effects our artwork.  Also, depending on what Olivia decides to do, there could be something like the anthem playing in the back round.  I think that would be pretty cool!

Here is our whole class saying Hi to Japan! I'm so glad that the class came together to film this, even though I know some people felt uncomfortable.  But it looks so much better with everyone in it.

Video Time!

Its video time today!  We are taping our video for Japan Art Miles today. I just taped a few outside scenes, we got lucky it was such a nice day! It will really be able to show Japan how and where we live.

After this post I am going to be taping my little individual clip, to be able to tell Japan how excited I am to be working with them!

Hopefully the video will be edited and posted to Youtube by the end of this week so I can post a link to my blog.  If not then the beginning of next week.

I'm not entirely sure if we get a return video from Japan, but it would be pretty awesome if we did!

I took quite a lot of shots outside, so Olivia (who is editing the video) will have lots of options while editing.  Can't wait to see the outcome and share it on here!

Japan Art Miles

On the project we are doing, we will first be shooting an introduction video.  In this video we are going to be taping our school and community, then our classroom, so the people we are working with can get a general idea of where we are from and where we work, then we will be taping students maybe saying a bit about our art, the way we live, or how we are looking forward to working with Japan co-operativly.

I will post a link to the video or the video itself on my blog once it is taped, which will hopefully be soon.

The sooner the better!

I've been thinking of some ideas about what the students being taped can say, I don't think it should be too lengthy, short and sweet is the way to go because we have many students in our class, unless of course, the students think of there own thing to say in the video, and if it is relevant to what we are talking about.

Some ideas I thought that the students could say include:
1. We are SO happy to be able to be a part of this, it is a once in a life time opportunity.
2. It will be really interesting to see what Japan's legacy is compare to ours.
3. It's rare to have opportunities like these considering we come from a small town.
4. Living in a small town is great! But it is awesome to know that there is more to the world, and through Japan Art Miles, we are able to experience it.
5.  I've done many co-operative art pieces before, but not with another country.
6.  I love trying new things, and this has given me the opportunity.

Those are just some broad statements as to what some student could say.

Also at the beginning of the video, when we are taping the school and art class room , I think that it would be good to include some quiet music in the backround, introduce more of our modern culture to theres!

Anyone else with ideas, please feel free to comment! :)

Pottery Update

My cup just came out of the kiln yesterday! I was really happy to discover that it didn't crack.  I wiped it down to get all the dust off it so I could start painting it.  Since my lines are so small I found that it was really hard to paint, and my art teacher told me that I should have 2-3 coats.. so I'm just trying to put on the paint really thick.

So far, I have painted probably about 1/10 of it and it took me 30mins.  This cup is defiantly going to test my patience.  I just hope it will be worth it in the end.

The stains are really weird colours because the true colours come out the next time it goes in the kiln.  So really I don't get to see what it looks like until the very end.  I cant wait! 

I will post a picture once I get some more stain on it:)

Co-operative Art Work with Japan

A few weeks ago my class talked about doing a co-operative artwork with Japan.  Just yesterday my art teacher brought it up again.  The 'idea'  or 'theme' of the art work is 'your legacy'.  The word legacy has many different meanings, and Ive personally never been a fan of it, but Japan picked it, so our school is just kinda going along with it because it is such an awesome opportunity.  But anyways, back to legacy.  We are supposed to be doing some quick sketches or/and jotting down some points as to what we think 'our legacy' is or should be represented by.

Before I start this, I would like to get a better idea as to what legacy is, so I've found a few definitions to help better my understanding.
1. Legacy: (an amount of money or property left to someone in a will.)
2: Legacy: (anything handed down from the past, as from an ancestor or predecessor)

I also looked at the synonyms and I thought that that was pretty helpful as well.
1. Legacy: (inheritance)

I think that it is really important to understand the word before I start thinking about what I would like to paint/draw to demonstrate it.

Basically, what I have gathered from my research, it the legacy is what change you make in the world.  Now that's a pretty broad statement because when working with Japan, we could be talking about Canadian legacy, Nipigon (small town) legacy, or your own legacy.  My idea of legacy would greatly vary depending on with path I/my class decided to take with this art piece.

Maybe I'll do a few sketches or points for each, if I can come up for good ideas for all of them.

Japan gets the art piece first, then they are sending it to us and we will be receiving it after Christmas Break in December.  Which leaves our class with a pretty small window to finish the art piece, considering we go into semester 2 about 3 weeks after Christmas Break.  But I think we can do it! :)

Working with Contrasting Colors

*This post was made on Wednesday but I was unable to post due to technical difficulties*

A few days ago I wanted to try painting a picture with just one colour, but different shades of the same colour.  I didn't really have an image I was trying to copy, I just started painting and kinda went from there.  But I wanted to see how far I could push one colour with dimension and depth.

Here is what it looks like, I used a deep blue acrylic paint.  On the sections that are really dark i mixed no water at all with my paint, but on the sections that are really light, its pretty much all water, like the sky, it is probably 90% water and 10% paint.  I really liked doing this painting because it tested my painting ability, being restricted to only one colour pushed my limits.

My next step would be to try adding some more colours to this painting and seeing if I prefer the original to the newer version.  I would like to take the same painting and maybe add some red to it and see what kind of dimension it gives the painting.

Also: I just found out my cup is going in be put in the kiln today, so I will post a picture once it comes out and I have had the chance to paint it.