Sandy Puc

http://sandypuc.com/

I attended a photography seminar with photographer Sandy Puc tonight. It was an amazing seminar about marketing your photography business. She gave so many wonderful ideas for business building and bringing in new clients. I really felt inspired by her work. I hope to attend many more of her seminars in the future.

More than Sandy's work, I was incredibly inspired by her as a person. I totally expected to learn the basics of lighting and poses in family photography and got that and so much more. Not only did she teach us an array of her extensive knowledge of photography, but she taught us about the wonderful things we can do to give back with our art.

This woman is amazing! Sandy managed to incorporate her many inspirational stories about the things she has encountered as a photographer among all of the technical things. She told us of photographing Race for the Cure, dying infants through NILMDTS, and her many foster children. It's difficult to describe her approach, for it is completely humble and intended to get us off our asses.

Part of the seminar included a live photo shoot with a young family with a small infant. It was so great to watch Sandy's technique. She created beautiful portraits in minutes and did it with such skill. Sandy's portraits are beautifully posed and captured. She has a booming business in Colorado and still spends several evenings a week volunteering her services for NILMDTS. It is hard to put into words how great this seminar was! I would highly recommend it to any photographer. I truly think that Sandy travels the country doing these seminars to inspire people to change their lives.

Now I Lay Me Down To Sleep...

http://www.nowilaymedowntosleep.org/

I attended a photography seminar recently and discovered an amazing organization. The Now I Lay Me Down To Sleep organization is composed of a group of non-profit photographers that donate their time and talent to help those grieving the loss of a baby. I am truly moved by this organization. Please visit their website and make a donation.

NILMDTS was formed to help families deal with the loss of a baby. They provide a photographer, free of charge, to come to the hospital, and photograph very sick babies before and after their death. This may sound strange, but the pictures that are captured provide beautiful, lasting memories for the families. These photographs help families with the grieving and healing process.

Families who loose a baby often only have pictures of their sick baby that are traumatizing. One mother explained that the only pictures she had of her baby were ones with him covered in bruises, tubes, and medical tape. NILMDTS photographers capture the beauty of these infants in beautiful lighting and most often in black and white. The black and white photos of the babies show less discoloration of the skin and also match the solemn tone of the scene.

NILMDTS offers free training seminars for photographers who are interested. There is a huge need for photographer! It takes a very strong person to be able to give this gift and the photographers I know who do this just cry along with families during their photography session. I want to help this program grow and succeed because many families are turned away because of lack of photographers. I hope that I can get the nerve to do this.

The Art of Tattoos

I think that the art of tattooing is amazing. I really appreciate the detail and precision of the art. The tattooing process possesses physical as well as emotional elements. This permanent art form is can be cathartic but can also be disastrous if not done by an a trained professional. Overall, tattooing is not for me, but I can appreciate the art done on others.

I love tattoo artist Kat Von D. She is covered in amazing tattoos and body art. Kat is perhaps one of the countries most well-known tattoo artists, and deservingly so. She has her own television program featuring her tattoo salon and the work that she does. Her work is incredibly detailed and realistic. She does very beautiful portraits.

The process that those getting tattoos go through is very interesting. Most recipients seem to have a story of inspiration for their tattoos. Many times, tattoo artists act as counselors, by listening to their clients' stories and helping them commemorate loved ones. Tattooing is more than art, it is an emotional process. The physical process of tattooing is painful but seems to be therapeutic as well. The humming and vibration of the tattoo gun is somewhat soothing.

The permanency of tattoos also intrigues me. I have never gotten a tattoo myself because of its permanency. I wish I were more daring but my practical mindset always overrides my urge to get tattooed. I guess never liked a tattoo design enough to have it on my body for a lifetime. The image of me as an old person, with a sagging tattoo always deters me. I have to admit, I am envious of those that have the guts to get tattooed.

I like this image but am not sure that it is real. Can a tongue really be tattooed? It wouldn't surprise me.

Pin Striping and Air Brushing

My husband works on cars for a living and rebuilds race cars as a hobby. Needless to say, I am constantly bombarded by automotive television, car trade shows, and all sorts of auto shows. My favorite part of seeing all of the different cars is seeing all of the amazing art that adorns them. Each car is truly a piece of art.

I am always mesmerized to see pin striping being applied to a car. I guess I just assumed that it was done with a stencil or just graphic stickers. The art of pin striping is done with a highly skilled and steady hand. The line of a pinstripe is so perfectly crisp and straight that it doesn't seem as if the human hand could produce it. To watch this painting is amazing.

Another aspect of car painting that I find incredible is air brushing. The layering of different colors of lightly sprayed paints creates such luminescent effects. This layering also adds much depth and dimension to the images. The detail achieved through air brushing is unsurpassed by any other. I am especially fond of the realism of many of the air brushed flames that are done on cars.

It takes a true artist and tradesman to know the ins and outs of car painting. Special paint and chemicals must be used to create a smooth, flawless finish. The combination of air brushing and pin striping produces a highly defined and dramatic piece of art. The art of a car is revealed to so many while driving around. One of a kind auto painting sets a car apart from other models like it and reflects the owner's personal style and personality.

Oakland University Senior Thesis

I just came from our school's senior thesis and wanted to be sure to comment on the work that I saw. Sadly, I was only able to stay for half of the students presentations but I walked the gallery and saw all of the work in it's entirety. I must say that Oakland University has a number of very talented and well-spoken artists. I was very impressed with the workmanship in all of the work. I was also very impressed with the articulation of the artists when speaking of their work.

One artist's work was a series of amazing stenciled and spray-painted compositions. These compositions are brightly colored with contrasting tones. The images portray different parts of the world and seem to be politically motivated. I was a bit confused with the message behind each painting. Overall, I was overwhelmed with the paintings' ornate detail and layering and translucency of color.

Another work that I really thought was effective was a series of feminine paintings done by a fellow student. The series consists of several multi-media paintings. These paintings are of high contrasting colors of different statements made about woman. One painting is of a woman's torso with different cords and circuits connected to her womanly parts entitled "The Bionic Woman." Another is a bold, reduced image of a woman's gaze.

The Senior Thesis Art Show was very inspiring. It was helpful for me to see what I will have to face in the near future. I was very impressed with the knowledge of these students. It made me excited to know that our education is important and is essential to us in building skills for our art. I feel very fortunate to be getting such an influential education, inspired by so many.

Vector Illustration

This is an illustration that of did of myself. I used the program Adobe Illustrator to create this rasterized self-portrait used for a graphic design assignment. I really like the end result of this portrait because I think it resembles me quite well. The caption of "Life is beautiful-so capture it" I think describes the way I live my life. Everyone should live each day to the fullest!

Our graphic design assignment was to create a self-portrait that captured who we are. I chose to do an illustration of myself holding a camera. I think of my camera as a part of me. By including my camera in the portrait, it conveys my love of photography. Photography is my passion.

A camera also is relevant to the illustration because it was used in creating the image. I used a photograph of myself as a background layer in Illustrator. From the photo I took samples of tones from my skin and then used them as their own layers of areas on the photo. I traced the basic outline of my features with thin, black strokes for definition.The image is reduced and simplistic but has just enough detail to add depth.

My goal is to get into illustration of children's books. I love to first capture images of my illustrations with my camera and then use my skills in Illustrator and use the photo I have taken as a guide for my illustration. Using this technique, I can make take the compositions with my camera and turn them into illustrations with Illustrator. I just received an offer to illustrate a series of children's books and hope to bring their stories to life.

Dada

I really enjoy Dada art because of its unusual and unpredictable nature. Dadaism started after world War One as a protest to the happenings of the times. Artists wanted to reject the traditional ideals of art to make a statement about politics, commercialism, and the chaos of society. Chaos was a sign of the times, which is reflected in the Dada art movement.

The work of Dadaism is very controversial and avant-garde. Dadaism showed up in sculpture, posters, collages, paintings, graphic design, and in most areas of the art world. The Dada movement seems ironic because it is known as the anti-art movement.

I really enjoy the looking for the meaning behind the works of Dadaism. The works usually convey a message and are often comical. I like the sarcastic tone of the Dada work. I also like the fact that there are no rules or particular aesthetics of this art era. People just did whatever the hell they wanted, calling it art, which it was.

I really like the composition of these Dada works. They look very modern but almost have a grunge look that I really appreciate. It is not an easy task to successfully do grunge work, I know this from experience. It takes artistic skill to create chaos that is unified. I also like the simple color pallet and different variations of font with in the works.

Julia McGrath

http://juliaswatercolors.com/

Julia McGrath is a local artist that is well known for her beautiful watercolor paintings. Her delicate brushstrokes and color pallets are her trademark. Her paintings are illuminated with light. Julia’s paintings portray a quiet peacefulness. Julia is very good at capturing the beauty in ordinary things.

Julia has been a huge inspiration to me as an artist. Growing up I spent a lot of time with Julia, aspiring to be like her. She had an art studio above her garage where I would admire her paintings. She also introduced me to furniture painting, which I spent many years doing.

This painting was done up at my families cottage. The painting was done from the view out of our cottage window. I thought it was interesting that Julia chose to paint the cottage next door when the view from the next window was of a beautiful inland lake. I suppose Julia recognized the unique composition that the little purple cottage would create, with our colorful towels on the line.

The painting of the purple cottage turned out to be a sought-after piece of Julia McGraths and it is obviously one of my favorites because of the memories it brings. I also really admire Julia’s painting of water. She has several paintings of ponds. The aerial view of the water captures the reflection of the surface of the water and the color and beauty of the fish and plants with in it.

Paolo Boccardi-Fashion Photographer

http://www.fashionphotographer.it

I found Italian photographer Paolo Boccardi while surfing different photography websites. Boccardi is an amazing photographer who does most of his work in the commercial and fashion world but also has beautiful work of his travels. Boccardi describes himself as an advanced Photoshop user as well as an art director, of what, I am unsure. However, I love his work in fashion because it has a fine art feeling.

Boccardi does much of his work using nude models. This is one of my favorite images of his fine art pieces. I love the lighting that casts soft shadows and gives high contrast and depth to the image. The light cascades down her body, showing her curves. The image is so beautiful and feminine added to by the high heels and tutu.

Boccardi's website is what first drew me to his work. I myself am a photographer and have been trying to create a sleek website for my work. I used this website as my model for a classic, contemporary design. I think the site is effective so that the information needed to navigate the site does not detract from the art. The look is clean and modern and the images are large and dynamic.

Boccardi has captured beautiful images in his travels. He not only captures the picturesque landscapes but also interesting people in interesting ways. Boccardi's portfolio demonstrates his versatility as an artist. Each of his images are beautiful and unique. My hope is that my work will someday be as dynamic and creative as Paolo Boccardi's.

My Pet Pig

http://www.valsartdiary.com

I found this artist's series of videos on youtube.com and find them very entertaining. The videos are an art diary of the creator Val. This is all I know about them. I don't know whether it is just her cute accent or her exaggeratedly cheesy personality that interests me, but I think Val is very funny.

In this particular video entitled My Pet Pig, Val discusses her asperations of beening a fashion designer. It is all very random and makes no sense at first. She rambles on about how her aunt think she's a lesbian and how she paints her fashion designs on valuptious women. She is very casual and funny which makes her character appealing. Throughout the film, Val is painting a painting of a woman. The title of the film starts to make sense when she paints a a pig in the woman's arms.

The painting that Val paints in the video is a very whimsical painting of a woman holding a pig. She explains why she used the color pallet that she used and the meaning behind different elements of the painting. I really love the childlike rendering of the painting yet the skillful technique the artist used. I love the randomness of the the richly colored strokes in the background of the painting.

Another reason that I like Val's videos is because of the style and mood of the video. All of her videos have beautiful lighting and vignettes. All of the videos that I have seen have a similar style that suites the artist. I think that the creator must have used Adobe After Effects for the text and special effects of the video. I also really love the artist's use of color throughout her videos. She films her pieces by really playing with the focus of the camera, which makes a beautiful effect. It is like her videos are like paintings.

Environmental Portraits in Second Life

This is an assignment that I did in Second Life for a new media class. For class, our assignment was to create an environmental portrait using Second Life. An environmental portrait is a portrait in which an environment of a person is portrayed. The environment says a lot about the person. By looking at a person’s surroundings, one can discover what is important to a person and what his of her life is like.

In my first environmental portrait I chose to portray a housewife. This woman is dressed as a stereotypical housewife and is surrounded by her kitchen. There are prescription bottles all over the floor and bottles of alcohol scattered to show her secret escape and loneliness. She is holding a baby, which is leaching onto her and a gun, which shows her security and vulnerability. There is a blow up doll in the scene to show the woman’s desire for love.

The second environmental portrait I did was of Britney Spears. She is shown in her living room that is scattered with alcohol, a wig, a camera, and her faceless children. The camera is meant to represent paparazzi and her faceless children are represented as objects rather than people. Britney is bald and wearing a school girl outfit with no underwear. She is performing on her living room stage because she cannot separate reality from fantasy.

Using Second Life can be very frustrating. I spent so long wondering different lands looking for objects for my characters. It is also very interesting to see all of the different characters that use Second Life. Building objects in Second Life can also be very frustrating but I found it got much easier the more that I practiced. I think Second Life is not something that I will continue to use but it was overall very interesting to discover this other world.

taralouiselle.com

www.taralouiselle.com

Tara Louiselle is a local artist who creates sculptures and models of horses. Tara Louiselle is a very good friend of mine who has amazing talent. She is a painter, sculptor, and fantastic drawer. I have known her most of my life and she possesses artistic ability that few have. Tara inspires me because she has used her talent and love of horses to produce beautiful sculptures that are all the rage in the horse world.

Tara is now making a living doing what she loves. Tara discovered the world of horse sculpting and that it is in high demand. Tara first noticed the popularity of these horse sculptures while surfing ebay. She saw many horse sculptures selling for thousands of dollars and thought, “Hey, I could do this.” Tara grew up drawing and painting equinine art so sculpting it came very natural to her.

Tara started sculpting by transforming Breyer horse models. These thick, plastic sculptures are popular collectibles among children, ranging from $30-$50 dollars. Tara purchased these models, melts them, changes their positions and stances, adds anatomy, sculpts intricate manes, and finally air-brushes and paints the models. These resculpted models sell for hundreds of dollars. In addition to resculpting Breyer horses, Tara purchases resin models from popular sculptors and paints them. These resigns can sell for thousands of dollars.

I am so proud of my friend Tara who has found a niche in the art world and ran with it. Her name is now very well known in the horse sculpture world and is often sought out for custom work. Tara’s sculptures are so intricately sculpted and painted with beauty. Her air-brushing is exquisite. Tara stands out in her field and has offered other horse sculptures very stiff competition.

Candidate # 1

Our university is hiring a New Media professor and allows their students to get in on the deal. Students are able to meet each candidate for a meet and greet lunch and also listen to a lecture by the each candidate. The University welcomes students' input and opinions. I think that it is really important for schools to include students in the hiring of a new professor since it could profoundly affect their education.

The first candidate that came to our school was very unique. This candidate is currently a professor at a Florida school where he also teaches in the arts. I think that this candidate was very intriguing and most unusual. He reminds me of a mad scientist of the arts. It was very apparent that this candidate is very intelligent. He seems to use many aspects of engineering and science incorporated with art.

Many of the first candidate's art was very experimental and technical. One example of the professor's work that I particularly liked was his study for children and the sounds of MRI machines. This candidate created a game involving toys and the different sounds of MRI machines so that children would be exposed to the machines noises before they had a procedure, thus desensitizing them to the machine's noises. I like that this candidate uses art for a purpose.

One of the candidates more simplistic works was a portrait he did of a friend. This portrait was unique because he made it with cups of coffee. He took a photo of his friend and reduced it to simple tones of brown. The artist then matched each tone with a specific tone of coffee, by adding cream to the coffee to change its color. He spent hours mixing the perfect tones of brown and arranging them to mimic the tones in the photo. The artist then suspended a camera above the composition of coffee filled cups and took a photo of them all in their place. The end result was quite amazing and represent the actual photo quite well.

My New website...Still in Progress!

www.monicacottondesign.com

I attempted to create a website for my work. I am very disappointed because I it is not turning out the way I anticipated. It is often difficult to demonstrate a conception. The web has many limitations. I need to put a lot more time and research into the art of web design because it is a complicated field.

Because of my limited knowledge of web design, I turned to intuit.com. It seemed too good to be true and it was. Intuit promises simple website building, and that is exactly what you get. The program is oversimplified and difficult to modify. It is very limited as to what you can do. I tried a free trial but don't think that I will continue. Being a multi-media major, one would think I could design a descent website. I need some work.

I want my website to focus on my photography but also to display my fine art and graphic design. I would love to create galleries of my work and also private galleries for my photography clients' pictures. I am currently working on a flash animated flash page which may add interest.

I really like the logo that I created for myself. I graphically reduced an image in illustrator and edited to look symbolic of a camera. I was able to incorporate my initials within the logo. The "C" in my initials worked perfectly as the camera lens. The background of my logo was taken from one of my HDR photographs.

HDR Photography

I really love working with HDR photography. High Dynamic Range photography provides a larger range of highlights, shadows, luminosity, and color. It shows the viewer the colors and detail that the human eye are incapable of seeing. It produces vibrant, luminous colors and very detailed textures. HDR photography is a wonderful new addition to the world of photography.

HDR photographs are produced by taking a series of photographs of the same shot using different exposures. The goal is to have images ranging from white (overexposed) to Black (underexposed). A program such as PhotoShop can be used to combine all of the images. Photoshop or other programs can be used to change luminosity and saturation of the final image. it sounds more complicated than it is.

This is a series of images that I did to capture the beauty of ordinary urban elements. This project was done to demonstrate texture and color. The HDR technique really embellishes the texture and color of each image. Each image pops! Each image has unity and variety. Each image is its own composition. I used one primary color within each piece. The color adds depth and opposition to the texture.

The final compilation of photographs is well-balanced and varied. I wanted to arrange the final images so that they worked together as a whole. I distributed the colors throughout the arrangement as well as the shapes and textures. I think that the individual images could stand alone but I prefer them as a unified whole.

Alice and Wonderland

This weekend I went to see Tim Burton's Alice in Wonderland. I wasn't sure what to expect, but ended up really enjoying the film. Burton is very good at recreating classic stories into a new and improved version. Each of Burton's recreations are more over the top and outrageous than their originals. He is able to be very creative and unusual without being over done.

I really enjoy the mood and atmosphere that Tim Burton creates within the scenes of his films. He seems to be most known for the dark and eery. He adds a dark, fantastical twist to his films that often is bizare and strange. This is what is really interesting to me.

Alice in Wonderland was quite a masterpiece of art. The scenery is very rich in color and beauty. The scenery sets the mood for the entire film. The characters' makeup and costumes also follow the richness and beauty of the scenery. The characters looks are extreme and imaginative, which is very appealing.

I like that Burton changes a classic just enough to make it his own. Burton's Alice and Wonderland is a sequel to the original Alice and Wonderland yet incorporates many elements of the original story. The story line is more exciting and interesting than it's original. I would highly suggest seeing this film to anyone who is interested in film and the arts. Alice and Wonderland is very well done and intriguing.

Deep Blue "C"

http://www.deep-blue-c.com/

The fashion company Deep Blue "C" was created by my cousin Rachel Culp. I have grown up looking up to her and admiring the art she creates. Her work is all hand done and involves designing custom clothes for clients of all ages. Her clothing gives a Rock and Roll vibe that is a lot of fun. Her clothing has energy.

Rachel's work truly reflects who she is as a person. She is a very interesting and fun person, which shows in her work. Her use of color and texture makes each piece of clothing its own piece of art work. Clients are encouraged to send in their own jeans to be embellished so that they are the perfect fit. Rachel's clients appreciate the quality and creativity that goes into her work. Her clients have an original sense of style which appeals to musicians and other artists alike.

The style of Rachel's work is very eclectic. She uses unpredictable combinations of patterns and themes. Rachel creates collages of different materials and fabric. Much of her work looks similar to the patchwork of a quilt. Her funky placement of different elements and shapes of the fabrics add to the compositional component of each piece. Each element of the garment is carefully considered.

I love Rachel's work because it has character and personality. Much of the clothing contain themes of comedy and sarcasm. Each piece makes a statement. I also really appreciate the craftsmanship of Rachel's work. I love this soulful artist and her company!

What is New Media???

I Think that this youtube.com video describes the complicated realm of "new media" very well. Though this video is a bit cheesy, the creator is participating in "new media" while discussing it, which is kind of ironic. The style video reminds me of the old program Bill Nye the Science Guy and is very interesting. I like that the creator is using a free source such as youtube.com to promote his work and find subscribers.

It is very cool that anyone can have a platform to share their ideas with the world. I think that is the idea behind new media. In the past, people needed special equipment and privileges to air their ideas. Never has there been a way to reach the entire world, like using the internet. The whole notion of media has changed for better or worse. There is no turning back.

I am majoring in the study of new media arts. My field of study encompasses many things to do with art and the computer. I think that this area of study is endless and continuously evlolves faster than anyone could possibly keep up. I think this aspect of new media is very overwhelming but also very exciting. New media is a hugely growing field that has endless possibilities.

Web design is a major area of new media. I have taken several classes on web design and am still very overwhelmed by all that is entails. I always considered myself computer illiterate but am impressed wiht how with the more I learn, the easier it becomes. I really enjoy doing digital photography editing in Adobe Photoshop, editing and creating videos in Finalcut Pro, and learning graphic design in Adobe Illustrator and InDesign. I think that all of these arts are part of the growing new media field. I hope that what I have learned in the field of new media continues to grow and evolve into a future career.

M.C.Design on facebook

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Berkley-MI/MCDesign/318163633603?ref=ts

I have not yet created a website for my work so I made a page on facebook.com to share my work with others. The page showcases my work. I am using this page to promote my skills and passions. The site is still in progress but I have already received a lot of positive feedback and have gotten several job opportunities from creating this page. It is an easy way to communicate with clients and post the work that I have done for them. It is a great way for clients to preview their work and give feedback.

I am creating a design company called M.C. Design. The company focuses mostly on photography. I did not choose the name M.C. Photography because I did want to limit myself to just photography. I want my company to also encompass my work in wall murals, graphic design, and book illustration. I have so many interests and did not want to limit myself to just one. I have been doing my art work for more than 15 years and have just now gotten to the point of creating a name for myself.

I think that it is important to promote ourselves as artists. It is so important to get your name and work out to as many people as possible. The term "starving artist" is so often true because it is sometimes difficult to get know as an artist. Sites like facebook.com can expose my work to so many people that might otherwise never see it. It allows you to network with friends and friends of friends which tend to be the best way to get clients, through word of mouth.

My design business is really starting to pickup. I owe a lot of the credit to facebook.com. I know of no better way that one could share their work in a way to generate discussion and interest. facebook.com has been a simple way to expose my work to everyone I know and it is really paying off. The best thing about creating a facebook page for your work is that is is free. It doesn't get better than that!

Portraits

My passion in life is photography. Photography allows me to creatively express myself in a way that I cannot do otherwise. I particularly love shooting portraits. A portrait is a very personal and intimate look into a person. I think of a portrait as a true expression of one's self. I like to allow the subject to dictate the style and personality of a portrait so I can bring them to life with a photograph. Portraits should capture the essence of a person and make a lasting impression.

I love people. Creating portraits is my way of representing all kinds of people in unique ways. I think I have the ability of seeing the beauty in everyone. I want people to feel good about who they are and I want their portrait to reflect that. I love human-kind's uniqueness and think that it should be celebrated.

Another reason I love portraiture is because I love giving people the gift of a beautiful picture of themselves. Everyone needs to feel good about themselves. So many times, I find that people are self-conscious about the way they look and are often afraid of being photographed. It is my hope to show people their unique beauty through my work. Everyone has beautiful features, so I like to accentuate the good and photograph my subjects in flattering ways, playing with the idea of camera angel, perspective, and poses.

I have photographed an array of people. Some of my favorite photos are those of my 97 year old aunt. I think the elderly are beautiful and that they should be celebrated. Their faces have such texture and shape. Their wrinkles tell a story of life and their experience. I also love photographing the very young. Brand new babies are much like the elderly in that they are so precious and seem to know so much. I love to capture all of their little details of wrinkly skin and tiny parts.