TyPoGrAPhY    &  a chat

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Typography

Yes! I am back. It has been a long haul from the last post. 
I didn't know if I would even be back, but, I dug deep, turned away from a few people, stood up...
AND
here I am.
Mondays and Wednesdays  2:20 to 5:30 
Typography ArtG 106   Amy Becraft, professor

San Diego City College

It is my ONLY class this semester. 
No Drawing, Painting, Ceramics, Illustration

Just Typography, all day, all week, all consuming.

Because, I have a JOB. 
I am 1/2 owner of a CESSNA Service Station 
{with my for-now husband... long story, different blog} 
and I am the Office. 
I like to call myself an Office of One because I am an Office of One. ME.

To be brutally honest... I am a passionate scatterbrain. 
I find a project that I love and I want to jump in and consume myself in my Passion. BUT..

I take on too many projects and I get side tracked and start to lose focus.
After a few weeks, I realize that I am not a multi tasker, my work piles up, my productivity goes down, because I am spread too thin to focus on one project to the best of my ability and I start to get ... let's say... 
not working up to my FULL potential.

Last semester, is a perfect example. I spread myself thin, 
three classes and each one was a new subject, except Honors Drawing 2, but what was new is that we were building a portfolio with "finished" drawings and that was a new experience for me. 

I was doing okay for the first few weeks and then too-much- to-handle happened within a few days: conflict with an angry acquaintance who used his frustration and honesty as a weapon; a mentor who took the gloves off this semester; late nights and early mornings; all combined with a slowly dissolving marriage; and it all side lined me and I dropped down to only one class. 

Digital Media  ArtG125    My first grade of a B.

I re-grouped.  I am a Leo, and we Leos land on our feet. 
When I hit the ground, I cried. I pouted. I even yelled, a bit.
I stood up.
Took the Summer semester off;  
I cleaned, organized, worked, immersed myself in Art, Color, Design, and needlepoint. 
I was even fortunate enough to attend an Art Walk tour of London and Stratford-upon-Avon for two glorious weeks
.  
I came back inspired and ready to move forward... slowly...

During my travels, I learned a lot about love, people, passion, art, books, letters, architecture, food, and ME. 

What I love; Who I love; and Why I am who I am. 

This is me folks... no apologies; 

I am back and ready to move forward as 

A Student of Design once again,
Lisa xoxo 

  

ARTG 125 Digintal Media Pen Project

Digital Media
What can I say?   I love it, I tolerate it, I need it. Success and not so much success.
We have been working exclusively in Adobe Illustrator AI
We learned the difference between Raster and Vector.  How to Zip and Archive and Compress files. How to save, export, and download, files and images.  
The difference between images that are imbedded and tag along. 
Julie Warren, professor of Digital Media and Current Event Maven, is great. Her enthusiasm, her excitement, and her humor makes this class with all the dry information fun.. 
She even turned me on to Google News.. Trivia!!!!!

Here are a few of our past projects...
Draw 1:  We learned about Illustrator. How to fill, shapes, symbols, How to click the up and down arrow to make the star symbol explode into a multi-pointed starburst! GPU setting makes a black and white coloring page! Command G makes a GROUP, like the house. and you can drag your house over to the SYMBOLS and create your own!  FUN FUN FUN!!  casa Lisa

Pen Tutorial: Not much to say.. still practicing, practicing, practicing, and practicing to perfect and master.. 

Did I say practice enough?  probably not.. 

Mask Draw:  We learned to draw a "hole" this mask has functioning eyeholes. The tassel was too exciting to make. I used strokes and brushes and made stars and shrunk them down. The gradient color was a pre-made, pre-set swatch, and the stars are a symbol. The cat print is made by ME. This is my version of an Italian Carnivale mask. The type you hold in front of your face. The yellow circles are beads that sway and click musically as you move and dance.  Meow.. 

Pepper Draw:  This project was designed to help us draw a Vector image realistically. We used Blend, Burst, Gradient, and the Eye dropper tools. We traced an embedded image on a template layer with the pen tool, and worked with layers.  This was NOT my favorite project.. yet everything we used was my favorite. I think that I will embed another inspiring image and work with the tools on my own... 

I am still a Student of Design.. and trying to follow the directions!

Lisa

TYPE PROTOTYPE Stumpy Line

E_1 Bitmap Type Prototype

This is my tabloid:

A B C P Q    E M L R V X Z

I enjoyed this project so much that I completed my 
Type Prototype   Bitmap  
I will call this Stumpy Line 

This is it.. Enjoying being a Student of Design... Lisa

ArtG 106 TYPOGRAPHY Monday and Wednesday

ArtG 106 Typography   Monday and Wednesday  2:30-5:30
Amy Becraft

We are up and running now. Using InDesign for most of our projects..
Lots to learn, but its is fun and exciting.
I like to explain it like this:
It is like solving a puzzle. Problem solving, yet, creative and new.
The first project E1_ Eddo  
We were given the task of creating a prototype for 
a new bitmap typeface. 
In class, we made a 3" 10 x10 unit square using InDesign.
Next.. squares with a dark fill. Amy explained that when printing, Printer Black sometimes prints more gray and recommended that we make our own CYMK color.. 
which I did and named it Rich Black.
I took my creating to graph paper and pencil and pen.
I doodled out several and enjoyed the process.  Then on to the computer with confidence this time. We made a Master and pages and pages of our Bitmap typeface.. A B C P and Q. After creating the the typeface I Grouped [Command G] Copy [Command C] opened the Tabloid handout and Pasted [File and paste] it and sized-to-fit into the Tabloid.  Amy had downloaded a Tabloid template for us to use after showing us a class demonstration,
One day the class printed out our tabloids, pinned them up, and we critiqued our work. 
It always amazes me when my work is critiqued by my peers. Often the critiques point out what I cannot see and gives me inspiration and ideas to change, tweak, and if necessary, to start again.

This is my second attempt. My first attempt had "heart" as the opening and it did not convey.. so this is my second attempt.
Still.. A Student of Design.. alphabet style  :)    lisa

  

SKETCH BOOKS

Sketch books 

Today is all about Sketch books.
 
I have learned from my classes, online and in person, that a sketch book is a very important tool for an Artist, Designer, etc. 

As Milton Glaser says, "Drawing is the way I think" and if you are serious about Art and Design, a sketchbook is the #1 tool for you.

Long time ago, I didn't quite believe it. Sure, I had many, many sketchbooks that I had doodled in, collected snippets, wrote quotes and notes, and just contained the ephemera of my life. Many of them were half-filled, but all of them were artistic, they had pretty covers and were fun to just look at and carry around. Nothing too serious.

In my Artist and Designers class, Fall 2014, we were graded on our Sketchbook. The teachers gave us a criteria of what they expected and it was worth a good portion of our grade. 

I panicked. 
I don't "use" my journal/sketchbook on a regular basis.. what am I going to do now? 

To make it fun and authentic, I purchased a Strathmore Drawing sketchbook and a fun Sepia pen to write notes. I had big plans for the cover, but nothing worked out except the cork backing on the book. I liked the cork, it made it sturdy and didn't slip around when I was writing. 
I really got into keeping this Journal/Sketchbook! I wrote the notes from the class, snippets of conversations I overheard, quotes from the Artists and Designers portrayed, I researched them and wrote my interpretation of their work, blog lists, websites, and doodles.

One memorable conversation that I wrote about was a question asked by the student who sat behind me.. 
"If you could have a Super Power.. What would it be? And Why?" The whole class started answering and their energy and thought process provoked and inspired me and I wrote pages about that subject alone.  
Mine? My Super Power would be INVINCIBILITY. 
Why? Because if you could do, go, and be anything and anybody without the fear of Death or injury.. what wouldn't you do, where wouldn't you go, and who wouldn't you be!! 
Another quote I wrote several times and even expanded it with images and quotes in different languages was: Children of the World. Wayne Hulgin, the co-teacher who taught the "Artist" section of the Artists and Designers, would announce that greeting often as he breezed in before class. That was his greeting and it intrigued me, so I researched and noted it all in my sketchbook with questions answering the What, Why, Who, and How.   

I received full credit for my sketchbook, and when he returned them he said we all had done well.. I was hoping for more of an individual critique and maybe a sketch, doodle, or quote added inside.. but all and all it was a good exercise and now I have several and I actually USE them!!! 

Now, I am in Sketchbook Skool and a Sketchbook is needed. 

So, I chose a Mixed Media

 It has Coloring Pages.. that seems to be "the Rage"  
Coloring pages for adults. 
I also liked the Thanks, Merci, and Gracias  *heart*

 I am also enrolled in Drawing 2!! I have waited patiently for 3 or 4 semesters for it to be offered and taught by Professor Wayne Hulgin, Art Teacher Extraordinaire and his very own self.. 
He is the Art Teacher I asked and prayed for to teach me the Basics of Drawing on the steps of VilleFranche. 
More on him later.. It is quite the Serendipitous Story [if I do say so myself ]  
I will probably, most definitely need a Sketchbook because he requested one for Drawing 1 so I will probably use this one.. 

This is small 5.5x8.5 and I may consider a 9x12, but i think that I will stay with the Mixed Media. We will be using NuPastels, so 
I may consider a paper with more "tooth."  I am sure he will let us know.. 

I will also be enrolled in two Graphic Design classes. 
Typography and Digital Media. I will need a book to write notes

This is my "go to" Sketchbook for Class notes. They are the perfect size 5.5x8.5 and ink, roller ball or Micron pens just glide over the pages. 
I like Strathmore paper, it is a bit expensive, but Michaels offers coupons. 40% off an item, or sometimes, your whole purchase!
I prefer the recycled paper because it is not WHITE WHITE. It is not quite ecru, or Mother of Pearl, but is pleasing to my eye.

I am afraid you cannot tell exactly the color nor texture of the 
[l to r] Books.. Canson XL Mix Media 7x10  98lb  slightly toothy, thick, very white, [2nd choice] wet or dry medium  
Strathmore Mixed Media 300 series vellum surface  medium weight 90 lb  5.5x8.5  slick smooth surface  eggshell white 
wet and dry medium 
Strathmore Sketch  fine tooth surface  60 lb dry medium 5.5x8.5

That is my Sketchbooks and note taking books.. 
Starting soon.. I will be a 
Student of Design    Lisa 

OBJECT to MARK part two

Well...  
I made it home. 
Instead of sitting right down and working on the Mac armed with my ideas, tips, techniques, advice... 
I stitched.  Basket weave. Silk threads. A simple project that is colorful and one that I am stitching "in hand." Not on stretcher bars.

Tuesday. I started again. I reviewed my game plan and dove right into Illustrator. I made 4 art boards! and downloaded and exported 3 images. 1. The red scissors  2. The final sketched heart and scissors and  3. The opened black scissors.  
SUCCESS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I rocked! I used the hollow white arrow to manipulate ellipses and circles into swirly, twirly spirals. I erased with the eraser tool. I practiced with the points and thickness, the strokes, even the fonts!!
Then.. I used the PENCIL tool!! At first my designs were uneven and .. let's say.. NOT recognizeable.. but after manipulating and mouse-ing I made swirls and spirals, twirls, and zigzaggy lines!!

My confidence grew and I realized.. That when I know the software and how to use the tools of Design.. 
I  ROCK!!

Three pages of different designs of SCISSORS and hearts!! 

First two boards:  

LEFT:  My first design. I love it. It is Abstract and I am even thinking that I might like to print it out and stitch it into a Needlepoint project. It could be put onto a box that can hold gadgets and stitching tools.  Or even stitched into a small fob to put on my favorite scissors!!!

RIGHT: The scissors became butterflys! and my FAVORITE design is the ones with the L and the needle.. I actually "made" a needle!! I love the brushy look of it and the simple image.. I can see this as a logo or on my calling card with my info. The font is Herrington. I fiddled with opacity and put an E on top of the L. I was thinking that it would be Cool! to write out ROCCOFORTE with a smaller point size and 75% opacity  and then write out LISA EDDO in a larger point size and black on top of my last name..

Oh the ideas!!!!

Third board and an Idea Board

LEFT board is my GOLD. the positive/negative logo is looking at me and whispering ideas. I LOVE the light swirly center and the delicateness of the finger holes. 

The RIGHT board is just ideas and extras.. images that I like and with work can be made into fun designs.  I even signed it as 

L heart E!  it looks like LOVE and it is my design and my signature that I used when I cross stitched. 

This is it my peeps.  

My Last assignment in ArtG100 Basic Graphic Design. 

Just like my Great Minds project in Design History.. I ended STRONG!  

I started at neutral in the beginning, excited, then I quickly moved into overwhelm mode. I wanted to quit. YES, QUIT! but I loved it so, I listened to a friend when he said, Everybody has a difficult time in the beginning learning something new. I am  techy, I have even built my own computer, and I would be overwhelmed in learning new software. You can do it Lisa, I know you can. 

I persevered,  and I learned.   

Next semester..  DIGITAL MEDIA  Learning Photoshop, Illustrator, and InDesign.  I talked to the teacher and told her that I would enroll and IF it was closed before I could register, would she ADD me. I enrolled a few weeks ago and Friday she asked if I was enrolled in the class for it was closed. I said YES, and she said that she is looking forward to working with me in class!! 

She remembered me :)

I posted it to my Homework Blog,  sdccdesign100LisaEddo@blogspot.com 

So, OFFICIALLY, I am out of class and on my way.. 

I LOVE BEING 

A Student of Design     lisa

OBJECT to MARK assignment Part One.

Object to Mark assignment.  Part one...

This assignment is the most useful moving forward in the Graphic Design process.. 
It is the building block of how a Designer.. designs. 
First, the inspiration:

My embroidery scissors. The bottom red pair is from France, Bodin. I purchased them in Victoria, Canada, BC. They are 2.5" and have a matte, satiny finish.. my favorite. Sharp and a great hand feel, plus they are petite and fun to use!

The black ones.. I bought in Julian, California on a whim.  2.75" long, matte black, sharp! and I liked the retro packaging.

I stitch, for those who don't know me. I am an Artist with Thread. 

I LOVE the hand feel of thread and yarn, the colors, 

the geometrics, the thought process, the women I meet in this genre, Everything.. HEART!!!!

Cross stitch, Needlepoint, Crochet, some knitting, needle and thread. My Nona [ Italian for Grandmother ] taught me to embroider when I was young.  She was a seamstress in Montebeluna, Italy where she was born and lived until she moved to America with her husband and her brother in her early 20's. She sewed couture at many design houses and designed and sewed her own trousseau and wardrobe.  She taught me to sew a French seam and everything else with a needle and thread. I don't even remember learning nor when I didn't know how. We started embroidering and crocheting edges on pillowcases.. The others came after when I realized that I hate embroidery.. another story! 

When I was young, I would sit by her elbow and sew, stitch, and sometimes draw and design clothes and accessories for me and my dolls.  Often, we would pray the Rosary in Italian and play "Remember When." I love that game. " I remember when.." or "Remember when?" 

SKETCHING THE DESIGN came next. 

Oh My!  He told us that we can also use tracing paper over the photo to sketch out the positive and negative spaces. I skipped that step, but now I think that I may try it for the next project.

I can SKETCH! I can GESTURE!!  no fear, no intrepidation,  no panic, and no first thought of "I can't draw very good and it won't be very good and it certainly won't LOOK like I want it to look."

Thanks to Drawing 1 WITH the very talented, Professor Wayne Hulgin at San Diego City College [ greatest serendipitous story.. EVER..] I sketched.. What I wanted and How I wanted it to be!!! With confidence in my talent and ability.. 

.. pause for a moment for the realization..."

Final sketch. There were several others that I liked in my sketches, but this one.. I liked best of all.

THEN onto Illustrator..  

FRUSTRATION level RED  

and this is what came out of it.. 

NOT HAPPY..  AT ALL!

I do like the "bandage heart" made up of rounded rectangles, circles, and a triangle. I am thinking that with a little tweaking and manipulating.. It would make a good Needlepoint design.  An ornament, a coaster, even a round purse. Basketweave or a selection of stitches in each section with a dark brown 898 DMC outline or just collaged next to each other.  

Monday's class was a Wall Critique.  We printed out our project, and put it up for the class to critique. It wasn't as bad as I thought it would be, lots of tips, ideas, techniques, advice, and one Pearl of Wisdom, Sean said to me.. "Don't do it all. Edit. You are trying to get EVERYTHING in there, great idea, just scale back."

Last day of class. Project needs to be refined and FINAL image posted to Blog before midnight Wednesday.  For people who need help.. Wednesday is the last day of class. 

Bittersweet ending. As I drove home I realized that my first semester as a Graphic Design Major is almost behind me.  

After this assignment.. I really am on my way.. 

almost full stream ahead as 

A Student of Design.... Lisa