Illustration 4. Logo Examples

this logo is a literal illustration of the "say cheese" phrase, it is interesting, however it might need to be simplified to be reproduced in smaller scale, like on pens. I would play with color more and try combining yellow with shade of blue or purple for a background, or just make the whole logo into a black silhouette on white field and vice versa

I think this logo is effective, because it is simple and memorable. Interesting play on combining images of a moon and a golf ball to illustrate the company name. I would like to see experimentation with different size and position of lettering.

Another literal interpretation. I like the simplicity of both form and color. This logo will look effectively in black and white too.

I think this is cute and inventive. Napoleon is not a typical name for a sushi place, and both the name and the logo would attract somebody like me :) However, I'm not sure if this is a successful choice of font, and why different type faces are used for "Napoleon" and "sushi bar". But the image itself is attractive (possibly some may consider it racist because of the eyes' shape), I would rework that. The image can still be recognized in black and white and be easily scaled to different sizes, so I believe it is successful.
This image is a logo of an optics store in Russia. I picked it, because it seemed funny. At the same time, it accomplishes its job well. It emphasizes the glasses on the hedge hog and the word "optics". It is simple, yet illustrative. It is memorable, scalable, and its color doesn't matter. Also I think that the symmetry in this particular case is successful.

This logo is clever and stylish. It is super simple and minimalist in terms of pictorial images, however the letters themselves create a nice form that is definitely memorable.

I'm not sure what this company does, but this would be a nice logo for a book store (I think). This house shape reminds me of European buildings and of a book shelf at the same time. It is simple and geometric. It may be a stylized view of the building where the business is located. The text and image go well together, because both of them are similar in shape and emphasize verticality of the logo.

Not sure of this is a real logo or a joke. It is like one of those image plays we did in IPC, when we would put together things that normally wouldn't go together and create new meaning. This is a memorable logo, because it uses this principle. It combines a computer mouse and a coffee mug. This logo might work for an internet cafe or some sort of coffee shop for IT people :)
The choice of words and a retro kind of bicycle used as an image create a nostalgic vintage feel. It is untraditional logo for a bike shop, which are usually associated with sports, speed, motion. Maybe this store sells vintage bikes only, or maybe they just wanted to create a romanticized image of biking. The logo itself is very successful.

Even though, this image would still be effective in b/w, I really like the choice of colors in this logo. Simple images and letters go well together. The squares can represent both rain and information, and they give some technical feel to this image. At the same time, it is creative and not too technical, which may suggest the creative solutions this software can provide to its users.
This company sells products for sea tourism (as their logo says). The logo combines images of an anchor and a test tube, which illustrates company's name well, because the anchor is associated with a ship and traveling by sea and a tube is associated with a laboratory. The idea of a laboratory suggests that the company "invents" some sort of unique and special products. Also, the shape of the whole logo reminds of a life saver.
"Historic toys, everything is made of wood". The image and letters incorporate texture of the wood. The date emphasizes the history behind this store. The toy design in the image emphasizes the old style and vintage character of products they sell.

Self evaluation

I feel like this course has been really helpful. I have learned a lot of techniques and approaches, that I can now apply in my personal art. I particularly enjoyed ink wash, collage and working on toned paper. I have been trying my best to do all work on time and do it well. I believe I have greatly progressed with drawing people's faces, and in overcoming my fear about drawing people in general :) I'm glad we had so many portrait assignments!

Another thing I learned in this class is better analyzing and critiquing people's and my own work. Know what to look for, know what to say and explain why something works and something doesn't. I'm still not good at talking at critiques, most of the time because I really don't know what to say, but I think I'm getting better.

Drawing still life got boring at times, but this class was still my favorite! I will miss the company and the atmosphere of it.

And Jason, I'm really thankful for having you as a teacher. Thank you for keeping the class interesting and sharing with us your work and your music :) and also, just genuinely caring that we learn something in this class and progress in our skills and understanding of new methods and approaches. I have learned a lot from you.

Have a good break, everyone! :)

Collage Artists

Collages by Cecil Touchon:

Cecil Touchon Born 1956 Austin, Texas is a contemporary American collage artist, painter, published poet and theorist living in Fort Worth, Texas. Co-founder of the International Post-Dogmatist Group, Touchon is director of the group's Ontological Museum, Founder of the International Museum of Collage, Assemblage and Construction and founder of the International Society of Assemblage and Collage Artists.

Collages by Juan Gris:

Juan Gris (1887 - 1927), was a Spanish painter and sculptor who lived and worked in France most of his life. His works are closely connected to the emergence of an innovative artistic genre—Cubism, creating several of the movement's most distinctive works.

Finally!

I have finally taken pictures of the building that I drew for our ink wash homework assignment. All of the pictures were taken not only at different times of the day but on different days as well, so we not only can see the change of the light, but the change of season as well :)

I drew a building of a hair salon on Stage Road here in Bartlett. I walk my dog around that area often, but apparently not so much lately because of cold and busyness at school. I liked the geometry of the roof, and thought, that if I zoom in, these diagonal lines can create an interesting composition.

Here are the photos:

about 2pm, beginning of November

about 5pm, sometime on Thanksgiving break

at 7am, yesterday - Dec 6th

artists using mark making

These are drawings of Peter Paul Rubens, seventeenth century Baroque painter from Flanders.

This one reminds me of our homework, as the artist is also drawing on a toned paper using black and white conte, with a subtle addition of sienna. He is

paying attention to the face, while the collar and the clothes have less

value and look more gestural an

d unfinished. I love the unfinished feel, it makes the drawing more alive, and brings focus to the face. The marks he is using are mostly hatching and cross-hatching, and some scribbling on the clothes.

Here, Rubens uses a lot of sienna and strong black on the person's hair, some white conte is used for highlights on the cheeks and on the collar. The cross-hatching on the face is more delicate and careful than the hatching on the hat and the clothes. In some places the marks on the hat look more like scribbling. Rubens creates a very life-like hair texture with the help of curvy marks of different value.

Amazing!!

This drawing is done by black conte on white paper. Rubens uses directional hatching and cross-hatching to defin

e the form of the animal's body.

These drawings belong to a current artist from Belorussia. His name is Vsevolod Shayba. He draws mostly with graphite pencil on white paper.

This is obviously not a drawing from observation. It looks almost as if it was digitally generated. Some subtle cross-hatching marks are noticeable in the sky. The rest of the marks are hard to see (at least on this photograph). The tree trunks are drawn using very fine and gentle shading. Also, I think the irregular framing of the drawing is interesting, and makes it look like a book illustration.

Another imaginative drawing by this artist. The marks are more obvious than on the previous one. The marks are mostly very fine cross-hatching. Love the realistic look of the drapery!

This drawing is done with black ink and a dip pen on paper.

these are couple of close-up fragments that show the variety of marks used by the artist:

tiny lines of different length and direction, dots, and again a very fine cross-hatching.

Not my cup of tea...

this homework has been my least favorite. drawing with a stick is very annoying!

i hate drawing with sticks!!!!!! it's a torture!!! literally i never hated doing my drawing homework so much :(

PS: I must admit, that drawing with ink has been my favorite technique since i was a kid. but i've always used a dip pen. modern ink pens are cool too, but dip pen is the best!

PPS: i was tempted to use a dip pen for this homework, but i didn't, and that explains why I spent more than 8 hrs on it..

amazing discovery

This past week, as I was looking through books in the library trying to find black and white photographs, I came across a thin little book that was a collection of engravings by an artist Winslow Homer. Immediately, most of them were photo-copied! I liked them, because they looked realistic, and kind of illustrative and they were done in a technique that really appeals to me. They were mostly depictions of everyday life, different people's activities, beach themes that included boats, people on boats, water. All of them are going into my sketchbook, and I want to try to make master copies of them.

Well, yesterday I was driving past Brooks Museum and saw Winslow Homer's name on their exhibition advertisement! So I just went online and researched his name. He is apparently a very well-known artist, what is more he was a very prolific illustrator!! Again, maybe all of you have heard his name, but I'm still learning American art history :)

There is an exhibition of his engravings at the Brooks starting soon, I can't wait to go see it :

Winslow Homer: From Poetry to Fiction

October 29, 2010 - January 2, 2011

The evocative and beautiful wood engravings of Winslow Homer (1836-1910) captured American life in the decades before photography became the preferred medium for illustrating the news. Appearing in magazines such as Harper’s Weekly, his work offered a visual complement to stories of daily life, popular fiction, or major political events. The exhibition of 85 wood engravings includes a full range of Homer’s illustrations, from charming images of children at play or vacationers at the beach, to more somber depictions of soldiers on the front lines of the Civil War. Focusing on the early years of Homer’s career, it offers visitors a chance to experience the artist’s remarkably poignant and enduring images of life in the United States during the mid-1800s.

also, here are some of his engravings and woodcuts I found on the internet: