Featured Student: Mike

professor Victoria Rose Martin student samples

Another week and another talented student shout out. This work was created by a spring graduate named Mike. When he started here at the college he had never used Photoshop.  I would say he progressed nicely, wouldn’t you?It’s always funny when students apologize because they don’t know the software. My reply is generally “well isn’t that why you’re here”?

The images featured in this post were created in my Photoshop 1 and  2 courses. Above we have his art history project. Students have to be inspired by a famous artist/designer from a historical standpoint. A quote attributed to Picasso states “good artists copy, great artists steal” Don’t try to reinvent the wheel, start by looking at the work of artists you admire. What or who inspired them? Why did they make certain choices? What can you learn from those who came before you? And then sketch from each of those artists and begin mashing ideas together.

professor Victoria Rose Martin student samples

Perhaps you are inspired by a favorite book or author? Mike was inspired by H. P. Lovecraft for this next assignment. All of my students in all of my courses must keep a sketchbook. With each assignment they pitch their concept to me, as if I were a client. I am not into hand puppet shows while in the classroom; I do not want to see students gesturing “the text goes here and the picture goes there”.

 I want to visuals, and so do your clients. They want to know that the money they are paying you was a wise investment.  Sketchbooks easily demonstrate thought processes, time  and considerations to those around you. Ideas coming to life is what I see represented in the drawings above. Below is the finished work.

professor Victoria Rose Martin student samples

The image below is Mike’s interpretation of a steam punk robot. He photo bashed the background, did some color matching to create turmoil and then he started to draw. It’s also worth mentioning that I also require my students to try and use our graphic tablets.

Have you ever seen a prison movie where the guard slides a food tray under the door? Day after day… sliding the tray. Well, that’s a pretty good visual for me sliding a tablet to a student who resists trying one. I stand there smiling, making direct eye contact and I hear a sigh, sometimes see a grimace… and one day they actually ask me for one. (Love when that happens)

Honestly, if you’ve tried using a graphic tablet and don’t like it, please, please for the love of God try it again. No lies, the first day it’s usually pretty awful. We’re so used to navigating a computer with a mouse that drawing with a pen on the computer feels weird. But once you get the hang of it watch out for great things to happen. Consider all of the years experience you have holding a pen or pencil. Sure the tablet has a different surface feel, it just takes getting used to. And to our students just a reminder all of our labs have graphic tablets, ask your professor to borrow one.

Below is his digital painting created in Photoshop 1. This was his very first digital painting. Nice progression.

Well done Mike. It’s no wonder why as soon as you graduated you were snapped up by a design firm. Congratulations!

 
art and design professor Victoria Martin, Palm Beach State, Lake Worth, Florida

Digital Portraits

A quick post to show some new work. Today was critique day in Digital Imagery. Students were required to create a digital portrait and here are three of my favorites. I may post more from them later this week.

It didn’t have to be a face. It could be anything that represents who you are. A place, a vibe, color, animal, or something like that. 

When the first image came up on the screen I heard a collective gasp in the room. Vivian used electric jewel tones as accent to make this portrait pop. Such a beautiful piece of art.  I introduced Viv to the work of Cezanne. She really loved how he used flat patches of color and she wanted her work to echo his style.

The image below was created by Alex . It’s a self portrait with a character that he developed traveling through outer space. Throughout the term Alex has steadily made the class giggle with his lighthearted concepts. The composition feels so open and I personally enjoy the implied line between the figures.

This bewitching portrait was created by Nicole. I love her subtle use of color (and not so subtle). Look at the way the golden tones frame her face. The watercolor splashes on the face and the distorted grid of dots in the background contrasts nicely with the fluid portrait. And of course the doodles of flowers feel very current. Well done guys.

 

Thousand Oaks

mass shooting tribute

Felt compelled to do something. So I sat down a started drawing.

It was college night and it makes me think of the students who arrive at my classroom. Send the world some love.