Me, Myself, and I

After that night where I just went off and drew..well, I think it kind of changed me. The drawing turned out to be pretty emotional-looking and really..well, it will always remind of that night and how I was upset. Not so much about what I was upset about, but just the experience of drawing from..my heart? My soul? lol. But just the experience of drawing for myself for the first time. Not drawing for a homework assignment (which it turned out to fit for, actually), not drawing to get praise and approval from others, not drawing just to practice and get better. But drawing for me, to alleviate myself my upset mood that I was in, to make me feel better about myself. To distract myself from reality into a whole different world where only charcoal hitting paper matters.

For a long while, when I created my loveasc cards and door signs, I always made them for other people. I never once made something for myself. Always for others and to see their reactions. Yes, it's good to give and I love doing it. But sometimes, it's good to give to yourself as well.

It's kind of like I put a little piece of myself into the drawing. It's kind of like the drawing took a little piece of me. It's now mounted on my wall, whenever I look at it, I'm reminded of the upset feelings I had that night.

I'm also reminded of the first time I drew for me, myself, and I. That's a big deal to me. As I am now a growing artist.

Inspirations and Resolutions

Last night, I got upset about something and just needed some alone time. I tried sitting outside my residence hall but it just didn't suffice. Then I decided to walk around campus until I found the right spot to just sit and chill. I ended up at the patio of The Lair. It was around 10:30 I think, so there was quite a crowd both inside and outside - so I went to the other side of the patio (something I recently found out about).

One thing that I like about The Lair's patio is that it's got rocking chairs and a beautiful view of campus across the creek. I saw Brookside Hall from across the way and..I had the sudden urge to draw it. I knew exactly how I wanted to draw it and it was just such an inspiring view that I didn't mind going back all the way to my hall and back with my art supplies and bristol pad.

I began to sketch the building - gesture drawing if you will. It took me a good five minutes to lay down the foundation of the piece - I couldn't decide how I wanted big I wanted to draw the building in comparison to the dark sky around it.

Around 11:30, I saw a dark figure (and a dark figure because the small pathway from the main side of the patio to where I was at was not lit with light) heading towards me from the other side of the patio - I didn't worry too much. I was too engaged with my drawing to care and I was also listening to music. And then the dark figure said something. I unplugged and asked him to say it again. "I'm just coming over behind you, I don't want you to get freaked out. And I don't want to mess you up (with the drawing)." He was part of staff and was locking up the chairs together. By this time, I had finished sketching the building in pencil and begun outlining in an extra soft charcoal pencil. He looked over my shoulder and saw what I had so far - he said it looked cool.

One thing I find interesting, and something I think about constantly, is how our self is the most critical critic we will ever meet. Sure, sometimes I will really like my work - usually my graphic design pieces but I am more critical with my drawing - and sometimes, I just don't see what other people see.

I left The Lair just at midnight, taking my time on the walk back to the dorm. As I walked back with my unfinished drawing in my hand and my art box in the other, everywhere I looked, I thought to myself how fun it would be to draw it and how amazing it could look. But, not necessarily a drawing by me - anybody. I especially thought how nice it would be to draw the east entrance to my residence hall, with the old school brick wall and the little alcove the door was encased in, and especially the nature that surrounded. If I didn't hate drawing trees so much, I would give it a shot.

I walked down my hall and immediately sat down outside of my room, as my roommate was already asleep. I sat down against the wall and resumed my drawing right away. Honestly, I wasn't thinking much of the drawing until more people started commenting on it. But even though people said that it was really good and they liked it a lot, all it did was make me feel better not about my drawing skills but just from the shitty mood that started this whole thing. It was only until after I had sprayed fixative over the finished piece did I begin to appreciate my own work. I liked it, too.

The night began with a terrible mood that led me to be inspired by a simple, and literal, vision I had as I tried to alleviate the mood.

Resolution: draw more night landscapes and/or scenery.
Resolution: be less of an extrovert - I'll get more things done that way.

What are art, craft, and design?

ART

Art allows for freedom of expression. This expression can either stem from emotion, belief, or thought. Thus meaning that there are no rules in which an artist must follow in order to create a work of art. For example, the only reason why an artist may paint a flower next to a tree may not be because there is a rule that says you must, but because it is based on the artist’s personal views and emotions. Just like how an artist may paint based on their emotions, a viewer may also interpret based on their emotions, as well. Art gives room for not only the artist to be free but the audience as well.

Art is abstract – although a piece of work may seem concrete on the surface, the feelings in which were put into it and can draw from it are far from the practicality that the naked eye perceives. It can be anything and everything.

Essentially, art is the result of any one person’s ideas, thoughts, and emotions in physical form.

CRAFT

While craft does maintain an element of art within its object, it still carries its own characteristics. Craft is more meticulous and requires more attention to the process in which the object is being made. Craft is also specific to physical form that can be touched and felt, whereas art can be any type of form.

Art is to be put on display; it is for the viewers’ eyes, ears, and what have you. When an individual creates a type of craft, there can also be that option of just putting it on display (i.e. a sculpture) or there will be a specific purpose for the new creation. Take the chair as an example. Yes, the chair was an invention, but it was also a craft. Thus, the craft had an intended purpose: to be sat on. And while crafting the chair, there were specific steps in which the inventor took to successful create a stable object that can be sat on.

Of course, a chair can still be considered art. However, it is only the aesthetic beauty that the chair has that will be the art aspect and the practicality and function that is the craft.

DESIGN

Design is about how thing fit together, how things look like on a page, and the logical arrangement of elements. When a graphic designer is designing, he or she must consider the ‘elements of design’ that includes such terms as balance and unity. And, say, an architect (a designer of buildings) must consider the depth of a room, the measurements of the beams, and so on and so forth. Art is still an aspect in design, only which, design is not as free for a designer to roam like an artist is with a canvas.

Designed work has a specific purpose – usually targeted at an audience to get a blatant message across, or for commercial uses such as advertisements. In design, objects, words, and anything else on the page, has to make sense. There should be a reason for everything that’s there whether it be to emphasize a word or add balance to the design overall. And the target audience is especially important in the process of creating the design. One must be able to recognize the target audience’s interests so to create an effective piece of work.