Week 7: Sketches

These are sketches for a radio station with a slogan saying “Escape from the Ordinary Radio.” I made this using computer paper and a pencil.  I needed to make five sketches and the necessary steps were coming up with an idea than simply making a sketch of them. For the first sketch, I arranged it to seem as if the tower was transmitting music to the radio than to the person who is listening to 88.3 and dancing. The second sketch is two people escaping from an airplane that is going to crash in a sea of music. One of their parachutes has their radio station on it. For the third sketch, I drew eight radios, seven of them having 96.3 as their radio station. The unordinary one out of all of them is the red one which has their radio station. The fourth sketch has a man escaping from prison and thru the tunnel, in which he is escaping from, there are music notes coming from the radio in which he reaches when he gets out and dances, listening to their radio station. For the fifth sketch, I drew a train with three different carts. The people are all listening to their radio station. It is supposed to go from the past (boom box) to the future (I Pod).  I am controlling the viewer’s eye by making some objects larger and a different color. These are sketches relating to this radio stations specific slogan. It means that there are many different ways in which I can portray their slogan and many ways to grab the viewers’ attention on something specific in my sketches. I am trying to say that something in these drawings, if not all of it, describe the escape from the ordinary radio.

Week 6: Final Collages

For my final collages, it was easier to understand what and how I needed to change my chicken nuggets to point out the constants and variables. I made this final collage by keeping my third collage from week 5 and making the other two similar to it. There weren’t many steps in creating the final two collages. The steps necessary were keeping the same background that’s in the first collage (actually the third from week 5) and using it for collages two and three.  Next, I clicked on the layer that had the one different chicken nugget, went to Select, then Select All, and copied it. For my second collage, I pasted the chicken nugget and placed it in the middle. Going to Edit, then Transform, and holding down Shift, I was able to make the nugget bigger, medium size compared to the nugget in the first collage. Keeping the lightness at +23 and the saturation at 0 from the original copied nugget, I changed the hue. I picked a hue that was a light orange, close to yellow and red. For the third collage, I used the same steps. The only differences were that I placed the copied nugget in the middle and to the right of the collage, I made this nugget larger than both collages, and finally, I chose a pink hue, which was closer to orange and red. I arranged things this way because I wanted to make the nuggets go left, middle, and right. I also wanted to make them go from small, to medium, and large. I wanted to use hues that were similar to each other as well. It went from yellow, to light orange, to a light red or pink. I am controlling the viewer’s eye by making them look from left to right. They notice that it goes from small, medium, and large. This is a collage of chicken nuggets that have one significantly different one in each. This means that I am controlling the viewer’s eye on that specific nugget. I am trying to say that it is simple to make such a small change in one collage to easily catch the viewers’ attention.

Week 5: Collages - Composition Focus

I made these collages by cutting and pasting my cut out of a chicken nugget. The necessary steps were copying, pasting, and then figuring out what size and shape I would make each cut out on the collage. I arranged things this way because it is easy to point out which chicken nugget is different from the rest. The chicken nugget, which I changed, grabs the viewers’ attention and draws their eyes to it. For each collage I had constants and variables. Within my three collages, the constants are that they are all the same chicken nugget (a chicken nugget painted to look like Ronald McDonald), they overlap, the hue of the image is at +180, and the lightness of the image is at +23. Within my three collages, the variables are that the locations of the saturated and hued chicken nugget are in different places, the quantity of chicken nuggets, and the saturation (collage 1 is +16, collage 2 is +100, and collage 3 is 0). I am controlling the viewer’s eye by drastically changing the hue, saturation, and lightness of one nugget. This one nugget will draw the viewer’s eye directly to it. This is a collage of chicken nuggets which really doesn’t have a meaning. I am trying to say that by simply adjusting the hue, size, saturation, and lightness of one picture, which is among the exact pictures in a collage, it can easily grab the viewers’ attention.

Week 4: Collages - Craft Focus

The process of making this collage wasn’t that difficult but it did require much work. I made this by taking a picture of a chicken nugget, which I painted, than used the picture of it to create a collage. There were many steps in creating this. First, my classmate chose a picture from my album that could easily be isolated. The picture chosen was of a chicken nugget I painted to represent Ronald McDonald. Next I opened this picture with Photoshop. My first attempt in isolating this chicken nugget, I used the rectangular marquee tool and the polygonal lasso tool. This made it easy to delete the edges and background around the nugget. After learning what different tools did, I redid my cutout. In my final attempt in cutting out this nugget, I used the magic wand tool. This allowed me to easily delete the background which was all the same color. After only having a few areas to clear out, I used the eraser tool. This allowed me to erase everything else I wanted to be out of the picture. I was able to make a circle out of the chicken nugget which I wanted to do. Once I had my final cutout, I clicked Select then Select All. This allowed me to copy the cutout. After copying this, I opened a blank file on Photoshop. Going to Edit, I clicked paste six times. This gave me six layers. Having to change the background color, I unlocked the title background and chose hot pink for the background color. Once arranging the cutouts in rows of threes, I picked the top, middle nugget to be the one that stood out. I clicked on the layer and drug it to the top so it could be on top of the other layers, standing out more.  I wanted to change the contrast, specifically the color of this nugget. I chose the color blue and raised the saturation of it which intensified the color and also gave the nugget a different texture from the others. I arranged it this way because I wanted it to be neat and in order but have one of them standing out. I am controlling the viewers by changing the contrast on one specific nugget which will draw the viewer’s eye straight to it. This is a collage of chicken nuggets. There is no specific meaning. I am trying to say that by changing one specific element in a picture such as contrast, lines, or scale, it will draw the viewer to pay attention to that specific change.  

Week 3: Re-Shoot

This is a picture of a rubber chicken sitting on the toilet bowl. I made this by buying the rubber chicken and chicken nuggets then using the toilet to put it out of place, somewhere you would never see a chicken or nuggets. The necessary steps in making this were very easy. First I had to find a rubber chicken which I did find at a pet store. Next, I bought chicken nuggets from McDonalds. I placed the chicken nuggets in the toilet then put the rubber chicken sitting on the toilet. I also added toilet paper next to the chicken. I arranged things this way because I needed to find a way to make the chicken nuggets inside of the toilet visible. Placing the chicken further away and the toilet paper on the side of it allowed me to do this. I am controlling the viewer’s eye with contrast. The white toilet bowl really makes the chicken and chicken nuggets stand out. This is simply a picture of a rubber chicken going to the bathroom, leaving chicken nuggets behind. This doesn't exactly have a meaning but it does grab the viewer’s attention because this is not typically something anyone sees every day, or even at all. I am not really trying to say anything, it is just more of a joke; a chicken pooping out chicken nuggets on a toilet bowl.

Week 2: Shoot

 

I bought these chicken nuggets from McDonalds. First I opened the box of chicken nuggets. Having extra room on the side of the box I put my honey sauce and ketchup in there. I arranged it this way for easier access to my dipping sauce and less amount to throw away. I am controlling the viewer’s eye by making this a clear image of exactly what I was eating. It is zoomed in and very clear to see. It is also separated so the viewer can get an idea of what food plus what sauce I was using. This is a simple picture of an order of ten piece chicken nuggets from McDonalds with honey and ketchup on the side. I am trying to say that this was a delicious meal and that you can arrange the food anyway that will accommodate you.

Week 1: Introduction

Hello. My name is Erin Edwards and I am a freshman/resident here at Saint Xavier University. First coming into school, I declared my major as Undecided. I wanted to explore what SXU had to offer. I took courses in different fields of study to see what exactly I would want to major in. I now decided that I will be majoring in Early Childhood Education. Academically, I know SXU will provide me with the right classes and knowledge which will help me in becoming successful in my field of study. I cannot wait to advance in my major and one day become a Pre-School teacher.