Aspiring Artist

Craft, Composition, Woo!

Meet the Artist! Creativity at its best!

Find out what inspires the artist and more!

Discover different ways of critiquing art!

Find your creativity from deep within

How to create a winner!

Learn how to create a masterpiece, step by step

Table of Contents
About Me...................................................................................................pgs 2-3 Warming Up...............................................................................................pgs 4-5 Craft, Composition, Woo!..........................................................................pgs 6-17 Creativity....................................................................................................pgs 18-19 Finally Finished..........................................................................................pgs 20-21 How to Create a Winner.............................................................................pgs 22-27 Variations....................................................................................................pgs 28-39 Collage........................................................................................................pg 40

**Everything in this magazine was created by Diamond Young*

About Me!

Hi, my name is Diamond Young and I am the aspiring artist! I have never enjoyed art so much until I took the Computer Graphics course with Nathan Peck. I was able to explore my artistic abilities, even in creating this magazine. I originally came into this course thinking that it was a class where you did animations and created comercials, using the computer. When I realized that I would actually be drawing and using programs like Adobe Illustrator and Indesign, I was a bit nervous. I kept an optomistic attitude and followed instructions to the best of my ability. The result is in this magazine! You will see a great amount of Illustrations and drawings that I created in my computer graphics course. Throught this magazine, I will pass on a gret amount of things that I learned in this course. Everything that you see in this magazine was created by me, myself, and I. I hope you enjoy!

Before learning how to use the pen an pad, I was instructed to warm up by repeatedly signing my signature!

The first assignment that I had in the computer graphics course was warming up! He wanted us to get used to using the pen and pad tools that were provided for us. The pen and pad were physical objects that we used in Adobe Illustrator. We wrote on the pad with the pen as if it was an actual piece of paper. Professor Peck told us to continuously write our signatures since that was somthing that we were already comforabe writing. We had to start of small, and gradually make our signature bigger. We even used bigger strokes for the paintbrush. The bigger the strokes, the more arm movment. The smaller the strokes, the more we used our wrist. We were told to do this exercise befor each assignment until we ere completely comfortable with th pen and pad.

Craft! Compostion! Woo!

Professor Peck taught me three different ways to explain my art work; craft, concept, and composition. Out of the three, craft and composition grabbed my attention the most!

Craft
Craft is used to explain how you created your art. How includes what tools you used, what programs you used, and to what extent you used the tools. When you explain craft, it gives the observer an idea of how you created your artwork. If someone has no idea of how you created your artwork after you have explained to them the craft of your work, you arent explaining craft. Its that simple.

Composition
Composition is used to explain what a person sees first, second and third when looking at artwork. What captures the eye? The most important thing to think about with composition are the questions: why did they look at that part first? Is it a good thing or a bad thing? Did the artisit want you to look at that first or did they want you to look at a different part of the artwork? As the artist it is YOUR JOB to control the viewers eye.

Muggie Wuggie Craft

This is a 100 point stroke drawing. Using the pen and pad in Adobe Illustrator, I was only allowed to make 100 strokes with the paintbrush tool to capture the object that was assigned to me. I used a 2pt stroke using the paintbrush tool. I started from the bottom and made my way to the top. If I had trokes left, I used those strokes to fill in the empty spaces.

Composition
The first thing I see when looking at this is the shape of a mug. The secon thing I notice is all of the different lines. The third thing I notice is the details of the lines. I can see that there are vertical, horizontal, long, short, diagnol, and curved lines.

Stacked Teapots

Craft
This is also a 100 point stroke drawing. Using the pen and pad in Adobe Illustrator, I was only allowed to make 100 strokes with the paintbrush tool to capture the object that was assigned to me. I used a 2pt stroke using the paintbrush tool. I started from the bottom and made my way to the top. If I had trokes left, I used those strokes to fill in the empty spaces.

Composition
The first thing that I see when I look at this photo is two wide object. The nect thing I see is the lines. The third thing I see is the detail of the whole picture. If I had not created this photo, I may not have known what it was. Its actually two teapots stacked on top of each other.

Teapot

Craft
This is also a 100 point stroke drawing. Using the pen and pad in Adobe Illustrator, I was only allowed to make 100 strokes with the paintbrush tool to capture the object that was assigned to me. I used a 2pt stroke using the paintbrush tool. I started from the bottom and made my way to the top. If I had trokes left, I used those strokes to fill in the empty spaces.

Composition
The first thing I see is the teapot itself. Then I take a look at the stem of the teapot. Then I look at the handle and see if I could decifer various parts of the teapot.

Starbucks Bottle w/ Straw

Craft
This is also a 100 point stroke drawing. Using the pen and pad in Adobe Illustrator, I was only allowed to make 100 strokes with the paintbrush tool to capture the object that was assigned to me. I used a 2pt stroke using the paintbrush tool. I started from the bottom and made my way to the top. If I had trokes left, I used those strokes to fill in the empty spaces.

Composition
Since I created this drawin, I automatically recognize that this is a Starbucks mini coffee bottle with a straw coming out of it. Ive asked various people to guss what it i and they never can. I see the bottle; then th straw; then I see the lines on the bottom coming out irregularly.

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Im a Little Teacup

Craft
This is a value drawing. I used 5 different shades of grey in order to capture the dark and light areas of the object. I used the paintbrush tool to create this also. I used the 1pt, .5pt, and .25pt stroke.

Composition
The first thing I see is that its a little tea mug. Then I notice t=how he handle is curled up. The next thing I see is the aggressive lines insid of the mug.

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Low Density Craft

I created this piece in Adobe Illustrator. This is both, the 1st value drawing that Ive ever done and my top favorite value drawing. I used the paintbrush tool with a 1pt stroke for the entire drawing. I used about 6 different shades of grey. When I made this, I started out with a simple line drawing. I used a standard grey to make the line drawing. Once I successfully captured the shape of the drawing, I filled in the entire shape. I then used the lightest grey and filled in all of the areas where I saw light. When I was done, I used different shades of grey to blend in the areas that appeared to be boxy. I also used a dark grey to fill in the areas that didnt have light. This was especially important because it captured the shape of the handle and the spout.

Composition
The first thing I see when I look at this picture is the teapot itself. Its like oh, its a teapot! But the next thing I see is the handle on the teapot. I notice how it appears to be 3-dimensional. The 3rd thing that I notice is the stout of the teapot. I can actually see the direction of the stout and the detail of it is very noticeable.

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Pitcher/Vase Craft
This is a value drawing. I used 5 different shades of grey in order to capture the dark and light areas of the object. I used the paintbrush tool to create this also. I used the 2pt, 1pt, .5pt, and .25pt stroke. The smaller point brushes were used to blend in areas to make them look less blotchy. (That might not be a real word.)

Composition
The first thing I notice is the entire object and it reminds me of a lemonade pitchure.I then look at how the handle is coming out. I also notice how half of it is light and the other half is a few shades darker.

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Im a Fatty Craft
This is a value drawing. I used 5 different shades of grey in order to capture the dark and light areas of the object. I used the paintbrush tool to create this also. I used the 2pt, 1pt, .5pt, and .25pt stroke. The smaller point brushes were used to blend in areas to make them look less blotchy. (That might not be a real word.)

Composition
The first thing I see is the object as a whole. Then I take a look at the top of the abject. The last thing I notice is th areas with different shades.

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Muggie Wuggie

Craft
This is a value drawing. I used 5 different shades of grey in order to capture the dark and light areas of the object. I used the paintbrush tool to create this also. I used the 1pt, .5pt, and .25pt stroke. The smaller point brushes were used to blend in areas to make them look less blotchy. (That might not be a real word.)

Composition
The first thing I see is the whole object. The next thing I see is the shadows and lighting in the object. I also take a look at the details of the handle.

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Fruit Integration Craft

I created this in Adobe Illustrator. This is the best color drawing that I created and Im most proud of it. I used different shades of red, orang, yellow and green to create this. I used the rectangle tool to create the background. I used .25pt-10pt strokes of the paint brush. I really enjoyed this assignment because I didnt know that I would be able to pull it off so well.

Composition
The first thing I see is the actual fruit in the picture. Then my eyes go to th background and look at the horizen line. I then noticed the shadow of the object.

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Stilettos Craft
I made this Illustration using Adobe Illustrator and I used the paint brush tool. Throughout my creation, I used a brush stroke as large as 20 point stroke and as small as a .25 stroke. I used different shades of red, orange, and purple. The first thing I created was the background. I used a 20 brush stroke to create orange and red diagonal lines. I then began drawing the outline of my creation. I filled in the drawing with purple and I went back and filled in the areas that were light. I used orange to create the lightest portions of the picture, purple to create the darkest portions, and red for the portions that were in between light and dark. I used small strokes to shade in the colors and make them blend in with each other.

Composition
The 1st thing I see when I look at this picture is the top heel of the shoe. The shiny area captures my eye. The second thing I notice is how bright and vivid the background is. Then I bring my eyes back to the shoe in the front because its lighter than the shoe behind it and I can see the whole shoe.

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Creativit

At its best!
Ive always cringed at the words, just be creative! I hate the thought of trying to be creative in art classes. Its just not my cup of tea. I was forced to expand my creativity in Computer Graphics and the results were rewarding!

he image above is one of the most creative illustrations that Ive done in my computer graphics course. It was very simple to make because the body of the photo was already completed. (Refer to the miniscule illustration to the right of the illustration.) To create this, I hid all of the layers that consisted of the body of the dog, the fill in of the table and the fill in of the floor. You are looking at the details of each object. Though these creations have no insides, you can still see what they are. Its interesting how you can still see the glare of light in the table and in the dogs fur. As the artist, I would love to explain my thought process of creating this piece but Id much rather hear how others interpret this piece. Youll have your chance to do so on select pages of this magazine. Send in your ideas 18

and youll have a chance to be featured in my next issue! The image above is the original illustration in which the variation on the next page was created from. I had absolutely no problem creating this illustration because I simply had to copy an image tha already existed. My problem with creativity is coming up with a completely new idea that has never existed in my mind.

Low Density

at

19

Finally

WINNER!

My Dog Deuce

Finished!

How to Create a Winner!

Step by step. . .

It takes a series of steps to create a winning master piece but its not as complicated as it seems. As long as you take it one step at a time, it will all come together in the end! Take a look at the next few pages and learn how to create an illustration in Adobe illustrator.

Step 1: Know your tools

Step 2: Find and place a photo!

I used the pen tool, the eyedropper tool, the paintbrush tool, and the selection tool to create the entire illustration. All of these tools are equally important when it comes to creating a winner. You will learn the use of these tools in later steps.

When choosing an image for this illustration, it is imperative that you find one that is large enough to work with. If the image is too small, you will have to stretch it out to make it bigger which will cause the image to be blury. Place the image into Adobe Illustrator by clicking the file menu and then clicking place... Find the image in your file and open it. Resize the image as needed by holding down the shift key. You want the image to be as close to the size of the square canvas as possible.

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Step 3: Reveal, create, and organize layers!

It is very important that the layers you create are organized. That is a major part in succesfully creating an illustration. If you dont know whats going on in your layers panel, it will be almost impossible to properly edit your illustration when needed. Hit the create new layer button and rename it to different objects for your illustration. Start off simple like in the image above. The first image only has four layers: Dog Duece, Table, Floor, and Photo. Whenever I wanted to create the dog, I clicked the dog deuce layer; whenever I wanted to work on the table I clicked on the table, and so on. I think you get the point. As you continue to work on your illustrations, you will begin to make more detailed layers as shown above in the second picture.

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Step 4: Create basic shapes (introducing the pen and eyedropper tool)

Pen Tool

Eye dropper Tool

Creating the basic shapes is the most simple part of creating an illustration. Simply, use the pen tool to outline the shape that you woul like to make, then close the shape by clicking the first dot of the pen tool where you originally first clicked. In the example to the left, my first basic shape was the dog. As you can see, I outlined the dog with the pen tool. Next, using the Eye Dropper Tool, click the inside of the shape where the majority of color is shown. For example, I clicked the blue part of my dog, rather than the dark spot because most of the dog looks more blue on account of the lighting. I repeated these steps for the table and floor.

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Step 5: Capture the lighs and darks

Once you start using the pen tool to create shapes, it is important that when doing so, your shapes will actually capture the image that you are trying to convey. As you can see at your left, when I made my shapes I made them according to the lights and dark areas of the dog. By doing so I was able to capture the details of the dogs face. Heres a tip for you: If you are having trouble capturing the detail of the image, zoom in using the magnifying tool. By doing so, you can see a lot more of the smal details that you may have missed.

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Step 6: Create a texture and finish!

Depending on your illustrarion, you will need various tools to add specific detail to your illustration in order to make your illustration appear to be more life-like. I used various paint brush sizes for my three different objects which are the dog, the table, and the floor. The paint brush added texture to all three of my objects. My floor is my least favorite because it was hard to make the right side of the floor appear to be more realistic. The table is atually my favorite. I know most may figure hat the dog is but I was impressed with the table. I added dots to the table to create texture and it turned out great. I simply mae line strokes to create a furry texture for the dog. To capture the right colors, I used the eyedropper tool again. I had to hand draw my lines for the floor which is why it sppears so imperfect on the right. You can see the level of detail and texture being added if you take a look at the pictures to the left.

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Step 7: Observe your beautiful winner!

Finally Finished!

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. . . s n o i t a i r Va
Variations!
r a t ia n io ! s

Variatio

? s n o i t a i r a V

Variat

* s n o i t a i r a *V
ions.
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ns. . .

Variations are different versions of your artwork. When other music artists sing a different artists song, they call it covers or prodies. Thats what variations are in the art world. The only difference is, I made variations of my oen artwork and not another artists. Variations are great ways to communicate different messages to the viewers. My original Illustration of My Dog Deuce may have looked like a nice, sweet, and cut photo of my dog but once I created different variations, each variation has various characteristics and feelings. Variations are very fun and easy to make. The most

common things to do to make a variation is change the colors and shapes of the illustrations. Some people even like to add objects to the illustrations. In this section you will see five of my favorite variations that I made, mirroring My Dog Deuce.

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This is one of my favorite variations that I created! The appearance is just really appealing to me. One of the major things that Ive learned in my computer graphics course is that the artist has the ability to control the viewers eyes. Upon visiting the Chicago Art Museum, I saw that a great amount of the artists were making the background blurry in order to get th viewers to look at specific objects. In 30

the image above, my goal was to make my dog pop out at the viewers eyes. (Hence, the title is look at meeee) I also think the background is pretty cool. Even though it isnt popping out, it is still exciting enough for th viewer to pay attention to it. Thats very tough to do when trying to create this style of art.

Look at Meeee!

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This is one of my favorites because I feel that it is very ceative. It makes me poud that I thought of the concept. I didnt think that I was creative prior to taking this course. In this variation, I turned the table into a body of water and made it look like a series of waves. I used a different tool for my dog. His water looks more like splashes of water. I only put splashes of 32

water on his face in order to make it look like he was in the process of turning into water. If the viewer doesnt understand the concept initially, they can refer to the title, contagious water, to give themselves a hint.

"Contagious Water"

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I changed the title of this variation so many times. I didnt really create the variation with a concept in mind, so after I finished it, I was trying to figure out the message I wanted to convey to the viewers. I came up with digital error because my dog looks sort of pixelated or like hes in the process of being seleted or erased off of some type of digital device. I also love the bright colors which is one of the 34

reasons why I had trouble coming up with the title. I wanted the titl to incorporate the crazy colors. I remembr thinking of Crazy Crayola but I came to the conclusion that I didnt need to have anything about the color in th title sinc the viewers can clearly see the colors. I use the titles of my artork to explain the concept. In this case, I didnt need to explain the colors since its clearly visible.

 Digital Error

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I have been a hug fan of SpongeBob since I as a young girl. I figured, why not make an illustration in honor of one of my favorite episodes of SpongeBob. There was an episode where Squidward went into a time machine and traveled to different decades of time. When he got to the future, everything was chrome. Absolutely everything. Squidward was freaked out because 36

it was so taboo. When I made this illustration, SpongeBob was the first thing that came to my mind. I dont use the gradient tool so often but it came to great use in this variation.

Chrome of the Future

(Spongebob Reference)

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I love this variation becaus I love my dog Deuce! In this photo hes giving me the puppy dog eyes which is what he usually does when hes done something wrong. The red surrounding his face represents the angry owner which isnt me because its so hard to get mad at such a cute face! Ill say the owner in this picture is my Dad.

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Bad Dog! Says the Owner

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Look Familiar?