A slow start

Hello all! I am mid-way through the second week of the quarter, and not a lot has happened just yet. I think spring break was too short, because I've had a hard time getting really excited about my classes so far. Not that I dislike them, I just still have those lazies left over! I am taking Poster Design for Illustration, Introduction to Lithography, and Ancient Art and Architecture. I was least excited for Ancient, but I'm pretty interested so far in the reading material. The Minoans were a really amazing group of people, with a pretty sad ending. They weren't particularly interested in battle or hunting the way mainland Greece was, and had a great love for the sea. They seemed quite the peaceful folks, and then a tsunami wiped out a good portion of Crete, allowing what was likely mainland Greece to come take over. The thing they loved most ended up being their demise. Pretty tragic stuff.
I don't have any art yet to show you, but I can give a quick update on what we are starting. In Poster, we are working on movie posters, and I have chosen to illustrate Away We Go. I love that movie! Anything with a group of ridiculous characters and a journey, and I'm in. If you haven't seen it, you should rent it for a good laugh. In Litho, we are starting out with Pronto plates. The steps involved are really difficult to explain, so when I post the piece, I'll try and give you a run-down for it. My imagery for it is going to be reminiscent of the "Cat" piece I did a little while ago.
That's about all for now! Here's an old piece to tide you over:


"The Wilson Brothers Get a Treat" 2009, mixed media

Not much like my current stuff, huh?

adios,
caitlin

And so ends the most challenging quarter of my college career!

Hola!
Today was the last day of classes for the winter quarter of 2010. I can't believe I only have four more before I'm out of the nest and out on my own! What a scary and exhilarating thought... I'm really looking forward to the rest of school (this quarter I think was the beginning of the best classes yet) and looking forward even more to starting my life as an illustrator. I feel like all my little ducks are lining up just perfectly right now. It's official-- I'm going to New York this summer with SCAD for a week! We don't have a set itinerary just yet, but I will fill you in on all the juicy details as soon as I find out. I know we will be visiting big-name companies, meeting successful illustrators, showing off our portfolios, and seeing amazing artwork. It's going to be career and life changing! I can't wait. Also, I'm really pulling together my different styles now, and will be changing my website (yes, again) at the end of next week to fit those needs. I have about four styles going, but often they overlap-- printmaking (loads of patterns, usually relief prints), collage (strange papers and textures), flat qouache (vibrant colors and nice movement) and off-register qouache (pretty self-explanatory). I can't decide yet how I want to break up my website. Currently, it's by field of illustration, but I'm wondering if perhaps all my images should be on one page, or even broken up by style instead? Any thoughts?

Anyway, here's the last piece I did for the quarter. It's for a mock-up Rolling Stone cover. Mine is for Elvis Costello: Master of Wordplay. Get it, Scrabble is a word game? Har har. I'm so clever.



"Elvis Costello" 2010 gouache and ink

So I'm off for the week for some relaxing fun in this nice, new, warm and lovely weather! And when I come back, I'll have a brand-spanking new website, and three brand-spanking new classes.

NEXT TIME, ON JUST SOME ART, BY CAITLIN ALEXANDER:

WILL THE EIGHT-AM POSTER DESIGN FOR ILLUSTRATION CLASS BE TOO DIFFICULT TO WAKE UP FOR IN THE MORNING? UNLIKELY, CONSIDERING CAITLIN HAS HAD AN EARLY CLASS EVERY QUARTER.

AND WILL INTRODUCTION TO LITHOGRAPHY BE ANYTHING SHE EXPECTED? HARD TO SAY, SINCE SHE HAS NO IDEA WHAT TO EXPECT.

AND LASTLY, JUST HOW BORING WILL SURVEY OF ANCIENT ART AND ARCHITECTURE BE? HOPEFULLY NOT AT ALL, SINCE OLD STUFF IS COOL.

SEE YOU NEXT WEEK, ON JUST SOME ART, BY CAITLIN ALEXANDER.



Wow... time for bed.
adios
caitlin

I got my books in the mail today!

Hey everybody! Just a quick post to let you know that I got my three copies of "Which Pet?" today in the mail, and Blurb did a fantastic job on printing them! The colors are perfect and there is minimal cropping of any images.



Running off to class now!
adios
caitlin

Wrapping up winter quarter

Hello all!

I've been working like a madwoman this week on finals-- it's probably been the hardest quarter yet! Luckily, I am done with two classes, and just have a little left in the third. I am still waiting to receive my book from Blurb. The package tracker said it arrived in Savannah yesterday... and yet, I haven't received a notification from SCAD's mail center. I really hope it hasn't gotten lost in the shuffle! Printmaking, as of this afternoon, is finally over! And I even have scans of my last two prints.



"What Will You Strive for in Your Life? 1/3" Relief Print, 2010.



"To Love Any Art Form 2/3" Relief Print, 2010.

I hope it's apparent that the two images go together. It's somewhat of a narrative-- the little girl asking a bird a question, and his reply. I wanted to do something a bit more within my illustration style for these pieces. The second work actually was the first one I made, and at that point I truthfully didn't really know where I was going with the concept! Only after I completed it did I know what I wanted to do. Both used multiple blocks and stencils. Printing in color isn't nearly as simple as painting in it! Because of the numerous colors and registration on each block, each piece had to run through the press many times. "Strive for" ran through it six times, and "Art Form" went through nine. That's a whole lot of printing considering these are editions and there were six attempts with each... I guess that would make 87 runs through the press (since one of them I didn't complete due to really poor registration). Yikes! A lot more complicated than it looks, huh?

Really quickly, I made a piece for the Counseling and Student Support Services' image competition. It's pretty bold, which is nice, but my favourite thing about it isn't the aesthetic as much as the concept. CSSS keeps you afloat when you feel like you can't tread water any longer!



"Let CSSS" Gouache and Digital, 2010.

That's all I have right now for you. I still have a whole piece to do (and a paper to write) for Survey, so expect another update soon!
adios
caitlin