Words for Thought

"Your time is limited, so don’t waste it living someone else’s life. Don’t be trapped by dogma - which is living with the results of other people’s thinking. Don’t let the noise of other’s opinions drown out your own inner voice. And most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition. They somehow already know what you truly want to become. Everything else is secondary.”

-Steve Jobs, co-founder of Apple and Pixar

How do you use the Bone Tool in flash?

Designing for the Web

We are going to "Flip the Classroom" for this project. Searching for information about a topic on the Internet can seem simple,  just type in what you need and you get the answers.  Not always.  Sometimes I spend ten minutes watching or reading a tutorial and realize that I am wasting my time.  So what makes a tutorial found on the web worthwhile?  YOU tell me at the end of this lesson, be prepared to share the process with the class.

In this lesson you will be required to:

• Create a short animation that utilizes the bone tool. This can be a brief showcase of the bone tool.
• Find useful resources on the web that will teach you how to make an animation utilizing the bone tool. 

If you choose you may work with a partner.  Start your search for information on animations created using the bone tool.  Answer the following questions in a new journal entry.  

1. What websites were the most helpful to you and who were they published by?
2. Which sites weren't so helpful to you and who were they published by?
3. Were there any sites that were blocked from you that you think could have been useful?
4. Were you able to access any videos of someone creating an animation using the bone tool?
5. Once you found the information what complications did you have creating the animation?
6. Did you utilize Photoshop when creating this animation?
7. How did you and your partner work together? What portions of the work did you do?
8. What would you like to add to or change about your animation?

Work in Progress

Advanced Drawing and Painting


I am very excited to see the initial student sketches for the creative portraits inspired by Picasso!

Jane B

Jane is using the photos of Lauren Hill as a reference.

Clare H

Clare moving onto large pastel paper.

The beginning of an idea from Brittaney

A Pastel Inspired by Picasso

Advanced Drawing and Painting


Now that we have studied the art work created by  Picasso in class and discussed the amazing evolution of his art, it is time to create a work of art based on the portraits he painted during and after the birth of cubism.  Your portrait should somehow combine 3 views of a face.  How do you do this?  Work it out in your sketchbook.  Overlap different views of a face you have already drawn or someone you want to draw.  Combine the faces by connecting them with lines, omitting some features, emphasizing others...experiment.
Picasso painted hundreds and hundreds of original creative portraits of people.  Some were realistic, expressionistic, cubist...etc.   Even though you are using Picasso as inspiration your portrait will be an original because you will put your twist on it.

Picasso's sketches of James Sabartes.

Final painting, notice the references to the details in the sketch.

In this painting Picasso is starting to combine views of features.

Making a Slideshow in Flash

Designing for the Web

Now that you know how to  create Shape, Motion, and Classic Tweens it is time to learn how to create a slide show in Flash.  The images below are fading in and out by adjusting the "alpha" in the color effect area of the properties panel.   Photoshop Animal Morph by James, Becca, and Kyle

So when you insert your image to a layer, first convert to symbol-choosing movie clip for your option.  Then insert a key-frame 15 frames down the timeline.  On frame 1 make the alpha  0 and on Frame 15 change it to 100.  After doing this create a Classic Tween between those frames.  There you go.  The picture goes from transparent to opaque in 15 frames.  Insert your next key-frame at 25 (so the picture shows for 10 frames) then at frame 40 insert another key-frame and change the alpha of your picture to 0.  Create Classic Tween in between frames 25 and 40 and you are all set.  The picture fades out.  On a new layer insert a key-frame where the last picture begins to fade out.  Repeat the entire process exactly the same way with the same amount of frames in between the transitions. 
When creating a slide show you can speed up or slow down the transitions by putting fewer or greater frames in between the key-frames.  There are many ways to make slide-shows, this is only one way to get you started.
Now create one of your own and place in the slide show folder as an swf when finished.

Picasso!

Advanced Drawing and Painting


We will be looking at works of art by Pablo Picasso in the next couple of weeks.  I first fell in love with the work of Picasso when I was in Barcelona and visited the Picasso Museum.  Up until then I hadn't realized that as a teenager he was painting stunning realistic oil paintings, rendering fabric like Da Vinci.  I always thought of Cubism when I thought of Picasso, not realism. My limited exposure to Picasso didn't make me feel like he was an artist that I needed to discover more about...was I wrong.  His work was constantly evolving...his critics and the world loved him for that.

At the age of 76 Picasso said, "Everything I have done is just the first step on a long path. It is only a preliminary process, which must be developed much later on.  My works must therefore be considered each in relation to the others, always taking into account what I have done and what I am going to do."

Art Critique in 4 Steps

Advanced Drawing and Painting

The four steps to critique are describe, analyze, interpret, and judge. 

We will be critiquing our own artwork, as well as, some famous works of art as the semester continues. Artists' style evolve over time and can be influenced by the artwork of others.  Maybe the way you view art will evolve as we begin studying the works of Picasso, Matisse, and Chagall.  Complete the following Journal Entry to help you better understand the following paintings and the art of critique. 

In you sketchbook follow the steps to critique a painting by Marc Chagall.  First you must discover the name of the painting and the year it was painted.     

1.   DESCRIBE:  What do you see?  What are the most obvious elements of design? What is going on or what action is taking place?  Elements of Design:  line, texture, shape, color, space,  (there are more, but refer to these)

2.   ANALYZE:  How have the Elements been arranged into Principles? What are the principles doing?  Is there a storyline?  Principles:  Balance, contrast, emphasis, harmony, movement, rhythm, pattern (there are more but refer to these)

3.   INTERPRET:  What are the ideas, emotions or aesthetics being communicated to you? What do you think the meaning of the ART is, what is it trying to say to do or say to you?   Context of Art: Time and Place; Social/Economic/Political/Spiritual Setting; Mood or Emotion qualities; Life and expertise of the Artist.

4.   JUDGE:  Is the art work visually pleasing/aesthetic?Would you say the art achieved its goal for you or the artist?  Is the work well crafted?

(modified excerpts from,  “The Art of Seeing”)

Shape Tween

Designing for the Web

When you create a shape tween you morph one shape into another.  It is relatively easy and fun to make!  Follow the guidelines in the shape tween lesson and you will be on your way to designing in Flash.

Shape Tween Lesson

Created by Shoshanna L, 2011

Created by Jason P, 2011