To Be or Not To Be Post Modern...

Painting Redefined

Last week I completed another graphic arts course with UCLA Extension. This winter quarter I learned about digital painting in Adobe Photoshop. For twelve weeks I learned multiple techniques for creating digital paintings from scratch. Some of them were started by hand with paper then later scanned and rendered with brushes to become full color paintings. Other assignments were started by digital sketching and/or photo compositing. The goal of every assignment was to create a full color painting with a range of values and textures that were intended to look like paintings not reality.

Going into this class I wasn't sure what to expect. I knew that learning to paint digitally would be a great tool for communicating design ideas for murals, scenery designs and lighting concepts. What I hadn't expected was that the paintings would strongly reflect my own style and would be executed much in the same way that I would start any other painting or mural. I also hadn't expected that they would look like real paintings and be able to stand on their own as art.

Overall this class was an incredible experience that has provided me with a strong set of tools that I can apply to so many areas of my work. I have been able to find a lot of inspiration with this new way of working. For me, digital painting will never replace actual painting but I have learned that digital painting can still be a very respectable means of expression. One cannot be a good digital painter without the same raw talent that it takes to paint with a tangible brush and canvas.

A New Quarter

Illustrator 2: Calender Assignment

 I have completed my second quarter at UCLA Extension for Design Communications! This was another amazing quarter with so many creative and skill building assignments. Constantly I'm amazed how quickly I am learning the Adobe software and finding ways to apply it to my professional work on a daily basis. My newly developed skills are helping me to visually express my creative ideas and design concepts in new ways. Taking these classes has helped me to catch up with the quickly changing creative world which has progressed quite a lot even since I graduated college six years ago.
     Upon beginning these classes, I did not intend to pursue graphic design as most of my colleagues have. But, I have found that graphic design can be far more creative than I had expected. It's actually quite fun and relevant to almost everything artistic! I am very excited to continue to apply graphic design tools to all of my future creative endeavours. I am beginning the third quarter with a new set of classes which I'm expecting will expand my skill much further. Sadly, I am now half done with the classes I had planned on taking. 

Entertainment Design: Video Game Title Treatment Assignment