Fashion Illustration

Congradulations! Today's the last day of this year's Fashion Illustration class. We'll have an interview the class did with an alumnus who works in the industry soon. Here's an image from earlier in the year after the class designed their own t-shirts.

Who are you?

Kelsey's solo art show resembled a dance party this week with Girl Talk blasting down the hallway and Kelsey's special brand of color in the gallery. It was one to remember for sure.

Ari-stotle Art

This week our featured art show took a spiritual turn and hit the mark with some cool design features incorperated into the gallery space to pull it all together.

Make it work!

Hey crew Happy Thanksgiving! Give some thought to your concentrations over the vacation because for the next 12 weeks you'll have a concentration piece due each week! Time to... (you know)

Queen Muppets

Here's a awesome short film that a former student, Kelli Krysh, sent me that her company, Soapbox Films, worked on to commemorates the anniversary of Queen front man, Freddy Mercury's death from AIDs. They shot it in 1 day using 79 muppets and 53 different setups- impressive!! It's great to see students graduate and do what they love!

Senior AP Shows: Amanda & The Rat

Our second senior show was a big success this week and certainly piqued the interest of more than a few students and faculty with it's promotional Rat posters. Special guest "Twilight" was a big hit as well as a great body of work from 2 years of AP art.

Breadth Madness

Happy Halloween and congratulations- you're now almost 1/4th the way to the finish line! As the 1st quarter comes to a close I'd like each student to post the Breadth piece that you are most proud of and to comment on each others work. This will help give you some direction in terms of where you are headed for your portfolio and your concentration. The important question to ask yourself is- Why is this your favorite? What about it do you respond to? Try to write a short sentance or two summing up why the piece was chosen and when commenting see if you can help give each other some more focus in terms of your direction.

This week we'll go over the basics of blogging and working on the web!

Senior AP Shows: Chelsea mouse City mouse

This week we had our first AP Senior Artshow with Chelsea's work and the work was equally as popular as the amazing cupcakes that she brought in!

From memory?

Here's a clip showing autistic artist Stephen Wiltshire who is able to draw detailed cityscapes from life- amazing stuff!

Sketchbook Week!!!

Now that we've all had a chance to get to know each other and put a few breadth pieces together it's time for SKETCHBOOK week! Eash class this week we will have a different assignment to be completed in your sketchbook with whatever materials you'd like. Be sure to use the whole page wether it's literally covering the page or activating the space via line or form in some way. Below are a few links for inspiration- have fun!

Monday: Draw from life in class including at least one person

Drawn!

Urban Sketchers

The Drawing Studio

Tuesday: Make your doodles into art

Needles

Doodlers Anonymous

Mattias Adolfsson

Wednesday: Illustrate the story in class

Nadja Andrasev

Sugar Frosted Goodness!

Sumarine Submarine

Thursday: Draw a portrait of someone you dont know well

Michelle White

Tommy Kane

Chris Wahl

Octavio Diaz

Friday: Illustration Friday

Illustration Friday

2009 AP Studio Art Summer Assignments

Below are the assignments for students who are enrolled in the 2009-2010 AP Art class. We'll be meeting as a group on June 4 to go over the assignments and I'll be posting a few examples from the current AP art students shortly. If you have any questions dont hestitate to email me ans ask.


Due August 1
2 Completed Breadth pieces: Self Portrait Collage & Black & White "Grid"
2 Thematic works: Fabulous & Juxtaposition

Due September 7
20 complete sketchbook pages
2 Thematic works: Resonance, & Where I'm At

The nature of design

As we have been discussing the nature of design in class, I thought I would share this TED talk from Niels Diffrient with you for inspiration. Below are some addition links to some great design inspiration for the web and school based architecture to aid you with your current assignments.
Cool Design Ideas Blog
Innovative School Architectural Design

Concentration Examples

Here's a few examples of concentration portfolios along with the writing samples:

2D Exam

Drawing Exam

LACMA's 11

AP Studio Art Digital Submission

Here's a link to the Studio Art Digital Submission webpage. Please be sure to get online and begin uploading you're work this week so that you don't fall behind. On Monday next week we'll have a session in class going over more of the details but most of the important information can be found via the link above.

Strictly Students Film Festival Call for Entries 2009

It's time for this year's Call for Entries for the 5th Anniversary Strictly Students Film Festival and the deadline for films is April 3 and it's free to enter so check out the website for more information: www.strictlystudentsfest.com.

Shepard Fairey lawsuit

This week there came news of a lawsuit between one of the artists we spoke about in class, Shepard Fairey (of OBEY), and the Associated Press. Fairey's poster was based on a photograph taken by AP photographer Mannie Garcia. The question at hand is whether or not Fairey altered the image enough to (in a sense) make it an original piece of work.

Sometime this week take a moment to read the following 2 articles so that we can discuss it in class when we return from vacation.

NY Times Article and PRINT magazine

Scott McCloud

Here's an interesting video from Scott McCloud who is a terrific animator and author discussing art, life, and cartooning.

Two important things to note:

first: how Scott gives some of his personal background and how that relates to his concepts and art (remember pulling from your own experience generally results in the most original and interesting work you have to offer)

second: how Scott's "out of the box" narrative style of presentation reflects the "out of the box" variations in cartooning that he discusses (like he mentions this is just his nature- getting in touch with your own instincts and nature will inform your art and in a larger sense your choices and views in life)

As an extra credit assignment try to create an "out of the box" comic that uses space and direction in an interesting way (due when we return from break)

Barack Obama's Inauguration Day

Having an opportunity to watch the Presidential Inauguration of Barack Obama in class on our SMARTboard today was really a sign of how far technology has come (and I suppose having the signal drop out so often was a sign of where technology needs to go).

As a homework assignment this week I'd like all of you to think about what you heard in class (and the issues that surround it) and create a work in any media that reflects your feelings on it. Here's a link to the New York Times which has a transcription of the speech along with every presidential inauguration speech (it also has the words that were used repeatedly tagged with the amount of times it was used)- 2009 Inauguration Day Speech

We have duties to ourselves, our nation and the world, duties that we do not grudgingly accept but rather seize gladly." -Barack Obama

It's also important to note that President Obama made an interesting choice in using the artist we spoke about earlier in the year- Shepard Fairey, a modern graffiti artist (and creator of OBEY), to create his signature icon shown above. What do you think about that choice? What does that say to the art world?

Andrew Wyeth 1917-2009

Painter Andrew Wyeth died today in his home in Chadds Ford, Pa. at the age of 91. He is a monumental figure in American art best known for his 1948 painting "Christina's World". Ironically, he was an anti-establishment artist who became the establishment.

There's nothing else quite like Andrew's gritty, gorgeous brushwork and desolate, haunting imagery. I grew up with "Christina's World" hanging on my parents bedroom wall so as an artist and art educator it was one of my first influences. If you enjoy his work I strongly suggest visiting the Brandywine River Museum in Pennsylvania and the Wyeth Center in Rockland, Maine.

“What you have to do is break all the rules.”
Andrew Wyeth, July 12, 1917 – January 16, 2009

Modern Art Film Clips

Now that we are wrapping up our discussion about modern art history I wanted to share a few interesting film clips that we spoke about but didn't have time to see in class.


This clip is the commercial Marilyn Minter produced for her art show 100 Food Porn, a revolutionary idea at the time and I'm not just saying that because she was my teacher.


This is an interesting clip with Andy Warhol and Jean-Michel Basquiat showing some of their collaborations and the two artists speaking about their work.


Here's a story about Damien Hirst's Shark at the Metropolitan Museum.


Finally, here's a story that actually shows graffiti artist Bansky working as he stencils the wall separating Israel from Palestine (which may be even more relevant lately due to the recent increased fighting).

Summer Assignments: Part I

Hey APs! I hope everyone is enjoying their summer and relaxing! Remember the first half of the Summer assignments will be due posted up on this blog sometime next week. If you forgot which are which the assignments that are due are listed below:

Assignment #1: Create 10 sketchbook pages based on themes that you are interested in pursuing. The works should all be thematically united but can be in different media. Feel free to experiment with the theme with in the 10 works.

Assignment #2: Create 10 sketchbook pages based on observation from life. These must direct observations from life (not from photographs). Try to be creative angles or media if you like.

Assignment #4: A Self-portrait WITHOUT Showing Your Likeness
This can be done in monochrome (black, white, gray) or in color using any medium, technique and style you desire. The important thing here is to reveal something about yourself without using your face. In fact, you need not use any part of your body at all in this assignment. Instead, you are challenged to portray who you are in some alternative way. What image can you create or invent that would tell us something about you - your personality, your interests, your character, your inclinations, your talents, your passions, your obsessions, your desires, your needs, your likes and dislikes, your essence? This should be a 2-D work (flat) not 3-D.

Assignment #5: A Self-portrait WITH Showing Your Likeness
In this assignment create a more traditional self portrait but find a creative way of showing your personality in the work. You may want to include a background that reflects who you are or an interesting reflective surface to work from. Feel free to work in any media but again no 3-D works.

Welcome New AP Artists!

Hello, I just wanted to welcome all the new AP artists to our blog. Once you set up an account please just post a hello with a sample of your work(and please dont use your first and last name or mention any specifics about where you live, et.- try to keep it either your first name or make up a name for yourself). You can use this program to post work via the little picture icon or a different program such as photobucket or flickr- it's up to you. Remember to put fear behind you and have fun creating work this summer. I look forward to working with all of you and best of luck in your art!

Macgritte

This is for my "famous art piece done in my style" thingy.
I'd just like to say, that shading on the Apple logo was all me. The rest was mostly inverting colors, obviously. This was just for the hell of it, it doesn't mean anything, my feelings toward Apple aren't super-strong either way.

Old Masters Painting Re-done

Hey Mr. Needles,
For the assignment that we have to do our own rendition of an artist's piece, when's that due?

Keith Haring website

http://www.haring.com/ - Keith Haring website

just checking in..

What exactly are our assignments for over the break? is it just conscious/sub-conscious?

Either, or, both ... or any close variation (as long as it's excellent work) - Mr. Needles

munch.

so...needles...

i need more info on the project with the artists

please

Scholastic Art

Here's the registration link for the art contest I mentioned in class:
scholastic art and writing awards

Here's the link for supplies:
Dick Blick

Here's a link to the IF blog:
Illustration Friday

"Scales" and a triptic

For Scales. =3

I like showing it this way so that the map is the right way, but you can hold it any way you like. XD It's a triptic I was gonna do for the printing, but then colored and made its own thing. Done in colored pencil.

There is absolutly no reason for me to post this. But this is my dog Daisy, she may be retarded.

I'm posting these on behalf of Jen Yu.
And because looking at Daisy makes me laugh.

CerealKiller, The Birth Of Venus

the pictures look really crappy, sorry. my mom broke my camera a while ago so i ended up using my laptop's photo booth :[ :/

literal word

Chuck Close Questions

(sorry this is so late. i just got back home.)

1. you have an abstract style of working. ergo, would you consider your work to be photo realism? or a seperate genre to photorealism?
2. of your own work, do favor one peice in particular?
3. of your friends or family, whom did you make your first portrait?
4. be my friend?

heyy needles

i never got a phone call from the ny times.. and when is that digital long island thing? am i supposed to go? is that today?

Lashes ( isolation vs. Embrace)

I'm going to start posting all my pieces up...

its missing a more vivid background . i might change the paintings tone towards a more golden yellow look...like the 2nd. ialso have to fix the hand..etc.

any other suggestions?

Web design and you... a digital road to hapiness

Take a look at the following websites for this weeks assignment. We are going to base the next assignment on it. We are going to discuss the basics of web and logo design in next weeks class so make sure you have comments about what you like and don't like about the sites.

Smithtown District Website

Smithtown HS East Website

Mr. Needles School website

Mr. Needles Art Website

Bookmark

Two Things

Okay, I know this is fully two weeks late now, and I know I stole some elements from Kim, but this is a preview of my Peace Quest poster, please have mercy on me. Come on, it's my birthday!

It looks better in person. Also, for extra brownie points (Please forgive me, Oh Great Needles!) here is a preview of my ultra-kick-ass bookmark, which took me several straight hours to make, and totally from scratch, btw.

Juggle *~*

A is for ... < @_@ >

Regular ^_^

i come bearing late assignments

first is my "a is for".

in this case, a is for "are you kidding me?!" haha and his body is kind of bent in the shape of an a. i love street performers.
and now for my juggling assignment. i believe juggling involves a lot of balancing and keeping up what's being juggled.
you can definitely juggle yourself, when you're climbing and swinging yourself about, and that's my interpretation of it. =)


i definitely realized i enjoy photographing people in motion the most out of everything. getting good shots is so satisfying.

back from boston/salem

hey!!! sorry im posting now but i literrally came home and downloaded pictures from my camera!!! im completely in love with salem and boston was really nice too.
yeaa so im in boston and there happens to be this crazy guy juggling on top of this giant stand 8 ft. up in the air. and he juggled red balls.. and knifes. so i felt this was a sign from above that i didnt need to draw my hwk assignments this week!!! and you know knifes were more hxc than the classic red balls. soo !

yeaa and another a is for ARBOUR

and just one of my favorite pictures from the trip.. i got extremely bored during the 6 hour car ride home.. and these migrating birds caught my attention

Juggle

I felt like taking a break from my usual realistic drawings and go for something for design based with black and white (sharpies)

Juggle

A is for

Attitude ....

Juggle

A is for: alone/afraid

A is for.... + Juggle

Someone went on Youtube in Gessler's class 2nd period and looked up sharks jumping and attacking seals :3 They juggle with their teeth don'tcha know.

A is for Ambystoma tigrinum! They go 'rawr' and 'rofl' lots.

A is for...

"We saw the countess from the midst of the gloom. Small
and fragile-looking, she wielded a small dagger, its
blade red from the blood of her prey. I couldn't move -
to think she would turn on us like that!
I looked at Lucius, his face pale in fright of the
monster approaching us with death in her eyes. As
her wavy locks of black hair bounced and curled over
her now pointed, bat ears, I knew my young companion's
thoughts. She had been Lady Truman and he still loved
her as if her canines hadn't elongated into the
pointed daggers they were now.
"Can't be..." he murmured, still in awe as her
small feet graced the mansion tile floor. Her eyes shone
an icy blue and her dark, dead lips curled into a devilish
grin I will never forget. It's for that one night I don't
trust those that call themselves an... ARISTOCRAT. "

Just in case anyone wanted to know what it says behind her - yes, I wrote it, I didn't take it from anywhere. *is now thinking of writing a story with this vamp* Anyway, it's an aristocratic vampire...that's what A is for! >o<

'A' is for...

Aaron Gillespie of the Almost!
I saw this band at the Crazy Donkey a few days before school started.

"A" is for...

Apathy!
Okay, so I took too long on the face and had to rush the background, which came out like crap, and didn't even get around to the window scene, so i stole it from Google. But this is only because I DON'T CARE (Get it? Apathy! Come on people, this is comic gold!

A is for... Addiction

a is forr...

APPLEEE


AHAH and umm aerosmith!! was amazing so i figured it started with an a i should put it up there. even though my seats prevented me from getting a really good picture =/

a "regular" day at the beach (late, sorry)

it's gonna be too cold to go soon =(

I screwed up the resolution on this one so it's tiny >_<

transform (very late) and regular (also late)

so sorry these are both late, i finally figured out my new computer at least!

regular:



transform:

ahh

I just got a new computer (macbook pro it's AWESOME) and my new printer/scanner i have yet to figure out yet i'll post it as soon as i figure it out!!!

Regular

Was working on writing college essay instead of working on art homework D: Shame on me.

But now I know my tablet still works and photoshop doesn't hate me anymore :D

Regular

sorry it's late, needles. i almost forgot there was one assignment left

vombie business man!

i was finsihing up 1984 this break and i was thinking about big brother and how everyone was like a thoughtless vombie kinda lke frankenstein!

Regular

Regular

More tabletness. I swear I'll start trying harder once the year gets into full swing

What Is "Regular?"

I had some difficulty trying to figure out what it was I was going to do for this assignment so I started thinking about what makes me "regular." I then decided what makes everyone else "regular" in that we're the same... I realized then that there is no such thing as a universal "regular" or normal for anybody, that what one person views as regular/normal, might be new and different to someone else. So I decided to go with two opposite ideas of what might be regular for different individuals.

(anti)Regular

I didnt really know what i was going to do for this assignment, so i starting thinking of what make me "regular." A bed to sleep in, comfortable living, so then i decided to do my anti regularr. Someone who has to worry from meal to meal and where to sleep at night:

This Poor Sap's Regular Day

As the title suggests. o.o

Transform

If Kim can pull off markers, than I declare that so can I!I knew someone else would think of transformers (thank you, Jess), so I took the slightly less obvious route: THE POWER RANGERS MEGAZORD!!!

Transform

Transform(ation)

Yeah...it's not late. It's fashionably late.

And it's a dragon 'transforming into magma' or the other way around.

transform

Sorry, I didn't post on date.

Transform

A little late but here it is.

I transformed the front left wheel of my car from normal and functioning to broken and totally screwed up. Yeah....

Transform

oops sorry this one's a little late, i did it thursday and took a picture of it...and then never uploaded it...

Jinchurriki TRANSFORM!

This theme was gonna be fanart and so here it is.
Naruto and Gaara transforming into their Bijuu (demon-things). Charas by Kishimoto-san! ^^

transform

puppet!

Transform (origami)

transform

visitors

hmm..what a strange cave.

It was difficult photographing this one because it's so long and narrow. It's clearer in person.

Visitors and then some

My digital camera has not failed me like the rest of my computer has :D And sorry about the images being blurry n' huge. I won't have Photshop to help me edit stuff for a while ;-;

Everyone loves these visitors in their kitchen. Was lazy drawing this >3


My monster pic. It's a Naruto fan character of mine and unless you know the show well you wouldn't be able to understand any explanation for using her in this picture for the monster theme-thing.


I've taken an interest in combining animals x3 This is an Arctic fox combined with a Belted Kingfisher (the wings and coloration are the kingfisher part of it). Added in the eye patch after not being able to draw the other eye all too well.


My song pic. The song is called Shiroi Ryuu (White Dragon) and is from the film Spirited Away.


My lazy cat, Moonbeam :3


I always found it way too time-consuming drawing my model of a Gogulas Giga (huzzah for Zoids!)


Updated version of a sketch from 9th grade. I fail at drawing horse-like creatures xD

Assignments!!

Thanks to all of you that posted assignment 7! To anyone who hasn't remember it's due tomorrow because I extended the due date for the holiday. I'll be seeing you all on Wednesday. The first day of classes is shortened due to homerooms so we'll just have a brief introduction. Please bring in all of your summer assignments for Thursday. (also Assignment 8 is due Friday)

Also to all the AP art alumni out there- I hope you are enjoying your first weeks of college! There is a new blog which you are now invited to join (http://needlesualumni.blogspot.com/) so let me know if you want to use a different email. I will be taking you all off of this blog next week but you are still welcome to comment on the students work. Good luck!

Mr. Needles

My "Visitors"

K, this is my pic for "Visitors" done in water color, done in 2 hours. These are Chinstrap Penguins and they frequently visit South America, so I figured they'd be a perfect candidate to show in a tropical area as penguins. =3

I wanted to make the scenery much "bigger" I guess you could say, than the focus-subjects, to show that they really are visitors, and they don't permanately "belong" there. =3

Done...not workin' on it anymore, at least not until my landscape is done. Speaking of which, if it hasn't been answered yet, I'd like to know if we're supposed to bring all the summer assignments on Wednesday (as well as this blog-pic)

Visitors

I was drawing little kids with my friend the other night, so when I saw visitors I thought of a little kid having a bad dream and going to mommy. Interpret it how you want to.

This is what I did for the song assignment.
Can't wait for school to start! Or can I? :]

Eh-heh, slight problem I've run into...

My uncle fixed my computer a week and a half ago, so I wasn't able to post anything else I've done for a few days. The night I got it back I found out something's wrong with the CD thing so I can't re-install any of my art programs that I need so I can resize my work and the such when I scan it. And now I find out my printer/scanner is doing the same thing when I try to re-install the program-thing for it.
So I'm unable to post anything I've done recently until I get this problem fixed x3;

Which won't be anytime soon...or later most likely x.x

And there's so much I wished to post today D: *Is very, very sad*

Question

Does anyone know if we're supposed to bring all of our assignments into school wednesday?

I don't know why but when I read this assignment I automatically thought of The Things They Carried and the Vietnam Soldiers.

Also, i already did my monster theme but i thought this was the funniest picture and after editing it she really looks scared ! ahah

Visitors

Gotta love Photoshop!
Good thing I brought my laptop to Delaware (where I am now) otherwise this assignment would've been MIA until I got home Sunday and found out this was assigned.

Visitors

Visitors

my cousin just moved into the worst possible apartment ever. that's where i got the idea for this from. :-)

Also, howdy!

Hey, while I'm posting anyway, howdy! I'm Zith, most of you know me. Anyway, I like drawing, gaming, drama, and, um... girls? Here's my work:


This is one of my thematic sketches: a tribute to a superhero romance i loved that can never happen, now. (isn't it odd that my "sketch" is better than my "real" pieces so far?)

And this is my song piece, made to They Might be Giants' "Am I Awake?". The song has a cool techno feel that made me think of using blue tones, cubism, and a tablet. BTW, I've never used a tablet before, hence the shakiness.

Visitors (I hope I'm posting this correctly)

The late Flash doesn't appreciate it when no one understands how I'm tying in to a theme.

P.S.-This sort of lame picture is what happens when I have ONE DAY to make it

Visitors (by plane - lol)

visitors

Um, about those dates.

The last two I can meet, it just that first one I might not be able to. My family is leaving for a camping trip that day and so I won't have a chance to upload the pic until after. Just wondering if it's okay if I post it early or if after the weekend is preferred. o.o;

?

Are the last three assignments done in our sketchbooks, or on a differnt surface?

Assignment #7, 8, & 9: Back to School

Hey AP!

We only have a few...never mind lets not even mention it. Here are the final 3 assignments. I'll be seeing all of you soon- make sure your assignments are ready for next week.

The final 3 assignments are thematic and should be posted here on the blog by the date listed. Use any media but make sure you post them by the date listed.

Assignment #7 (due by 8/31) - "Visitors" (from IllustrationFriday.com)

Assignment #8 (due by 9/7)- "Transform"

Assignment #9 (due by 9/14)- "Regular"

Hey

A sketch of my dog falling asleep... this picture was supposed to go beneath my introduction but I'm too lazy to fix it so whatever...

I'm Brian and I'll be a senior this school year and can't wait to start this class as it's a fitting end to my high school career. Basically I've been really busy with spending a month in the Colorado Rockies and then having to come home and get done with all of these assignments although I'm pretty much done. Actually, I'm working on a drawing as I type out this introduction :D lol
Anyway, I prefer working in pencil or acrylic paints and can't wait to meet everyone and work on my portfolio.

nightmare

Chinese Food!

Everyone loves Chinese food!

Hey Needles, I'm doing the 3D test for the exam, but all of my summer work is 2D...

Is that ok? I don't really have any materials to work with so I didn't try to make any sculptures

Needles is alive....so far

Hey gang,

Just wanted to let you all know I'm alive, but thanks for the concern. I've been teaching a class to educators up in Canada and Niagara and I haven't had Internet access much. I'm going to be posting the new assignments next week (and going to the beach a ton). I'm happy to see the work you've posted so far- keep it going! Make sure you enjoy your summer we are getting close to that dreaded "Back to School" time. Talk to you all soon!

I'm pretty sure needles died, he's making me worry.