Water Canyon

I have decided that I will show the project as a progression.  This means that I would like to have the original unaltered picture, the blind-contour, and the image of the two put together on the computer screen, and on the desk in front of the computer, I would like to have the print of the processed image and finally the painting on display.  I think that it will be interesting to show the progression that my project took.  This way everyone can see my process (being that this is what I wanted to focus the most on in the first place).

I have stumbled into several problems so far.  I initially intended this project to include much more computer-generated works, however, I found that once I had gotten to a certain point, I felt compelled to go beyond where I originally anticipated, and take another path.  With the helpful suggestion of Justin, I decided that what I would do is take a picture and superimpose a colorful blind-contour atop of that image.  From there, I ran it through a processing program that with the help and supervision of Justin I had altered to the point that I liked it.  Once I had processed this image, I printed it out and then attempted to duplicate the print on a canvas.  This is the part that gave me some difficulty—I had a hard time roughly matching the blurriness level of the print to the canvas while still using the stamp that I made.  Furthermore, I found it a little challenging to distinguish how different I wanted the canvas to be from the print.  I didn’t want them to be exactly identical, because what would be the point in that?  But I did want it to resemble the print enough to tell that it was clearly the next progression.  I am still working on the resolution of this problem… 

I’ve collected all of the materials I will need.  I made a stamp using the lid of a bottle and a hot glue gun, as well as all of the acrylic paints, brushes, and canvas that I need.  Since the focus of my project has shifted into an actual painting, I intend to layer the paints, and I will try to devote half an hour each day toward building up the composition.  I will create added texture with the glue gun.

First and foremost, I like to make art with my hands.  While I love fiddling on the computer, I sometimes feel a disconnect between myself and my work when the screen is my canvas.  There is something about having total control of my motor functions that I love and can really only have when I work with my hands.  That is why, when thinking about my final project, I have been brainstorming ways to create a bridge in between this divide that I feel, so that my piece and my different skills can be somehow brought together and work in a harmonious way (hopefully).  So, I want to combine some of the skills that I have learned in New Genre Arts and combine them with things that I already do.  What I am thinking of doing in particular is using film along with final cut pro as well as processing, (and some good-old blind contour techniques too!) in order to record the process of taking a picture and taking it through a transformation process using all different types of mediums in order to come up with one final image (that will hopefully be interesting)!