Gunner's Going To Be A Daddy

Dee Dee is expecting her pups on Dec 29th. Here is a picture of Gunner and his Girlfriend :) I can hardly wait to see their cute little faces :)

Friday Full of Ice

Last night brought about some freezing rain. We were prepared for anything, so we thought. We survived the night without losing power only to lose it at 1:30 today. The kerosene heater ended up needing a new wick and I was refusing to go out in the weather to find one for it. We did have the stovetop and a small camp heater going and it managed to stay about 65 in here with that. At about 5 I decided it would only get colder in here as the night came so I ventured out into this icy world cautiously. Once I retrieved everything I felt we needed to make it through the night my husband phones me (at 5:30) to tell me they got the power back on. Looks like we will be ready if it goes out again though as we are expecting some snow to fall on top of the ice.

It just amazes me how beautiful and how deadly the ice can be. Today, I took the beauty and captured it. Here are a couple of shots I thought I would share. Have a wonderful and safe holiday season everyone.

Coat of Arms

I finally finished this project. I stayed up until 2 am last night working on it. I managed to make my computer groan a bit with the sheer size of the file though. I am fairly happy with the final result though. Tomorrow is the last day of the term and then 2 weeks off for the holidays. I checked and noticed, to my delight, that I was on the deans list and hopefully will be so again this term. I checked with all of my teachers and so far I believe it will be 4 A's :)

We had a bit of snow last night along with some wind. I think we ended up with around 5 inches on the ground. We are again under a winter weather advisory until Friday night. They are calling for freezing rain and snow. Personally I would prefer that it all be snow, keep the rain away as it makes for terrible driving conditions. This morning the drive to work wasn't all to bad as 2 of the 3 counties I drive through actually plowed the roads. I did, however manage to find some black ice across a bridge and found myself sideways in the middle of US 30. Two slides, once left then once right and I was back on track again. Others weren't so lucky to have come out of that without wrecking though. On my way home I noticed several cars had indeed landed in the median or off into the ditch. Some were unfortunate enough to nail the guardrail too. I am just so glad I was being watched over today.

We will be going to Kentucky for Christmas and from there to my Mother's. I am ready for a break from the normal routine around here. I have the laptop ready for the trip and will be emptying the camera cards as well. We will be leaving Monday morning and returning home the following or Monday. Now on to posting my latest, the Coat of Arms created for Typography II and for my dear husband.

Ending The Second Term This Week

WOW ! Where has the time gone? It seems like it wasn't long ago I began this adventure. I am still uncertain as to where it will take me but I am wandering my way through it all just the same. After christmas brings 4 new classes: Comprehensive Illustration, Electronic Drawing, Web Development with HTML, and Human Relations in the Workplace.

I am a bit behind in posting a few assignments I know. I just finished my final assignment for Design & Color tonight. I am still working on my Coat of Arms project though. Hoping to get most of it finished tonight though.

This first set of images are from Typography II. We were to create Salsa labels. This is where the pepper from my earlier post emerged from actually. The desire to create more realistic vegetables than what is in these labels.

The next set of images are from Design & Color. The first three are: Simple Figure Ground, Figure Ground Reversal, and Ambiguous Figure Ground.

This next set of three images are: Closure, Contrast, and Anomaly.

Thought I would share a little

I did this tonight in Illustrator. I was amazed at how real the final product looks. I have to admit, this program is amazing. It took a while but wow was it ever worth the effort.  Layers Magazine is where I got the tutorial used for this project: Beginner’s Guide to the Mesh Tool. If you have Illustrator I suggest you give this tutorial a try.

Recent Class Projects

I know it's been a while since I posted. I have been having some computer issues to say the least. My desktop crashed and I am just now getting it back up and feeling comfortable again. The laptop also had a fit and I thought it crashed as well. After walking away from it for a couple days, I went back to try and repair it only to find a little laptop fairy had already completed this task for me while I slept. It's working fine and I have no idea what it's problem was but as long as it's working I won't complain.

I do have a few projects to post and I will try to remember all of them if I can. I will also explain for what class above each image. Tonight I came across a great link I think I should share. We were to make ornaments for the tree at school for the tree for tomorrow. You can find the link here:  3D Color Burst Holiday Ornaments From HP . I made the teardrop ornament to take to class tomorrow (Design & Color).

This image is from last week's abstract creation assignment in Design & Color. We were to use a found object and use it to create a theme. Well I had planned all the elements out in my head, took all of the photos for this and then the color printer at schoool quit working and the same day so did both of my computers. This resulted in rethinking my project and a little searching for other printed materials to use that fit the theme. The first image is my original image, used for inspiration. The next is the Abstract image I created. I used as my found objects: crushed horse treats, grass hay, sugar, and bailing twine. I flipped the transparent sketch I had created and made a mirror image behind the word Equine. I also added depth with sticky foam to bring the elements, of the left media horse and the horse in the lower right corner, up off the page for depth. I also used marker for the mirror image of the horse drawn on tracing paper which is actually a pretty fun media when working with markers as it almost seems like a watercolor effect when you are finished. (*Actually, the abstract with the mixed media would really be the mirror image and not the other way around). I had planned to use other items related to the horse for this project but because of printer and computer issues this is what I ended up with and turned it in on time.

This next image is the other resteraunt mini menu we had to create in Typography II.

The next image is 5 Logo Remakes we had to do for Typography II.

This next image is the second image I did for the 3 color compostition for Design & Color.

Hello All

Thanksgiving dinner was great. My dear daughter made it this year. We had more than enough to eat that is for sure. I got some good pictures of the grandkids too.

I suppose I should have posted my last assignment. I need a better picture of one of them though. This project was open to a lot of imagination for a change.

Last Weeks Assignment

It looks like I forgot to post last weeks assignment for the Design & Color Class. I suppose it is better late than never. It's funny how my scrapbooking has intertwined with Graphic Design. I find myself using my scrapping tools to work on some of these projects. At least they aren't gaining too much dust...LOL

These first two images are of my organized chaos of a coffee table. This was what it looked like during the design process. I never claimed to be neat and tidy when working on something so I am certain you won't be surprised by what you see. These next images are the finals for the project.

We needed to do them as follows:

Text As A:

• Line
• Texture
• Shape

I don't think they turned out too badly. The small size thing is really getting to me though. I have issues seeing the small stuff. There is a reason for it and I do understand though a wee bit larger wouldn't hurt a thing..LOL

Mini Table Menus

This is one of the other projects for Typography II. I am in the process of finishing up the second menu. We were given the words for the menu. We had to create the name, the logo, and organize it all onto a 4 x 5 inch area. I drew the little pie, scanned it into the computer and then took it into Illustrator to finish it off.

The last billboard

Almost forgot to post this.

Design & Color

This project that I just completed actually turned out pretty cool. I am really happy with the end result. I started with a sketch that was 4 inches x 4 inches. I scanned it into my computer then played with it in Illustrator. Flipping the tail and removing the legs. I then scaled it up to an 8 inch x 8 inch image and printed it out. Once it was printed I then traced over the image removing some more of the detail. My final trace became the bare minimum of the image that still allows you to recognize what it is. There were a total of about 7-10 images before the final product.

I have also completed one for "Painted Ranch Designs." I have had this name for I think 6 years or more and have just now finished one logo for it. I posted this after the last Dragon Polish Logo.

Billboards For Typography II

Here are a couple of billboards we had assigned in class this past week. The first image is of a billboard I drive by every day. I remade this with the one below it. The second one, we were to design a billboard for our favorite radio station.

The Next Set Of Classes

I bet you are all wondering where I have been. Well, just sort of trying to get into the new routine around here. I am getting up an hour earlier and getting out of class earlier. The drive to and from is much nicer with less traffic both ways. I do have my first Typography II project finished along with my first Design & Color project. I am going to post the Typography II projects tonight and probably the Design & Color project later on. The concept for this project was to redo some local ads that had been sent out in local papers. I did notice though, these are from 1995.  lol  Since I now have an idea of what they meant by look for ads that need to be remade, I am seeing a lot of them.

Final Project For Drawing

This is the last week of my first 8 weeks in College. WOW...I can hardly believe it's been that long already. I have 3 finals tomorrow along with the last drawing assignment to turn in. Usually I am right on this but I had an argument with a cherry/flower image I had been trying to do. I did not win this round though I intend to try that thing again, for like the 4th time..LOL I ended up doing a sketch of one of my Magnolia blossoms from a photo I took this past spring. Now Off I go as I should be studying (want to shoot for 5 A's). This first image is how it is currently. I was curious of the result with a black background so into Paint Shop Pro it went and came out like the second image. No guarantees, but I really like the second one. It was just a quick do so the black isn't as perfect as I would like it to be but it gave me what I wanted to see.

Thoughts

I have been sitting here chatting with my Mother and thinking. Where on earth did the first 8 weeks of College go to. I can hardly believe it's been that long already, can you? There have been a lot of things going on in my life and a lot of changes. I can only hope these changes bring on something new and exciting for my future. It's funny to think about it that way I suppose, being an adult one would think you would have had your future all planned out by now. I suppose I though I did at one time or another yet I sit here thinking about it again.

I am excited about the opportunities that lay ahead of me. A bit weary of the changes though I know it's for the better. I also sit here and wonder, "Will I be able to be creative enough, once placed in a job, for what I am continuing my education for?" I also wonder if I am the only one in my classes that seem to be looking at the big picture? Will these "kids" ever finally "GET IT?" and settle down enough to learn something (well at least the ones that cause all the havoc in class).

Hopefully this next semester will settle them down. Hopefully there will be a bit less noise in the classrooms so I can actually hear the teachers without straining my ears. One can only hope, these things will happen.

Enough rambling for now I suppose. I need to get that Logo out of my head and onto some paper or into a program.

Final Project for Typography I

 We were assigned a final project for class today. This is due Tuesday and I had all but 1 item finished on it by the time class was over. Next week is the last week of our first 8 weeks. We will then venture onto new classes. The next 8 weeks brings me the following classes: Typography II, Comp II, Keyboarding II, Color & Design. One less class a day though the last class, which is Color & Design is a 2 hour class. I will also need to get up an hour earlier to get there for the first class of the day. I am pretty sure what my grades are but I can hardly wait to see them in hand. I am also curious what my grade point average is.

Final Stipple Drawing

I have finished my stipple drawing today. I am quite pleased with the final result. On to the next project now I suppose.

 

Two More Days Work

Here are two more days work to the image. I don't have much more to do but had to quit for the night. I was beginning to get a headache. The first image is day 4 and the second image is day 5. I work on this in the morning before classes begin. After eating lunch I work on it some more and then in class I do more work on it. Tonight I have spent about 3 hours on it to get it where Day 5 is right now. I think there needs to be a little tweaking on the shading near the upper shoulder. Then the only thing remaining will be the black which is part of the barn.

Two More Steps

Here are two more steps to the stippling project we are working on. I think that it's turning out quite nicely. The first image is the second day and the third image is the third day, today.

Drawing Project

Hello everyone. We are starting a new project in drawing class this week. We are doing stippling images with our pens. The images are in grey scale and enlarged to an 8 x 10 which I centered on my 11 x 14 sheet of Bristol Board, which is an acid free archival quality Vellum heavy paper. Knowing that most of my readers think of Vellum as a scrapping supply, this is nothing like what we would normally think of vellum as. This is a cotton paper and not the transparent waxy type you may be thinking of. I have started this drawing as I am sure you all know I have. LOL Posted below are the images I began with, first the one in color and then the image changed to grey scale. The last image is what I have completed so far on this project. I worked four hours on this so far and believe there are many more hours to follow to the completed image. We are to do all of the shading with the dots. So far I think it's turning out pretty good.