Wednesday, March 24, 2010

Lynda Barry Lecture



Lynda Barry was without a doubt the best lecturer all year! She was hilarious, quirky, unique, and inspirational at the same time. She was engaging and very easy to pay attention to. For once, I was actually interested in the lecture hour and didn't fall asleep! The audience was roaring with laughter bringing some to tears! Lynda grew up on a farm in Wisconsin, went to a small school (through a scholarship) and learned a lot about narrative writing. Her big overall question of the lecture was "What is an image?" Her definition went something like this: something that triggers in your mind from immediate thoughts. Right away, I noticed her passion and drive - she absolutely loves being a cartoonist. Her book is a graphic novel that is part memoir, part collage and part workbook in which Lynda instructs her readers in methods to open up their own creativity. She stressed the imagination and how to, in a sense, revert back to a child's mind because children have very active imaginations. At the end of the lecture, she did something a little unexpected! Lynda belted out a song without moving her lips! Everyone gave her a much deserved standing ovation!

My Pet Tiger


For this week's assignment, we had to do another composite image using Photoshop, but this time, with our own photos. I used an image of myself hugging my dog, however, I cut out my dog and put a photo of a tiger in instead. Thats where I got the idea for "My Pet Tiger." To make the tiger look more like a pet, I put a collar on him, and added a toy ball and a bowl with food. I wanted to put the tiger in its natural habitat. Enjoy!

Wednesday, March 17, 2010

Manipulated Current Event Photo


The assignment this week was to find a current event photograph and manipulate in some way in order to change its meaning. The Grammy Awards Show that recently took place was a great example of controversy and drama between Kanye West and Taylor Swift. As I'm sure most people know, Kanye ran on stage as soon as Taylor Swift received her grammy award, took the mic from her, and angrily announced his belief that Beyonce should have won for best video. In MY photo, I made it seem as if Kanye West was happily giving the grammy to Taylor!