Angela's Book - Entry One

Give us a story there, love!

With my book, I hope everybody will enjoy telling a "story".   That could mean just about anything, including historical fiction, tall tale, family saga, made up myth, or decorate the page with pictograms or hieroglyphics; whatever strikes your fancy!  

  

Initially, I started with a straightforward landscape sketch. It felt a bit fantastical or other-worldly to me (hence the "fairy tale" lettering), but a bit boring. So, I took it into school and one of my students said I should "weird it up" by putting some of my halmark creatures around the border. I liked the idea, and dove right in. . . and about 8 billion hours later, I finally completed the pages. Poor Lydia is getting it a wee late, but I hope to smooth things over with her by providing a kiln favor or two for her class.  ;)  In this photo, the border needs finishing, but you get the gist. 

illusion

Greetings gang!

Thank you for accepting me this late! This sure has been an adventure, getting my sketch book to the post office and on its way to Eric.

As I'd been fantasizing about this new rotation for a while now, I kind of had an idea in my head before getting the book itself. I am a photo transfer geek, so I wanted include so some of that in my book. I also wanted there to be a bit of my current photo project - "a picture in a picture". With a heart full of excitement I went out to get my Moleskine. Eight shops later I realized I needed to settle for making one on my own.

This was just a start of another adventure, because I had never made a book before. I used the covers of a photo album, and in the end it did not turn out so bad. However, when you receive my book and see it falling into pieces, please be so kind and add some more glue.

And of course, when I was sure to get everything done by Monday (as promised), I ran into more technical problems. The first photo transfers were a failure, I ended up peeling off a whole layer of paper. By the time I got it done on Tuesday, I only made it to the post office 15 min after they had closed...

I initially did not plan to have a theme, but as the various events were rolling out in front of me I decided to call it "illusion".

Pattern

Pretty simple theme, I know, but thought it would allow for a variety of entries. Like several of the sketchbook themes, mine was also inspired from a student project. Started with sketching wild life (mostly weeds) outdoors, then abstracting / simplifying these shapes, repeating them, and finally using styrofoam in a reductive manner to create prints. Really looking forward to a new round of books. Now I need to find Eric's article so I can participate in some intriguing dialogue!

Jeane Svihus

The sea and me

Flip-in' Heck!

I have never made an animation before, but have been exploring it's possibilities in response to some questions from my students. I thought it would be interesting to create an evolving, collaborative animation, by starting a 'flip book'. I have included a few guidelines on the backcover for those of you, who like me, have never made one of these before. I hope it works for you, I can't wait to see what happens to it and nor can my 5 year old students!

Have fun!

Lydia

PS If you have your sound turned on for this film clip, my husband's 'perfect' is refering to the quality of 'flipping' not the work itself! I used the video setting on my camera to record the progress and it was really easy to upload to the blog.

Okay, here we go.  Please excuse my newbieness, I am still working my way through the blogging site and so on and so forth.

 

But about the book! 

My theme is 'it depends on how you look at it,' because either cover can be considered the front.  A 180 degree, clockwise turn in your hand will allow you to open both covers as you would a traditional book.

I was also inspired by a class project in which I have the students cut out a scene, being forced to consider how they use both the positive and negative space.  Of course my book evolved as it progressed. 

I am excited to be here as a part of the ECISketchers, a bit intimidated by the amazing work posted thus far!  I look forward to seeing how ALL the books progress as time moves on.

HOWDY!

finally, I got my butt in gear and completed my first entry for this rotation. I was in the studio on Valentine's Day working on this, tough to understand that the big cloud is in fact mirror-paper, so YOU become a part of the artwork when you open the spread and look at it. See yourself seeing...

Since it's the book I started, the theme to perhaps guide others' entries is FIRST IMPRESSIONS. Since I am a printing-dork, my challenge to us is to see how printing can make it into this book, or however else you decide to respond to that theme, it's up to you!

I included a small note with this thematic-info on the cover, along with a tip to read or re-read Walter Benjamin's "Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction". Dang, I really think it's crucial for us all as image-makers and educators trying to help youngsters navigate 21st century visual culture to take a position on Benjamin's essay, to me still poignant 76 years after he wrote it!

OK, so none of us want to do homework or have to read a 12 page essay before making a sketchbook entry, but I'd be super stoked to use this blog to begin an online discussion?

Any takers?

In any case, good luck to y'all with this project, I hope it goes well, and I look forward to working with you on it.

Eric Saline

www.ericsaline.com

Petr's Book / Entry One / In Between

This first piece in my book evolved through series of transformations. I had an initial thought for a theme - "I Fly" - the piece intended was a fly sitting on a letter I - simple and strong visual. I made the drawing, played with it in photoshop and it just didn't work.

At about the same time my Photography class kids made some photograms and used this green see-through profile figure as one of their objects - I loved it. And so I made this figure in a leap the center of my piece. 

I'm really into monsters right now and so I added a monster chasing the little man - a theme of "Runaway" was on my mind.

Yet the piece felt unfinished - and so another monster came to be - leaving the little man with no chance to escape. And with this second monster came my final theme for this book - 

IN BETWEEN.
 

Ana Maria's Sketchbook

I have always been a sucker for coloring books, so why not make my own, with the help of all you wonderful artists ;)

Mary's book "Journey" - first entry by Mary

Here are the photos of the new book theme Journey - physical or metaphorical.  

My entry makes reference to a return trip to Bhutan we recently made. we used to live there.