A while back, my counselor at KCC emailed me some info about a student publication called "Ka'imiloa", which features student writing and art. She encouraged me to send in some of my artwork, so I thought to myself, "What the heck... shoots!". I submitted 3 digital art pieces with no expectations. Several months later, I received a voicemail from Ka'imiloa's advisor with some great and unexpected news. Ka'imiloa had chosen 2 of my digital art pieces for their publication, and one of them was chosen to be on the cover! I was shocked! They chose my self-portrait, entitled "Taking Risks" for the cover art. It was a digital self-portrait I did for my Art 101 class, which was based on this blog entry I posted some time ago. The other digital piece they picked was my Saint Milk Illustrator project. You can pick up a free copy of Ka'imiloa in the Kalia building on KCC campus.
Taking Risks
I decided to base my Self-Portrait on recent realizations I’ve discovered about myself. Let me start by first introducing myself. My name is Cassandra Song, but you can call me Cassy. I graduated from Roosevelt High School in 1997 and attended one semester at HCC immediately following my graduation. After that brief semester at HCC, I dropped out of college to work full time. Fast forward to 12 years later, and here I am… a young woman in her early 30’s, uncertain of what she wants to do in life.
I’ve never been one of those people who knew what they wanted to do in life… and recently, it got to the point where it began to worry and frustrate me. I truly wish I were one of those people who knew at a young age what they wanted to be when they grew up. I envy those who have a strong passion for one thing and strive for it… I don’t think I’ve ever had that kind of passion before. Aside from not knowing what I want to do, I also suffer from a fear of failure… I suppose I lack self-confidence at times and am unaware of any potential and capabilities I may have. These fears, uncertainties and self-doubt had repressed me from going back to school all those years.
Four months ago, I decided to kick my fears to the curb and enrolled into KCC for Fall 2009 Semester. My goal is to try to get into the New Media Arts Program for Interface Design, as I am currently taking the required prerequisites. Upon receiving my KCC acceptance letter in the mail, I decided to look for my old HCC report card in a file cabinet where my mother has stored documents and memorabilia (most useful, informative & nostalgic; some absurd & completely embarrassing) that pertain to me dating back as far as 30 years. While shuffling through all those old artifacts from my childhood, I came across my grade school report cards with notes and progress reports from my teachers. There were two progress reports that really caught my attention… one from my 2nd grade teacher, Mrs. Akinaka, and the other from my 5th grade teacher, Mrs. Miyahara.
Mrs. Akinaka (2nd grade teacher) wrote: “I’ve enjoyed working with Cassy. She’s an eager learner. I like her positive attitude & sensitivity to others. I’d like to see her take more “risks” in doing things & be more independent. Encourage these behaviors whenever possible.”
Mrs. Miyahara (5th grade teacher) wrote: “Cassy is a serious child and tries hard to succeed. She is capable of doing good work but is held back by tenseness. She needs to take “risks” and develop more confidence in her abilities.”
Reading these comments about myself from my grade school teachers was such an eye-opening experience. I can’t say why I’ve always been fearful and have held back… but reading these progress reports made me realize that I have been that way since childhood, and it’s helped me understand why I am the way I am today. In a strange sort of way, it made me feel a little better knowing that it’s something I had struggled with since an early age and not something that I had acquired recently… it was an unusual sense of relief.
Since being back in school, my fears are slowly but surely diminishing, and I am developing more confidence in myself. I also like the fact that I am tapping back into my imaginative and creative side, which had been dormant in my mind for far too long. I remember loving to draw when I was a kid… constantly sketching and creating characters, but that came to an end, as I got older. I often wonder why I stopped drawing or never took an art class in high school... I may never know why, but an interesting section in our Visual Arts textbook helped shed some light on that topic, and made me realize that I am not alone.
I quote: “Young children often demonstrate an intuitive sense of composition. Unfortunately, we lose much of this intuitive sense of balanced design as we begin to look at the world from a conceptual, self-conscious point of view. Most children who have been given coloring books, workbooks, and pre-drawn printed single sheets become overly dependent on such impersonal, stereotyped props. In this way, children lose the urge to invent unique images based on their own experiences. Without ongoing opportunities for personal expression, children lose self-confidence in their original creative impulses.
Most abilities observed in creative people are also characteristic of children during interactions with the world around them. What becomes of this extraordinary capacity? According to John Holt, author of ‘How Children Fail’, “We destroy this capacity above all by making them afraid – afraid of not doing what other people want, of not pleasing, or of making mistakes, of failing, of being wrong. Thus we make them afraid to gamble, afraid to experiment, afraid to try the difficult and unknown.”
My Self-Portrait is an expression of myself overcoming my own fears. I chose a recent picture of myself, looking off to a distance, reflecting into the past. Arranged and tiled in the background behind me are scanned images of the actual progress reports written by my 2nd and 5th grade teachers, which gradually fade out, symbolizing my fears diminishing over time.
Showing posts with label Art. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Art. Show all posts
... Meet Saint Milk... (Click on image to enlarge)
I turned in my final Illustrator project today for my Digital Arts class. The project was a character and scene creation using vector imagery in Adobe Illustrator. We had to write a brief scenario/story that creates a character and scene from our imagination... much like a children's book. The outcome of the project: to create a scene that was drawn solely in Illustrator. I decided to make a poem about my character as my overall story... here is the final result.
Art 112 - Project 1: ILLUSTRATOR
Character and Scene Creation using vector imagery in Adobe Illustrator
Character and Scene Creation:
Character: Saint Milk
Location: Dairyland
Personality: Happy, Holy, Caring, Loving, Compassionate, Wholesome, Pure, Saint
Synopsis:
Saint Milk is an Angel & Saint to Holy Cow (Creator of World). He was sent by Holy Cow to help create all things deliciously divine in a heavenly world known as "Dairyland".
Story:
In the beginning…
… Holy Cow said, "Let there be Milk,
So that all things may flourish with great taste and health".
And thus, Saint Milk, an angel who shined,
Was sent from above to make all things divine.
With his salubrious nature, so wholesome and pure,
He sought out to share it for all to endure.
He envisioned a tasty, delectable land,
Where homes made of cheeses in all shapes would stand.
Bushes of cream cakes lusciously grew,
While the gold skies were filled with yogurts that flew.
As the warmth of the Cinnamon Sun swirled up above,
Holy Cow and Saint Milk nourished Dairyland with love.
... A sketch I did of Constantin Brancusi's "The Newborn" for my Visual Arts class. The teacher didn't want to see any lines, just values and shading only. This was not easy for me to do... I am not natural at drawing things by hand, so it took me a while and several pencils in various darkness/shades... not to mention a lot of smudging & rubbing going on. It was fun stepping out of my normal boundaries, though. Hope my values are ok...
For my Visual Arts class, one of my sketchbook assignments was to create an image of a dream event. I'm no artist, but this is what I ended up turning in yesterday. Although the piece may seem slightly dark and disturbed, it does not reflect my personality at all; it is simply based on a nightmare I had a long time ago... one that I will never forget....
Dream Description:
I created this piece based on a dream, or shall I say nightmare, which haunts me still till this very day. Leading up to this particular nightmare, I used to get these very realistic dreams about being paralyzed. I don't get them as much as I did before, but I do occasionally get them still. These "paralyzed" dreams are so realistic, that I feel as though I am actually awake, because in these dreams, I am laying in the exact same sleeping position as I am in reality. I can see my room through my own eyes as I would if I were really awake… it's as if my body is asleep, but my mind is still awake... I can see everything around me, but I can't move or speak. This feeling of not having control over my own body terrifies me, and it takes all my energy and several attempts to wake myself up. During this state, I repeatedly say in my head, "Wake up, Cassy... wake up!" I try moving my head side to side, but can't. I rest for a few seconds… gather up all my energy… count to three… and try again with all my strength to move my head and wake up. This becomes a cycle, and I get closer to waking up as my head shakes slightly with resistance a little more each time, until finally, I am able to snap out of this state and wake up with my head totally shaking and my heart pounding.
Now in this particular nightmare, which I based my piece on, I am once again paralyzed… but something is different this time… I am not alone. There is a shadowed figure watching me from the foot of my bed. This figure has no face… it is just a hooded shadowy presence, with a strong, dark & evil aura. Each time I try to wake up, I close my eyes to shut out this figure, but it gets closer and closer to me with every unsuccessful attempt. It hovers over my body as I try screaming for my husband in the next room to wake me up, but my silent screams go unheard. Then somehow, I manage to muster up all my strength and finally wake up in a panic. This was by far, the scariest dream I had ever experienced. Shortly after I had that dream, I wrote a chilling poem about it, and I have included this poem in my piece.
Till this day, I can't quite make out why I would get these dreams, but there have been studies and many cases of others who experience it as well. It is actually a condition known as "Sleep Paralysis". According to Medicine Net, the definition of "Sleep paralysis" is "a frightening form of paralysis that occurs when a person suddenly finds himself or herself unable to move for a few minutes, most often upon falling asleep or waking up. Sleep paralysis is due to an ill-timed disconnection between the brain and the body. The symptoms of sleep paralysis include sensations of noises, smells, levitation, paralysis, terror, and images of frightening intruders. Once considered very rare, about half of all people are now believed to experience sleep paralysis sometime during their life."
Wikipedia states that "Sleep paralysis occurs when the brain awakes from a REM state, but the body paralysis persists. This leaves the person fully conscious, but unable to move. The paralysis can last from several seconds to several minutes after which the individual may experience panic symptoms and the realization that the distorted perceptions were false. The paralysis state may be accompanied by terrifying hallucinations and an acute sense of danger. Sleep paralysis is particularly frightening to the individual due to the vividness of such hallucinations. The hallucinatory element to sleep paralysis makes it even more likely that someone will interpret the experience as a dream, since completely fanciful, or dream-like, objects may appear in the room alongside one's normal vision. Some scientists have proposed this condition as an explanation for alien abductions and ghostly encounters."
Poem:
I have really been enjoying my Digital Arts class! It's an introductory course to Digital Arts, which covers Adobe Illustrator, Adobe Photoshop and Adobe Flash. We started class with Adobe Illustrator, and our first project is a character and scene creation using vector imagery in Adobe Illustrator. We have to write a brief scenario/story that creates a character and scene from our imagination... much like a children's book. The outcome of the project is to create a scene that is drawn solely in Illustrator. I worked really hard on my character and story, and decided to make a poem about my character as my overall story. We shared our stories one on one with our instructor yesterday, and I'm so happy to say that she was really pumped and excited about my story and character! She LOVED that I made a poem, and thought it was so cute... she kept giggling with enjoyment when I read it to her. Her words exactly... "This is going to be awesome!" That made me feel really good, and now I'm even more motivated than ever! Next step is to sketch the characters and objects, then after that, sketch the whole scene out to scan into Illustrator. The final project is due on October 4th, but I'll have to turn it in before I leave for Japan. I've been diligently practicing with the Adobe Illustrator pen tool... and I'm finally getting the hang of it... learning how it moves and curves... I feel like such a dork for being so excited about it, but I can't help it! Call me a dork all you want... I don't care! Haha. Anyway, here are some simple exercises I worked on in class. I hope no graphic designers are reading this, cause I know this is pre-school stuff for them... but I am new to this and have never used Adobe Illustrator before, so naturally, I am a pre-schooler at this stuff. Bear with me...
This was a pen tool exercise we did in class. We had to use the pen tool to trace the Apple Logo. Here's my results... it's not prefect, but not too bad either... for a beginner, that is. (Click image to enlarge)
Here's another exercise we did in class to create a three dimensional egg with shadows and slight gradients. How do you like my egg? (Click image to enlarge)
P.S. Sorry for the insanely bright colors... I was feeling super poppy yesterday...
... since John Hook asked in perfect pidgin ...
LOL! I may be biased... but even though I was only twelve when I drew this, I think this version of J.P. was much hotter than the real deal...
It's amazing how only two days of school can enlighten you. I've only been to my digital art class once since school started, (I have Digital Art on Mondays and Wednesdays; and Visual Art on Tuesdays and Thursdays) and I have already begun to work on awakening the imagination and creativity that was dormant in my mind for far too long. I can't even remember the last time I got out a paper & pencil and began to draw before going back to college this week. It's almost as if I had built a wall or barrier to block that side out of me since I grew out of childhood. I can't really say why... I used to LOVE drawing when I was a kid... constantly sketching and drawing Marvel Comic characters... I'm even embarrassed to admit that I once drew a portrait of Jason Priestley from 90210 when I had a crush on him back in those silly pre-teen days... but what I drew is not the point... it's the simple fact that I drew and enjoyed doing it. Somehow, it all got lost as I got older, but just one day at my digital art class sparked that old memory in me. I came across such an interesting section in my Visual Art textbook, which talked about early encounters with the artist within. I quote:
Young Children often demonstrate an intuitive sense of composition. Unfortunately, we lose much of this intuitive sense of balanced design as we begin to look at the world from a conceptual, self-conscious point of view. Most children who have been given coloring books, workbooks, and pre-drawn printed single sheets become overly dependent on such impersonal, stereotyped props. In this way, children lose the urge to invent unique images based on their own experiences. Without ongoing opportunities for personal expression, children lose self-confidence in their original creative impulses.
Children begin life as eager learners. If they are loved and cared for, they soon express enthusiasm for perceiving and exploring the world around them. Research shows that parents' ability to show interest in and empathy for their child's discoveries and feelings is crucial to the child's brain development. Before the age of one, and well before they talk, babies point tiny fingers at wonderful things they see. Bodies move in rhythm to music. Ask a group of four-year-olds "Can you dance?" "Can you sing?" "Can you draw?" and they all say, "Yes! Yes!" Ask twelve-year-olds the same questions, and they will too often say "No, we can't." Such an unnecessary loss has ominous implications for the spiritual, economic, social, and political health of society.
Most abilities observed in creative people are also characteristic of children during interactions with the world around them. What becomes of this extraordinary capacity? According to John Holt, author of 'How Children Fail', "We destroy this capacity above all by making them afraid - afraid of not doing what other people want, of not pleasing, or of making mistakes, of failing, of being wrong. Thus we make them afraid to gamble, afraid to experiment, afraid to try the difficult and unknown."
Feels good to rekindle with an old flame...
Photo taken with my Canon 5d Mark II
50mm f/1.4
"Creativity is like a good fruit, from the trees planted in our mind,
The ones, that have a fertile mind, plant to feed themselves.
The ones, that don't have a fertile mind, are like starving crows,
feeding themselves with the fruits from other creative minds."
-Cristiano Siqueira a.k.a. CrisVector
(Click to enlarge image)
We passed by the MAC cosmetics store at Ala Moana today, and they had these painted models displayed outside their front windows. Pretty cool stuff. Lots of people gathered around and took pictures, myself included... glad I had my camera with me!
Celebrating the Artist
MAC is all about the artist and everything at MAC is built around the idea that anything is possible when self-expression is honored, exalted, allowed to rise to its ultimate aria. This season M·A·C celebrates the idea of the Artist in every shade and stripe…makeup as art form. MAC has selected three individuals who exemplify this idea through both the subjects they choose, and the wildly individual styles and colours used to convey them. Bold, heroic, big; giggly, playful, clever; dramatic, original, abstract: Fall ’09 as seen by Richard Phillips, Maira Kalman, and Marilyn Minter.
More about the artists here.
Photos taken with my Canon 5d Mark II
50mm f/1.4
2D Featuring the art of Dalek at Soho last night was an awesome turn out… amazing art, great music, tons of people and not to mention, lots of booze… it was such a fun night to be out! I’m still recovering from last night, so rather than rambling utter nonsense, here are a few random pictures of the night:
(Click on pictures to enlarge image)
We decided to catch a cab and walk a short distance through Downtown to Soho.
We passed by the alley leading to Mercury Bar and they had all kinds of fun stuff going on.
All kinds of people were out on the prowl...
Soho already bumpin' at 8:30 p.m.
People mingling while checking out Dalek's art...
Dalek's prints + Board Shorts + Contrast Magazine
Kristen and friend
Meeting new people from different parts of the world was fun...
It's starting to get crowded in here...
Sneaking a candid shot here...
WheresZen???
Some rippahs in da flesh...
Lancifer, Ito & Mark... oh, and can't forget Miss Joo Hee over there...
Amazing shit...
I don't know what everyone was talking about... Dalek's not THAT tall...
Landon & Luke with friends... looking fierce!
Still getting packed in here...
Dean-o...
Travis still shows support with his buss up hand... that's dedication!
It's getting hot in here...
Sarah & Jennifer wait patiently in line to get in....
I really wanted to give this guy some money... too bad I didn't have any to give...
Don't even think about jay walking...
Hotel St. mayhem...
Wonder what they were talking about...
This crowd refused to die down...
By this time, we were ready to call it a night as others were just getting started...
Photos taken with my Leica D-Lux 4
If you love Art + Fashion...
Check out my friend in LA ... Matt Bone... such an amazing artist!
Also, check out Nazie's boutique, Flaunt, located in the heart of Beverly Hills! For those of you who aren't in the area, you can make online purchases! P.S. Nazie is a bombshell...
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