Color Journal

Check and re-check! I think Robh is trying to teach us that iteration is part of the design process. I took Design 117 last semester and Design Seminar the semester before that and I think that the biggest thing that I learned was that it is so vitally important to have ideas and a lot of them. That is why we thumbnail and practice drawing so much. The more things that end up on a paper or sketch, the better the quality of our final products.  He also talks about simplifying and then detailing his art. You can read the bottom of the above page and see that he attempted several different compositions before he could find the right design and before he added any color. There are steps to each piece that I am learning to follow. When I go slow and follow the steps that lead to good design then I actually end up with a good design. I really appreciate this section because it is solidifying some really good principles for me. 

Here are several examples of comp studies that I did based on some of Robh Ruppel's work. In these pages he talks about the power of shapes as symbols. Then he talks about a lot of the same things that Gurney explained in his first Color and Light chapter. Ruphel makes the point that we should try to be trying to create as a close to an illusion of reality as we can, and to do that we must capture the correct tones and initial colors of the setting that we are trying to capture. From abstract, to rendering and iterating different thumbnails, to capturing accurate color and light, and on to the final product Robh teaches that the process is just as important as the product. "The journey is more important than the destination." (Have you heard that one before? Haha) I know that he didn't say it but I am sure that Gurney agrees with the idea that in observation the artist still needs to make design choices. Although observation is vital reality does...

James Gurney shares a quote from Jean-Leon Gerome that goes, "When you draw, form is the important thing. But in painting the first thing is to look for the general impression of color." This made me think about the difference between painting and drawing. I have not done much painting, thus I have never thought too much about what would be different between the two mediums of art. However, as  I thought about the different stages of paintings that I have seen other artists do, I can easily remember how they had much more of an impression of form through color than a specific layout of the rendering that a drawing would require. It seems that tradition would have an artist paint outside. Unless you are painting an indoor scene, I got the feeling that Gurney was explaining how the light in a painting is only correct if painted in the same setting that is being portrayed. I like this idea and have been learning the importance of observation as I have been taking ...