It's Gerard's World
School: Kingsborough community college
Professor: Valerie S.
Student: Gerard G.
Course Name: Illustration & Writing Intensive
Fall 2014
From: : September 08, 2014 to December 15, 2014
Course Description:
Basic concepts and skills of illustration including drawing, painting and various media. Acquiring illustration techniques appropriate for the field of visual communication and the development of a portfolio.
Hansel and Gretel
Hansel and Gretel are two young children who lived with their father and stepmother. The father and the stepmother were always fighting over the children. The stepmother wanted the children out of their house but the father wanted them to stay. The stepmother wanted the father to take them to the forest and leave them there alone. One time Hansel overheard them fight. Hansel filled his pocket with pebbles. When the father walked the children to the forest, Hansel dropped pebbles on the grass. The father left the children alone in the forest. The day progressed into the night. The forest became dark and the only light was from the moon. Gretel was scared. Hansel comforted her. They tried to find their way back home. With the help of the moonlight, they were able to see the pebble trail that Hansel made. They were able to find the way and were back home in the morning. With the stepmother's demand, the father took the children back to the forest and left them there alone.
In the forest, the children did not have food; were cold, afraid, and lost. The forest was dark at night and dangerous. They huddled each other at the foot of a tree to keep themselves warm. Hansel comforted and encouraged Gretel whenever she was afraid. They supported each other. They were hungry, cold, afraid and lost. They wandered hungry. They stumbled into a chocolate house. They were happy, ate and enjoyed the chocolate till someone, a witch, opened the door and invited them inside the house. When they were in, the witch locked Hansel in a cage to fatten him up and to be roasted. She told Gretel to do household. The witch checked daily on Hansel's arm if he has fattened enough to be roasted. However, she did not know that what she was checking was a chicken bone that Gretel gave Hansel and not his arm. The witch had poor eyesight. Frustrated that Hansel was not gaining weight, she told Gretel to turn on and heat the oven. When Gretel was not able to do it, the witch tried to check the inside of the oven. While she was checking the heat, Gretel pushed her in and locked her inside the oven; then ran to Hansel and unlocked him free from the cage.
They stayed a few days in the witch's house and enjoyed the chocolate. While eating, they ran into a chocolate egg filled with casket full of gold coins. On the second day, they tried to find their way back home. To their surprise, they saw their father coming towards them with the news that their stepmother died. They were very happy and hugged one another.
With the stepmother gone and the treasure the children found, the three went back home happy and the father did not have to work anymore.
The story is about evil, survival and heroism. Evil does not prevail. The stepmother and the witch were both evil. Both died. Survival is possible with wit and encouragement. The children survived in the forest with their wit and encouragement to one another: Hansel made pebble trail; and Gretel with chicken bone and tricking the witch to check the heat of the oven; Hansel and Gretel encouraged each other to overcome the odds.
Both children are heroes. Both are courageous and are willing to risk their lives for the other. However, Hansel is more daring, fearless, and willing to risk his life for his sister. He provided comfort and encouragement to his sister whenever she was afraid; and willing to risk his life to help his sister.
The Pepper Party
Characters:
Mr Pepper Father
Mrs Pepper Mother
Lamp Son
Vase Daughter
Mr Dog Guest
Mrs Pig Guest
Setting: The Pepper's House
The Pepper Family planned a party. They invited Mr Dog and Mrs Pig.
The Peppers prepared for the party. They cooked and cleaned.
Mr Pepper: "I will clean the house."
Mrs Pepper: "I will cook. I will cook bone for Mr Dog and vegetables for
Mrs Pig."
Lamp "I will change my light bulb with a new and bright one."
Vase "I will clean my crystal so that I will be bright and sparking."
After they were done with the preparation, the Pepper Family waited for their guests by their window. When they saw Mr Dog and Mrs Pig coming, they said:
Mrs Pepper "WOW!!! Mrs Pig is so huge and fat. She could hardly move and
walk. She might not fit thru the door."
Mr Pepper "MY GOD!!! Mr dog is so roudy. He kept jumping and running."
Lamp "Let me turn my light on so they can see everything clearly and will not bump to anything."
Vase "I will stay on the side so they will have enough room."
When Mr Dog and Mrs Pig entered the house, they said:
Mr Dog "The food smells good. It makes me hungry."
Mrs Pig " Everybody looks good. Lamp is so bright. Vase is glittering."
At the party, Mr Dog and Mrs Pig danced, jumped and run. Both had fun.
The Pepper Family were not happy. Nobody danced to either of them.
Mrs Pepper "Looking at both of them dance makes me very tired."
Mr Pepper "Mrs Pig is huge. I was afraid she would crush me down."
Lamp "I felt dizzy watching Mr Dog jumped and run fast around the house and Mrs Pig wabling."
Vase "Mrs Pig knocked me down. I am glad I did not break. I am happy the party is over."
The Creature Within
My hero is Nina Davuluri, Miss America 2014. She is from Syracus, New York. She is of Indian descent - migrant from India. Her platform was celebrating diversity with cultural tolerance. She tried to bridge the gap between cultural diversities through her role and work as Miss America.
As Miss America, she traveled the entire United States. She met people of different ethnicity and national descent; people representing different International and local Agencies and Organizations. She projected her platform to all she came in contact with. Her platform was tested time and time again. She stayed strong and true to herself despite all obstacles and the negative press. For example, right after Mallory Miss America 2013, placed the crown on her, fellow New Yorkers twitted and exploded with negative comments. One twitter user said, "9/11 was only four days ago and she gets Miss America." In response, Nina twitted "I am an American with Indian descent."
What made Nina Davuluri my hero? Like the American Eagle up in the sky, she stood up with confidence and elegance not only for herself but for other Americans and individuals of different background and ethnicities and for children of immigrants like me. She expressed herself and her belief confidently from the very start of the Miss America 2014 Pageant. During the Question and Answer portion of the Pageant, she said, "I always view Miss America as the girl next door. That girl is evolving and will not be who she is now or ten years down the road."
The American Eagle are migratory birds. They migrate to other countries as far as Asia. They overcome all the odds of migration over canyons, mountains, body of waters and all elements in strange foreign lands. They cross countries with strength and elegance of flight. The American Eagle charms as it passes overhead with the feathers at the tip of its wing and widely separated and its short tail fanned open flying elegantly and gracefully just like Nina, when she charmed the judges with her grace in her performance of a fusion of Bharat Natyan and a Bollywood dance, dancing bare foot with anklet bells. Their beauty and elegance made both the American Eagle and Nina win national recognition: the National Bird of the United States of America and Miss America 2014, respectively.
Migration is not foreign to both of them as well as with me.
Hybrid M-Animal CD Cover
A cat and a bear are the animals I had chosen to represent the musical artist, Taylor Swift. because they are unique in their own particular way. The cat is a domestic animal, gentle, loveable and slow to anger. The bear is an aggressive and ferocious wild animal.
Like the cat, Taylor is domestic in the sense that she nurtured her talent within her own backyard as a country singer. She is willing to pound the pavement gently like the cat, but ferocious like the bear. Hittting the pavement at an early age, she grew into a magnificent flower that started in the local theaters in Nashville to the hassle and bustle of New York.
Her journey was not easy. Taylor went to the motion of stardom at a very early age.
At a time where the young queens and teens are coming to age, when they started to know themselves as human, they needed somebody to relate to. Taylor is the vehicle to them. because she is going through the exact motions that they are going through. For example, when she found fame in the mainstream world, she could have kept her relationships private. Instead, she used her fame and talent to let go of her pain thru her songs with dignity and class in all her performances as well as in the marketing of her talent, like a cat and a bear. Taylor writes and sings her songs for and to her fans. She relates to them: their dreams and pains.
Like the bear and the cat, Taylor is vulnerable to the dangers in her environment. However, she overcomes them aggressively and ferociously when called for. She writes and sings her songs for and to her fans. She relates to their dreams and pains as she did in her songs "We Will Never Get back Together" and "Shake It Off."
Scratchboard is the medium used on which the M-Animal image is illustrated on. The black scratchboard created a striking dramatic background and contrast on the white scratched image in the same manner as when the background is reversed to white.
Final Reflective Statement
In the Writing Intensive program I was pushed to my limit to my both loves: illustration and writing. I never thought of a format combining the two. Sometimes my visual voice and ideas come very easily. Other times they come extremely difficult especially when I have to consider writing about it as well. A good example of this is "The Creature Within" project. This was an easy project. I was interested and researched on the character in the past so my ideas for the project came very easy for me. The Project that I had some difficulty is the M-animal CD Cover. I had a very limited knowledge of the artist, Taylor Swift, and her songs. It took me a while to have a visual voice of an image of her in two animals with traits and characteristic similar to her. It was only after I researched on her background and personality as a budding artist, a ferocious honest artist with class to survive in her environment, that I matched her with the cat and the bear.
I also found that the hardest part of this course is the daybook because I have to use both illustration and narrative. Illustration- I approach my work by drawing in my daybook my imaginations on objects that caught my attention. I also use TV shows for ideas and imaginations; then I draw everything I have in my mind in my daybook. The hard part in the daybook is keeping up every day with the typing and writing down my narrative, which is limited by my handicapping condition.
Out of the six assignments I was presented with, "Hansel and Gretel" is difficult because I felt like I did not do this famous children story justice to create an illustration of heroism in the characters that will have an impact and appeal to the children's imaginations. I illustrated Hansel and Gretel with their back turned to the viewer.
The projects "Five Household Objects" and "Animated Household Objects" made me completely out of ideas until my Mom's trivets caught my attention with my dog beside me while I was searching for ideas around the house. I started picking-up objects from room to room in my house on which I can create illustrations that are children friendly. I choose my dog, my piggy bank, my lampshade, my Mom's salt and pepper shaker and vase. The hard part of the assignment was to animate these five characters while maintaining their individuality. I focused on the personality of my dog's hyperactivity, the humongous size of my piggy bank, the fragility
of the lampshade and the vase and the people's reaction to the hot taste of pepper to animate these household objects in a party setting.
"The Creature Within" (Portrait of a Hero) was an easy project. After I identified my hero and the animal which will represent her, I researched on them. After that, ideas and visual voices on my illustration came very easy. The illustration of the visual ideas just flow smoothly to its completion. The other reason that made the project easy is that I could relate to my hero.
"Mini-paper 2" (What I am most afraid of). When I did this Mini write, I immediately thought of the events that shaped me in my life: the ugliness of the devil in the world. I portrayed the devil in my illustration as an ugly creature with wings, green eyes and long nails.
"Exquisite Corpse Game" Collaborative Game). The game was fun. The idea came to me instantly. When I had the idea of drawing my Mom, I did not waste a moment. I drew her and colored her purple, her favorite color. What made this game fun and unique is the eight lines poetry, which I love to do on my spare time. The only difficulty I had in this project is the anticipation on the effect of the drawing the next person on my design. I was imagining myself in the real world as a graphic designer collaborating with other designers with different ideas and find a happy medium.
"M-Animal CD Cover" - The difficult part of this project is when I chose to design an artist that I know very little about. I did not follow her career as much as I did the Miss America. My limited knowledge about my artist set me back a couple of days from writing a narrative on her. I researched on her and her career and on the animals that have lot similarities of her traits. The Polar bear and the cat match her aggressive and soft traits, respectively. I was excited and happy to have chosen the scratchboard as my medium in my illustration. It brought a dramatic black and white effect, both on the original and reverse copy of the illustration.
The Course, Illustration Art 68, gave me an opportunity to learn and gain knowledge of traditional illustration techniques. I like most the frottage, scratchboard and the Exquisite Corpse. The frottage gives you a 3D effect from 2D by just rubbing pencil over paper. This technique is partially used in my "Creature Within" project. The scratchboard is a good medium for white and black solid background, original and reverse copy of the illustration. The scratched design can be colored. The Exquisite Corpse is a piece of art which emerged from the collaborative ideas of the participating artists. It is an art work full of design surprises.
A story or a message can be communicated in a capsule thru illustration. The color, medium and techniques are the tools of the artist to facilitate the creation of an illustration that will convey the message/story clearly and effectively and evoke the imagination of the viewer. A message/story can be illustrated. Illustration can convey message/story. Illustration can evoke ideas and imaginations. These are what I learned in this Course.