John 15:9

So, today is Valentine's day.
Time for the CLASSIC and totally PREDICTABLE post on the annual V-day.
Cue bragging (sorry y'all)
About a week ago, I got a package from my daddy :)  Chocolate covered strawberries!  Yummy :)  I've enjoyed them slowly—sharing... occasionally, lol.  Finished them off today

Today, I completely forgot about Valentine's day, until I stepped out my door on the way to the bathroom (tmi, I know) and sleepily noticed a small note with a chocolate sucker on it from one of my dear housemates :)  very sweet, and the card was darling.
Now, off to class—to find this lovely rose and a note from my forever valentine—I mean JESUS of course ;)  With the help of Melodie, He reminded us how loved we are, making the class period much more enjoyable

 The rest of the day went pretty well—I got a "Happy Valentine's Day" text from my Supermanman after he got out of school :) He later sent me a text to vent about yucky homework, only to call me a few minutes later... to ask where I was...?
"Wait...? Where are YOU?!"
 Yep, Todd came all the way to the Arborshire to see me, and not just that—he brought me an entire vase of CHOCOLATE! And not just any chocolate, Reese chocolate—yummmmmmy

Not at all what I expected to happen today, but it was so great—thank you to everyone who gave me a hug or provided encouragement.
And of course, day was MADE when I got to spend a few hours with my very favorite young man :)  A very, very good day.

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Senior Art Show—Advertising

*Drum roll, please*

[Just in case you did not catch on from previous posts]
I am officially having a senior show!  The art show is the goal of art students at Spring Arbor University, but it has been an especially difficult run for me because I have two different concentrations (not to say that it doesn't happen, but within a 4 year block, it is difficult).

Along with two other students, I will be filling a portion of the gallery (somewhere between 35 and 40 pieces) and preparing for the opening reception to take place on March 4th, 2012.  Before the opening, I will have to tweak and complete, mat, frame and hang each piece individually.  Needless to say, it has been a stressful few weeks (since I did not know I was going to have a show until the 30th of January!)

Along with getting those pieces together, I also needed to create a poster and postcard design to advertise the show, as well as keep up on other homework, work related things, write an artist statement and sleep—not to mention my delightful blog.  It has been a very busy time!

Anyway, here is my poster design :)  I don't have a single piece that really sums up my show because of my two concentrations (not to mention, graphic design being so broad in and of itself), so I came up with this idea to translate both emphasis for me.
Sometimes the poster will be hung in one direction: (emphasizing my graphic design)

And sometimes, in the other: (emphasizing my illustrations)

Thus allowing both of my strengths to be displayed, and hopefully to create some real interest :) We'll see how well they work!  Thoughts? (unfortunately I posted one of the older ones—in the final addition, the typographic portrait read better on the left side, but my flash drive is on the other side of the room and I'm honestly too lazy to go get it right now!)

The opening reception is fast approaching—I hope to see you all there!

Oh, and remember me and my craziness in your prayers when you get a chance :) Thanks all!

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Doodles in Chapel

We had a pretty good chapel speaker today.  Really challenged us to get out of our comfort zones, and to get the idea that the "mission field" is only in the wilderness out of our head—Urban ministries is a mission field that is just as noble.  Christians are constantly on the mission field.  This is not our home, and we should seek to share with people whenever there is an opportunity!  We should live intentionally, and be open to what God can do in our lives—He's a tricky one :)

Anyway, he had a very interesting face... kinda sad and... old :)  I loved it, so I drew him 3 times (caricatures each time), haha
Not that he wasn't good, I actually really enjoyed listening, he had a good sense of humor and  some great stuff to say—but he also had a great face.

Obviously, I drew this one over my sketches on type layouts for my art show poster... oops!  Enjoy

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Art Show Progress

If you don't know that I'm a list person... then, you don't know me very well! lol
So I have a master list for the art show and all the craziness that comes with it—it is my key to survival over the next few weeks.
Everything is white/gray when it is unfinished, yellow when printed, and green/blue when I finally finish it (so a random blue square could mean that I have the frame or the glass, but nothing else, an entire blue/green line means a piece is completely done!)

Here is a picture of my list about a week ago:

And here is my list TODAY:

YAY for progress!  I wore blue today in honor of all the blue highlighter going around! haha Hopefully I can kick out these last pieces and start working on my new projects :D
(and catching up on all the homework I haven't done while matting and framing... :/

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Motivational Monday... on Tuesday!

oops, forgot my Monday post...

okay, so I kinda decided that video-chatting with Superman and comparing ring-tones would be much more educational and beneficial for me.

So if you haven't seen the College for Creative Studies new posters, check them OUT!
Super funny!

It's alright mom and dad, you tried ;)

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Progress

Cell phone photo, but you can still see some of my mock ups!  Here are the book covers that are going to be in my show :D  I just printed the last one yesterday and it's super cool :)  After seeing them on the computer for so long, it's really neat to have it look like a REAL BOOK!

Now I just need to finish my other mock ups and all of the mating/framing that i need to do :/
But it's coming along nicely—and I have wonderful friends and family who help out a lot!  Mom is bringing me glass and mat board (because the store here is out of black! And has been for three weeks! RUDE), and Beej is helping me to frame later today so that it won't take me as long :) YAY

God is good, and has blessed me so much :}

ps. Super Awesome Fiancee surprised me and came to visit yesterday, even though he was in a hurry to get from SCS work to SBC work, and I am out of the way :)  All because the day before had been yuck for me
Double yay!

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Motivational Mondays

Let's face it, Mondays can be hard for everyone.  So I am going to try and post some of my personal motivation on those days when any form of motivation is hard to come by (which of course, means I have to find it every week, lol).  It's basically a sick, twisted, wonderfully sneaky plan that I have devised against myself.  We'll see if I win or not...

For this week, here's a poster design I found—it's a series (this being the second) that is pretty witty.  Though I don't agree with every statement entirely, I found it pretty humorous :)

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From Illustration To Cover

Here is the book cover that I've been working on (title/author is a real book that I borrowed for my idea—I thought her title was hilarious).  There are still a few color things that I might change—specifically with the author's name, I have been going back and forth with what color to make that stripe...

Anyway, this piece will be featured in my senior show! YAY
But because I"m having a senior show... I need to get back to work... NOW!

Sneak Peek

Here's a sneak peek at a book cover design that I'm working on :)

 

It's for a devotional book lamenting the struggles of living up to the standards of a Proverbs 31 ideal.
Don't get me wrong, I'm not against the "Proverbs 31" concept at all—I'm not exactly a feminist I confess—but, let's face it girls, it's a hard standard to live up to.  Even harder if we get mixed up in "the world's" standards and forget about what's really important: Following God fully.

Feedback welcome—it's an ink illustration that I painted in a water-color style after scanning it into the computer.

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More Typographic Play

After posting my potential Tshirt design for the Arborshire, I was asked to draw up something similar for SBC if the school ended up going with a different design.  Unfortunately, I have no idea if the admissions team will select my design, and I will not find out until the end of the month—if then.  So I started to play in a different way to at least keep the juices flowing :)

I saw a different type style while researching and thought I would run with it.  Here's the result:

 

I like it, but mostly because I had fun with it—especially adding "Fred the Buoy" and the A-frame into the mix! :)

Even if 'the boss' does not want to use this design, I should be able to use it for my Advanced portfolio, so I don't regret the time spent in the least!

Feedback welcome—readability? It's always hard for me to know for sure sometimes.  After all, I should be able to read my own writing!