Luna Wisdom

 "The potential content of social photography is nothing less than anything photographable. And when tapping through a photo stresm, we may wonder what happened between the shots” (Jurgenson, 104). I think a lot of photography you see on social media are pictures people take of themselves and their friends. These are the same kind of photos I post on my social media as well. But I do like the thought that any picture you take with the intention of putting on social media or eventually sharing ona  platform is a social photo. So much of photography is taken for the purpose of sharing with other people. Artists nowadays gain popularity mostly through their photographs of their work on social media.

 "Social photos are not primarily about making media but more about sharing eyes. They are about developing and conveying your view, your experience, your imagination" (Jurgenson, 84). I like this quote a lot because I use photos a lot in making art and this quote does a good job of explaining reasons why social photos are different and useful. I love taking photos of my work in different progress stages because it shows what I'm working on in the moment and it allows me to look back and see my process and the ideas behind my finished piece. I also use photos a lot when I'm working. Reference photos are really important to me for getting inspiration and making sure my drawings are proportionally and anatomically correct. Taking pictures of my work also allows me to show what I've done to a much larger group of people than showing the physical work allows.

 "A symbol stands for or represents objects, functions, and process" (Lupton/Phillips, 168). I think every piece of art is a symbol in itself. Certain designs and symbols are often used in a piece to help convey a specific feeling or meaning, but I also like to think of my art and something that symbolizes a part of me. Art has a way of providing a window into what the creator is thinking and feeling and who they are as a person. Even though I often draw things just because I like the way they look, even if they don't have some other meaning to them, but that drawing is still a symbol of myself and my process. I think every time you create you leave a little piece of yourself in that creation and it's important to remember that even the little doodles are important because you took the time to create them.

     This week, I spent some more time trying to deepen the shadows and keep working on the face area I had started coloring earlier. I realized while doing this it was going to be quite difficult to get the colors right if I didn't first establish the background and the light source. For the most part, the background is just a simple dark blue as I want the focus to be on  the woman and the butterfly. I've made a small gradient with lighter blues around the edges of her face and hair closest to the butterfly. I did this because I want it to look like the light is bouncing off her skin and making a soft glow.  "While most of this prep work goes unrecorded, selfies can capture that backstage work: the effort to set the scene" (Jurgenson, 56). The pictures I take for this class aren't selfies but they do show the behind the scenes work. Usually when I post on Instagram, it's finished pieces with maybe a photo or two of the sketch that went into it but for this c

       This week I began coloring. I started by just making out shadows and highlights and slowly shading them in. I also started by coloring the skin first as that's usually what's easiest for me. I prefer to start my drawing this way because I think drawing where shadows and lights are is easier on something with a smoother texture. I also like to do this because when drawing it feels like I'm doing the bottom layer first and then the hair and everything else go on top.      Working on my color palette last week was fun but it felt so great to pick up my colored pencils and work on a drawing and color on illustration board again. I haven't used my colored pencils in awhile so it was nice to get back into it.      On page 25 of this week's reading ( The Social Photo ) there's a line that reads "what is real is only what is photographable, according to the logic of a camera."  I thought of my blog posts when I read this line and especially about the pi

     Drawing was a bit of a struggle for me this past week but I've gotten my illustration to the point where I can begin coloring! Since I was having a difficult time getting into the right state of mind to draw, I ended up spending some time deciding on my coloring palette. I was also looking through some old illustrations and looking specifically at the techniques I used to create them.     I think this ties in very well with this week's theme of nostalgia. Going through my old work and looking at how I've improved and how my style has changed over the years, is always a very enlightening and nostalgic experience for me. Looking at old art allows me to pick out things I like that I'd like to recreate and things I don't like that I want to avoid. One quote I really liked from the reading was "layers allow the designer to treat the image as a collection of assets, a database of possibilities" (Lupton, Phillips, 127). Although my drawings don't have ph