Caitlin LeCompte
Introductory Blog & Artist Bio
When it comes to digital art and my own appreciation for art, it is important for me to remember why I do it. It can make me upset, uneasy, and on edge, but it also makes me feel like I’m doing something I’m supposed to be doing. Digital art in specific is something that I never even thought about a year ago. But, when I first started using software and things like adobe, it was crazy. It was crazy because it seemed so hard, but it really made my brain work. I love that. I love how digital art forces my brain to work, but once the finished product is done, it looks like an elegant and perfect piece of work. I think about why I even practice digital art because there are so many aspects of it that are incredibly annoying. Then I think about my past work. Like the one time I used AfterEffects to make a brady brunch intro with faces I drew myself.
It’s amazing because the art is digital, but I still have those faces hanging up on my wall in my bedroom. Artwork can be seen anywhere, and it can be in any shape or form. Art can be heard, eaten, seen, sniffed, you name it. This is just my first step into exploring the digital world of art work which is insane to me. I can’t wait to go deeper into the realm of newness and creativity. One thing about me is that I will never cease to try a new thing. I love to try new things because it just broadens my thoughts on the world, in return giving me more access to creativity. These are some of my favorite pieces I have created with digital art, and I’m excited for you to see it.
I also don't want to forget about these insanely cool emojis that I made with Illustrator. They were super fun to make, and actually pretty easy. I just wish I could have made them look more realistic and more "apple-ESC". But other than that I love them and seriously wish that I could use the text ones.
Recently, I made these drawings/paintings on sketch paper. They were for another class project, but I actually really like what came out and how they look. I uploaded the final project to InDesign with Adobe and then converted it to a PDF. It was a pretty simple assignment, but I enjoyed refreshing my brain on how to use InDesign again!
02 portfolio
Reflection
Body Language: Picturing People
I had a hard time focusing because there was so much I wanted to look at and a lot of the pieces caught my eye. I never really hit a wall because I was interested in seeing the details in the pieces and interpreting what they mean. I loved the black and white photo of the man with polka-dot pants because it was so massive and stood out from the rest of the pieces. It definitely surprised me and the details intrigued me. The benefits of looking at a piece of artwork for a long time include decoding hidden messages and challenging your creativity.
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Observation vs. Interpretation
An observation is something that is clearly there, and it’s supposed to be there. An interpretation is something that makes you think deeper- what does that object mean? I wondered how to categorize a comment between the two when looking at Persuasive Prints; the one with the grand ballroom ceiling and people dancing & fighting. I wondered what the tall ceiling meant and why the people were displaying violence.
Analytical Response
The artwork made by Nicholas Africano “The Shadow (I beat this fucker up)” was one of my favorite pieces of art at the museum. (The name is too good to name it anything different). If I could guess, I would think the piece was made as a gift for a friend and the artist made it as a joke or an inside joke. I like it because the painting includes 4 different fragments of each other, featuring a man wearing boxing gloves and his shadow beside him. My interpretation of this piece shows an inner battle with the self, and how you fight your own battles. The shadow represents himself, beside him but the shadow goes missing when the words are “I beat this fucker up” are displayed. This could mean you also fight with yourself but you always need to count on yourself. The painting’s background is a bright yellow which signifies energy and attention, which radiates ‘look at me’ energy.
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Third Project
Our third project focuses on our persona’s, more so maybe how we view the world and what we think about certain ideas and concepts. I think artists go through a lot of thought processes when making their art, but they usually always relate it back to a certain persona based on themselves. Especially when it relates to a piece similar to the exhibits in the CU art museum. The art inspired me to think more creatively about things, and even if it doesn’t really make sense or not what the artist intended, my interpretations are still valid and make the art much more intriguing.
Then & Now
Brady Bunch
Reading Assignment- In Defense of the Poor Image by Hito Steyerl
“In Defense of the Poor Image” by Hito Steyerl is written with a very strong intent about spreading a message. It is an intensely gripping and intriguing topic that the author allows us to grasp and understand. “The Poor Image”, as I understand it, is an image that has been taken and repeatedly copied or subtly changed and pixelated over time. Steyerl does a great job at grasping for readers’ attention and holding it. She uses descriptive words and understanding examples that hold over context and make sense. In the article, she goes into detail about the development of video technology and how it will “jeopardize the elitist position of traditional filmmakers and enable mass film production”, thus creating more and more boring, old, same old same old, poor images. “Like the economy of poor images, imperfect cinema diminishes the distinctions between author and audience and merges life and art. Most of all, its visuality is resolutely compromised: blurred, amateurish, and full of artifacts.” She says this in the middle of the article, proving the point over how individual creativity is by far the most important thing. Poor Images come from a hopeless mind- someone who can’t make something for themselves or even think outside the box. In this class, we are given the chance to explore our creativeness and create something from our selves. I think this is incredibly important because individuals all hold something unique and when they express this, their ideas and self-worth grow. “In Defense of the Poor Image speaks not only of countless transfers and reformattings, but also of the countless people who cared enough about them to convert them over and over again, to add subtitles, reedit, or upload them.” I think this is an important point that Steyerl brings up, the fact that the people who are re-uploading and resharing poor images are the main source of the problem. If there’s one thing I know about myself- it’s that I hate being like everyone else. I find it more exciting and fun to be different- to try new things and share my ideas. I do and say the things that people are too afraid to do. I find it hilarious and exhilarating to see the reactions of people. The article has a functioning point of trying to express the importance of individual creativity and spreading new ideas into the world.