I wanted to try directly re-creating past collages I did by hand via Photoshop. It gave me a chance to directly compare the process of manual vs digital collaging and was really interesting to compare the two experiences (as well as the final results in both cases). A pro for the digital collage is color clarity is certainly better in looking at the piece, though there still remains the question of the quality of the image when printing it out.  Also, I don’t have to worry too much about the technical issues of cutting things out to have it no fit and then having to reprint the same image multiple times to make it fit. But I also find that that struggle in collage-making allows for further problem solving that does not come up the same way using digital means.

Original Collage on top vs Digital collage on bottom

Original Collage on top vs Digital collage on bottom

Original Collage on top vs Digital collage on bottom

Original Collage on top vs Digital collage on bottom

I also ended up creating this other piece digitally, inspired by the work above. I had wanted to try this before, but physically cutting the leaves to create dimension between the nature and walls had proved to difficult.

The first one is by far my favorite and based off of a previous (failed) attempt at inserting the pagoda into the Co-Op building setting

Here is my previous attempt at the pagoda/Co-op combination. I didn’t like the positioning of the pagoda or the coloring/lighting of the picture.

This past week I was in a car accident that put me out of work for two days. As a result, I wasn’t able to spend as much time as I had wanted on my artwork. I’m planning this week on catching up with some more collages (in particular going back to physical collaging). I also thing it may be interesting to to do of the same collage, with one as a digital and one as a physical, and compare them to see how the process can work out for each.

This week was a really tough week for me, both personally and at work. I’ve been feeling especially depressed recently and overwhelmed and I feel like it really affected me in my art-making as well. I ended up also re-visiting one of the collages I did last week, putting in the cutout from it on the top of it and I’m not really sure how I feel about it. This time next week I will be in Japan, and that thought really has been what is getting me through the week (as such it really controlled the imagery I used this week). If I can before I leave, I want to try revisiting the third picture- the concept of the torii gate in the hall I like, but the execution of it was poorly done.

I also found some cutouts from a picture and some paper that has drips of paint and ink on it and just thought the visuals on it were pretty interesting to look at.

I know that New Paltz is on Spring Break now, but I’m trying to create more works right now before I go away in April with no internet access or way to continually make art while I’m in Japan. Here are some current things in working on, as well as two glitches that happened thanks to my printer

  

This week, I started with the idea of again combing the two places of my work and Colorado, but as the says went on, I found myself going back more to what I was doing before. I was ultimately inspired by the barred window study in my sketchbook to take that similar idea of the drips with some sort of barrier, but enlarge it (in this case, on a 16 in x 24 in canvas). This was also a good chance for me to experiment again with transferring images on a larger scale. Let me just say right now, rubbing off images that large takes a lot longer than I anticipated (like 2 hours per canvas). I also tried then working on top of the transferred image (unfortunately it was still damp when I did that so it turned out a bit splotchy)

This past week I was in Colorado on vacation and also searching out possibly moving out there, looking at different towns, cities, and neighborhoods. Being away, I was not able to bring all of my materials with me- rather I only had my laptop with me, so my works this week are all digital. As I went around different parts of Colorado, I documented everything around me and consistently found myself comparing it to everything back in New York and also felt an escape from the everyday chaos I feel, whether it is at work, driving to/from work, or everyday life. While I may not be looking forward to actually going back to work this coming week, I really look forward to see what kind of artwork comes out of my feelings of being back and remembering the feeling of calm/peace I felt while I was away.

This first one was done on the plane ride to Colorado- I thought I was simply playing around with different Photoshop tools, but looking at it closer, it definitely tells the viewer how I feel about the place I currently am at.