Day 1: Sutton

Today was our first day of J-Term and I was eager to start designing and work in the new tinkeria for the first time. I had been searching for inspiration over Winter Break and created two mood boards - one for my diorama and one for my shadow box. Once we arrived at school, we were introduced to the "loose deadlines" and daily schedule. Mr Grisbee also showed us his shadowbox which was very impressive. We even got to see it in the dark when the LED lights are turned on. I really liked how much depth was accomplished and was inspired to do this in my own pieces. 

Our first task was to sketch our ideas so that we could capture the placement of certain elements and experiment with formatting. My first sketch was for my shadow box. This piece creates an image using layered white paper with LED's in the back. I knew I wanted to make a safari/African theme with the traditional animals and scenery. My family was going to travel to Africa this summer but our plans were cancelled because of the pandemic. I sketched a scene that captured a variety of animals, hanging monkeys, a watering hole, a sun, and birds flying in the sky in formation. While I typically prefer art with lots of detail, I found that working with a laser cutter limits the intricacy and size of detail. This will challenge me to create a piece that is complex, despite limited small details. 

My sketch for my shadow box:

I then began my sketch for my diorama. This piece creates an image using layered colored paper (no light). When researching over the break, one design caught my eye. It is an underwater theme that has a topographic element. The further the depth, the deeper color blue. I jumped at this idea and created a sketch with ocean creatures (turtles, dolphins, algae) and mysterious elements (old anchor, mermaid tail). My sketch ended up looking very busy so I decided to enlarge some of the animals to fill the space and erase of the "fluff" that wasn't very meaningful. I am thinking that I will layer different colors of blue paper and will cut the animals within the paper (not glue colored paper). I think this will accomplish a more sophisticated look. The tail in the center be the only element with a warm color (pink, orange, yellow or red). 

My sketch for my diorama: 

In the afternoon, I began designing on Adobe Illustrator. I am definitely quite rusty since I haven't used the program since freshmen year. My notes from the video on the Powerschool assignment suddenly became very helpful. I decided to start with the safari shadow box because I had a clearer vision for this piece. My first artboard had the baboa trees and shrubbery along the bottom. I practiced finding an image, image tracing, expanding, ungrouping, and stroke-ing to create an image I thought worked well. I tried to connect the trees to the shrubbery using Pathfinder but it kept turning the shrubbery into a straight line (?). My next artboard was the hanging vines and monkeys; the third was the giraffes, tree, and another shrubbery layer; the fourth was the watering hole, an elephant, and a hippo (I'm trying to create a ripple in the pool where it is drinking); and the fifth was the sun, clouds, and birds in formation. Tomorrow, I will focus on figuring out how to have less "things hanging by a thread" as well as edit my current layers and a few more layers. My current dimensions are 9" by 7" which includes a 0.5 inch border. 

Current artboards:

To conclude class, we each presented our shadow box/diorama ideas to each other. This was helpful because a lot of us are facing the same challenges or have the same corrections. For example, Aiden's piece had a lot of elements "hanging by a thread" which made me realize that mine did as well. Ultimately, I had a productive first day and am looking forward to continuing my progress and improving my Adobe Illustrator skills.