Category Archives: Construct

Style: Tribal/Aztec

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The style and design world has been taken by storm this summer by tribal and aztec inspired prints, fabrics, and accessories. I have really enjoyed following the trend and have really enjoyed a few in particular. Bri from Designlovefest had a ‘color fest’ post including a tribal tank a few months ago; and Lookbook.nu seems to be all about tribal prints:

From Shoes: (By CHEYSER P.)

To Shorts: (By LUA P.)

To Shirts: (By MOHCINE A.)

So I decided I had to get in on the action, and I designed a tribal/galaxy inspired pattern.

I also gained inspiration from our Geometric board on Pinterest. The tribal patterns that are popular right now are very geometric focused and use various shapes to create the effect.

I loved working on it and actually used AutoCAD for the vector work, then coloured it in using Photoshop.

Tips: Use galaxy images for filling and overlay-creates a great look and enriches the color. Use shadows and layering to help give depth and complexity to the design.

Aquatic Sketches

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One of my goals for this summer – I say “one of” because there were many – was to begin sketching ideas for the art class I am planning to take next semester. For some reason I keep sketching aquatic animals; I guess I just like the movement of these deep sea creatures.

Here are a few tips for those who are sketching with pen. (Pen is one of my favorite mediums because of its clean crisp look.)

1. When shading with pen you obviously can’t just smear it around like graphite. Instead use lines to shade; the closer the lines the darker the shading and vise verse.

2. Don’t be afraid to try out colored pens. This was my first attempt at a colored pen sketch and the color really brings this picture to life. Though it may not be apparent at first glance I also added some peach undertones.

3. Another shading technique in pen drawing is dotting. Speckling your sketch to achieve more depth may take a bit longer, but it definitely pays off in the end!

Pinning: An Art

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Pinterest.com, the new up-and-coming social media site promising to take your reach to infinity and beyond.

Pins from Connecting Four's Pinterest Boards

When done correctly, Pinning can be a powerful tool. (Not to mention, you stumble upon some pretty amazing work. Above are compiled some of my favorite pins from our boards.)

 

Here are some tips on Pinning…
 

1. Start with just a few boards, and make them great. Don’t create thirty boards with few pins and little draw for an audience. Give yourself enough range when thinking of the board theme, so you can make sure you have enough pins. Yet, make your board specific enough to capture a viewer.

2. Stay “on topic” within your boards. Related to the first point, but just another reminder to stay within the board’s theme.

3. Make sure your board cover is representative of the board’s content. This is the first impression of the board, make sure it is something that will bring an audience to the board.

4. Be yourself. Pin what you like, that is the whole idea of pinterest. Showing yourself through your boards will make your boards unique.

 

Here, our Pinterest profile has just a few boards, but with specific themes (and fully populated boards).

How To: Become a pro on Instagram

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I am constantly amazed by the creativity that shows up on my Instagram feed: the textured action shots , surreal scenes, and incredible landscapes.

In a way, Instagram on the iphone has become a strain of the popular analogue “toy cameras” produced by Lomography.

The trick to this hobby is to use a wide range of apps (not solely instagram) on your phone to get your image just right.

Michael Headrick's Instagrams

To get the most out of your iphone (or android smart phone), here are some apps to really open up this world of photography:

Great photo editing iphone apps.
1. D-Series 2. Art Studio 3. Filter Mania 2 4. Instagram 5. PuddingCam 6. Pixlr-o-matic

D-Series and PuddingCam are both camera applications that have a wide range of filters, and include their own options like image size, resolution, coloring, exposure, and more.

Filter Mania 2 is a bit of a cheesy app. They have many filters for photo processing, but most of them are almost cartoon-ish. However, they can be modified with the luminosity and opacity functions on the app.

My favorite are Pixlr-o-matic and of course, Instagram. Pixlr-o-matic has more freedom, but doesn’t have the strong social media aspect that Instagram has created.

Lastly, Art Studio is an interesting app. The main function is for painting and drawing, but has the capability to load images and gives freedom like blending options. This is an almost photoshop-like app, which you can use to layer images and do more detailed work.

Here are some examples and tips:

These three images were created using a variety of Instagram, Pixlr-o-matic, and Filter Mania 2.

You can add more a more graphic design look with Filter Mania 2, in the top image (the opaque circles and added colors).

Use these textures give your photos a bit of depth and some color interest factor.


The three above were created with Instagram and ArtStudio. All three are layered images.

This adds an interesting aspect to any image. The different layering and blending options utilizes the light and contrast in multiple images to give it a truly unique look.

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Lastly: Use Instagram to add the finishing touches (color, contrast and blur) and share with the world!

The Learning Process and a T-Shirt

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You know, this image isn’t about growing. It isn’t about changing. Nothing too deep.
This is just my attempt to make something better.
The process of refinement.
The voyage toward new possibilities.
Starting with the realization that you always have room to grow, to change, and to think deeper.

Resurrected Ideas (But maybe just for these 5 minutes)

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I felt a mixture of nostalgia and embarrassment as I went through my middle school sketchbook yesterday.  But in some ways these forgotten ideas and simple sketches have the power of suggestion for the future.

 

It is powerful to review the old and make revisions.

But it’s also powerful to realize, maybe some things in the past should be left there.

Six Piece Style Collection

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Reporting from Texas here: I am having a hard time believing that I’m actually back in America again after two years! When I returned I discovered that my grandmother had her cave-of-a-laundry-room transformed into a delightfully styled one! I was so inspired with the style and all the individual pieces that I just had to share some of the pictures!

1. A adorable Spoon Fork painting that my grandmother found at a antique market (antique markets have some serious hidden treasures!)
2. A framed vintage paper doll – one of five framed in her laundry room. Love it!
3. A little wooden desk with a slide up cover
4. (Just had to take a picture of this) Uniquely shaped wooden light switch cover (none of that cheapy plastic stuff!)
5. A little straw hat that was hiding behind the door
6. Old wicker basket





iphone Pictures/Spring Trips!

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Here are some pictures of what’s been happening lately.

Each spring our school provides a class trip to different parts of China, on these trip we sight see, experience Chinese culture, and eat a ton of Chinese traditional foods. The time has come once again for each class to head out on their Spring Trip. So, to make sure I am fully prepared, I went shopping today for some of my favorite snacks to bring along – as a back up, if you know what I mean!  Snacks are a definite must when going on spring trip – to quote myself, “a trip is not a trip without food”. I am so excited to have the oppertunity to visit NanJing, a city in China regarded as one of the most famous cities in China because of it’s extensive history.  This ancient city was actually the Northern capital of China and later was attacked by the Japanese in WWII. I’m anxious to discover the adventures NanJing holds for me. Wish me luck on my travels!

My Little Brown Pocketbook

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My little brown pocketbook traveled over 680 miles, from ShangHai to Tianjin China, before it came to me as a gift. For many months I disregarded it’s small brown pages, however one day, when I was feeling especially artistic, I started scribbling a few designs in it. I found that brown paper coupled with black pen gives the whole drawing a new, interesting feel. I am extremely pleased with how my sketches have turned out! Below is a gif of a few of the pages in my little pocket sketch book! Enjoy~

PS: If you enjoyed perusing my little brown notebook as much as I’ve enjoyed filling it’s pages, please leave a comment and I’ll try to upload some more soon!