That's right, it is now officially official. I am currently holding my ticket in my hand. I'm going to fuckin' Coachella. Hot damn! My God, though, a $20 ticketmaster convenience charge? I could have gone to a whole other concert for that! I think that hurt more than the actual $170 for the ticket. Ahh, well, it's but a small price for what's to come.
I'm sorry to hear about your troubles so far. And I thought OUR school had administrative issues! Jesus Christ. It almost sounds like they just don't care there. And, I mean, the fucked up class schedules is one thing, but...not getting your studio space? That's really bad. At least you had Hans. And meat spheres. Hmm...donerspheres? That has potential. I think we really should, actually try to make a meat sphere this summer. How much English do people speak there, by the way? Is it pretty easy to communicate, or have you had problems so far?
I'm gonna assume you meant visual organization, not journalism, since I didn't take the latter. So, hmm...the funny thing about Larry's classes is that by the time you get through all the guesswork and doing things over and over, you have a pretty concise list of important points. So, let's see here.
VISUAL ORGANIZATION:
-Large shapes: no form or volume. Should always SPLIT the format. There should be a variation in size, for interest. The format should not be split in half either vertically, horizontally, or diagonally, unless the split is recognized and used for a purpose.
-Large shapes broken into secondary shapes; each secondary shape should divide a large shape in the same manner that the large shapes divided the format.
-Secondaries split into tertiaries, etc. etc.
-Shapes create movement, directing the eye around the page; think of them as arrow shaped, pointing the eye. Consider how the movement of shapes directs. The large shapes should move the eye around the entire format, while secondaries move the eye around in a particular large shape. Movement can be created through mutliple shapes, as well.
-Movement can be created across the format, but it can also be created going back in depth, depending on how volume-oriented the piece is.
-Variation in the shapes (geometric vs. organic) can create interest, depending on which shape is more dominant.
There's more, right? I'm blanking right now. But, now that I'm thinking about it, here's the summary of B&W as Color so far (since it fits so nicely with visual organization):
-Value can be organized initially in two categories: dark and light (or black and white). The proportions of dark & light should not be equal unless for a carefully considered reason by the artist.
-The more prevalent value is called the DOMINANT value, or the NEGATIVE value. The less prevalent value is called the POSITIVE. This means that it usually jumps forward, while the dominant value recedes; in other words, the focal point should be a positive. The more extreme the proportions are (say, 90% one value and 10% the other), the more the positive jumps from the negative. Compositions with more equal value proportions are usually more subtle, in terms of focal point/movement, etc. Chiaroscuro paintings, for example, are dominantly dark with light positives; this makes the points of interest extremely clear.
-The format should be organized so that a shape is created by both the positive and the negative; the positive, however small, should not just be 'floating' in the negative, and the negative should feel like it has a shape, as well - not just an empty space. When everything is organized in shapes (this is where vis org comes handy), it is called the VALUE PATTERN.
-The values should be varied in both size and shape.
-Movement created should always connect similar values together. When the positives are really small in proportion, it is crucial that the movement point one value shape to the next, so the eye doesn't have to make any jumps.
-The eye will enter the piece on the LARGEST positive shape that is touching the edge of the format. Make sure that whichever positive is touching the edge, there isn't a similarly sized positive touching the edge somewhere else; the eye won't know where to enter the format from. It isn't necessarily bad that there isn't any positives touching the edge; just be aware that the eye won't enter the piece, it'll jump into it from wherever the largest positive is.
-The largest positive is NOT necessarily the focal point, it is just the entry point to the piece.
-Each value shape can be organized into another value pattern, much like large shapes/secondary shapes. EXAMPLE: If a piece is dominantly white, with a black shape in it, the black shape can be organized as a dominantly black with white shapes in it.
-Once moving into shades of grey, the same proportion rules apply: There should not be equal proportions of black, white, and grey.
That's as far as we've gotten in the class so far. Okay now for quick stuff from Mark Eanes.
-General to specific
-Searching lines, exploration - it isn't always best to try to make it perfect in the first try
-Pushing and pulling - building up, and erasing/scraping away - only areas of interest need to be fully developed. Pushing/pulling also creates "pentimento", the effects of exploration and building up.
-Pay attention to the speed with which one creates a mark - a slow mark is more accurate, but less expressive.
I'm sure there's a lot more, but it's been entirely assimilated by my brain. If you have more to add to those, I'd definitely like to hear em.
