Aesthetic Web Solutions

A lot of great things have been happening over the last month, which are in need of an update.  I landed a job at Aesthetic Web Solutions as the lead Graphic Designer and Creative Director.  It is a small company that is quickly expanding, so it has been good to get my feet wet.  We recently launched our new and improved website so check it out sometime.  I've also taken on 2 web design projects this week and some graphic related work as well at Aeweb, so it's starting to get hectic. Okay, back to work! Cheers.

Great Networking Opportunity

To all my friends who love and want to network:

We are launching BNI’s newest business referral exchange chapter, BNI Professional Excellence, Ancaster and I’d like to invite you to attend our launch event. BNI is the largest referral exchange organization in the world. Last year, BNI members worldwide generated $3.3 billion dollars for each other. Join us and see if the BNI referral marketing system can help grow your business this year.

This event is a terrific opportunity for you to meet the chapter members and network with local business people. Please bring lots of business cards and let me know, by return email, if you’ll be attending. The RSVP deadline is May 3, 2013.

If you have any questions or would like to hear more details about the event, please let me know!!

Sincerely,

Lina

Seventh Inning Stretch!

I am within the final stretch of school, which when complete, I can officially be called a Graphic Designer (well, after summer's graduation at least). Today I am uploading a presentation I made which contains some of my work that was created over the term. This particular book features a pocket folder (dieline) design, notebook, notepads, and business cards. There is a theme among the entire set which includes lots of colour and contrast. The overall style was inspired by many industrial tracings and drawings I have seen in books and on the web.   (As an aside: Go Jays Go!)

Portfolio Updates

Busy as a bee, but here is a sample of some of the work I have put together for school thus far. Enjoy!

That's a Wrap

Finishing up my drawing class.  We worked on shading and overall composition of a still life.
I feel much more confident with my illustrations and my technique.

Learning how to shade 

Overall composition

Article: 10 Tips to Become More Creative

I regularly check a few blogs and sites to stay up-to-date on life things ...well, mostly design things.  But there isn't enough time in the day to read on end.  Therefore, I allot a certain amount of time per day/week to read these articles once I post them on twitter for myself. I find that this can be really helpful in gaining inspiration when I feel as though I need a boost.

With that said, this was delivered to my inbox this morning: 10 Tips to Become More Creative.
And with that I say, "go out and get active" (at least that is what is written on my yoga mat).  If you have a favourite blog/site/article please share!

Live the Language

I have always been enamored by foreign languages and experiencing different cultures, which is why I immediately fell in love with the post I saw on Abduzeedo (a site I frequent).  This particular topic featured Live the Languge videos by Education First (more specifically, directed by a guy named Albin Holmqvist - he has some pretty cool videos on vimeo).  They serve as great marketing tools for EF.  Think about that the next time you design something: how to market it.  Anyway, here's one of my favourites.  I particularly like the different typography and the way the video is cut.  Enjoy!

 

Work it out!

Recently I was asked to write an article for the site Work Your Art.  I chose to write about the importance of gaining someone's interest and maintaining interest in your art.

Take some time and check it out when you get a chance. Thanks!

Just Keep Swimming

Class 4

Here are a few samples from my drawing class.  We are learning how to properly contour and depict depth by visualizing static and dynamic planes.  I can tell that I am progressing as I could barely even get something down on my sheet in the first class. The beginning felt quite arduous and frustrating, but I'm getting the hang of it now!

Class 4

Class 5

Some of my design work..

Here is a sample of some of the designs I made last year. Enjoy!

Hoot, Hoot!

Daiva wants a hoot, so I'm giving her a hoot (and to all my other owl lovers!).

Eden the Owl

Artsy Fartsy

Tonight I was feeling a little "artsy fartsy".  Apologies for the poor quality.  Photos taken with my phone.

Back to School

At work I'm constantly put into a position where I have to draw something freehand.  This has been a constant struggle for me because I have come to the point where I can't hide my poor drawing skills no more.  Instead of drawing a mockup, I take notes.  I find that with a drawing tablet it is different.  I get to use a bunch of tools to perfect that straight line or undo something easily with the push of a button when I make a mistake.  But this is freehand drawing ...yikes.

Alas! I have found a solution to my problem!  I have enrolled myself into a night classes for people who want to draw at the local art school.  I know I probably won't become the next Picasso or Cezanne but I'm hoping that my skill will improve.  Tonight was my first night.  Well, like any new skill that you want to pick up, you can imagine that it takes time and patience.  And for me, this may require a lot of it.  The instructor had us draw a still life scene, which of course no one could finish because we were still trying to master the technique he quickly taught us.  But this I find comforting.  I am not the only one who struggles with freehand.  Hopefully my time, patience, and practice will pay off. Wish me luck!

Is it Art or a Joke?

The Fountain (1917), a "readymade" sculpture

Last night I bought a book called What Are You Looking At? by Will Gompertz.  Gompertz is a BBC Arts Editor, prior director at the Tate Gallery, and probably the world's first art history stand-up comedian.  His deep interest in modern art is what grounds the base of this book; however, it is written in a non-pretentious way that will give us the knowledge to decide whether we think a particular piece of art is good.  A couple chapters in and I'm already laughing.

One of his first stories tells us about the history of how Marcel Duchamp's famous "readymade" sculpture The Fountain came into existence.  You know, it's that sculpture which is in fact a urinal that has been laid on its back.  The gist of it is that Duchamp and two of his friends walked into a plumbing store in New York and bought this urinal.  Although his friends laughed at the thought, Duchamp was nothing but thought.  After he brought the piece back to his studio, he painted the disguise R. Mutt 1917 (as opposed to his real name) onto it.  His intent was to enter it into the 1917 Independents Exhibition (America's largest modern art show), which was organized by the Society of Independent Artists ("a group of free-thinking, forward-looking intellectuals who were making a stand against what they perceived to be the National Academy of Design's conservative and stifling attitude to modern art").  However, long story short, even these "free-thinkers" thought it was too much of a stretch to exhibit what was in essence — a urinal.  They did not exhibit the sculpture and we do not know what happened to it, to this day.  Yet, there are 15 copies being exhibited in galleries and museums today.

However, the point that Duchamp wanted to make was that if you were an artist and you paid money to be a member of the Society of Independent Artists then your work should be exhibited.  I like what Gompertz says when he writes "the conservatives won the battle, but as we now know, spectacularly lost the war."  Although Duchamp's (or I should say, R. Mutt's) piece was seen as too offensive to the board, it has become revered to this day.  Who would of thought? A urinal.  The overall concept of this fountain influenced many art movements, which includes Dadaism, Surrealism, Expressionism, Pop Art, and Conceptualism.  I'm not going to tell you whether to believe that this story is bunk or pure genius, but I highly recommend checking out this book of Gompertz'.  He has some pretty insightful (and comedic) views on the whole thing.

A Short (but Sweet!) Message

Happy 2013! Today marks day three without a voice due to an amazing New Years in NYC, but luckily that has not stopped me from writing.  It is going to be a busy month with school, work, freelancing, and art classes on the side, but I am hoping to keep you (personal shout out to Danielle) up to speed with what I am working on in the new year.  Cheers!

Some photo highlights from the Christmas break include a trip up to the cottage.

Tevukas is the Ultimate Raptors Fan

Jump shot! Evident that we're all into basketball 

Another Tutorial, Another Blog ...Geometric Vector Shapes

So it seems that I do like doing online tutorials.  Who'd of thunk?  This one is a geometric shape tutorial that I did last week.  I tried to base it on a face that is somewhat symmetrical to make it a little easier for myself.  Can you guess who it's supposed to be?

As an aside, I post a number of tutorials and links to graphic finds on my twitter feed (@linatirilis).  If you get a chance to follow, there is a bunch of cool stuff you can check out.

Did you guess Obama? (Haha, I tried)

A Pop of Art

I am fascinated by the pop art style that Roy Lichtenstein does.  For those who are unfamiliar with Lichtenstein's work, he was heavily influenced by comic book styles and popular advertising, and uses retro halftone effects in his works.  I wanted to get that pop art style too, so I did a tutorial that I found online.  The first two images below are a result of the tutorial, while the last image is a result of playing with a drawing tablet, masking, and the colour halftone effect (which can be found under the Filter > Pixelate tab in Photoshop).

Greta Garbo

Elizabeth Taylor

Inspired by an image I saw on Pinterest

West Indies Photography

I just returned from a wonderful trip with my family to Saint Lucia. Out of the zillion photos I took, here are a couple that I think turned out okay.

 

 

 

Gradient Mesh Tool

This week I learned how to use the gradient mesh tool in Illustrator (Thanks Kai ...and online tutorials). In simple terms, a gradient is a blend of colours and a mesh is a grid that lets you construct a particular 3D shape. The photo on the right shows a simple circular object with gradient mesh points which make the object actually look like a sphere.

Below I applied the mesh tool to a few pictures I collected (one photo I found from the Internet and the other photo I took of my sister).  To do this technique I used the mesh tool and a plugin called the "mesh tormentor" (which can be found online).  Then I broke apart the image using the selection tool which produced a cool effect (at least what I think looks good).  Hope you enjoy!

Experimenting with Watercolour Tutorials

There are a number of photoshop tutorials out there (some of which require a multitude of steps, making it difficult to remember how to replicate them); however, three easy steps and I had a faux watercolour collage.  For the tutorial click here.
Here are my results (Jill, the elephant is for you):