A Day in the life of a Guardie

Hi there. So, today's assignment is to give you a little insight into a day in our life through pictures. This is mine. Saturday was my last performances for the season for the Towson University Marching Band Color Guard. A little bittersweet. We had practice at 10 am. A football game at 3:30. A bus ride to Annapolis. And our final performance at Bands of America Nationals. By far one of our busiest days of the season.
Marching band is a tough thing to do in college. It's all for show and not competing. Everything is getting the crowd involved. It's one of my favorite forms of art (and crowd control). So, without further ado, here's my day at band!

The day starts out with our usual before game practice. At 10am. Yikes.

Then, we walk to the stadium, drop off our bags, and head to the CFA for our cookout.

After our cookout, we get ready for the game. And make a mess of the band room.

Then the football game! We won, of course. This is the guard doing "The Sauce," more commonly known as Sportscenter.

An hour long bus ride to Navy Stadium in Annapolis.

Our last performance of our show, Miraculous.

My lovely 2012 TUMBCG. <3

Admiration

     Our assignment today is to research and critique an artist we admire. And I'm going to preface this by saying I don't want to sound cliche, and I'm warning you now, but I'm writing this post on Banksy. If you don't know, Banksy is a British street artist. He's become popular over the past year or so because of his pieces on the streets of London. Most of them make a political statement. I think that's why I admire him so much. I have a great respect for graffiti artists. They make stencils and prints and it takes hours or days, and then they have to put their pieces up fast for fear of getting caught. Then, after all that work, the art will probably get washed off or painted over. Banksy's pieces have an impact that I can only hope to one day achieve. 
     Banksy made a documentary about street art. It's called "Exit Through the Gift Shop." I've seen it at least 5 or 6 times. The history and work and heart and messages that go behind this temporary art is amazing to me. So, let me show you some of my favorite Banksy pieces. 

Sorry!

     I think the other reason I like street art is because it's not always about the artistic ability involved. Sometimes it's about the statement you make, like this piece on the streets of London. It makes a statement about out current way of living, our dependence on money and buying things. It's a quick message that makes you think. And that's what art's supposed to do, right? Make you think?
     Honestly, I think it's funny. Like, I imagine someone looking at this like an actual billboard and not some art piece and being confused. As silly as it sounds, I feel "in on the joke" with this one. I like it for it's statement. 

Follow Your Dreams

     This is kind of a "classic" Banksy piece, if that exists yet. If you have heard of him, you've either seen this, or the flower bomber or a rat. This is, again, more of a statement piece. I like his stencils. His style is unique and distinguishable. The black and white and the detail just amazes me. 
     I think the message in this one is kind of funny, also. And a bit sad. We're all told to follow our dreams, as long as they lead us somewhere successful that gets us lots of money and status and power. I think this was one of the first Banksy's I saw. It was right around when I was deciding whether I should major in what I love or what would give me a good income. So, this piece has a lot of weight with me, I guess. Not to be too sappy about it, though. 

Kissing Coppers

     I didn't realize how hard it was going to be for me to write about these pieces. Because I see them, and I know in my head what I think, and I just can't get it down on paper. Like, for instance, this one I just think is awesome. Hardly a critique, right? But I'm a big advocate for gay rights, and it amuses me to think the amount of people that this would offend.
     But, as I've said about almost other piece, it makes a statement. It has a shock value. People notice Banksy's art, even though it's only temporarily there. The impact his art has on London, and anywhere he decides to leave a trace of him, is huge. 

Imitation

 
     And this is another reason I like Banksy so much. Literally stealing from Picasso? Ballsy. And just like him. And I would just like to be Banksy when I grow up, please and thank you. That is all.  

Thematic Review

     Okay, so, today is a review of our own art. What's the underlying theme of your art? This is so hard for me. I can write paragraphs and paragraphs about other people's art if you'd like me to. But ask me to talk about my own art? Pft. It will probably take me hours to write this.
     I don't feel like an artist. At least not yet, I guess. I can sketch, kind of. I can use Photoshop, kind of. I have a good eye, I know that. I know how to make things look good. I can organize and make color schemes and make it look clean. But is making a tumblr layout or a header for a blog actually considered art? I guess in my mind, I don't have as much talent as someone who can think up a whole new world from their mind and have it flow beautifully out onto paper, or onto a tablet.
     Maybe that's limiting my own abilities. I know I have some sort of talent. I just need practice and experience. And, if I were to describe my art so far, I can find a few themes, maybe probably. If I try really really hard.
     My work is always clean, simplistic. I don't like too much clutter. Our header required 10 layers. That's a stretch for me. I guess you can call me a minimalist? I don't know exactly how to describe it. But I do know I always need my works to be balanced and everything has to match and there has to be an order.
     I find this hilarious because it's nothing like how I am with my actual life. My room is a mess. I'm slightly unorganized in everything I do. Unless it's art. Then it has to be a certain way. And I've been like this for as long as I can remember. I used to make websites in 6th and 7th grades for fun. They were always neat and organized.
     I guess eventually I'll feel like an artist. There will be definite themes. There will be an overall feeling for my art. You will know it was made by me. But right now, I don't feel like that at all.

Feels

So, the other day, I turned in my first hand drawn piece of art to be graded since 7th grade. That was the last time I took an actual art class. I'm so nervous! I got a 98 on the header for this blog, but Photoshop isn't something I was especially worried about. You don't actually have to be able to draw to be able to use Photoshop. I'm so picky with my art, but I don't really have that many pieces and I don't draw almost at all. I try to sketch sometimes, but it's all online. My little sister can draw extremely well. I just wish I had that kind of talent. Wahh, freakin' out, man!

/rant.

My Own Form of Artistry

Our assignment for today is to post 3 images of our own artwork, and explain them. Well, to start off, up to this point in my life, my creativity has come in short bursts and always on the computer. I used to draw in middle school, but once I found photoshop, that dream was gone. So, it's safe to say my drawing and painting skills are not up to par with the rest of the world. Or at least other Graphic Design students my age. So, I've decided to post three pictures I've made on Photoshop. That's my specialty, that's what I do, and honestly, that's all I have to show you. So, here goes!

This was one of the first things I made when I started learning how to use Photoshop. It's a very simple image. Crosmyheart is the name of my tumblr blog, and I was really just playing around. I was learning how to use gradients, textures, and shadows. I explored editing text by adding shapes and images to it. It's pretty basic, but it's still one of my favorite creations.

Then, I started playing around with GIFs. They had always been a mystery to me, but once I sat down and researched and followed tutorials, they have definitely become one of my favorite things to make. This particular GIF, and the next one I'll show you, are from a movie called Spirited Away. It was made by Hayao Miyazaki and the artwork is breathtaking. This moment in the movie is just beautiful, and I loved being able to capture a few seconds of Miyazaki's art.

The last, and favorite, piece of mine that I'll show you is another Spirited Away GIF. I was just learning how to integrate multiple GIFs into one image, and I went a little overboard. This shows the main character of Miyazaki's film, Chihiro. She's the hero of the movie, a little girl abandoned in a fantasy world of spirits and bath houses and evil witches. This image shows key moments in the movie. And, while it took me a while to make, it was definitely fun creating it. 

Baltimore's Best (Or...3 artists I really like from my current town)

Ryan Selvy

I first met Ryan Selvy randomly through a friend for approximately one and a half minutes. In that time, I would have never guessed the artistic talent this kid had, though. I discovered his blog through Facebook and have been in love ever since. He's a comic person. And he's darn good. 

Photo courtesy of ryanselvy.com

What I like about Ryan's comics is that, because he's my age, a lot of his opinions and views on things are the same. It's easy to relate to his content. His comics often reflect what's happening on the internet or a stupid trend. Like this one about Twitter, or another one he posted about the highly popular and annoying "Call me maybe." I also like the simplicity of his comics and his use of textures. It makes a simple line drawing more interesting. His comics are definitely worth a look see.

Josh Van Horne

I came across Josh Van Horne's work on Tumblr while I was browsing through the "Baltimore Artists" tag. When I first saw his art, it didn't have a huge impact on me. What I really like about him, though, is his circuit installations.

The title of this is "If you say something, see something." I really like the play on words. And it's so unexpected to see the lights come out of the middle of this shape. It's a nice surprise. This installation is in downtown Baltimore. Although Van Horne isn't from Baltimore, this is where he works. He also did a mural for the Open Walls Baltimore project, which is how I found my next artist!

Gaia

Street art is one of my favorite things in the whole entire world. I have this fascination with graffiti and murals. Especially the ones found in cities, like in downtown Baltimore. He curated this past year's Open Walls Baltimore, and is by far my favorite in the project.

This is his piece from the Open Walls project. A lot of Gaia's pieces involve hands intertwining or sketchy looking drawings on buildings and the detail on them is just absolutely amazing. I would love to one day be able to do this sort of mural. And for funsies, here's my favorite Gaia mural.  

This was one of our online assignments, but I liked it so much I decided to post it. Let me know what you think!

Hello world.

Hi there. My name is Crosby. I'm just gonna tell you a little bit about myself first. I currently attend Towson University as a (Pre) Advertising and Graphic Design double major. (Yikes.) I'm a member of the Towson University Marching Band Color Guard, and I spin flag and sabre. I'm a sophomore. I'm from Pittsburgh. That's me!

Now that the boring stuff is out of the way, lemme tell you why you're here. This blog is for my art. And while it might seem like a necessary school assignment, it's not, I swear. I'll be posting some creations of my own, as well as anything that actually interests me in the art community. My specialty is digital art, using photoshop and all that, but I'm taking a drawing class this semester, so you might see some of that too!

Enjoy!