Jessie and Nikki are on the ball, so they're ready to start up a brand new battle already! After hitting up Toronto's One of a Kind Show on Wednesday, it was decided that the best theme would be, "Production!"
Well that may seem like a silly theme, the need (or want) for production pieces is a reality for a lot of aspiring artists. It can be hard though for some people to sit down and design a successful piece, then actually fabricate it, then fabricate it over and over again so they can troubleshoot all their problems, then you have to figure out advertising, and you have to do that successfully to if you want to sell it and oh.. it's just such a big headache!
Inspired by all the things that they thought were right - and wrong - at the craft show, they want to try their hand at producing a relatively original (or at least sort-of-unique) design.
The soft-deadline for this battle will be April 18th, because that's the last day of Nicole's glass program at Sheridan (like, forever - how terrifying).
So think about production from a couple different points of view, and we'll be trying to inspire you with posts about the craft show!
Tips:
- Don't copy someone else's design, that's just too easy (and you could get in trouble)
- Consider how many steps it will take you to fabricate this design, it shouldn't be too time consuming per piece
- Take design from things that interest you, if you love cityscapes, forcing yourself to make imagery of tree lines would drive you mad
- Remember that if you love cityscapes someone else will love them too, maybe even more people than you expect
Showing posts with label Craft Battles. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Craft Battles. Show all posts
Thursday, March 28
Saturday, March 23
Figure Battle: Winner!
The results are in and the sculpture that won the figure battle was Chris' strange hot sculpted glass man! To be honest I'm surprised that anyone voted for my bear sculpture at all, and even more surprised that 10 days only garnered 6 votes - ouch!
Figure Battle
Bears 1 (16%)
Torso 2 (33%)
Man 3 (50%)
Apologies for posting late are in order! This week I was at school from as early as 8am every day, and I stayed there until 12 am, so I literally did not have the time to write this post!
 |
| Chris' Man |
Figure Battle
Bears 1 (16%)
Torso 2 (33%)
Man 3 (50%)
Apologies for posting late are in order! This week I was at school from as early as 8am every day, and I stayed there until 12 am, so I literally did not have the time to write this post!
Thursday, March 7
Battle End - Figures!
Whew, we've finally finished another Craft Battle, how exciting! Here are our three submitted pieces, on the left side of the page you can vote for your favorite!
Chris: Figure # 34
(Nikki speaking for Chris) This piece was sculpted while the studio was brainstorming work that could be donated to an art auction to support the homeless. Despite the easy-going sculpting techniques an intense feeling is being expressed through the chosen pose.
Nikki: Winter Family
The family in question is a mamma and baby polar bear with matching scarves. This is pretty hard to photograph, which I didn't expect. Somewhere in my room there is supposedly a bottle of white ink, and once I find it (or buy a new one) I'll be excited to see what my piece looks like when all the many creases are stained white.
The original piece was salvaged from a bargain store for 84 cents, because what a shame to let a perfectly good (albeit cheap) sculpture go to waste? I cast a silicone mold and made myself a positive wax from it. The idea that glass can give worth to an object that nobody wanted is pretty intriguing to me.
Jessie - Self Portrait from Memory
Made with sculpey original over a tin foil and masking tape armature. I wanted to use sculpey original because its more free flowing and I felt I could capture some "gesture" from it, that is also why I chose to sculpt from memory. That way I did not have to worry about all the small details.
Chris: Figure # 34
(Nikki speaking for Chris) This piece was sculpted while the studio was brainstorming work that could be donated to an art auction to support the homeless. Despite the easy-going sculpting techniques an intense feeling is being expressed through the chosen pose.
Nikki: Winter Family
The family in question is a mamma and baby polar bear with matching scarves. This is pretty hard to photograph, which I didn't expect. Somewhere in my room there is supposedly a bottle of white ink, and once I find it (or buy a new one) I'll be excited to see what my piece looks like when all the many creases are stained white.
The original piece was salvaged from a bargain store for 84 cents, because what a shame to let a perfectly good (albeit cheap) sculpture go to waste? I cast a silicone mold and made myself a positive wax from it. The idea that glass can give worth to an object that nobody wanted is pretty intriguing to me.
Jessie - Self Portrait from Memory
Made with sculpey original over a tin foil and masking tape armature. I wanted to use sculpey original because its more free flowing and I felt I could capture some "gesture" from it, that is also why I chose to sculpt from memory. That way I did not have to worry about all the small details.
Wednesday, August 8
Nikki's Bio
 |
| Caring about my hair color, because that's my version of a cigarette addiction. |
Howdy everyone and welcome to the post where I get to talk all about myself! You may not want to read our bios, but we figured someone might want to know who's ordering them to sculpt like their life depends on it.
Who Am I? I am a 21 year old, slightly OCD college student. I love my hair and wearing cat ears - both offer a silent warning that says, "If you think this is weird, we won't get along." Above all I think that learning, furthering yourself and having life experiences are the most important things out there. I'm set to go to Spain, Ireland, Africa, Germany, and Japan or London with friends, to make sure I'm not the only one getting an international life experience. I really like to ramble and share stories because I get extremely excited and passionate about what I'm talking about, so, you're warned.
Education I took Sheridan's Art Fundamentals course and I suggest these types of courses for people who;
a) Don't know what media they want to focus on, or
b) Simply need some practice and to pick up some really good art pointers! Seriously, I rock the color theory spectrum now.
I'm going into my final year of glass, it's sad and scary, and I have to choose one of four education paths to pursue afterward. Pro tip for art school: Make as many mistakes as you can, as soon as possible.
Goals Clearly, I want to do something big with my art, I have to, and I will. I also love kids and teaching people in general though, which leads me to desire an elusive teaching job instead of being an artist that travels the globe (I do want to do glass work in every continent, and then in as many countries as possible though). If I taught, I would want to be a new-age teacher, using hands-on activities, real life experience and videogame designed courses to enthrall everyone. This is a good time to note that I watch a lot of TED Talks, and a good chunk regale you on the innovative teaching methods people use. Also, I always say that my dream studio/home will be next door to Jessie's home in the country. There are a ton of things I want to do with my life, and if they are all possible, I don't think I have the organizational skills to make it happen.
Finally, this is my cat Amoke and I love her a lot more than I love most of you, sorry.
But just look at how freaking cute she is!
Actually, finally finally I'm going to leave some links on this page to different websites of mine. Aside from Blogger's kiln programs and notes of success/failure, the rest of the sites are simply hubs for photo sharing. Everyone has a preference right?
Glassables: Blogger
Glassables: Tumblr
Glassable: Etsy - An inactive account owns my name ):
Glassables: Pinterest
Glassables Art: Brand Yourself
And of course I'm part owner in;
Craft Battles: Blogger
Craft Battles: Facebook
Why did I add those last two links? Because Brand Yourself, a site which I am a part of, seems pretty insistent that the key to high results on Google is to link your respective websites together as much as possible, as well as name drop as much as is humanly possibly.
Monday, August 6
Jessie's Bio
A wild JESSIE appeared!
Craft Battles
Who is the Artist? I am Jessi. I am a horseback riding, sculpting, programming, video gaming sorta gal. There are many different parts of my life and sometimes I am not sure how they fit together... But they seem to fit, so why question it. I currently live in Hamilton, Ontario but hope to one day own a small acreage in the country somewhere. Come this December, I will be a graduate of Sheridan College from their Software Development and Network Engineering program (yup, I chose the one with the longest name). Aside from all that formality stuff, I really do love horses and horseback riding. I ride once a week with my little sister Magpie. One day I will own a horse! And we will frolic and do fun things together... and Niki will live beside me and make art of great proportions! Yes... excellent.
Proof I like horses. Prima the wonderpony!
Art in my Life Art has and always will be a part of my life. It is something I have worked art into my lifestyle and I have trained myself to view things through "Art Goggles". It all started when I was a wee lass... Okay I have no clue when or how it started, all I know is I enjoyed drawing and drawing I did do. I mostly started drawing horses, then I started drawing horses and dogs. Art turned into an emotional outlet through my teen years and art was easily my favourite subject in highschool. In highschool I got to try acrylic painting, watercolour painting, sculpting, drawing with pastels. At that point I loved painting and sculpting, but mainly stuck to drawing while at home. The end of highschool arrived and I had to decide where I would go from there. I decided to take Art Fundies at Sheridan. Then Nikki Trololol'd me back for trying to tag her page. It was a great experience and I got a nifty piece of paper saying I completed the course. That is where I really got to experiment with the different art types and forms. 3D class was my favourite to say the least. Although I loved being in such an artsy environment, it was not something I felt that I could do professionally and be able to make a living with. So currently I make random sculptures and am starting to try out different techniques! I am hoping that with this blog I will get to experiment more with other artsy people. :D
Goals So far I have just being doing art as a hobby, however it has always been a dream to sell some of my sculptures. My biggest goal is to start taking commissions and selling my art. Aside from selling my art, I would really like push my art to a new level by experimenting with different techniques and mediums.
I also have cats! White one is Yuna (he is a boy)... He has one green eye and one blue eye! And this little mess of fluff on the right is Truffles :) She lurves me and strings. And come March/April I gets a puppy-dawg :D He will be a boxer! :D:D:D:D:D:D
(I win)
Tuesday, July 17
Guidelines For Battling!
1) Your submission must be three dimensional. It cannot be a drawing, but it CAN be embossed, carved into a flat panel, needlework etc. As long as there is some element of 3-dimensionalism then it is acceptable.2) Currently each competition has a 13 day run time. If you'd like to have your entry posted, please submit it by the 13th day if you can. If you are running behind, we'll be accepting submissions throughout the 13th day that we'll edit into the "Battle End" post.
3) I figure this goes without saying, but we will need you to submit a photo of that final piece if you want us to show it off. (Leave a comment or e-mail craftbattles@gmail.com)
4) When you submit your piece, you need to submit a short blurb about it as well.
"Why?" you ask, because Nikki believes learning how to write about yourself and your work is important. It's a skill used in blogs, galleries, articles, residency applications, grant applications, artist statements, profiles, etc.
If you aren't very enthusiastic about this exercise, Jessie's guidelines are to just list the materials, time spent, techniques used, and your initial thought process.
Craft Battles: An Introduction
Though our official blog debut will not be until Friday, August 3rd, I (you may call me some variation of Nikki), have decided to post some basic explanations and details a little early. I shall begin with the usual five W's, because I'm not sure where else to start!
Who are the blog owners and masterminds?
Currently there are two; Myself, an aspiring glass artist attending Sheridan, and my friend Jessie, an extremely talented realism sculptor and computer programmer.
Where?
Okay I couldn't think of a specific question for "Where?" so I am going with; Jessie and I are from Ontario, Canada.
Why are you doing this?
I am well aware that ideas and motivation can be hard to come by, especially when you are working from outside the lovely structure of school, where talented teachers can offer constant guidance. I am very serious about my intent with art though, and I believe Jessie is quite serious too. However, she's currently finishing up some sort of computer programming course that is way over my head, which leaves her desire to sculpt very isolated and directionless.
One day a eureka moment struck and the two of us agreed that if we shared themes and competed against each other we would give each other reasons to push our art, work harder, faster and well, to just get off our bums and work!
What is the purpose of this blog?
For the first few seconds of this idea, a blog just seemed like a good way to keep us on track. It was tangible, a site that we had to check/report into, a place where our progress would be documented. If we gathered fans, then hey, that's even more motivation to keep with it! That was just for the first few seconds though, we quickly tapped into the other possibilities that come with having a blog.
1) If people find us interesting they can offer their own themes, including pop culture icons. Having a My Little Pony contest might get other people interested not only in the site, but in new types of craft.
2) If other craft artists like our concept, there's no reason they can't join in on the competition! What one person might see as a fun side project, another might see as that kick in the butt that they sorely need.
2a) People who participate will be able to share their final pieces on this site, and what's better than a free place to advertise your skills? We thought we could offer more than that though, so if we gather enough followers that we can host a 'popular vote' for each contest, the winner of said vote will get featured in an article. On top of that, a friend mentioned being able to link Etsy favorites on blogs - so you can advertise your final product too (if you're looking to sell it)!
3) We also realized that bringing you more content than just our competitions might make you happy. So we will trial posting three times a week and feeding you; art history, tutorials, galleries, articles, interviews, etc. When it comes down to it though, we want to post the content that you want to see! (Seriously, I'll leave my art history at the door if no one wants to hear about it).
4) We've really thought this out long-term, so again I'll say 'if enough people participate' we will also host media specific battles. We thought some people might find 'textiles verse super detailed sculptures' a bit intimidating or non-motivational, so I want to let you know that we've already prepared to expand!
When does this all go down?
As mentioned at the start of this post, the official opening day (and the first contest!) will start on Friday, August 3rd. Each competition will run for 13 days (so the first competition is the 3rd-15th). More detailed explanations will come in the next post.
So, on behalf of Jessie and myself, we sincerely hope that you will enjoy our blogs and battles, and that you'll compete too!
P.S. Craft Battles also has a Brand Yourself which is nothing amazing, but it does help boost Google results so you might want to try it.
We also have a Facebook Page that will be updated regularly!