better blogging

some notes of the in-class discussions on blog writing/responding, image quality, text appearance, etc. (from class on thursday, october 9):

the overall ideas of the discussions were to treat your blog as an artwork itself, or as a presentation. this means it should look clean and thoughtfully designed. images should be clear, free of distractions. writing should be specific and useful for others, not vague and nondescript.

use the blog to present yourself in your best artistic and professional light.

your blog is also a place to interact with your blog group members: to give thoughtful feedback, record summaries of your group interaction in class, and to help each other solve problems.



writing/responding:

1. use specific language (most good writing takes time. this is especially true when it comes to writing about visual objects. slow down to find the necessary specificity you need to describe something.)
2. tell us (your audience) something we don't know already; make a new observation.
   
3. add to what has already been said by the artist or other people who comment; don't just re-iterate what has already been said.
4. resist the urge to sum up your writing with a happy ending sentence--it will be better if you just leave off with your last observational statement of fact.
5. use noticing to write about others' work. it makes you look more carefully and will give the artist useful feedback on how his/her piece comes across to viewers.
6. write thoughtfully rather than quickly. as you write, ask yourself what kind of feedback would you like to receive about your work (once you received that all-important "your work is awesome!" after you've heard that, then what else do you still want to know?)

images:

1. pay attention to how you are photographing and/or editing your photographs so that they come across clearly.
2. photograph your manikens against a plain, black or white background (matte board, for example) or edit the image in photoshop and give it a plain background.

text

1. think like a graphic designer. text should be easy to read, separated by enough space when appropriate. people like to read shorter rather than longer paragraphs, so if you have a long piece of text, break into paragraphs, give it some space, some breaks to make it easier to look at and read.

assignment

your assignment for tomorrow, thursday, september 11:

create a blog post in which you present yourself to me, the other life drawing students, other art majors and faculty, and even outside art & design professionals who may now or in the future see your blog. present yourself as the artist you are now, at the beginning of the fall semseter 2008.

start by introducing yourself (remembering this is a professional space). where are you from? what concentration/year are you at stout? how did you choose your concentration? where do you hope to go after stout? what does your ideal life as an artist/designer look like?

include at least three images. ideally, these images will be of your best artwork or designs you have produced as a student at stout. if you do not have access to those artworks, present the best that you have.

write at least one paragraph for each image: describe your process of creating it, what problem you were trying to solve, what course it was for, what you trying to achieve, why you think it is a successful work, etc. you do not have to follow these questions exactly. they are examples of questions to ask yourself as you write about your work.

basically, show and tell us who you are as an artist through texts and images. begin your story of this semester in life drawing.

tomorrow during class, i will assign small groups so you will each have three (+/- depending on the class numbers) students to respond to over the weekend.

first things first

the first assignment for each of you is to:

1. create your own blog for this course. you can do this at blogspot (where this blog is hosted) or any other blogging site.
2. send a comment or link to this blog (www.lifedrawingtwo.blogspot.com) indicating your blog's title and url.
3. your blog will be the place you upload images of your drawings, images of your classmates' drawings for comments, and create your own set of information relating to the course.
4. your blog will serve as a type of electronic sketchbook--a public one, one that will be available to me and the other students in the course.
5. it will also serve as a type of portfolio, or the beginning of a more formal e-portfolio that can build/merge into a professional tool as you move through your curriculum at stout and out into the art & design world.
6. your blog will be a professional space for you to track your progress in life drawing 2, to reflect on your process and work, and to create/present your self as an artist who has particular interests (for one reason or another) in life drawing.
7. your blog will offer images, links, and other information that will help other students in the course learn about you and life drawing--consider it a place to present ideas that you may not have time to in class, especially if you are the quiet type who has difficulty speaking up in class.
8. your blog will be in-progress, just as a sketchbook.
9. it will be graded to the extent that it lives up to the criteria i set for it, and sometimes i will give you specific assignments to due on your blog. i also expect you to work on it on your own, to have a certain number of posts that you create without my prompting.
10. so... it is a professional space, an artist's space, and will have some criteria that will be graded in the end, but part of the criteria will be to be reflective in your blog, to write with language that is authentic, to be honest with yourself and your classmates. and to feel free to "express yourself" (though i hate the stereotyped meaning of that phrase, it can still mean something if you're serious about it) through your images, writing, links, and comments so that the viewer/reader of your blog can get a sense of who you are as an artist and how you are different than any other college student/emerging artist by what you choose to include in your blog.

sketchbook stack photo: http://www.fixpert.com/artwork/illustration-history/

villard sketchbook image: http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Image:Villard_de_Honnecourt_-_Sketchbook_-_17.jpg

• Author: Villard de Honnecourt
• Source: Sketchbook of Villard de Honnecourt (about 1230)
• MS. 19093 French Collection, Bibliothèque Nationale, Paris (No. 1104 Library of Saint-Germain-des Prés until c.1800)