Inspirational people.

I wanted to write about people that inspired me, or have inspired others. There are always the very clichéd- predictable famous you will expect me to write about, I know many of these people you will expect to be on here will be inspirations to many people. That's why I want to write about the unspoken heroes, those people who should be known for there true bravery. Not the people that have got famous by reality shows or famous families. Anyone could make a fool of themselves live on T.V, anyone can do nothing and just be famous. That to me isn't inspiring.

People who have worked hard to get known, to have breath taking talents and skills. To practice day in day out making the most of opportunities to be known for their talents-get their talents recognised. Not the other way round- trying to practice skills because they want to be famous. They only want the 'glamorous' life. I think some "celebrities" you can really question their motives to being famous.

People that inspire me- Chris Nash, a well known dance photographer. Here is a photograph to show what sort of style he usually has- I used his photography to influence some of my portfolio work. He really captures the essence of movement and the ambience that style of dance and the choreography of the dance moves. He is someone I aspire to be- someone who is talented and has been known my his talents and his art work.
Here are just some photos he took that I loved, and used as my contextual studies in my portfolio.

But there are many other people I can say have influenced my art work and have given me aspirations to be like them. Or even just have talents like they do! I want to just show some music my friend has written and played, he is someone who has so much self-motivation and I really wish I could play the piano like him! He has been someone that really inspires me to make the most of opportunities- and his music is so beautiful it is a shame for people to miss out on it! He has his own facebook page dedicated to his music. (I asked him before-hand to post his music on here,  and his music is copyrighted). I wanted to show that someone so close to home can be someone who has made a huge impact on how we look at the world. When I hear his music I can really feel the emotion he puts behind it- what any artist aspires to. He is one of my biggest inspirations.

http://www.facebook.com/TheHarbourmaster
He also has a youtube channel called "Random executive"

I also wanted to write about unsung heroes. Those children, people who suffer through illnesses and still stay strong for their families. I saw this link on facebook, something that started off to some what vain. But one person, submitted something that actually brought a tear to my eye. It was a woman suffering from a terminal illness, submitting a picture of her with no hair and had written a note saying "You are beautiful, do you know who is beautiful? Read the first word." Even making this statement against all these models taking pictures of themselves trying to show the vanity this whole page of facebook had been created for she stood up and made a statement. Even then she didn't say that she was beautiful and brave- she told "you" that you, yes you, were and are beautiful. (I can't seem to find the link right now, but once I find it I WILL post it! It is just so touching I want you to see it!)

Ellie. 

Food for thought.

I was going to write more posts on Graphics and some more work, but I think I wanted to focus on something a little bit different. I want to see what people think on controversial subjects. This is slightly off topic- but should catch someone's imagination and hopefully get you thinking as it has done me! I might make this a regular topic post if this one is a success! So please I want to hear from you, comment and tell me how you feel about the subject and hopefully get a discussion going!

I'm not going to throw out hugely controversial subjects at the start, I don't want to put people off from commenting if the subject matter is something of a hurtful or deep subject. But please if you want to create a subject to talk about please feel free to comment and start the talking!

So the first thing I wanted to put up here was some quotes that really caught my attention- they also link really nicely into my work I posted yesterday.

"To live a creative life, we must lose our fear of being wrong." -Joseph Chitton Pearce. I found this some what difficult to believe, but I guess this depends on what you consider a 'creative life'. Maybe he means it literally? That you must let go of your fear of creating something you see as a mistake, to create something truly creative and beautiful? Or does he mean that if you live out-side the box you should get ready for the mistakes you will make? But to me living out-side the box, being creative can never be wrong. Part of learning from what looks best is always good because learning and teaching yourself something can never be looked upon as wrong? Does he mean something deeper than the art created?

Another quote I found- which hopefully is more recognised, so could spark some more interest in comments, is from Albert Einstein. I wouldn't usually think as him as someone I would refer back to for quotes because I focus on the creative/outside the box way of making me think. And personally I wouldn't expect to see this sort of quote talking about imagination being something stronger than knowledge, especially to a man I believe to be completely focused on his knowledge of science. I think this quote backs up what this blog is all about- knowledge is powerful but imagination controls your knowledge. "Imagination is more important than knowledge. Knowledge is limited. Imagination encircles the world."- Albert Einstein. So my questions I put to you are, do you really think Imagination is more important than knowledge? Do you think your knowledge is limited by your imagination, or by another cause? Do you think that imagination can really include everything in the world?

I hope to hear what you have to say about these topics! And please feel free to add to any opinions :)

Ellie.

Capturing something beautiful.

These are some snaps to show another media that your portfolio MUST have. This shows first hand recordings, and drawing from these are a vital part to get your first hand copies in your portfolio. Think about the angles and light of each subject matter of the photo. The more focused and clear it is the better, unless you want to create an abstract style to your portfolio- but a mixture of techniques and shots shows adaptation which while get you more marks and show your creativity. Photos can capture the essence of true natural beauty, and give you an influence to base your work upon; this gives you evidence for your ideas and shows refinement. Editing photographs shows the use of I.T this will also give you more marks in your portfolio because it shows another use of media, although don't rely on computers for the portfolio for GCSE because it shows the lack of imagination because the computer creates it all for you. Most employers look for computer software used in the portfolio- most of the Graphics industry is based around computers (there are specific fields like hand-drawn illustration that you do not need much/any computer work) especially as this industry grows and becomes newer and more industrialised. But at GCSE it is more showing your eye for creating and natural skills, while further your Graphics course it will be more into computer based software.

Sorry for the boring posts today, it was mostly just to show some of my work and get a sense of what style I normally use. So the three posts I created today was just to put some work on here for a bit of substance. I really hope that my blog will be useful for aspiring artists after I get this up and running for real! Right now I just wanted to put some basic tips on to get the site up and running, so it will get better! So sorry about nothing truly useful or eye catching so far!

And if there is anything you wish to ask me about the industry, hopefully, I will be able to answer! Or I will find out for you. :)

Ellie.

Pencil pieces.

Just to show what sort of things capture my imagination. These are just some pencil drawings I did quite a while ago just to get a sense of some of the things I do to extend my portfolio- even some small sketches to show your style of drawing and your technique. These are quite old but just show some of the experimenting with styles I would put in my portfolio.(The more you can show you can adapt to varying styles the better) You may recognise the bottom right piece as William Morris wall paper design, using an artist for your own designing influences gives you marks for your contextual studies in your portfolio. This is needed at GCSE to show development and refinement from already existing pieces of work. Sorry for the poor quality photographs- I haven't got a scanner.

My first post.

My blog will hopefully give you an insight to the world of creativity, a way of new thinking. I am an aspiring Graphic Designer, and wish to show each step of the way towards my career. Whether it is the simple things of making the best of all opportunities, which courses are best for a graphics career, exam preparation and the technical sides of the graphics industry.

Hopefully this will be helpful for many people, whether they are interested in this industry or not. I will also blog about other things that capture people's "inspiration" and there "aspirations". I will blog about anything that captures my imagination or challenges me- so therefore hopefully will capture your minds as well! So there may be some off topic posts.

Apologises for the boring first post- I just wanted to summarise what my blog is all about.

Ellie.