Thursday, December 18, 2014

Career Services - Spring 2015

MCA Career Services Schedule of Events
Spring 2015


FR=Freshmen
SO=Sophomores
JR=Juniors
SR=Seniors
GR=Graduate students
AL=Alumni
!!!=Appropriate for All Students


Important Dates for Summer/Fall 2015 Internships:
Advising Day: Friday, March 20th
Application, interviews and paperwork submission deadline: Monday, April 27th, 2015

January
Creative Career Path Inventory session (CCPI) (SO, JR, SR, GR)
Tues., Jan. 20th, 12-1 PM in DA Media
Have you wondered what career might be the right “path” for you? Take the CCPI and then come to this session to learn about career path options interesting to you, resources that will help you learn about salaries, job outlooks, etc., skills you will need to develop in addition to your art-making skills, and building a plan of action for success.

To prepare for this session, register by contacting cbrooks@mca.edu so you can take the inventory prior to this session (required).

MCA Fine Arts Alumni panel (FR, SO, JR, SR, GR)
Wed., Jan. 28th, 12-1 In Conference Room (behind the Library)
Meet MCA alumni who know how to be successful in careers for Fine Arts majors!

What Does it Mean to be a Freelance/Self-Employed Artist? (!!!)
TBA
Are you already doing freelance or commissioned work? Want to begin doing this type of work to earn money, build portfolio pieces and experience? At this workshop, Susan Lattimore, CPA with the Marston Group, will teach students about the “art” of self-employment related to taxes and financial planning.

February
Internship Orientation (GR, SR, JR, SO)
Thurs., Feb. 5th, 12:15-1 PM in the Conference Room (off the Main Gallery)
Internships are an excellent way to for students to learn about their profession and gain experience to include on their resumes. This session required for students planning to register for internships will provide an overview of the internship process, the opportunities available as well as expectations during their experience. are required to attend one internship orientation prior to registering for the internship.
Important Dates for Summer/Fall 2015 Internships:
Advising Day: Friday, March 20th
Application, interviews and paperwork submission deadline: Monday, April 27th, 2015

MCA Teacher Assistant (TA) Workshop (!!!)
Mon., Feb. 9th, 3:45-4:45 in Callicott Auditorium
Want to work in MCA’s summer camp as a TA? Come to this session to learn how to make a good impression for success in the application and interview process.

Senior/Graduating Student Planning Workshop: Building a Plan of Action for Graduation (SR/GR)
Wed., Feb, 11th, 12:15-1 PM in DA Media
All seniors are invited to participate in this session—don’t wait until after graduation to learn how to utilize your professional network, conduct a post-graduation job search, and convey the value of your skills and knowledge.

Resume Workshop
Thurs., Feb. 19th,12:15-1 PM in DA Media (!!!)
Planning to apply for an internship or job? Want to get prepared for the Career Fair on April 24th? Learn to articulate who are you and what can you do--this is what internship supervisors and employers will need to know to consider you for internships or jobs. Come learn how to begin or how to update your resume for success!

Interview Workshop
Wed., Feb. 25th, 12:15-1 PM in DA Media (!!!)
Got the Interview---now what?! What do you say? What do you wear? What pieces should you present? Whether you are preparing for a planned interview or going to the Career fair on April 24th, you need to be prepared. Come to this workshop to learn how. Bring your resume!

March
Advising Night, March 19th from 5-8 in Rust Hall Main Gallery
Find out about Studio Elective Internship options!

Careers in Art Education (K-12) (!!!)
Thurs., March 26th, 12:15-1 PM in DA Media
Have a passion for teaching children or teens? Come to this session to learn about opportunities and the requirements for teaching in K-12 setting.

Career fair Prep Workshops (SO, JR, SR, GR)
Mon., March 30 and Tues., March 31st, 12:15-1 PM
in the Conference Room (off the Main Gallery)
Planning to register for the Career Fair? Then you must attend one of two career fair preparation workshops before you can register. Find out who will be at the career fair, what you need to bring and wear and how to handle the brief “pre-interviews at the fair.

April

Friday, April 10th, 4:30 PM: Deadline for Ferris Scholarship Application

Career Fair (JR, SR, GR)
Friday, April 24th, 1-3:30 in the Rust Hall Main Gallery
Students must pre-register for this event.

Mon., April 27th: Internship application and registration process deadline.

“Mocktail” hour networking event (SO, JR, SR, GR)
Wed., April 29th, 6-8 PM in the Main Gallery
Attend this fun cocktail hour event to practice your networking skills with local alumni and business professionals. Students must be enrolled in the P2 course or have attended at least two of the following workshops in order to get a “ticket” to this event:
Resume writing, interview skills, or networking workshop to participate.

Tour of local TBA artist studio (!!!)
TBA
Students will visit a local artist’s studio to learn about their career path/
Space is limited to so RSVP to Carrie Brooks (cbrooks@mca.edu)

May
Fri., May 1st: Supervisor/Student internship evaluations due to Career Services

Friday, November 21, 2014

Color_End of Term (Final) Grading.

Final Grading- Color Foundations

For your final, you will be turning in a folder on the server, which will include

1. scans, or photographs of all your finished projects since midterm,
2. your artist research papers

You will also be handing in your sketchbooks so i can review your progress on in class exercises, research, note taking, and overall organization. Sketchbooks will be graded for overall content and construction.
You will label your folder with “lastname_firstname_final” and place it in the folder labeled "Color_Final" in our classroom folder that is found by accessing the server.  You will also place a copy of this folder in the classroom dropbox.

To begin: 
1. Scan and/or photograph your images   Because of the size, you will have to PHOTOGRAPH the harmony (midterm assignment) and you will also have to PHOTOGRAPH you final project (4 Seasons) 

2. Edit and adjust the images to make sure they look professional using Photoshop of the photo editing software of your choosing. Your images should be 300 dpi and sized about 8x10.  You will need one image per weekly assignment.

3. Create a folder (on your desktop or somewhere handy).  Drop your four word.doc artist research papers in the folder, then your edited images in the folder as well.  Each image should be named “Lastname_Assignment_P#_Project Name”

FOR EXAMPLE  "Green_Thomas_P05_Harmony" "Green_Thomas_P06_Travelposter" and so forth.

You should have images for the following.

5. Color Harmony
6 Travel Poster
7. Altered and Limited
8. Interaction and Transparency
9. Bezold/Mood
10. Four Seasons


All you projects along with your papers and the sketchbook (400 points total) will total 2700 points.   Scanning, Photographing your work and properly naming and placing the files on the server for the final will count as 100 points.  

You will also need to place the final artist research papers on the server as well.  If you completed 4 papers (at midterm), did the writing with the Travel Posters, then you need a total of 3 to complete the semester's work. 


Sketchbooks are due at the end of class on Thursday for Tue/Thursday classes, and on Friday for the Friday class attendees. 


Wednesday, November 12, 2014

Green_Color_Final

Color Studies Final: Four Seasons
In Class Exercise and Outside Assignment
• Create four related images that express, visually, the idea of the four seasons. The idea of the seasons is to be communicated through the use of color and is not to rely on illustrative content. Bare branches in winter are an example of obvious illustrative content and are unacceptable. Inspiration can be derived from the natural world, culture (as in seasonal holidays) or personal associations. It may be helpful to revisit the altered palette projects and use combined saturations (prismatic, muted, chromatic gray) to create an overall seasonal tone or mood. Avoid seasonal color clichés. Pastels for spring; blue, white and gray for winter, and grade school leaf colors for autumn are all examples of seasonal color clichés. Again, these colors can be used in the work, but they are not allowed to carry the piece. Artwork relying on seasonal color clichés and obvious illustrative content to convey the idea will receive a failing grade.
• Do not use a color more than once in each piece
• Materials: Gouache, Color-aid paper and Bristol
• Mount your 7x10” studies on 9x12” Bristol. Use a 1” border. Craft is important. Keep border clean.
In Class Assignment:  Brainstorm ideas about what you might want to include in the composition.  You might want to abstract nature, or use relevant and subjective subject matter, or employ an entirely abstract design.   Make a list of 10 ideas in your brainstorming process.  From this you will choose 4-5 ideas/concepts you have for the project.


Create 4-8 sketches on each the various ideas that you have.   You should have a minimum of 16 sketches in your sketchbook. Better planning makes for a better final design.  Consult your instructor for help and reflection into more effective, interesting, and unique ways to express the concept both visually through design and with the incorporation of color using various theories or explorations you have learned during the semester.

Monday, November 3, 2014

Interaction and Transparency Assignment

Color Studies: (Albers) Color Interaction

“In visual perception a color is almost never seen as it really is—as it physically is. This fact makes color the most relative medium in art.”   Josef Albers

In Class Exercise: Experiment with color interaction studies using color aid paper in your sketchbook.  You should complete the following by placing a squre within a square or a strip within a rectangle
One value becomes two
Two Values become one
One color becomes two
One color becomes two hues of the same value
One color becomes very visibly different in both hue and value
Two colors become one


Transparency:
In class exercise: Experiment with transparencies (median and dark transparency) using gouache and color-aid paper in your sketchbook.

The objective of this exercise is to create the optical illusion of transparency with opaque color and is not to be confused with literal transparency.  The illusion of transparency enhance the appearance of spatial depth in a 2D design.  This illusion is produced by one shape overlapping another and thereby forming a third shape that seems to be a part of each.  Imagine two translucent rectangles superimposed at right angles to form a cross.  Emerging at the intersection of the cross is a square, with the color of the square determining the effect of transparency.
There are two distinct categories of transparency, median transparencies and dark transparencies.
In Median Transparencies the hue and value lie precisely halfway between the hue and value of the parent colors.  Median transparencies work well when the parent colors differe in value.  Parent colors that are close in value make for poor median transparencies.

With Dark Tranparencies the intersecting hue is darker than both of the parent colors.  Dark transparencies work better when the parent colors are close in value, but they do not work well when both parent colors are dark and equal in value.



Outside Assignment: (Albers) Color Interaction
Required Materials: gouache, brushes, palette, color-aid paper, bristol board, glue stick or matte medium, sketchbook, graphite pencils, water container, metal ruler, exacto knife and paper towels.

Recommended text: The Interaction of Color (Revised and Expanded), Josef Albers, Yale University Press, 2006 (on reserve in the library).

• Create two related 7x10” designs using geometric or organic shapes, or a combination of each.  Use a different palette of colors in each. Use at least 15-20 shapes and at least 5 to 6 colors. Use each color more than once.

In one composition, exhibit the interaction of color by using a common color on various background surfaces to create the illusion of different values, hues or saturations.  In the other composition, exhibit the use of transparency in the composition.

-You should include a median and a dark transparency in the transparency composition.    You might want to use a background or try and keep the composition simple, as transparency has a tendency to get confusing with too many shapes and intersections.

-Exhibit the interaction of color by using a common color on various background surfaces to create the illusion of different values, hues or saturations.

• Mount your 7x10” studies on 9”x 12” Bristol. Use a 1” border. Keep border clean. Craftsmanship in the execution of the studies and presentation is important.  Use equal parts of Gouache and color aid paper.

Saturday, November 1, 2014

Student work from Interaction and Transparency


Interaction














Here are some examples of student work dealing with the theme of transparency.  














Tuesday, October 28, 2014

Interaction of Color

Color is always being affected by colors around it.  This is the property of Interaction.  Even when a color is place on what seems to be a neutral background--such as white, black, or gray, this effect is taking place:

In visual perception a color is almost never seen as it really is - as it physically is. This fact makes color the most relative medium in art.
Images for reference for the concepts related to the in class assignment for "Interaction of Color"









Thursday, October 23, 2014

Assignment 08_Altered and Limited Palette

Altered and Limited Palette

Altered Palette- Another way to create cohesion among a group of diverse colors by altering each color with a small amount of an “outside” color.

Limited Palette- Limiting the number of colors used in your palette to create unity within a composition produces a variety of tones through intermixing two to three colors with the addition of white.

In Class Assignment-select a set of PRISMATIC complementary colors (blue/orange or Green/Red) and put each down on your palette plus a quantity of white.   From this complementary pair, create a “color dot inventory” to explore the palettes range.  A great deal of colors and tones can be achieved with the use of this simple complementary set (plus the addition of white).  Begin by mixing the complements in a visible color range of the following percentages.

1. 80/20
2. 60/40
3. 40/60
4. 20/80


Continue this muting the colors with white to mid-tone and high key range of values for this set of four.

Altered Palette:  Discordant and multi-colored schema can be unified using a secondary color to alter the original color scheme.





Outside Assignment

Create two compositions using an altered palette in one and a limited palette in the other.  


Composition 1 (limited)

Choose a complementary pair from the color wheel for your palette.  Create a variety of tones by intermixing your two complements with the addition of white.  You will need to include a wide range of colors in your design.

7x10 with a 1 inch border (mounted on 9x12)

Composition 2 (altered)

Choose 4-5 discordant colors for your palette.   Choose an outside color and add equal amounts to each of your colors.  The admixture should unify your colors.  You could use one of your neutral (earth) tones or white to alter your palette.

7x10 with a 1 inch border (mounted on 9x12)


Monday, October 20, 2014

Artists for Research

here is another artist list that I made for my Art Appreciation Students.  It has artists listed by category and perhaps tells a little more about what their art is about.  Hopefully, this might help you find someone that interests you.

Artist Research Topics_21st century Artists-Art Appreciation-Thomas Green


Contemporary and Pop
Roy Lichenstein
Andy Warhol
Yayoi Kusama
Cornelia Konrads
Felice Varini
Daniel Arsham
Bruce Munro
Yulia Brodskaya
Young-Deok Seo
Kumi Yamashita
Guy Laramee
Hebru Brantley
URNY
Alexander Mijares
Kenny Scharf
Tang Chiew

Sally Fuerst
Ron English
Charlie McCarthy
Austyn Weiner

Feminism
Cindy Sherman
Sandy Skolund
Ellen Lupton
June  Leaf
Liz Larner
Marina Abromovic
Paula Scher
Barbara Kruger
Judy Chicago
Andrea Bowers
Jessica Jackson Hutchins
Louise Bourgeois
Zoe Strauss
Louise Lawler
Adrian Piper
Jenny Saville
Mariko Mori

Racial Identity
Carrie Mae Weems              
Kara Walker
Xaviera Simmons
Nick Cave
Shinique Smith
Kerry James Marshall
Jean Michelle Basquiat
Kehinde Wiley 
Hank Willis Thomas 
Mickalene Thomas
Rashid Johnson 
Barkley L. Hendricks 
Iona Rozeal Brown 
Glenn Ligon 

Young British Artists (punk Aesthetics)
Jake and Dinos Chapman
Douglas Gordon
Marcus Harvey,
Gary Hume
Rachel Whiteread
Gillian Wearing
Mark Wallinger
Marc Quinn
Steve McQueen
Chris Ofili

COLOR AID PAPER

HEY EVERYONE, just a reminder.... PLEASE PAY HEATHER RAGLAND FOR YOUR COLOR AID PAPER!!!

She is in the business office at Gibson Hall (the administration building just across Poplar from Overton Park).

We will start working with this material this week, and I am unable to give it out until the material cost has been paid.

Bring me a receipt or have her send me an email.  

Thanks so much.   I hope your Travel Posters are going well.

Tom

Thursday, October 16, 2014

Color Trip_Artist Statement


Artist Statement.

For the Color Trip assignment we will be writing a short artist statement about our Travel Posters.

What are artist statements?

Artist statements are short (generally one page) statements that cover the basics about your art, or a work of art you have created.  Some of the things you might want to include in your artist statement include.

WHY YOU MAKE YOUR ART, WHAT INSPIRES YOU TO MAKE IT, WHAT IT SIGNIFIES OR REPRESENTS, WHAT'S UNIQUE OR SPECIAL ABOUT HOW YOU MAKE IT, and briefly, WHAT IT MEANS TO YOU.  

Since these are probably things that you haven't considered so much at this point in your artistic career, we are going to start off slow.  YOU WILL WRITE many many artist statements while you are at MCA.  For this particular statement however, we will be writing about the travel poster. 

For the statement please include:

1. The destination that you picked. 
2. The subject matter that you have selected to use in your compositions to represent your space and possibly how you have arranged this subject matter (design)
3.  The color choices (color schemes) and the way you have used color to effectively convey this destination in your travel poster.   Here is an example from a previous semester:




Artist Statement: Color Trip, Destination South Korea

            Overall, my artwork always has something to do with the balance, sometimes lack thereof, between nature and technology.  In this assignment, I chose South Korea as my travel poster destination both because a large fraction of my family is Korean, and because through my knowledge of the country, I know it holds a wide range of sights, geography, and weather.  There are many sights and landmarks that are both natural and manmade, old and new, in South Korea from the multiple mountain ranges, including the Dinosaur Ridge (as is added in my composition), to more modern architecture, such as the famous N Tower which provides restaurant dining and aerial cable car viewing of Seoul (seen on the far right).  I wanted my main focus in the poster to be the East Palace from the Gyongbokgung Palace--perhaps the only thing that defines the destination as an Asian country.  In the end, I also added the national flower of South Korea, the hibiscus syriacus, because its topical air contrasts with that of the cool mountains.  Likewise, I chose a color scheme that would describe the bright, diverse array of culture that can be seen in South Korea today, and settled on warm versus cool colors (also inspired from the national flag which juxtaposes red and blue, two obvious displays of the temperature at near opposite sides of the color wheel).  Warmth is created by the natural red accents of the N Tower and painted woodwork of the East Palace, but also by a sunset behind the mountains and a mimicking reflection on the cobblestone yard in front of it, with the previously described hibiscus flowers' natural colors.  Every other color used is a prismatic or muted cool color, being mainly blue and blue greens (that of the mountains).  The mountains become a backdrop for the man-made buildings, which then become a backdrop for the hibiscus and gradient.