Long Exposure Experimentation

Recently, my father and I went to a social night held by the Art Society of Trinidad and Tobago. On the way back home, having brought the camera along, we decided to stop at the lookout on the Lady Young Road to capture some shots of the Port of Spain skyline.

Starting off with a regular long exposure, I tried to capture all of the light pollution from the city creating the soft glow against the night sky.



Then getting a tad bit more creative thanks to my dad, we decided to try out some light painting with the city lights. Zooming and panning on the tripod head created some interesting effects. Regular long exposures are overrated.

Entering hyperspace sir!

Warp speed Scotty!

I like this one the most. No editing whatsoever. This shot has an artsy feel about it, and it makes me feel good.

Now, a few days later, we were at it again. This time we had gone into Port of Spain a little earlier, so with the sun having just set, I tried to get some mist effects off the water.

Needs more waves.

Unfortunately, the waves in the Gulf of Paria were far too tame to get the required effect, so I'll have to pay a visit to the East coast to capture a "misty" sunrise sometime soon.

Later that night, we headed to Chaguaramas to try out some more shots of the sunset afterglow, but the scene provided something a bit more spectacular. Off the coast were a few ships and an oil rig, all with their lights ablaze in the evening twilight. Having tried a two minute exposure at f4, the lighting effects were reason enough to continue shooting. After this little excursion, I wished that I had produced these photos before the exhibition of the photography club at my school. These would have made interesting submissions under the category of light.

There's always next time.

This bears the fruit of my labour that second night.

I'm not dead

I LIVE!

After my success at the CSEC and Cambridge International Exams in June of this year, I was faced with a change of mentality to begin my preparations for the Caribbean Advanced Proficiency Examinations (CAPE).

Being forced to choose subjects specifically suited to my future career, I discontinued my academic work as an artist and lost the free time to pursue it as a hobby.

However, when one door closes, another opens.

This year, I have had many opportunities to develop my graphic design abilities and use these skills productively. I created a masterpiece of hand-crafted graphic design (forgive my bluntness) for the visual arts exam, a much needed improvement over my drawing piece the day before, and I eagerly await its return. I would even pay any shipping fees etc. to get it back! I've also designed posters and websites for clubs within my school; I even collaborated with my friend Duane to create a user interface for a database job that a few of my friends and I were working on.

Last, but most certainly not least, I am working towards attending a very ambitious conference in July 2013.

In October of this year, 2012, I caught word that my school was extending invitations to deserving students to allow them to attend the prestigious Global Young Leaders Conference of 2013. Being a diligent and respectful student, I received my invitation!

I will elaborate more in the future, I have begun sending out letters to various companies in request of financial aid to attend this conference and received positive feedback from the Bermudez biscuit company! In the new year I hope to secure more funds to make this dream a reality.

Update you soon!

Distinctive Excellence

I must apologize for my extended period of absence from the blog, I've been quite lazy during this vacation.

However, this laziness was as a result of the hard work placed into my CSEC and Cambridge International Exams in the previous term. The serene bliss of sedentary life was broken two weeks ago upon the release of CSEC examination results from their website.

I always believe that you can only hope to receive as much as you have put into anything in life.
And I definitely put a lot of effort into my artwork.


So, I'm beaming with pride to announce my distinction in the CSEC Visual Arts exams.
Grade A profiles in all three categories:

-Drawing
-Graphic and Communication Design
-Theory Process and Practice.


Also, having received grade ones in each of my other 8 CSEC subjects (with seven of them being full distinctions), it was quite a relief to see my hard work rewarded.

A Sigh of Relief

It has been quite a while since I've taken the time to update the blog.
Mainly because of my preparations for CSEC exams including Visual Arts.

This was a stressful week for me, having sat both the drawing and graphic design production papers within a space of two days, for 6 hours each.

I put my best foot forward and I'm awaiting great results from these exams and I want to wish the best of luck to all those who still have to sit their respective production papers for the remainder of the art exam period.

The full brunt of exams will be starting next week, so there may be even less posts than usual.

Take care.

Better late than never

I've been away from the blog for far too long...neglect is a very serious offense.

With the congregation of my School Based Assessments, lessons, studying and mock exams, I hardly had time to even think about The Art of Our Lives.

I may still have very infrequent posts for the time upcoming, but after June 8th, when CSEC is over, I shall return in all my glory and post all of my plans for the three month break before I begin Lower 6 and preparation for CAPE exams.

Coming soon is an exclusive interview with local graphic designer David Smith...

Until next time

Certified Student Blogger

Do you remember that lovely little competition in November where I desperately begged you, my readers, to click a large blue button to vote for me?

Do you remember the effort you exerted?

I will never forget your generosity.


The Guide to Online Schools recently held a student blogging competition which awarded the top 5 bloggers with a brand new Kindle from Amazon.com. The top ten bloggers were determined by the number of unique votes each post gathered. The 5 winners were selected by a panel of judges based on the quality content of the post.


Let me officially announce that I am one of those five winners.

Thanks to your hard work at voting and promoting my post, I am a winner.
Thanks to all of you, I now own an Amazon Kindle.


I appreciate all of your support and I hope you enjoy the rest of my blog as much as you enjoyed the House M.D. portrait post.

Mine..mine...MINE!!!

I'm currently very much engrossed in the Bourne Trilogy.
It's very difficult to pry me away from my Kindle, just ask my parents.


Thanks again to all of you!

Something new...

The date for our exhibition is currently in a state of flux and as such, I definitely will NOT release any snippets of my work regarding the exhibition until the opening night has passed...

This is a matter very sensitive to me because any 'leaked' pieces of work will spoil the large build up towards exhibiting our own pieces at a show.


As such, I've decided to try something new...


I've neglected graphic design recently as an artist and I think I have also been neglecting the element of my blog which tries to expose the subliminal elements of art and graphic design.

As such, I will create a new poll for the viewers to vote on a weekly basis for a new trailer, poster or famous advertisement for me to 'deconstruct' graphically and review the power of the subliminal artistic ventures used to seduce your attention.


Please leave some suggestions for me in the comments section below.

The first one to be deconstructed will be the international trailer for the highest rated Marvel movie of Summer 2011 on Rottentomatoes.com .

Examinations.

I have just completed five of my end of year exams and I don't feel good.

Technical Drawing was a relief (only I completed the exam).
English A was fine...
Geography was actually very nice :)
But Add Maths and Physics...



Well, next week I have my presentations to do and I have quite a few more exams papers to do i.e. Paper 1 & Paper 2 for a lot of subjects.

Wish me luck.

The Stresses of Academic Life

If only movies like The Matrix or Inception could bring their highly advanced learning technologies into the realm of everyday life on the third rock from the sun, things would be alot easier.

I could just download the updates into my brain or I could drop into a dream state and continuously recall the newly learnt information until it became laser etched into the back of my cerebral cortex. Then, long term memory would just take over and I would have absolutely no problem with remembering ANYTHING.


Unfortuately, they are still Science......FICTION.

:(



As this monologue suggests very heavily, End of Year examinations are upon my poor soul.

In fact they start next week Tuesday.

With.........PHYSICS.

yes, PHYSICS.

The most hated examination science subject due to the high quantity of formulae, equations, graphs, energy diagrams, derived units, SI units, calcula......

As well as its Dominion over the other Sciences.

AAAUUGGHHH!!!!


I think right now, I'm probably feeling worse than Ai Weiwei.

Ai Weiwei.

In case you are unfamiliar with this Chinese artist, I can either refer you to the geniuses at google.com, or I can give you a little lesson myself.

Ai Weiwei is a very CONTROVERSIAL artist in China because, unlike many others in his country, he aint afraid to stand up to the Government and show his discontent with their bold decisions which change the course of the lives of every citizen and resident of the Republic of China.

'Ai Weiwei (born 18 May 1957) is a Chinese artist and activist, who is also active in architecture, curating, photography, film, and social and cultural criticism. Ai collaborated with Swiss architects as the artistic consultant on the Beijing National Stadium for the 2008 Olympics.

In addition to his art work he has investigated government corruption and cover-ups, especially the alleged corruption scandal during the construction of the Sichuan schools that collapsed in the 2008 Sichuan earthquake. He uses the internet to communicate with people all over China, especially the young.

On 3 April 2011 police detained him at Beijing airport and still have not filed any official charges. His studio in the capital was sealed off, and his staff interrogated pursuant to allegations of "economic crimes". On 20 April Ai was appointed Visiting Professor of the Berlin University of the Arts.'

From Wikipedia The Free Encyclopedia

Snake Ceiling was created from school back-packs - the same brand as those used by children killed in the Sichuan Earthquake.
The earthquake occurred in August 2008, killing thousands of schoolchildren.

So his life is quite a disaster at the moment, but I think I can speak for ALL academics out there by saying:

'We've got some problems of our own. No matter how amazing he is as a thinker.'


So wish me luck in these horrible exams and I wish Ai Weiwei luck in his attempts to expose corruption without being victimized by those in authority.

Adios mis amigos y amigas

HOUSE

I am a passionate photorealist. I cannot fully appreciate pieces that lack detail unless they vividly depict a deeper, alternate meaning than what is presented at face value. I strive with all of my being to include as much detail as possible into all of my pieces. The full effect of photorealism is achieved through the application of high contrast, painstaking shadowing and the inclusion of as many details as possible.

In portrait work, it is even more important to pay attention to these principles in order to create an impressive replica of the subject in portrait.

However, one must also pay rapt attention to the details of the layout of the face and the person's features. Accuracy in this department will aid in ensuring that the portrait looks just like the person.

A fellow blogger, Portia Subran (a.k.a. DeadEyes), has experience in developing portraits.

You can find her at The Art of Wisdom and War

Anyway, its my turn to show 'off' my portraits too.

It's been a while since I've done a proper portrait. 

Not counting the one I've just completed, the last portrait I created was completed on the first of September last year.

Wow....it's been a while.

Personally, I think that I have definitely improved upon my techniques and my rendering capabilities but I definitely have to continue working hard at improving my accuracy and proportion mapping.

The following picture shows the first portrait I EVER completed:

A 'failed' portrait of Dr. House  

 

House M.D. (Portrait 1), Graphite on paper: 14" X 17".
I definitely have improved since then.

If you take a close look at the portrait, I signed this piece over a year ago.

Since then, things have changed.

My ability to achieve shadowing has improved and I am proud of what I am able to achieve nowadays in my artistic studies and exploration of expression.

I was heavily advised to stop doing portraits of these famous people, so I thought I would let them go out with a bang.

One year later, I decided to take Dr. House for a spin again...

 

I definitely am proud of my improvements, but I leave the verdict up to my readers to tell me where I have to continue the physical practice and research necessary to become a better portrait artist.

Simply more than a year has helped me improve my techniques to a level beyond my own expectations.

On the 22nd April, 2011 This is how the NEW House M.D stands:

House M.D. (Portrait 2), Graphite on paper: 17" X 22".
Improvements galore.

So concludes another vacation in the life of a dedicated student and a very tired human being. The trials of academics and art help make me stronger at least, so there is some good that comes out of hard work.....

This is my last portrait of an internationally famed person who is not locally based.

In the future, I may post some pictures of my previous portraits which include the likes of Queen Latifah, The Joker, Taylor Swift, and last (but not least) Ellen DeGeneres.

Due to my return to the hectic life on Tuesday, my posts may start to dwindle in frequency, but I will try to update as best as I can.

Victory always tastes sweet...(Conclusion)

Well, I think I've kept you in suspense for long enough...


That fateful day when we received that phone call...

I remember it well.
I was sitting there in Add Maths lessons, wondering about my painting, thinking about the fact of not being in receipt of any information on whether it made it or not. Wondering if I didn't make it.

I felt a bit disheartened..


When I got home, I saw that I missed a call.
A voicemail message was also present.


It was Mrs. Davis, my art teacher...




On Saturday 29th January, my parents and I walked into the head office of Republic Bank Trinidad and Tobago on Park Street, Port of Spain.


I had to wear my Hillview College formal uniform and my parents of course had to dress up in their fine formal attire to attend this event.


After the welcomes were given on the ground floor, we were ushered up to the second floor where the ceremony was going to be held. 


Upon entering the room, we were greeted by these:

Ooh, one looks like a portrait......

There were four more on the other side of the room, but what struck me at first was that there was ONE portrait oriented piece there.


If I remember correctly, I DID A PORTRAIT PIECE...

But, I had to remind myself....


'You know what, just shut up Johnathan, you're just going to disappoint yourself...'


The awards ceremony started with a bang, they were clearly not wasting any time at all. This was probably to combat the period of time they took to actually begin the proceedings. We were supposed to begin at 3p.m. but absolutely nobody can prevent the emergence of our world famous 'trini time'.


Everyone was given a certificate of excellence and participation. A nice memoir of the experience in this competition.

THEN.....


THE UNVEILING...


It was only fitting for the General Manager of Marketing Communications of Republic Bank, Mrs. Anna Maria Garcia-Brooks to present the winners with their prizes. 


All seven first place prizes were to be presented...


In order of the room going left to right,


The first was unveiled...


An interesting composition showing the local way of life through the capture of a local vendor's stall. This painting came from the International School of Port of Spain.

The second painting to be unveiled also went to the International School. This painting showed a coconut vendor's stall:

And then...


I heard the description of my painting being called out...
I got through, the prize was mine. 
My painting was going to be exposed on an international scale..
I did it...

"The Monarch butterfly, seen in the Lopinot valley of Arouca, where colourful houses dot the hills of the Northern Range and majestic trees accent the skyline, exudes a certain magical flair as it flirts from flower to flower.

This magic is reminiscent of the Moko jumbie, a symbol of the Merry Monarch of our Trinidad and Tobago Carnival.

One of our traditional carnival characters, the towering moko jumbie, is an African spirit that is said to roam the country, protecting its people and he performs acts that are unexplainable to the human understanding. The magic released by this character embodies the vibrant connection between the natural beauty of our landscapes and the culture of our people which makes this country so magnificently unique. The moko jumbie shares the magic with the monarch butterfly giving genesis to the title, 'The Magic of the Monarch'.

I was more overwhelmed than I looked

(From left) Mrs. Anna Maria Garcia-Brooks, my art teacher Mrs. Davis, MEEE and my Principal Mr. Leslie Mahase

As you can see, I was the only dude there....:)

Ahh, me chilling with my lovely painting

 The following spot on the airbridge was claimed by St. Joseph's Convent, San Fernando:


This painting showed a baby iguana lying on a fig leaf, relaxing in the tropical climate of this island.

The next spot on the airbridge was won by St. Joseph's Convent, Port of Spain:

This painting shows a cocoa house nestled in the bushes. It reminds us that Trinidad Cocoa is among the best cocoa on the planet and is used as a premium product.

The sixth painting to be unveiled belonged to Naparima Girls College.

It was a representation of the temple in the sea:

The final piece was also from Naparima Girls College.

This one was more abstract, but it truly reflected the diversity of the country:

This was truly an amazing experience and a wonderful opportunity to showcase my art to the wider branches of society.

I want to thank the bank for providing such an opportunity to young artists.

The journey was a long, tense one, but my parents, teachers and friends all brought me through to where I am right now, being able to relate an experience like this to you.

Victory always tastes sweet...(Part 2)

The suspense was killing everyone....

My entire household, my teacher, my friends...

We were all engulfed in a tense cloud of hope, optimism and even doubt.

Days, weeks passed without any word from the bank.

Our hopes began to sink..

Then they called us.

I realized that something was different when my art teacher, Mrs. Davis, interrupted my Maths class to give me some news.

My hopes soared as my eyeballs registered her ecstatic face.

Her bright smile activated the optimist switch in my head.

I was unprepared for what was next.

She said, "Johnathan, I have news from the bank. Your painting has been shortlisted for judging..."

YESSS!!!!!

Finally some stress relief. My day was instantly brightened.

I had to submit a brief explanation for my piece..

We all realized that this was the next step of judging.

This had to be good if I wanted a chance at this prize.

The brainstorming session lasted from that morning until 9:13pm that night when the description was sent to Mrs. Davis in completed form for submission to the bank.

The buzz of excitement was present for another couple of days as we reminisced in pride about the quality of both the painting and the explanation.

Then, suspense reared its hideous head once more as the bank released NO feedback on whether they even received my email!!!

AAAAUUGGHH!!

WHAT IF THEY DIDN'T GET IT?

WHAT IF I SPELT THE DESTINATION EMAIL ADDRESS WRONG?

ALL MY HARD WORK WASTED DUE TO A TYPO??!!!

Suspense, suspense, suspense

Then salvation,

Mrs. Davis couldn't take it anymore and called the bank.

It turned out that they received it the day after submission....

sigh,  couldn't they say something??

Time passed, long periods of non-communication emerged and feelings of disappointment filled my head as I visioned my painting being returned to me as one that 'also ran' in the competition.

A phone call was received.

A glorious phone call was received.

I was given an invitation to the Awards Ceremony, which would unveil the seven paintings chosen for display.

To be concluded...

 

Victory always tastes sweet...

As you may remember, last term I was struggling amidst a fiery battle between my artistic endeavours and the calls of the academic world.

In the end, both sides ended the war due to a mutual agreement for a peaceful ceasefire.

Then along came sweet, innocent Republic Bank.

They sent out a memo to Hillview, inviting art students to enter a lovely competition they were about to host.

The Young Artists' Canvas To The World Project .

The prizes seemed soooo alluring.......

$5,000 voucher for the purchase of Art supplies for the school,

$5,000 for the artist per selected entry

AND!!!!

The artwork would be placed AT THE PIARCO INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT for display TO THE WORLD!!!

Well, needless to say, I began salivating at the thought of entering this ambitious competition.

The calls of this task were daunting beyond belief as I tried hard to forget the sadistic cries of my Chemistry, Physics and Additional Mathematics books.

I could hear them screaming, 'Forget the art, my boy...We're what's gonna make you somebody...'

I responded to those books by giving them rationed attention. 

Physics- 30 minutes 

Chemistry - 30 minutes

Additional Maths - until fatigued

ART..... ALL POSSIBLE FREE TIME

I was just thanking God that Geography was the first exam on my schedule, defeating that subject would be the key to my success or failure in the academic realm. Everything else became secondary.

I managed to squeeeze in some art during the exam prep, but most of that time became brain busting sessions with my wonderful artistic educator, Mrs. Davis.

My parents and I would count down the remaining hours of the day by continuing these sessions for the rest of the night.

Then, in the morning,

I consulted with my friends to fine tune ideas and to develop new, fresh ones.

My brain was drained out until...we all finally decided on a single beautiful concept for the painting.

This was definitely going to be a strong piece for selection.

I started dutifully painting on the background in the art studio at school the week before exams.

I continued like a loyal slave at home.

During the evaluation period at Hillview, I do believe that I had my most productive sessions for painting. I painted in the studio during the break between exams on a daily basis and I worked extremely hard in the comfort of my home on the days of no testing.

The day finally came when I bubbled with pride as I looked at my creation. Every aspect of Trinidad could be seen in this beauty. 

The rush was on for submission...

In the space of two hours, my parents and I rushed to school to get the official school stamp, raced down the roadways of the East/West Corridor to get into Port of Spain, and ran down to Republic Bank's headquarters on Park Street to submit my piece on the second floor.

We then scrambled to get something to eat after submission (this was around 2:43pm) at Grand Bazaar. Then, I was supposed to head off to lessons...

I decided to go home.

The rush was over, the stress was done, and now the suspense emerged.

Stay tuned to 'The Art of Our Lives' for the continuation....

The Game Has Changed

Rotten Tomatoes.com says:

"Tron Legacy boasts dazzling visuals, but its human characters and story get lost amidst its state-of-the-art production design."

I BEG TO DIFFER....

On Saturday 7th January, 2011,  I had the pleasure of viewing TRON: Legacy in 3-D at Caribbean Cinemas 8.

As with most action-oriented 3-D movies, the graphics were astounding and the depth of three dimensions was very present. However, there were not many, "RUN!!!,that thing is coming to kill me!!!!!" 3D moments in the film as can be easily seen in 3D animated features.

In my personal opinion, Rotten Tomatoes was a bit harsh on the movie. The plot was not mind-blowing, it was quite 2-dimensional, but it was stable and thrilling as there were few moments of boredom within the film. Suspense was high and there were some 'bad guy wins' parts of the plot to balance the power of the characters.

The riveting film score by Daft Punk fused my gluteus maximus and minimus to the flimsy theatre seats as the booming crescendos enhanced the blazing action coming through the screen at me. I must commend them for a giant leap into the the realm of film score. A highly successful leap might I add.

I will even go the extent of saying that the movie would be nothing without this resounding score.

But the one thing that resonated through my cranium after the show, and still continues to ring, is the MASSIVE jump for the CGI industry with this film. 

Designs in this show will become a lasting phenomenon which I can personally attest to with this watch I am drooling for...

And this iPod dock.....

Language is a more powerful plot tool than fists or tears to captivate an attentive audience.

TRON: Legacy had a quite flimsy plot on the surface of the movie, but the sub-plot was quite a jump for a studio like Disney (pretty much like Avatar and the sub-plot of destroying our world through greed). TRON: Legacy conveys some very powerful messages about creation, the human spirit and our lack of faith in today's society. What if there was somewhere we go after our life ends in this reality? All of our scientific and philosophical beliefs would lead us nowhere.

Our innate faith would be the only thing left.

The one thing we neglect most. 

I leave you now to visit the Cinema and view this digital masterpiece, TRON: Legacy. I guarantee that you will leave the cinema fulfilled.

I'm Back

I can finally take a breath and release a sigh of relief as my end of term exams are completed and my entry for the Republic Bank art competition has been submitted.

As I have some free time, right now, I'm working on adding some music to the blog for some extra nice viewing pleasure of my posts.

I want my followers to be as comfortable as possible when you take the time out of your busy schedule to read my little contributions. I want you to be able to say, "Ah, I've just spent (insert number here) minutes wisely enjoying a beautiful piece of the internet."

VERY, VERY soon, I'll be posting a picture of one of my best pieces of work. It is a copy of an Alfred Codallo pen drawing from 1956. I personally was highly intimidated by this piece of work when I first viewed it. 

But I survived.

And I think I did it just as good or maybe even better than he did...

Let's talk about some music now....

I have recently fallen in love with E.T. by Katy Perry...

It's from her new album Teenage Dream and it's fantastic.

The song is catchy, has powerful lyrics and a beautiful bassline.

To show how addicted I have become, I am actually listening to this song on replay while I am typing this up. 

I love the song.

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TxQU7fRg8xA&feature=related

Check it out and see for yourself why I'm hooked.

Until next week my friends.....