Arianna's Mural: Sketches on the wall

by Meredith 30. January 2013 14:41

Virgo, Lupus, Leo, PavoWall sketches of Virgo, Lupus, Leo, Pavo, Cetus, Argo and Hydra.

Sketches on paper are done, now it's time to put them on the wall. I used a couple of different sky map apps on my phone to place the constellations in the room. One of the apps allowed you to set a date and time in the future so I picked Arianna's due date and used that as my reference. A little fudging had to be done in order to get some of the constellations to fit up on the wall (the app showed their placement on the floor).

For next step I applied the feedback I was given by friends and I made some edits to the positioning and orientation of the images so that they flowed together. Because Virgo, Lupus, Leo, and Pavo (the peacock) were all so close together I felt they could be placed together so that they all interacted in some way. In my rendition of these constellations, Virgo is a Mother Earth like character watching over wolf and lion as they play. Instead of just adding a peacock to the pair of animals Virgo is wearing a gown of peacock feathers which also adds to the "of the Earth" feeling to her.

Argo and HydraMore artistic license was taken with Cetus, Argo and Hydra. While doing research I had seen an old star map where the sea monster Cetus was drawn as a whale. As this mural is for a baby's room, I didn't want scary, monsters images on the walls so the interpretation of a whale was perfect.

Argo Navis is an ancient constellation of the southern hemisphere that has since been broken up into three separate constellations (Carnia, Vela and Puppis). As Madeline's room has a ship, I wanted one in Arianna's room too. I'm also enamored with the story/poem of "Wynken, Blynken, and Nod" which mixes aspects of the stars with the sea. Argo seemed like an excellent constellation to add and made a nice way to interpret a nearby constellation Hydra. Again, I didn't want to add a multi-headed monster to a child's room so an octopus seemed like a good compromise. If she ever asks we planned to tell her the giant octopus is giving the ship a hug.

 

 

 

Presentation: The Design & Development of Flip the Bird

by Meredith 8. January 2013 19:23

On Wednesday, January 9, I will be presenting at the PDX Adobe - Photoshop & Illustrator User's Group. Here are the presentation details and a PDF copy of the presentation.

"Graphic design and production for an iOS game," by Meredith Cook and colleague. Plus discussion with other users: designers, photographers, artists...

Come hear about the design and development of a published mobile game. The project's graphic designer and its coder will share their experiences. They'll focus on the game's graphics -- including technical requirements, tools, code integration, and the iterative process of development. Download the $0.99 game to your iPad or iPhone today.

 

LOCATION: TaborSpace, SE 55th + Belmont, Portland, OR. It's a big stone church building where classrooms are now for community use. Enter through the central doors (up stone steps), and look for signage. 

PARKING: Building has its own parking lot in the block to the west. 

TRANSIT. Bus line 15 stops right there.

AGENDA:
6:00 Snacks and socializing
6:30 Program
7:40 Break, introductions (brief round robin), and networking
9:00 End

About Meredith Cook

Welcome to my repository of creative expression. I'm not a happy camper unless I am making something and over the years I have dabbled in quite a few different kinds of art projects. Some projects come from taking art classes, others are completely hobby driven, and projects like home decor come from a need to customize an item and make it better or unique. The overall theme behind what I do is to learn how to manipulate objects and practice what I know about visual aesthetic and good design. Oh yeah, and to have fun.

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