t-shirts...

Inspiration painting: acyrlic









Spray paint with marker from stencil on t-shirt







tie dye effect with spray paint and stencil + marker









Spray paint and marker

Characters...

Do not know how to change the orientation

A few of the many....

Military/Nautical

Acrylic

Book with pattern and battleship pictures

Intaglio

Gouache

Pattern...

Litho

Gouache

Gouache

My Work.

So as of now, I only have some stencils worked out. I am still waiting on the arrival of the t-shirts I ordered. I got 10 sets of size runs in small, medium, large, xlarge. I got white, gray, black, navy, a sea foam color, and a tan. I am encorporating elements of urban life such as graffiti and street art mixed with nautical elements based on where I grew up. I am going to portray them in a flat, simple, but vivid and grungy way. I am going to be using texture that may act as design and pattern and keeping pattern involved. I have been working with Barb Madsen in creating a "character" based side of this as well. Whether or not this gets into my thesis, I am not sure, but I have been making pages of characters that could possibly turn into my logo design for the branding. I am posting pictures of my paintings that seem to embody what I am about as an artist. Like I said, I have no actual work on t-shirts because they have not yet arrived.

redone idea for thesis?

So as of now, my plan for my thesis is pretty much non changing, he only issue I will have is the hanging portion. I am going to make ideally 10 different t-shirt designs. My name is going to be IMPEKABLE. I am going to try to show graffiti and urban elements mixed with of nautical designs. I will also make them in sets of 4 (size run). I will only be showing ten, then having the others probably folded on a wooden table I made thats about 4 feet by 3 feet. I was thinking if I could possibly have a large corner? I don't know how possible this is or if it will greatly impact someone else's project next to mine, I am willing to change, but as of now I was thinking about a zig zagged clothes line type thing from top to bottom with the shirts hanging on it.

second critique

I showed some more of my work including actual shirts I have done before. I seemed to get good feedback from the group and continued to speak my ideas into word better. I feel I am getting more focused every critique and ironing out small details I was unsure of. I am positive I will be doing tee shirts with spray paint prints through a stencil process because I like that each one will be individual and original. I like the fact that each shirt has its own say splash of paint on a particular spot, or a darker thicker line on a certain area. This is showing that each shirt is acting as a canvas and that its not just screened over and over again making somewhat of a replica per shirt, I like the differences per time I paint them. I am still trying to figure out the ideas of hanging/showing, but I got some good feed back on possibly hanging from ceiling, maybe corner, and I'm thinking that the most simple will probably work the best.

Group Critique

For my thesis I am designing a clothing line in the aspect of casual wear. I want to focus on the urban culture specifically in the area of graffiti. I am looking at those who have preceded in such genres. Shepard Fairey of Obey looks at and worked in many urban areas. I want to show case causal wear showing that art does not have to be viewed on a gallery wall, but can be seen in our clothing and style choices especially because our generation is so style conscious. I will be making screen prints in the area of nautical meets urban wear. I am going to focus on the nautical aspect because of where I grew up and the parts of nautical themes that have always been in my life, and the urban due to the graffiti and pops of color in your face. I got a lot out of my critique. I know my biggest struggle will the hanging and showing of my work. This is an obstacle I must tackle to have it work along with my theme and idea. There were some ideas that people could be wearing some of the designs that I will be showing to impound this idea. I really liked that idea. I also need to figure out a way to make the "line" be somewhat of a theme without looking too dis-jointed or too much the same. I have been doing the technical work this week like ordering shirts, etc. so hopefully this can get me going.

exhibition group

I am doing a clothing line and will most likely not need the wall as much as the space in front. Unfortunately the thing I need to work out the most is the hanging and showing of the work. There will probably be 10 or so styles of tee shirts. Sorry not that much info. I will post as I get more of an idea.

Thesis Proposal

For my thesis I want to incorporate several ideas that I enjoy and tie them altogether with a common thread. Although my major is graphic design, I have always wanted to work relating to fashion. By this, I mean fashion for the everyday, not runway or couture. I have several ideas that to me are all very personal and really like certain aspects of each. The issue for me will be to bring them all together, however I have a strong sense of what it is I would like to do.

First of all, I am a graphic design major and carry design through all of my work. I would like to brand myself as a company. In doing so, I would have hangtags for clothing, business cards, letterheads, etc. I would do this as if I were branding myself as a company. (Not in the business sense, but to add density to my designs and make them feel more cohesive.)

I have a strong interest in casual clothing. Boiling this down even more so, I enjoy tee shirt design, certain companies and their dynamic. I would like to incorporate this part into my thesis, having tee shirts be my canvas if you will. I would theoretically have several editions of shirts as if it were my own line.

I also have a strong interest in street art and the world that encapsulates it. I would like to emerge this “line” into this area. I would highlight specific aspects of street art, such as the randomness of line, the bright colors, and the specific narrative that is unknown to the viewer. I like the fact that in street art, the viewer usually does not know the artist, nor does he or she know the concept behind it and therefore can make one up on their own. Included in this, I like the culture of people who view art in a different means of going to a gallery to see it, or seeing it hanging on the wall. Street art and urban art can be seen on buildings, on billboards, through graffiti, and through personal style.

Moving along with personal style, I feel that many people in my generation have shaped clothing as part of their personality as well. Many use clothing as a canvas to express themselves more than ever before. To first clear the air, I do not mean this in anyway of being judgmental, any part of putting people in classes, etc. but purely in a fun light-hearted way. You can most definitely see a one’s personality shine through in their clothing and whom they are presenting themselves as. I find this very interesting. Another part of personal style I enjoy is the accessories and boiling this down more, many have a strong attachment to sneakers. In urban culture, Nike’s are very prominent and seen on most. This is yet another aspect of personal style that categorizes you as a specific person. Many who are collectors of Nike’s and sneakers in general fall into this category.

In regards to fashion, I enjoy the fact that you can make yourself a canvas and make your clothing and how you put it together artwork. To me, this is very interesting. I find it even more interesting that you see people’s personality shine through in most cases. For most people my generation, we have a strong attachment to clothing and shopping. Now even guys like to shop, which was not

seen as much years ago. Everyone likes to present themselves as their own branding and ideas.

In clothing, logos are usually placed on brands somewhere visible. This just like any other industry separates one from the other. This separates a Ford emblem from a Nissan emblem etc. Logos are seen everywhere around us, and are in most cases forced down our throats. Nonetheless, I still find logos very interesting. Being a design major I have a love for logos, and I think a good logo can make a person look at one company over the other based purely on its looks before looking deeper into any subject. This is like how you present yourself with your clothing before you even speak to someone, a brand shows what the company is about before you even know what is makes, sells, represents, etc. In this connection, we present ourselves as a brand.

I grew up in Brielle, NJ, which is a very small beach town in central NJ. Growing up here I was always around nautical elements. My family has a boat, and my brother went to a maritime college. We have always gone to see battleships, destroyers, aircraft carriers, etc. My family has always had interests in maritime-based things and it seems to follow me in my artwork. I would like to incorporate this aspect of my life into my work and show my interest of this subject.

I think I am a creative person and would like to show this through pieces on my work. I would like to brand a clothing line that incorporates the urban and beach lifestyle along with elements of maritime subjects mixed with urban subjects. I am in some cases juxtaposing the two opposite ends of the spectrum but bringing them together as a cohesive whole. There would be elements of design with logos incorporated in as well as design of the branding and products.

My issues will be to take many broad subjects and boil them down to make them all cohesive as one. I have always wanted to work in fashion and so doing a tee shirt line seems very fitting. When speaking with other teachers they tell me that I am jumping ahead but I know this is what I want to do regardless of the parts in between.

There are several companies I enjoy greatly. For example, the company RVCA started off small, and due to its originality, it has grown to a large empire. This company features something called ANP or artists network program, which highlights actual artists who paint, draw, etc and exhibit their works, and feature them on tee shirt designs. Another is Obey, which was started by Shepard Fairey who has become famous due to his guerilla form of tagging his Andre the Giant logo. He grew from something small into something large, and is now very well known especially for his iconic depiction of Obama.

I think companies such as these that art very art driven can go far in fashion. To mix art with clothing and make it wearable art is something I really want to bring into my thesis process and final project. I want to show that art doesn’t always have to be seen in a frame or even in a gallery for that much. Art and fashion go hand in hand and tee shirts are just a different form of a canvas.