Week 3 ABCs Final Draft

ABCs Final Project

After completing the rough sketch, I needed to add some "character" to the characters. It didn't take me long to decide that I wanted to make a Halloween theme character set (Halloween is my favorite holiday). I approached the task by dragging the edges of the letters to create a "sharp" look and feel from them. After I was done shaping the edges, I added color and a 4pt border. I alternated each letters' colors in order to give it more of an appeal to the eye. I chose the colors Orange, Green, and Black because to me those colors stand out the most during Halloween.  

"Special Post" Art Exhibit visit with Edyta Stepien

"NonPhenomena"

This was my first time going to an art gallery and it was quite an experience. As I entered the exhibit, I felt immersed in Edyta's "NonPhenomena" piece. NonPhenomena is composed of multi-channel (2 channels) video and audio installations which surround the viewers and really bring you "in" her piece.

As I was awaiting Edyta's presentation, I thought to myself about how NonPhenomena made me feel. I began making assumptions about the three C's: Craft, Concept, and Composition. My initial reaction was that this was filmed underwater in a natural environment. I could not interpret the concept until I saw the pieces of newspaper and string which to me signified that maybe it has something to do with littering or somewhere along those lines (ex. The Pacific Garbage Patch).

Edyta's presentation began with a brief introduction about her background and the exhibits she was presenting. When she took the stage, she began with a Q&A for the viewers. Many of the questions I noticed were focused around the three C's. Edyta explained her concept as focusing on the year of 2010 when the hurricanes were striking at the highest numbers. The way she crafted her idea was in a controlled environment in an aquarium where the changes in environment were caused by simulated forces. The camera was actually placed outside of the aquarium behind a screen to capture different color elements. In order to capture this piece, Edyta had to have the perfect angle and lighting conditions set up. The exhibit, NonPhenomena, wrapped around the room focused on immersing the viewer in the middle. The composition was a variety of elements of a man made environment (urban landscape). The elements consisted of: string, sand, sticks, dirt, glitter, and newspaper. The sounds were composed by Margaret Noble and simulated field recordings of thunder and hurricanes. It really brought everything together to give an eerie feeling that of the destruction of a storm. 

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"Fragments"

Edyta also presented her idea for another piece of work called "Fragments".  According to her, this was a very fresh concept and it can change in the future. Her vision for this piece was to immerse the viewer in a living environment. The tools or software she uses for Fragments is called "After Effects". 

This was a great experience for me and I'm thankful that Edyta Stepien made it possible (as well as Nathan Peck). 

Week 2 Rough Draft of ABCs

ABCs Rough Project

This is my first assignment using Adobe Illustrator. In order to get familiar with the layout and feel of AI, I crafted the ABCs. I started off constructing the easy letters first like the I, L, T and then worked my way up to the more complex "S". For the "M" and the "W" I simply constructed the "M" first and then copied it, pasted it, and then rotated it to get the "W". After I completed all the letters, I needed to resize them using the ruler guidelines. I decided to make each letter 2" tall by 1" wide with 1/2" spaces between each set.

Week 1 Introduction

Hello Everyone!

My name is Timothy Mikus and I'm a Computer Science major at Saint Xavier University. Currently I am a senior working on my last semester before graduation. As a child, I have always enjoyed taking electronics and computers apart and rebuilding them. I have also had a passion working with the continuous evolution of technology. My family and friends always know they can count on me to solve any of their tech needs.

Learning everything I could on the hardware side of computer technology, I decided to look into the software side. After a few semesters of coding at SXU, I instantly fell in love with it. My goal after school is to become a Software Developer, working on a team as a Front End Developer or a Database Administrator.