Month: February 2018

First Pieces of Art – Collage

final graphic collage

In 2018, one of my biggest goals was to create more art digitally. I decided to create Pixel Art, due to the fact that I have always had such a warm place in my heart for pixelated games on devices such as the GameBoy and the Nintendo 64. Games such as Mario Kart, Super Mario 64, and Banjo Kazooie showed a true understanding of how to use large bits of color to create a beautiful image. This is one of the leading forces as to why I chose to make Pixel Art over anything else.

One of the pieces that inspired me the most to create art the way I do is because of an image I saw many years ago. It has never left my head, and continues to influence the color choices I make. This piece of art is by Sofia Zelaya, an artist from Chile. Her piece can be seen at:
http://sofia-zelaya.tumblr.com/post/127595013651/i-cant-remember-what-i-was-so-angry-about

To show the beginning of my journey, here are my first 4 photos I ever created. I would create whatever came to my mind. Normally I aim for an image that makes me feel calm when I am making it or viewing it, so I tend to lean towards things like sunsets and landscapes. Mountains, trees, the desert, all calming environments from my perspective.

One noticeable bit from two of these original pieces I created is that they have small quotes on them. One reads: “Your laughter can move mountains” to match the landscape. The second one reads “You are whatever a moon has always meant” which is an excerpt from a poem by E.E. Cummings. You can read the full poem, here:
https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poetrymagazine/poems/49493/i-carry-your-heart-with-mei-carry-it-in

The way that these images are placed are based on importance. The desert displays the first image that I made, so it is the most significant one to me. The other two are smaller as they are not only similar in context, but also they fall on the lesser part of my list of importance. The revisions on this collage I made from the draft were very slight, as I did not want to tamper the original art. I completely deleted one of the images, as a helpful tip I received was that it could be repetitive to have my logo in there. I increased the vibrancy and contrast on the remaining photos, and adjusted the placement of the two on the right.

I hope that showing you my first pieces will inspire you to keep improving, practicing, and hoping. I have always looked to the improvement of others to keep me going, and here is my first expression of growth.