For those of you who’ve already read my brothers post, history’s going to somewhat repeat itself, sorry! I had a hard time coming up with something to do this assignment on, and am a bit disappointed that I wasn’t able to find something better. Water under the bridge I guess. Friday, February 27th, was the last Friday artwalk in Eugene. As some of you probably already know, this event takes place the last Friday of every month. This month, most of it took place in the Whiteaker area in west Eugene. The event was scheduled to run from 6:00 pm until 9:00 pm. My brother, and some of my other family, left right around 5:30 to head over and see what we could see. It was the first time I’ve ever been through there, that I can remember. It takes up most of the residential area over around Blair Boulevard. It was pretty dark by the time we got over there and found a place to park on the corner of 4th and Blair. Since it was the very first time any of us had ever attended a last Friday art walk and didn’t quite know what to expect, we decided to walk some of the streets in the area and observe some of the neighborhoods interesting features. I thought to myself as we were walking along, for it being an “art walk”, I’m sure not seeing a lot of art, as far as paintings/drawings. There was a really interesting mosaic sculpture made up of colorful shards of glass right on the corner of Van Buren and Blair that we stopped to take a look. It was four figures all standing back to back of each other. I snapped a picture of my brother giving one of them a high 5, and then we moved on! Further up Blair Blvd. was a Serbian Orthodox church that I thought had unique architecture with its onion domed roofs and arched windows and entry ways. We also walked past the Ninkasi Brewing Company building which also had an interesting design, especially the big gates which had the logo branded into the steel. Must have just been built within the last couple years, because I went on Google Earth to find out where it was located and as of September 2011, the only building that was there was a garage. We then retraced our steps and cut across W 3rd Ave. to Van Buren St. At a tattoo shop across the street, there was a guy twirling a flaming baton, which was kinda cool to watch. Before heading back to where we parked, we wandered up Blair in the opposite direction of where we had parked. I finally spotted the first painting that I had seen on the trip, though it was difficult to make out all of the details, because by then it was completely dark. As best as I could tell, it looked like a landscape mural. That was pretty much the last place we looked at before heading back. We wanted to stop and get a bite to eat at the little Papa’s Soul Food place there on the corner of 4th and Blair, but we would’ve been hard pressed to even get in the front door! Not a bad trip, but never was quite sure where all the art was!

Standing next to the mosaic sculpture on the corner of Van Buren and Blair.

For X4, I had originally intended to go with the informational interview option and try to find somebody in the multimedia or art field to interview, but as time became less and less and I wasn’t able to find someone I decided to change my mind and attend one of the events listed for the assignment. The event that I chose was the Last Friday Art Walk in Eugene. Neither my brother or I had really been to the Whiteaker area in Eugene (even though we had heard of it’s infamousness) so we thought it would be interesting to go check it out!

The drive over was interesting in and of itself because we left at about 5:30 and had to drive through Eugene right in the middle of rush hour so the traffic was insane, plus we didn’t know exactly where to go or what to expect. Once we got to the Whiteaker area we found a spot to park on Blair Blvd. and started walking down the street past the various shops and restaurants. I was kind of surprised that it didn’t seem like there was a lot going on at least on Blair Blvd. so we turned around and walked back up and took Van Buren Street. There was a little more to see on Van Buren. We stopped for a while at the very beginning of the street to examine a cool sculpture of 4 figures standing in a group. The sculpture was a mosaic crafted out of shards of glass and clay. The longer you looked at it the more it seemed you discovered. There were several smaller objects embedded in each figure that created scenes in the sculpture itself so it was like an image within an image!

Standing next to the sculpture on Van Buren St.

Continuing on, we walked a little further until we came to the Ninkasi Brewing Company and stopped to take some pictures. We didn’t go inside but had a fairly good view of the factory and equipment looking through the window. Our last stop was a Tattoo parlor where there was a guy twirling a fire baton. It was hard to get a very good picture because we were on the opposite side of the street and there was a lot of traffic.

Gate outside Ninkasi Brewing  Company.

Flame Dancing outside of Tattoo Parlor on Van Buren St.

This pretty much concluded our little adventure. We got back to where we parked which was outside of “Papa’s Soul Food” restaurant. We had planned on going in and eating but it was jam-packed as were many of the other restaurants in the area so we decided to go eat at Buffalo Wild Wings in Springfield instead.

Overall I thought the experience was interesting! Even though we didn’t stay a long time and see a lot, it was cool to get the opportunity to explore an area of Eugene I had never really been to before. I think if I was to do it again I would try going inside a few more places and hit a few more streets because I don’t think we covered the entire area that it was going on.

I had the honorable pleasure of getting a chance to speak to and interview one of, in my most humble of opinions, the most inspiring concept artists, Don Carson. He went to school at the Academy of Art University (at the time he went there it was known as the Academy of Art College) in San Francisco California and studied illustration. At the time he was a student the idea of a concept illustrator was unheard of, when he spoke with the current head of the department.

“You know, honestly, I really do not particularly care for doing finished paintings; I really like doing just the roughs. Is there a job where I can do nothing but the roughs?”

And she said.

“Absolutely not”

And so when he left the academy he did have a portfolio, but it was of the same items that he and his fellow students worked on and so, he had no real work to show. At that moment down the road he decided to take the skills he learned and to do a project just for him just for the heck of it and so he did paintings of Disneyland a sketchbook of the details of Disneyland. Even though he did not find a publisher it did however expand his portfolio with one hundred and fifty pieces of art that is quite a bit to have under your belt not bad for “just another Academy student”.

He has worked on numerous famous projects such as The Dickens Christmas Faire in San Francisco California, The Southern Renaissance Pleasure Faire in both Agoura and San Bernardino California, creating 3D products and environments at IMVU Inc. in Palo Alto California, and of course his work for Walt Disney Imagineering, The Jim Henson Company, Universal Studios, and his current work for Dreamworks. His full résumé is available on his website at http://doncarsoncreative.com/ as well as his blog.

This experience has inspired me to keep going at this full steam ahead! From hearing of his experiences to learning about what tools he used and still uses to the techniques he applies. Learn solid design basics, never be afraid of learning something new, look back on what you have learned, keep drawing and designing, understand good composition, color, value, anatomy, design, and the correct way to use art supplies will be something you will depend on every day of your career. The best structures, even artistic ones are only as good as their foundations, and never be afraid to use your imagination because you never what magic you can create with your own two hands.

In closing I am most grateful to have had this experience and I look forward to the experiences ahead I only hope to do proper credit to those who work and study in the field of concept and design. And so I sharpen my pencils and fire up my computer and will continue to work as hard and as best as I can. To the Undiscovered Country I set forth, excelsior!

Erik Bishoff is a experienced Eugene Oregon Wedding Photographer, Commercial Photographer, Architecture Photographer and Freelance Photojournalist. He has covered over 85 weddings and NCAA sporting events, dozens of architecture and real estate projects, and hundreds lifestyle and portrait shoots since starting his business in 2005.

I’d like to point out that Erik has a formal education in Photography and Architectural Design. A rigorous seven years Erik holds a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Photography from the University of Oregon where he got his start in Photojournalism and Fine Art Photography. Then he went on to receive a Master of Architecture, also from the University of Oregon, in 2008. Since he has worked both as an Intern Architect and a Design and Planning Professional while working summers as a Wedding Photographer. Erik is now a full time photographer with an emphasis in event photography, architecture photography, photojournalism and commercial photography.

In the lecture I attended On the Lane Campus on November 13 @4pm in the Commons room in building 17. I was surprised to see that it was full room to see him and here him speak on his experiences in photography particularly architectural photography with the CANON 16MM tilt/shift lens. He spoke of his own experience with the lens and how he used it in his work mostly architectural. He also showed us a few Youtube videos about tilt shift lenses and their uses. One in particular was its use in making panoramas without having to move the camera and simply using the mechanical shift aspect function of the lens to achieve correct perspective panoramas without the need to correct perspective in Photoshop in post processing. This was of great interest since on of the detracting visual aspects of panoramas is the curved and distorted perspectives that are present in them. I like wide landscape shots and wouldn’t have thought of the tilt/shift lens as something to use for panoramas until Erik discussed it in his lecture.

I also appreciated his description of the photography industry and that it is not an easy field to make money in that you need to be versatile and a problem solver to really have consistent and good paying work. As well as explaining that it is time consuming that he often visits locations at different times of day and scouts it out just taking pictures with his iphone to get in his head what he wants to do when he takes his equipment to location. Also how a scene that he shoots for example of a hotel chain that didn’t work out or look right at he time of shooting. The time of day and glaring sun light made the shots he took look washed out and flat and the sky was devoid clouds also cars were parked in front of the hotel. He explains how he used HDR to had contrast and depth to the image as well Photoshoping in a puffy white cloud sky and editing out the cars in front of the hotel. This wasn’t new information that many advertisements are photoshopped and are not exactly true representations of the product, or place, or person. I like his real world experience and how he relayed that to us in a very real way no sugar coating and an emphasis on the work and challenges the exist when trying to  make a living in a competitive field.

I attended a concert in Portland on 10-24-14. It was put on by radio station Jam’n 107.5 and they called it the “Boo Bomb”. It was a hip hop showcase featuring multiple well established and oldschool artists. It took place at the Veterans Memorial Coliseum right next to the Trailblazers Moda Center.

The opener to the show was Sir Mix-a-Lot, best known for his song Baby Got Back. I was not looking forward to seeing him ever since hearing he was part of the show. When I got to the event I could already hear someone was performing. Going through the doors I could see it was Sir Mix-A-Lot. I went back through the doors and used this time to get some water.

Once hydrated and ready to see the show, I entered the main part of the coliseum. Seats were assigned and mine was close to the stage, only six rows back. Great close view and center stage. Not long after I found my spot, they announced the next artist to perform, New Orleans rapper Juvenile, was about to get on stage. Juvenile has been one of my favorite hip hop artists and it was good news to hear I was just in time, perfect way to start the show.

Juvenile’s performance was great. He performed many classic songs from his multiplatinum album 400 Degreez. He also did hit songs like “Slow Motion” and “Set It Off”. He talked to the crowd saying things like Trailblazer Damian Lillard is his favorite basketball player, and he would have been there with him if he wasn’t playing a game in the building next door.

Next was LA rapper DJ Quik. He was a big name in the 90’s, but he has still been steadily making music since. He performed old classic songs, some of which I knew, others I didn’t. Overall, he was good. After him was E-40, a big name from the Bay. His set was a mix of old and new songs. Some of his songs were high energy and at times people around me were going “hyphy”. Overall, I thought he was good.

The next artist to perform was Ja Rule. He was a big name in hip hop and pop culture in general in the early 2000s. The radio personality announcing him commented on how they haven’t seen him perform in years. When Ja got on stage people around me went crazy. People knew all the songs, and his unique style of mixing rapping with singing had parts for both the guys and girls to enjoy. Even he looked surprised everyone still knew all of his songs and said to the crowd, “You know these songs are like 10 years old, right?”

Next to perform was Bong Thugs-n-Harmony, a highly successful group from Cleveland. They are known for their style of mixing fast rapping with harmonic elements. I have seen them perform two times prior, both times in Eugene. Seeing them perform in smaller venues like the WOW Hall vs seeing them in a large coliseum had a slightly different feel. I think they performed better and were more on point during this event. The biggest difference than the prior shows was the lacking of one member. It was a little strange with him not there, as the group would either have to rap his parts for him or stop the song when it cam to his part. Even had already seeing them before I thought their performance was great.

Last to hit the stage was T.I. He has been around the music scene since the early 2000s, but recently has grown to celebrity status, even getting his own reality show on VH1. With this current popularity, the show organized him sort of like a headliner. A lot of people were waiting to see him and the place immediately got louder when they announced he was about to perform. He got on stage and performed a few older songs, which I liked. He also talked to the crowd a little saying don’t believe all the bad talk about him and that he’s a real stand up dude. Then he started to perform some of his newer songs which most of the crowd enjoyed. I didn’t care for his new songs too much, but still thought his performance was good. He was very active, constantly moving around the stage while he performed, giving a high energy feel to the crowd. The entire show overall was solid and by the time in ended I was satisfied. My legs were just started to get tired and I thought the length of the show was just right.

I am pleased to say the show was a very positive experience. I got to see some of my favorite hip hop artists perform live. It is always interesting to hear how a live version differs from the recording. No two performances of a song are exactly the same, so each new performance is a new listening experience. I also observed and took in a few things like performing skills such as moving around and ways of interacting with the crowd. Also seeing what songs connected best with the crowd. I also observed technical things like lighting, microphone levels and voice clarity, bass levels, speaker placement, and more. This was the first Boo Bash to take place, but they made it sound like it was the first of more to come. I hope so as I would definitely go to another show like this.

Hello my indigenius people! I chose to do an informational interview via email. I chose to contact Bethesda softworks, a division of Zenimax Media Company and a recognized leader in the gaming field today. I have been a fan of the Elder Scrolls franchise and the Fallout franchise for some time now and I was curious as to how one would get in the door with this company. Below is a transcript of the email communication that took place.

Message: Hello Bethesda Representative,

My name is Jose Theragood. I am a multimedia design student at Lane Community College in Eugene Oregon. I would like to ask some questions about how one would go about entering the conceptual art side of video game making. What skills sets are industry leaders such as yourself looking for in a possible employee? What kind of operational tempo does a major gaming company run at? The answers to these questions plus additional info and feedback from your company will be greatly appreciated. I will be posting this on a class blog and if there is any information that should not be posted please let me know in your reply. Thank you for your time and I hope to receive a response soon.

I really loved the way the Derrius had fun with his reply, it is little things like this that make me want to be part of a company/studio that understands the need for solid work but can also have fun

For the X4 assignment I was running a bit behind on time for completing requested work, I decided to remedy this issue by attended the screening of six of Julia Oldham’s short films. The presentation was held at the Jordan Schnitzer Museum of Art on the University of Oregon campus, beginning at 7pm on the 19^th of November. I wasn’t totally sure what to expect from the artist after reading the short description on the website of the event hall, but I was intrigued by it so I went there with an open mind and am now happy I did.

Our artist was introduced and she gave a nice in-depth look at her background, what her inspirations towards her works were and a glimpse of some of the process’ that contributed to them becoming a finished piece. She tells her story of how she was raised by a father who was a physics, a stay at home mother who was an amazing gardener and a pack of dogs. Growing up in very rural area in Maryland, there were not many other children for companionship and so she would spend much of her time exploring the woods and garden with her dogs, drawing and doing science experiment with her parents. Her revelation came while she was attending University of Chicago and began experimenting with video. Her short films incorporate whimsical elements of the natural world and the wonders and facts of science world. She plays a wide array of characters while starring in her own films and uses a number of mediums to share her stories. She often collaborates with others including her father and husband who also happens to be a physics. She and her husband live and work in Eugene,OR. Her work has been shown in galleries all over the United States. The short films presented were all from between 2010-2012.

The first film to be shown was called Mud Lair, where she plays a woman in love with a coyote and has to tell him goodbye. She works works with animator Jenny Kroik to produce a musical stop frame film about the love affair with the coyote. Although I found myself with raised eyebrows and head tilted in wonder a few times over the love dance with the fake fur cloak meant to be the coyote. I did appreciate the unique creativity in her work and that she had used her own music as an added element of the piece.

On another piece of work titled Infinitely Impossible tells a story about an unrequited love between a woman and infinity and her increasingly bizarre tasks in attempting to find infinity. What I appreciated about this was how she went about conveying something where that is a bit of a challenge to do with film and still staying true to her vision and the facts of science. In the film the were sounds but no voice instead a narrative screen was placed in between shots, so it was easy to relate what was happening visually to the story line.

From These Woods is a story about a deer that can travel between dreams. It was an interesting story that use real life footage coupled with animation of the deer she had drawn and created. The story was calming as well as triggering wonder and also had an element of humor to it.

In all her work I noticed the scenery in which she shot her video and I was impressed by it because it to was very creative even with some of it being very norm she was able to add elements to make it unique and interesting. This woman’s ideas may be a little outlandish for some but I really appreciated the opportunity to see it and respect her vision for being so original and true to itself. I thought it to be very cool how she meshed very different worlds and elements together to come up with the end product. Julia’s work is also great in that it encourages you to open your mind and think and feel differently.

As many of you know by now I am a huge fan of Elena Hight and I love snowboarding! With this project, I realized that I have actually done this exact process before when I met Elena Hight! Although I have no idea what I want to do career wise, I know that I want it to be involved with the snowboarding industry. What better way to get involved with the snowboarding industry than to interview a professional snowboarder?

When I went to Mt. Hood this summer to snowboard and meet Elena, I knew I was going to be nervous. Considering my past with being starstruck before, I decided that it would be a good idea to write down some questions. Even just writing down the questions got my nerves to boil up! I thought about all of the different things i could ask her. I could ask her about how she got started with snowboarding, I thought about how I could ask her why she loves snowboarding, I thought about how I could ask her about her sponsors, I thought about how I could ask her about her personal life and possibly become friends with her (in the most non-creepy-way possible), I thought about how if I asked her about her boyfriend, who in a previous interview I watched of her she mentioned that he wasn’t a professional snowboarder as well as her but he was involved in the industry, and I thought about how I could simply ask her about what she thinks I should do to get more involved in the industry.

Getting to meet Elena was the highlight of my summer so i remember this interview vividly. My heart pounding, my stomach growling, and being so anxious that I couldn’t even eat Volcano Cones. Volcano Cones is one of the best ice cream places I’ve ever been to. It’s so good that it’s ridiculous. Waiting for a message on twitter from Elena was the most suspesful thing I’ve ever been through. After hours of waiting, she messaged me. She asked if I was in Government Camp, and as I replied with a yes, lightning fast, she proceeded to tell me that she was at Volcano Cones. My friend and I walked towards Volcano Cones with our nerves bouncing off the walls. We were a block away from meeting our favorite snowboarder. Not only were we a block away from meeting our snowboarder, but we were also going to hangout with her.

When we finally reached Volcano Cones, I spotted her. Not only did I spot Elena Hight, but I also spotted two other professional snowboarders: Olympic gold medalist Kelly Clark and Olympic athlete Spencer O’Brien. Well, that didn’t exactly help my nerves. We proceeded to sit at the table where Kelly was and awaited Elena Hight’s arrival.

When Elena came over, she greeted me with a hug and was just about the nicest person ever. During the interview, I had Kelly and Spencer there to contribute to my answers. I asked them everything from how they got started with snowboarding, to how they manage their sponsors and the business aspects of their profession. They gave me amazing advice on how to find out what I want to do. They told me to start out taking business or Media Arts classes to see what interests me the most. After doing that, if I still had no clue on what to do with my life, they told me that I could always contact them again and ask them on their opinions. Not only had I finally gotten the help I had been looking for career wise, I had also made three business connections that could last a lifetime.

Ron Smith Multimedia Designer My informational interview was with David Vanderhafen a multimedia designer in the Eugene area. David said his company did not currently have a name due to complications. We went on site to a nightclub to make a promotional video. We met one half hour early at the Jazz Station to set up before any one else arrived. The sound person arrived to and we chatted a bit before the owner came and unlocked the door. David arrived caring all loaded down with all kinds of equipment I helped him carry it and he returned to his car for another load. The equipment he brought for the job was microphone stands, a Cannon HFM 500 camera, a go cam, amplifiers, and studio lighting equipment. I asked him how he ended up doing this kind of work. He began as a Rock Musician in the 60’s and 70’s. Later he went to Lane Community College were he studied electronic engineering. Later he mastered the media design program. I wanted to know what kind of person could make it in this industry so I began firing questions at him. He replied that employers are looking for the kind of people who can interact successfully with a variety of people, and who also have an understanding of music and video production. You also need an attitude of being both humble and outgoing. Its is also essential that you be a self-starter. I asked him if there was a surplus or shortage of workers. He said, ”there is always room for great artist and great managers”. Multimedia appears to me to be in such a transitional state of flux, and I wanted to know what sort of things was affecting the industry. David said, that the Internet had changed everything about video production. People who are located on different continents can now divide projects. Skype has made it in expensive to personally communicate and collaborate with people in different countries. One of the economic factors that affect him the most is the availability of money. Art becomes one of the first expenses to be cut, when money gets tight. So I asked him, ”What is the outlook for the future for this job”? The future of video Production wide open, and can only grow and expand in the future. I wanted to know how people in this industry advance. His reply was that because he was Self employed, it is important to continue to learn and increase one’s skill level in order to obtain more advanced job opportunities. To find business opportunities you have to be diversified. One day you could be working with a musician, the next creating of commercials, or a documentary. Sometimes travel is necessary but most of the work can be done on line. Other skills that may be useful are a “Sound Mixer,” or a Photographer. Some of the greatest challenges that Video Editors face include meeting deadlines, getting good video footage, finding projects that pay well, and finding the right people to collaborate with. I feel the interview went very well and I learned a lot about the multimedia industry. David was very candid and helpful. The next interview I want to take more time to stay and get to know the Artist.