Photography Really Changes Everything...

 I read two articles in one of my text books called Photography Changes Everything by Marvin Heiferman and I really liked them. The first article was by Amy Henderson and it talked about how photography makes us want to look like celebrities. I totally agree with what she was talking about in her piece. I am obsessed with old Hollywood glam and black and white photos. Movie studios back then made movie icons. They made their stars perfect and flawless even though underneath it all they were really beautiful disasters. Take Veronica Lake (above) for instance. She was the "it girl" of late 1940's. She was the face for the  Woodbury Make-Up. Every woman back then wanted to look like her. They felt that if they were wearing the same make-up Lake was, then they too would be as desirable as she was back then. Lake ended up becoming an alcoholic and destitute. The photo above of me is my attempt at a pretty black and white head shot...I told you I'm obsessed with black and white and yes, taking self-portraits (I refuse to call them "selfies").

The next article I read was by Candice Bergen (black and white to the left) and I loved how she wanted to become a photojournalist but fell into acting. Her passion for photojournalism gave her the confidence she needed to pursue acting. I love being a journalist but I want to improve my photography skills so I can let my photos do all the talking. Writing at times can be very daunting even though it is my passion. Maybe one day you will see some of my photos published in a great photography book...stay tuned!

The Monkey Game

So here is my first and last attempt at a video game! This was EXTREMELY difficult for me to do because I couldn't get the damn monkey to move the right way! I'm not a fan of video games, never have and never will be one either. I have horrible hand-eye coordination and I get annoyed very quickly, so I don't play them. I know this game may seem VERY basic to the average gamer and probably ridiculous to the hardcore gamer, but hey, this is my first attempt at it and I think I did pretty well! If you want to actually play the game, click the link below and give it a try!


http://scratch.mit.edu/projects/20692700/

Enjoy!

Flash failure...

This is my horrible attempted at trying to do Flash. It really didn't seem that hard but unfortunately I could not get the Flash to work in this blog. This is proof that Libby and technology do not mix. I really wish I could grasp technology better but I guess my mind doesn't work that way.When we do these assignments in class, they seem really easy but when I go home and try it, I get very confused and frustrated because the I can't get the programs to work properly.

The Seconds of My Life

This is a second or two from my life for the last few months. I started this project on 01/07/2014 and I stopped it 04/07/2014. I used this phone app called "1 Second a Day" and it was a pretty cool app to use but there were days when I would forget to use it, so that's why you see photos and words like "Forgot" or "Damn." I love using phone apps and I really am pushing for more phone art submissions in the local art community that I am involved with here in Tampa and Brandon. Phone art is definitely something that I feel will be huge in a few years...or at least I hope!

I wish my life was more interesting and some of my content is kind of boring at times. Sorry! LOL!
Looking back at the footage, I did have some really fun times and I'm glad I got to experience them with my friends. I think this app would be great for someone who travels a lot because some of the videos I've seen with this app are way more exciting then mine. Maybe that will change one day...maybe even one day soon!

Stay tuned!

Getting my art on...

I finally made it to the Tampa Museum of Art to check out the exhibit Graphicstudio: Uncommon Practice at USF. It was a great exhibit that showcased some of the amazing talent that has been associated with the Graphic Studio on the Tampa campus. I liked all of the artist but the one who stood out the most to me was James Rosenquist. I loved his piece, "Welcome to the Water Planet."

Rosenquist's piece is a lithographic collage and I liked it the most because I love lotuses. They area absolutely beautiful flowers and I love how Rosenquist used them in his collage. The colors are beautiful and the setting is very peaceful. The whole exhibit I found to be very interesting and very relaxing. It was a great day to get my art on in Tampa.

A Font For Me

I kind of feel special having my own font! This was a fun assignment for me because I feel that this font represents me perfectly. I'm a huge supporter of all things local and I call myself a "locavore." Meaning that I always try to shop, eat and support local. I'm also very big on eating healthy and organic. This font has an organic/outdoors feel to it with the flower symbols inside the "B's" and "O's" and the other letters I tried to make look like vines or stems. Can you tell I was raised by hippies? I hope you like it and my creativity.

Who Wants Some Pie?

This is my attempted to make some colorful statics. I am not into math and numbers by any means, so this is probably the least artsy pie chart out there. I did pick somewhat earth-tones because these are some of my favorite colors but I just couldn't find the creative juices to do this assignment. I chose brown for my interview communications class because this class was very boring and a bit difficult at times. I chose white for survey of jazz because it was a very easy class and I really enjoyed it. Blue was for beginning reporting because I thought it would be a breeze, but at times that too was a bit stormy. I ended up doing very well in that class. I chose orange for the research methods in mass communications because that class was on the St. Pete campus and to me, that campus represents the true Florida experience being so close to the water. Yes, numbers are not my thing...that is why I'm a journalist.  

Addict

Can you tell I have an addiction to coffee? I'm not picky when it comes to coffee either, oh no! As long as it's not decaf, I'll take it! If I had my pick, it would always be Starbucks and Lord knows I worked hard to get that little gold card! It's like a membership into an elite club. Yes, I'm a member just like you my fellow gold card members! We spent a ridiculous amount of money on coffee! I have no shame!

I even like fancy lattes! Hope you like my coffee addict font!

I Like...I Don't Like

It's Peer Evaluations Time! Just so you know I hate doing these, but they are required so oh well, right? Here goes!

http://lee-buese.tumblr.com/
1. The photos are great in this blog! Love them.
2. What needs to be worked on with this blog is that it really doesn't look like a blog. I would like to know more about the blogger. Pictures and content are wonderful but who are you?
3. The thing I liked most about this blog was the sense of humor and sarcasm I took away from it.
4. What I didn't like the most about this blog was that it was very plain. I also don't like the big grey boarder at the top of it.

Next!

 http://unthinkabull.blogspot.com/
1. I loved that this blog had a lot of humor to it and really let me know who the blogger is and what they are all about.
2. The visualization of this blog is really good, so I wouldn't change it.
3. What I liked the most about this blog was that it looked like a blog, there was many personal touches that let the reader know the blogger really likes blogging.
4. What I didn't like is the background color of all grey...add some color, you're fun so show it!

And finally...

http://koreanyeezus.tumblr.com/

1. This blog has many great photos and colors.
2. What needs to be worked on in this blog is that it really doesn't tell me about the blogger. The photos are great, name is great, but who is the blogger and what are they about?
3. I really liked the name of this blog and the photos.
4. What I didn't like was that if really didn't look like a blog because there wasn't really that much said about the blog or the blogger, just photos.

You guys can go ahead and tear my blog apart now!

No Comic Talent

I am not a fan of comic strips. I never read the "funnies" in the newspaper nor I could never get into comic books as a kid. I think comic books are for people who are far more smarter than me. I just don't get them. I think you have to be very creative to draw/write a comic too, which I am not. Take a look at my attempt to draw a comic strip! I suck at drawing too, if I didn't mention that already!

What I do like doing is playing with my phone. I love phone apps and I'm a professed phone app junky! My friends refer to me as the "Instagram Whore." Hey I wave my Instagram flag high! I am bound and determined to get a sponsorship from them dammit! Since I was faced with the challenge of trying to create a comic strip for this week's assignment, I took to my phone. I downloaded the free Android app, called "Rage Maker." It lets you design comic strips right on your phone and you are able to share them to social media pages like Facebook. It comes with a quick instructional video too.  It's a really easy app to use and I'm all about creating things with my phone. The app lets you create different characters and you can manipulate to be whatever size or color you want. It only took me a few minutes to get the hang of the app and took away the stress of this assignment. Yeah for smartphone art!

Feeling Like a Creeper

This has to be one of the most craziest things I've done in a while. At first I thought about having my friends send me crude, lewd and rude photos and then make a Triptych out of it, but that got a little out of hand. I got pictures of celebrities grabbing their crotches and those stupid pictures of rude comments or quotes. I had a friend send me the photos of her body after she had breast removed from cancer. I also had another send me a naked photo of himself. I was touched by these two photos because they wanted to help me but I couldn't use them for this project because they seemed too personal. Not to mention I felt like a creeper having these images on my phone. 

I have a friend who is a body painter and she is always doing some amazing and crazy things. I was telling her about my dilemma and she invited me to one of her painting/photography sessions last night. The paint was flowing just as much as the booze. It was great night filled with art, creativity and laughs. Thank you Lorrin Wagner of  Wagner Events for saving my ass!

Creative Bulls

It has been a while since I've used In Design. I don't think it came out half bad? What do you think? Again, this assignment was a bit tricky since I was rusty on the program but it was fun!

I like creativity and art so that's why I went with these two photos. I came up with the slogan because the painting behind the guy is kind of wild and the dance class looks like they are running. Get it? "Let your creativity run wild."

Lighting The Night With Household Items

This was my first time attempting to do light painting. I have to admit, I was terrified of doing this because I feel that when it comes to photography I'm not that good, but photography with an art component, I'm even worse! It took me numerous times to get the camera setting right, but once I did, it realized I started to make some really cool designs. It became kind of fun for me and I started to incorporate different household items into my light painting. These photos are of my Scentsy warmer. I think the photo on the right kind of looks like musical notes and the one below it looks like a Mardi Gras mask.

Then I decided to add the night light in my hallway, which I thought came out really cool!

My next shot was of the buttons on my Keurig Coffee pot in my kitchen.

Next I dug out a flashlight and had one of the folks hanging out at my house dance around with it for a few minutes.

We decided next to play around with our cell phones. We made a mustache and a broken heart.