by allofus
To an artist, image making on paper is a process dependent on the paper available in the shops. Options are determined by the manufacturer’s product line, the medium, and the size of the piece you undertake.
Now, at Wind Spirit Gallery, artist April White has gone a step further, to become independent of that limited array by producing her own paper. Using a by-product of the lumber industry, cedar bark, April is producing paper in her studio. Through collaboration with Argentinean artist Liliana Kleiner, the paper-making process has been demystified and taken to the grassroots level. Liliana travels the world, working with expert artisans from whom she learns while exploring the making of paper with indigenous materials in each country she visits.
Hand-made paper is texturally unique. It differs from the uniform commercial product in that each piece is an original work of art in itself, bringing with it a character different from the overlaid screen-printed images. The primitive process employed and the traditional material used reflect the ancient ways of April’s Haida ancestors. The Haida traditionally used cedar bark for clothing, vessels, tools and ceremonial regalia. Staying connected with her culture, April is using the cedar bark paper as a substrate in the print-making process for her formline images of Haida Gwaii. The nuances of this paper pose challenges that in turn influence the creative process.
The process starts with peeling the bark off the trees in the sawyer’s yard. The bark is then simmered for many hours in large pots until the tightly bound fibres soften. The weakened strips are then hand pounded or mechanically shredded into minute slivers. The fibres. dispersed in a deep water bath, float in suspension until caught up onto a screen. The paper-maker’s dance now begins, with a submerged screen in hand as partner, swirling around and through, timing the dip to end so that fibres land on the screen in artful balance. The song fades as the drained layers of fibre are sponged free of the screen and onto an awaiting cloth. The sheets are stacked one upon another until the music ends and all are pressed to squeeze out the excess water. Each sheet is then separated and rolled onto a smooth surface to be air-dried.
This elementary paper-making technique has been used all over the world by many cultures throughout history.The fibre may vary, from stalks and leaves of mulberry to stinging nettle, onion skins, papyrus grass, and cedar bark. The creative process opens new horizons with unlimited possibilities in the wealth of materials, textures and colors, as each organic fibrous material can produce a paper with a texture and colour exclusively its own.
Contact allofus@windspirit.com
or visit www.aprilwhite.com
by Giovanni Spezzacantena
Almost anyone can come up with some form of definition for animation that revolves around the basic idea that animation is ‘drawings that move’, or maybe ‘the technique of making inanimate objects appear to move in film, video, or on computer screens’. What is maybe less contemplated is what this feels like for the animators as they create this illusion of life.
If you have had any experience with animation, you know that there is a certain basic sense of empowerment in being able to produce that ‘magic trick of the eye’ for yourself, and ultimately, for an audience. Shyness and the almost standard lack of confidence in drawing ability are set aside with that initial awe when the word “cat” you just typed onto your computer screen metamorphoses into a picture of your own cat—and this after just a few simple steps!
The not-so-horribly-Technical Aspects:
Cartoon animation emerges from the projection of a sequence of still drawings that are each a little bit different, one from the other; it’s actually the differences between one drawing and the next that make the illusion of motion. The careful and studied control of these differences makes for quality animation.
The theory is that the phenomenon of “persistence of vision” creates the illusion of motion by blending the rapid projection of one still image with the next one, in the brain. Typically, in web animation, there are about 12 ‘frames’ or still images needed in every second of motion. The greater the difference between one frame’s visuals and the next, the faster/more erratic the resulting motion; the less things change from one image to the next, the smoother and slower the animation will seem. As the McLaren quotation above suggests, you are actually trying to reproduce movements through the drawings in a sort of reverse-engineering of real-life motion.
In the past ten years or so, animation and interactive software—especially Abobe’s Flash—have been transforming the world-wide web into a very animated place to be. People at every level of ability and talent are able to show the world their animations, usually for a laugh, or to tell a story, or to sell something. Feature-film promotional websites are currently very heavy Flash users, making on-line ads with high entertainment value. See www.sonypictures.com/movies/davincicode/site/home.html and www.thinkpinkpanther.com. But Flash can also produce simple yet gratifying animations, with sound, in just a few minutes.
Teaching Animation/ Flash
When I was asked to work with a PRACL (Powell River Association for Community Living) client as a Flash animation tutor last year, a familiar challenge arose: how to keep up with the student’s booming enthusiasm, without getting mired in the many technical details? Certainly, an interest in the art form is great, but being a fan of animation or liking to play computer games almost never translates into actually making your own productions. Luckily, Flash’s visually simple two-dimensionality and ‘in-betweening’ process proved useful here in surmounting that initial learning curve: within seconds, you can move, fade in/out and ‘morph’ shapes, with little or no drawing involved. You can see some examples of the finished exercises on my website’s tutoring page at www.rabideye.com/Flashtut.
Animated movies and even film festivals like the Sprout Film Festival (www.gosprout.org) are beginning to reveal the largely hidden world of people with developmental disabilities. For the first time, world-wide audiences of all ages and abilities can view and engage in movies created from the hands, minds and points of view of people with developmental disabilities. With some direction and basic technology, most people can engage in this creative process to increase self-confidence and even employability. Check out this great free resource on the web for basic animation concepts: www.oscars.org/education-outreach/teachersguide/animation
by David Parkinson
The Malaspina Land Conservancy Society needs a logo or a logotypefor use on our letterhead, on our website, and on written materials promoting the work that we do. The prize for the winning entry is one lifetime membership in the MLCS with a cash value of $250! So not only does your imaginative artwork grace our future website, correspondence, brochures, etc., but you get to be part of this wonderful regional land trust as a lifelong cherished member.
An effective logo or logotype conveys the nature of the organization that it represents. Here are some of the aspects of our work as a land conservancy that might help you come up with some visual concepts for your design:
• Natural beauty: sea, sky, mountains, coastline, rivers and streams… all of the features of this region which we hope to preserve for future generations;
• Preservation: of land, plants, and animals; of agricultural land and the traditional ways of producing food; etc.
• Strengthening community: we hope to bring people together around the shared goal of preserving the places of beauty and meaning in this part of the world;
• Sustainability, environment: a land conservancy keeps parts of the local environment safe from environmental harm.
Criteria for entry in the competition:
• Deadline: All entries must be received or postdated on or before May 1, 2009.
• Who may enter: The contest is open to any person (except the judges!); and entrants can enter any number of submissions.
• Format of entry: Either a black-and-white or colour logo is acceptable. It is preferable if colour logos can also be reproduced successfully in black and white. A sketch of the logo design is acceptable. The winning logo may be modified by MLCS staff.
• Text: The words “Malaspina Land Conservancy Society” must be included in the logo/logotype design. Please submit font used (if electronic version is submitted).
You can find all of the details in the specification document. Here’s a link to the poster, in case you feel like printing it out and plastering it all around the places where artists and creative people hang out.
Please feel free to contact us at info@malaspinaland.ca if you have any questions.
Now go forth and design!