August 9, 2010 2

Stubborn bird.

By Stella Gutierrez in Digital Art, Fashion, Mentioned Artists

I have found myself a new source of inspiration. Raphael Vicenzi is the artist I have been looking for to develop the style I experimented with in my previous post. His work is, in a word, beautiful. I enjoy his work so much because of its wit and fashion references. He also creates his pieces much similar to the way I create mine; there is often a lot of experimenting involved. He uses Photoshop and Illustrator and he says the rest is “luck.” Oh, did I mention he’s funny, too?

The image below is something I created, obviously inspired by him. I found a generic photo of a woman and had as much fun with it as possible; bottom line, it doesn’t look like the original photo anymore. I had the most fun doing her hair, because there’s so much of it. The rest of the piece is very random (that’s a word I hear a lot here in Canada). This piece was done with my wonderful Wacom pen tablet.

Important note: I revisited Vicenzi’s site and noticed a piece that showed two birds tugging on a woman’s hair. I was, by no means, attempting to copy nor steal the idea. The only reason why I wanted to have a bird tug on the woman’s hair in my image was because I drew her hair in a spaghetti-like fashion. Just thought I’d clear that up. Thanks for visiting!

July 18, 2010 0

Argument from design.

By Stella Gutierrez in General

Design either makes sense, or doesn’t.

I couldn’t help but ponder on the aspect of design that makes sense. Design, while illogical sometimes, is often a logical connection of ideas, things, conceived or dreamt up by a creator, a designer, to achieve some end or purpose. For example, all the ideas that come with designing a chair will ultimately fit its purpose: to seat a person (properly or not, we don’t know). So because there is the idea of a designer creating things towards an end or purpose (please forgive my long train of thought), I am reminded of the arguments for the existence of God in a Philosophy class I took ages ago, and am thoroughly enthralled by the strength and clarity of the Teleological argument. The following is an excerpt from Philosophy of Religion explaining this argument:

The name “the teleological argument” is derived from the Greek word telos, meaning “end” or “purpose”. When such arguments speak of the universe being ordered, they mean that it is ordered towards some end or purpose. The suggestion is that it is more plausible to suppose that the universe is so because it was created by an intelligent being in order to accomplish that purpose than it is to suppose that it is this way by chance … If the universe contains design then there must be some intelligent agent that designed it. Although a few dispute this, speaking of nature, or evolution, as our designers, this appears to be a simple linguistic truth. Just as if something is carried then there must be a carrier, so if there is design there must be a designer.

I watched Life a few weeks ago, and I can’t help but be amazed at how the world works and how everything just seems to fit and work so well together. I can almost imagine a design process towards the creation of different life forms on earth. (Side note: Try and get a copy narrated by David Attenborough, not Oprah Winfrey, because her delivery is very distracting). I am in no way attempting to change your religious beliefs (or lack thereof), or convince you of I-don’t-know, but I am inviting you all to dwell on the idea of an intelligent designer and creator of the universe.

May 28, 2010 6

You paint yourself white.

By Stella Gutierrez in Digital Art, Fashion

I am a huge fan of Free People. The clothes there are mostly casual, yet have a unique elegance and girly charm that I absolutely love. I’ve always considered a graphic design career in the fashion industry, but I’m not entirely sure where to begin. The job must be meaningful, though; a job that challenges me to tell stories through my work would be amazing.

I enjoy getting to know the culture of a brand of clothing I love. I borrowed an image from the Free People website (see thumbnail, click on it for full view) and played with it in an attempt to bring it to life, in the sense that you will look at the image and in one way or another, associate it with the brand.

I actually had so much fun doing this. I used my pent tablet to add a sketch-like quality. I used a variety of brushes and everything else is a mixture of blending methods. I think I will keep experimenting with this style. I quite enjoy it! I like the painterly effect, so expect more work in this style in the future.

May 17, 2010 2

Sonic Boom.

By Stella Gutierrez in Poster Art

Late October last year, one of my professors at school, Andres Wanner, sent out an email to my class about the Sonic Boom 2010 poster design competition. I was very excited because it was an opportunity to test out the new things I’ve learned in school (which was, at the moment, mainly typography). I look at my past designs and just cringe when I see my typography work. What’s interesting is that although the typography in this poster is a very huge improvement from my past work, it has improved even more since I’ve taken a Spatial Design class taught by Russell Taylor. Lesson learned: there is always room for improvement.

I sent the design to Andres and I was thrilled that he thought it looked great. But the reason why I’m sharing this poster design with you is because it didn’t make the cut. It wasn’t a winning entry. And although I didn’t win, I know I had so much fun making the poster. The best part of joining the contest was testing myself and understanding that there is much more potential to be realized. Some will argue that this poster may not have been chosen merely because it wasn’t the style they were looking for. Nevertheless, it is important to understand a client’s needs and to know how to creatively address those needs.

May 13, 2010 0

A man with perpendicular dreams.

By Stella Gutierrez in Digital Art, Mentioned Artists

This blog would be meaningless without mention of an artist that has greatly influenced my work and the way I enjoy creating what I create.

Julien Pacaud is a master at photo manipulation. His art is compelling and so much fun to look at. I would not dare put a copy of his work up on my website without his permission, so please visit his site and be amazed. His work drove me to my obsession with illustrations from the 1950’s. He plays with vibrant colours and uses simple shapes to communicate something complex. He has perfected spatial relationships, yet he breaks the rules of perspective to maybe not trick our eyes, but to allow us to see things differently.

He taught me a very valuable lesson when doing art: have fun with it. I’m sure that depending on the message of your piece, there will be a certain mood taking hold as you work on it, but regardless of what that message is, you have to enjoy what you are doing. If there is joy in creating something that’s meant to communicate whatever, it will be appreciated (or at least, I for sure will appreciate).

Below is one of my Pacaud-inspired works. Unlike Pacaud, I enjoy experimenting with different textures. The woman, the planes, the mountain and the sky were all separate images that I carefully chose to combine. What’s funny is that the planes were taken from a very different perspective; the original image has a view-from-the-top angle so you can see the ground from where the planes took off. To finish off the manipulation, I added a zap to the woman’s hand and made sure the source of that zap was obvious.

May 13, 2010 0

What social media can do for you.

By Stella Gutierrez in Web Design

Everyone is undeniably so into online social media. Men will say women are more into it (Facebook, in particular), but that’s something we can debate on later (we are watching you). Many companies have taken on marketing strategies that take advantage of this boom in online social media. It’s smart, and it’s working (assuming online social media effectively addresses the company’s overall goals). The point is, we can all take advantage!

A few months back, I worked on a band site for one of my friends. His band is called Maclean, and I suggest you should all check them out because they are amazing (and no, I wasn’t paid to advertise, and even if they did, I don’t think they’d get a lot out of it)! You will have a sense of what their music is like just by looking at the design I came up with for them. I wanted something tranquil yet with enough colour to show a hint of playfulness to the band.

I had to make sure that it was easy for the band to update their site, without actually having to go through their site’s control panel. Most of what is on their site is updated via Myspace, Twitter, and Flickr. Their Myspace and Twitter accounts are actually what they update more often, and that’s good because the updates show up on their main page. This strategy, however, won’t work for everyone (obviously). In the case of bands, it is best for those who actively promote themselves and who are constantly interacting with people online.

May 4, 2010 0

When design takes on a life of its own.

By Stella Gutierrez in CD Artwork

Critical Element (now Goodbye Beatdown) is one of the most amazing bands I’ve had the fortune of working with. Two years ago, I was tasked with designing their sophomore album, Believe Us. Because they were fairly new and they did not have a distinct style yet, I wanted to design something that not only represented their energy and their youth, but also spoke strongly of their influences.

The obvious influence in their music was Bob Marley. It was evident in their music, and its importance was evident in their then logo; the colours of the logo had the traditional Bob Marley colours: green, yellow, and red. I was not about to ignore this critical element (pun intended). The colours indicated an important musical influence, and gave off a vibrancy that I attributed to their personalities.

What made Critical Element unique was their fusion of reggae rock and hip-hop. I still had to find inspiration for the hip-hop side of their sound. After meeting with the band and coming up with ideas, we all got into the idea of having a dirtier, grungy feel to their design. But how the images could come together to create that feel was what needed more work. Luckily, I saw Gnarls Barkley’s music video, Crazy, and I felt a wave of inspiration come over me. Although in Gnarls Barkley’s video the images were joined together as if they were ink blot tests, the idea of ink joining the images together was enough for me.

The band was happy with the idea, and we met several times at Starbucks to finalize the designs. Meeting at Starbucks is always a good idea because it gives me an excuse to get a Vanilla Frappuccino.

The most exciting part of the process is the day of the CD release. The band held their CD release party at the Media Club, and boy were they amazing. The best part is, they were happy with what I did, but it wouldn’t have been possible without the team work involved.

Design takes on a life of its own when it goes beyond what it was initially intended for. The design becomes something people will recognize as a face. The band later had posters and Myspace designs that reflected the style that was established in their album art. But of course, not everything lasts. The band’s sound eventually evolved, and so did their style. To this day, we look back and celebrate their roots as artists, and I am truly happy that they are the successful band they are right now!

May 4, 2010 0

Drawing digitally.

By Stella Gutierrez in Mentioned Artists, Sketches

Not too long ago, Charles got me my very own Wacom Pen Tablet. It’s hard to explain just how amazing this tool is. There is definitely a big difference between drawing the traditional way and drawing the digital way. The digital way needs getting used to. A lot of getting used to. Once you get over that hurdle of training yourself to draw while looking on the screen, you will be happy with what can be achieved with the tablet.

Before you dismiss this post as a mere advertisement for Wacom, I am inviting you to imagine the wonderful possibilities brought about by bringing your own drawings to the table (digital table?). There is that element of personalization to any piece of art when you draw or write something yourself. Anything can go your way. Matei Apostolescu’s work illustrates what I mean. His artwork is a lot of fun to look at, and I am sure he goes wild with his tablet.

I played with the tablet right away and below is my first ever drawing, two years ago:

Note that the picture on the left comes from Corbis. Also note the lack of precision in my drawing. At the time, I also discovered the need to improve on my shading. Nevertheless, the tablet has proven so useful to me during my schooling in the SIAT program at SFU. I guarantee you will spend many happy hours playing with the tablet.

May 3, 2010 0

Share what you see with the world.

By Stella Gutierrez in Poster Art

I have had the privilege of sharing my art through the world of music. Nearly three years ago, I joined an art competition hosted by Garage Entertainment (a promotions and events booking company) where the winner would design six concert posters in a span of four months for rock shows in Downtown, Vancouver. By the lucky stars,  I won the competition, and the four-month contract became a wonderful two-year adventure. I have met and worked with so many talented people, and I can only feel grateful for the opportunity. Although I left the company to pursue other interests and while the company is no longer active, it will always be an important part of me and my growth as an artist.

The following are my favourite poster backdrops I’ve designed (click on the thumbnails). You should understand that I am featuring only the art itself, because the actual posters have on them band logos which I have not designed.


From this job, I have learned the following valuable lessons:
1. Not everyone will like your work.
2. You have to show utmost patience, no matter who you’re working with.
3. Be ready to face criticism and learn from it.
4. Sometimes you have to think and act fast.
5. You will receive feedback, but make sure your thoughts are also heard.

May 3, 2010 0

I appear to deceive.

By Stella Gutierrez in Digital Art

Photo manipulations have always intrigued me. Let’s just say that, years and years ago, one couldn’t have been able to easily alter images, or what appeared to be in images. With the introduction of the amazing Photoshop, one can now pretend to have stood by, say, Jude Law’s side (not that I’ve done that), with the careful manipulation of images. And because of my fascination with the combination of various elements to produce new meanings, I became obsessed with taking objects from various photos, bringing them together (seamlessly or not) to produce a certain effect on the viewer. I don’t know what that effect is, but I know it will vary from viewer to viewer. The world of surrealism came knocking on my door, and I welcomed it in with open arms.

Here are a few things I’ve done that are more recent.

I’ll admit that I strive for disturbing images. Not all the time, though. I don’t mean disturb in the sense that the viewer will become mentally unstable after viewing the image. I mean disturb in the sense that the image can get a strong, emotional response from the viewer.

Excuse the choice to feature manipulations I’ve done with images of little girls. There is something beautiful about the innocence of youth; once you combine this innocence with something dangerous or tragic, a new world emerges.

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