WILLPOWER ART FROM A GIRL THAT AIMS TO INSPIRE
dedication This book, and the pieces of art inside of it are dedicated to those courageous people that exhibit strength in the face of difficult situations each and every day.
ELEANORE MENKE 2012
New Portfolio: The Strength in Words My inspiration for this semester’s class was based off of an image composed entirely of text. I hope to continue to explore artmaking with this craft but I also aim to explore other digital methods to express what I am feeling through my art. A key contributor on a weekly basis will continue to be music.
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mike
Because Monster’s Inc. is watched at least once or twice a month in my house, it was an easy inspiration for a project. Mike Wazowski is a great source of comic relief in the movie and upon seeing the original poster I knew it was the exact one that I wanted to base my project off of. He’s the character that keeps everyone laughing and is one of the reasons that this movie is one of my favorites. Mike does represent a lot for me personally so I wanted this image to capture him but add something not necessarily related to the movie. I decided to use the actual words of the body parts as the text for the text portrait of my favorite pixar character.
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hoping for a cure For the first official project of portfolio seminar, I chose to do a project based on the thyroid cancer ribbon because it was the type of cancer that my mother was diagnosed with, fought against, and died from. Not only did this form of cancer take someone from me that I loved very much, but it changed everything about my future and how I would move forward. Emotionally, there’s so much more here than just this ribbon. There’s the pain and suffering of everything that this type of cancer brought into my life and all that it took from me. Yes, there are happy colors on the surface, but there are a lot of unhappy emotions tied to this ribbon and it will forever be a symbol of losing one of my best friends.
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anchor of the soul I created a chevron pattern by laying rectangles on an angle against one another to form a zig zag pattern. I’ve taken text layers and arranged them to form an anchor above the chevron layer. I’ve used different fonts, words, and I have also adde shapes. I wanted there to be more than just the words on page, and i thought that a patterned background would give viewers something else to look at. Because of the importance of music in my life, adding lyrics from a favorite song was a must for this project. In honor of the end of Jack’s Mannequin, a longtime favorite in my book, I added the lyrics, “I swim for better days despite the absence of sun,” from the popular song, “Swim.” The lyrics fit right in when I began the project. The piece as a whole is about strength, which also carries over from my last piece. The importance of this artwork is that it serves as a reminder to keep going even when things seem dark. I think it’s a very important message to send these days. This piece can also serve as a representation of how I’ve overcome the many obstacles that I’ve been handed in my life. I’ve never given up because my strength has always anchored me to my family, where I’m always safe.
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standing strong For this piece, I decided to use quotes that describe people that embody strength. I knew that I wanted the quotes to be just a small part of the piece, so I used them to make “Stay” and “Strong.” I thought the piece would have more meaning to me, if they were quotes that I could relate to. The quotes give the viewer a chance to get to know me, because they can be used to describe me. This piece pulls a lot of symbolism from my past pieces because the common theme tying them together is strength. I thought that a more faded background would let the viewer pull the message of strength easier. To me, this means that even in times of great trouble, its crucial to stay strong and keep yourself standing tall. This piece can serve as a reminder of all that I have survived and all of the strength that I have exhibited throughout my life. This piece fulfills the diptych assignment. Although they can be viewed separately, keeping “Stay” and “Strong” together gives the piece more meaning as a whole. With the two words being viewed top to bottom, the viewer gets a sense that they complete eachother.
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bright future C.S. Lewis has been a long time favorite author of mine. This is a very meaningful quote and I think that the scene behind it does it justice. I wanted to do something that carried on the aspect of strength but sent a more futuristic message. I was fishing through pictures from many old vacations until I came across one that brought memories of adventure back. This image, paired with the quote, does a fantastic job of conveying a hopeful and futuristic message. The rough texture layer compliments the soft scene perfectly. The lens flare adds a glimmer of hope and the mountains in the background offer an aspect of discovery and adventure. This art. and out.
week’s assignment required us to use a different surface to create our I chose to print my image onto a paper bag. Although it is smeared, very unconventional, I am really pleased with how this piece turned The imperfections fit well with the quote sends such a hopeful message.
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64 smiles that changed my life This piece is appropriately titled, “64 Smiles That Changed My Life.� It is in dedication to all of the people that love me and keep me going. The people in the collage pieces are either smiling or laughing and they all have played a huge role in my life. These smiles mean so much to me because of the stories behind the smiles. I find the quote to be something that I live by. People that smile are so incredibly beautiful! A smile is a window to someone’s soul and I think that this piece captures some of that inner beauty as well as the outer beauty.
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moving on “In order to move on, you must undertand why you felt what you did and why you no longer need to feel it. -Mitch Albom” This week’s assignment called for us to make a blue artwork. I knew that I wanted to use blue in a literal sense, so I started looking for pictures from a family vacation that I could use. I settled on these two images because I considered them to be quite different from one another. I knew that the blue sky meeting the gray sky would direct attention to the rip where they met. To me, this image is all about change and moving past it. The quote is pretty deep and I think that it expresses change in more of an emotional sense. The change present in the transition from one image to the rip to the other image is more of a literal change. Change is something that everyone relates to and it’s something that you can’t avoid.
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menke’s city
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y landscape To make this image, I started with an 8.5x11 document in photoshop. I wrestled with so many different variations of my original idea, but I knew that I wanted to incorporate the Chicago skyline somehow. I started making individual buildings out of clusters of words in various fonts. Initially, all of the buildings were separate colors but when I decided on a background, I knew that i wanted black/grey buildings and a vibrant back drop. To make the background, I masked the buildings layer and traced around it to reveal a black background. I then added all sorts of brush strokes in assorted sizes and colors until i was pleased. I proceeded to add the quote on the top and outline the quote so it was more visible. Upon seeing Joan Mitchell’s “City Landscape” at the art institute, I had a great desire to incorporate the colors and brush strokes into something of my own. Before I had seen the title, I had no idea what direction to turn in, but the title helped to focus me. After the trip, I knew that I had to incorporate an iconic symbol of the city that I love so much: the chicago skyline. I decided that along with the vibrant colors and brush strokes that Joan Mitchell used, I could also feed off of the title. Chicago is my city, it’s my home. It’s the start of my journey and the start of my future. This project is about so many things, especially the city that gives me everything.
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the blue machine This bike is a close model to one that my grandfather gave me over this past summer. The piece is for him. I chose to do a bike because when I was growing up, we used to ride bikes all of the time and I always dreamed of riding his big blue bike. Not only is the piece a tribute to his bike, but the words are all words that come to mind when I think of my grandfather. It’s named “The Blue Machine” because that’s what he named his bike, and that’s the name that I have kept for it. My grandfather is one of my biggest heroes in life and I am so thankful to have had so many wonderful experiences with him.
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home When I think of numbers, I think of numbers that I have a strong personal attachment to The most meaningful numbers in my life do, in some way, define me the most. The numbers that first defined me were of course the numbers in the date of my birth. the numbers that have also defined me throughout my life are the numbers on my house. I think that my address is a significant group of numbers. They represent home, a place where I am always loved and accepted. The numbers and the words that make up this door are the numbers and words that symbolize home to me. These are the numbers and words that represent such a large portion of who I am.
Rules for my Series: 1. Image must be 8.5 x11 or smaller 2. Image must be composed of text or center around a quote 3. Image must build off of the concept of strength
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a song to guide you home This idea for this piece came while I was listening to Coldplay’s popular song, “Fix You.” I got to thinking about something that stands tall through all weather and continually offers guidance. After doing some more serious thinking, the idea for a lighthouse came about. I knew that I wanted this piece to fill the page and that it should be respresentative of a lighthouse but also have a personal connection to me. When I think of a lighthouse, I think of an eyecatching spiral and the immense beauty of the shore that it protects. Coming up with an idea for the background was no easy task. I wrestled with many different ideas before deciding to incorporate the music from the playlist I was listening to. Every single word in the background belongs to a song, and every single song has incredible meaning in my own life.
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Old Portfolio: Art Before Saint Xavier
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courage
A close friend asked for a piece before leaving for college and she asked me to incorporate a quote into my project for her. I spent quite some time looking for the right mixture of media and also the proper quote. I knew that I wanted to print the text but I was unsure if I wanted to use newsprint, book pages, or even images of us. When I started, I just let myself go crazy with a base layer of newsprint and then I found the perfect quote. This quote is so meaningful to myself and the friend that this is for. Not only does it describe the risks that a college student might need to make to be happy, but it describes the need to live freely.
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my new pet An assignment in my high school graphic design class asked for us to create a new species of animals. I jumped at the opportunity to mix a basset hound and a tiger. We were insructed to create something that would make an interesting animal, something that most people wouldn’t expect. We were instructed to use our knowledge of the clone/stamp tool in photoshop and to add various filters to give the image a more unrealistic feel. When all of the images were lined up together, it was supposed to look like a book of species with descriptions of each below the pictures. The “Diger” can be viewd in it’s natural habitat to the right. This rare species has been named the slyest hunter of it’s kind. It outsmarts tigers, bears, and wolves in its ability to feed itself. The Diger is capable of becoming a house pet, but only under special circumstances. The Diger’s lethargic and sweet nature make it an ideal family companion, but only when trained properly.
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stay afloat
This piece combines some of my favorite song lyics with one of my favorite pictures from a family trip downtown. The mask allows the grayscale skyline to come into focus , and the brushstrokes give more of an illusion of waves from a boat on the lake.
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atlantis
When I think of the famous underwater city of Atlantis, I see bright lights and pebbly sand. In high school, we were asked to make a background of a fantasy or fairy tale. I chose Atlantis because I remember always thinking of mermaids swiming around in a large underwater castle. My love for the water further motivated me to chose to do Atlantis. I envisioned a large palace at the center of the underwater city and that is what I chose for the focus of my image. Not only was I proud of myself for thinking outside of the box, but I was proud of how the piece turned out.
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flower power I created this piece when I was first learning how to use photoshop. I took a picture from a recent trip to Michigan and I just let myself loose. I wanted to accentuate the flowers and I wanted the negative space to be an unusual color. I finally decided on what I have here when I saw that making the background yellow and the flowers white gave it a surreal effect but still kept the scene intact.
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stronger I also made this piece when I was first experimenting with photoshop. I knew that I wanted this piece to convery the importance of strength. While creating this piece, I struggled to find a way to make the background just as important as the text. I went with the less is more apporach and am very pleased with the way that this turned out.
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shoes This project was quite a lot of fun to work on. I initially was inspired by the age-old moral, “before you judge someone, walk a mile in their shoes.” I spent a lot of time thinking from others’ points of view. I came up with the idea to use pictures of other people’s shoes as well as my own. I wanted it to be colorful and more than just some shoes on a page. I decided a collage would best represent this piece and that a funky filter would give it a comic book feel. To create the individual squares in this collage, I took photographs of each shoe over a green screen. I then proceeded to open each picture in photoshop and change the background to a vibrant color. I used six colors and each color is used twice in the collage. Not only do the colors make it a friendlier piece, but they add to the comic book feel.
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stay fabulous This piece represents fabulous to me. Glitter is one of my favorite things in the world and to me, glitter embodies fabulous. I was playing around with the pen tool and creating masks, and this project was just about what made me really happy. The shiny glitter is what I love best. When I see glitter, I can’t help but smile and stay happy. I think that this piece’s variety of glitter makes me feel fabulous and that’s what I want viewers to feel when they look at this too.
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eleanore An assignment in a high school graphic design course required us to make use of the letters in our name in a creative way. We were instructed to only use black marker and patterns to express ourselves and our name most accurately. We were also told to add other letters and characters if our name wasn’t long enough to occupy the entire page.
I think that this piece does a great job of portraying my personality. The blank areas do represent the quieter aspects of my life and the patterned portions show my unique, vibrant, and loving personality.
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x marks the spot This piece was created in my high school graphic design class. We were exploring patterns and were instructed to create a 7 box pattern. I chose this particular pattern because it ‘s somewhat representative of my personality. I also find it to be relatively simple yet oddly confusing. You almost don’t know what to look at first, and that’s what I like best. It’s a simple pattern, yet it’s composed in a more complex way.
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about the artist Eleanore Menke is currently a Graphic Design major at Saint Xavier University. She attended Mother McAuley Liberal Arts High School and fell in love with digital art there. Eleanore has discovered that she loves making art that she has a deep personal connection with and aims to give the viewers of her art a personal connection to the piece if she can. She lives on the Southside of Chicago and is aspiring to be a Graphic Designer in the future.
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