rough painting mock ups.

like these, but final versions will be one color, spray-painted on.

initial sign illustrations.

change in direction.

ive been thinking about my project a lot this week and something in it didnt click until now. i was having trouble trying to frame my concept about pollution and factories invading nature in a clear way. then i began thinking about other things that invade nature (or, more simply, things that invade where they might not belong in the beginning). almost immediately corporate signage came to mind. more importantly, corporate signage in the interest of spreading consumerism. this is how i have decided to re-frame my project.

i will be able to fairly easily incorporate my new idea into the framework of my original project. the only change will be that instead of making images of factories, smokestacks, etc. i will be creating images of well known corporate signs that have spread to far corners of the world where they end up becoming an eyesore on an otherwise nice landscape.

this is something i noticed a lot in my travels in asia over the past few years. i was surprised at the amount of fast food and corporate signage i found, not only in the cities, but out in the countryside. these were certainly eyesores and got me thinking a lot about the spread of consumerism and the idea of it invading our natural habitats.

that is the frame i will be working within for my project from now on. i am still planning on making stencils on the laser cutter. and i think that images of, say, a mcdonalds sign will fit in nicely with the pictures of forests, parks, etc. i have already found.

i will begin designing some of the signage this week and will post them as i finish them.

more soon.

more pictures.

a few more additions. i am making my way through most of the local thrift stores stock of paintings / pictures, so if i dont have enough by mid week i may have to head up to portland to see what else i can find. also, was thinking of using the last image here (the black image) as the title piece for the exhibition / display, and tagging it with paint saying 're-painting' or something like that, followed by the rest of my images.

thrift trip one.

here are some of the pictures i gathered from my first trip around some thrift shops this weekend. a lot of what i found ended up being framed photography instead of paintings. but i think my idea will still work and i found some good scenes i think. also found more variation in the pictures than originally expected (i.e. the jesus picture). this is leading me to frame the project a little more broadly at this point. i am now thinking of trying to create a series of stencils that focus on a wider range of environmental issues so that each picture will have its own sort of style.
i also though of creating a small instructional/informational booklet to go with the stencils i create for other people with steps on how to change the appearances of their own old pictures. more to come later this week/weekend.

the plan.

i want to explore an aesthetic similar to something like vintage vandals. but instead of just defacing existing works of art, i want to explore pollution and the deterioration of nature by modern factories and industries.

i will go around to thrift shops and collect as many old paintings as i can find. i am hoping that they will mostly be pictures of countryside or nature in general. using illustrator, i am then planning to make a series of graphics depicting factories, smoke stacks, etc. i will then take these graphics to the laser cutter and have stencils cut out of the shapes. i will then take the stencils and spraypaint the image onto the original painting's canvas. as a final step, i will create multiple copies of each stencil to give to other people to use on their old paintings or whatever else they see fit in order to spread idea.

my hope with all of this is to get people thinking about how quickly we are deteriorating our habitats and the effects of such rapid growth and industrialization. the idea of reclaiming old paintings also goes along with environmental conservation as well. one thing i will have to decide soon is how i am going to distribute the stencils for other people to use.

here is a rough outline of my schedule as of now:

week 1-2: outline idea/project proposal
week 3: go to thrift stores and collect as many paintings as i can
week 4: design images (based on the pictures i have)
week 5: cut out images on laser cutter
week 6: spraypaint images on paintings
week 7: finished with pictures/design means of distribution for stencils
week 8: assemble pages for book
week 9: final presentation ready