Progress with Artwork

I've asked several people for help on the art input I need for this project and have gotten three definite confirmations. One of the confirmations, by Matias Alvial, has already sent me an artwork that I can include in my magazine, even if it is not the cover image.

I will continue to receive art "donations" from artists I know and am progressing fairly well. My pacing right now is focused on editing the pictures I have photographed, making sure I get as much artwork as I can, and starting my magazine layout.

Finally Have Pictures!

Today, I had the chance of finally shooting pictures of my friends. First of all, I asked them to bring vibrant, more "hip" clothing, and I ended up doing their makeup as well as their hair to suit what I desired in my head. The following pictures below are just sneak peeks of the actual shoot: those were taken by my friend on her iPhone as I progressed to shoot throughout the night, but it includes pictures of me acting out my role as the photographer as well as some examples of what was included in the original batch of pictures on the camera.

For the camera, I ended up borrowing my friend's, and as I shot, I realized that I cannot limit myself only to portraits with this project. I was unable to capture the full essence or entirety of the scene in some cases, and with other cases, it was more fit to have more than just the face or neck-up of my models.

Sneak Peeks

Behind the Scenes

Models:

Arusy Lemus

Juliana Narvaez 

Main Cover Idea

The cover, as I forgot to mention in the previous past, is the second main component of this project, too. Since I am no artist, I need the remaining of the two weeks to ask a friend or acquaintance for the favor of creating an artistic, solo piece for my cover image. I already know for a fact that I want the image to be a portrait of a young girl, with artistic elements mingled, vibrant colors, and the added touch of the individual artist's unique style.

Those are basic examples of what I want my cover photo to look like; artistic, colorful, and the subject of a young girl.
You might be asking: why a young girl? Since the main theme for my images are portraits of younger people, I thought it best to represent the cover with the face of a girl, since to me, the female face is very articulate, delicate, and more artistic. the curve of the nose, the lips, and the eyes: for my magazine, this is perfectly suitable.

References

Rykova, Olga. "Modern Abstract Art 2013 2014 2015." Modern Abstract Art for Sale. N.p., n.d. Web. 26 Mar. 2016. <http://finemodernart.com/2014-art>.

Tsung, Mandy. "✿⊱╮Mandy Tsung." Pinterest. N.p., n.d. Web. 26 Mar. 2016. <https://www.pinterest.com/elfellia/mandy-tsung/>.

Planning Photography

I've recently been planning out how to start the final product, and I realized that the pictures that need to be taken and put into the magazine are the main components. First of all, the writing included within the magazine will be inspired by the photographs and will chronicle the events or relate to the events of the picture in someway. Therefore, to get started, I need to gather the images since that is the base and beginning point for everything else I aim to do.

Thus, to begin this process, I've decided to focus more on the photography aspect of this project until I get a good grasp on it. I've begun researching different techniques and looking at different examples of what I would like to see with my own pictures.

I am particularly interested with the Location Portraits found here since except on a less professional ground, this is what I envision my pictures to be like. I want them to be centered mostly around a specific place: forest, beach, or city.

I've also stumbled upon articles that give tips on how to accomplish portrait photography at its finest, such as this one and this one.

Now, you might be wondering, what is my idea exactly for the portraits? I have a few friends in mind that I want to take with me and go explore places like parks, sidewalks, or streets. Since I'm more comfortable photographing people I know, I would rather be around close friends whom I can easily tell to move around and sit in specific poses.

I do not own a digital camera; however, I will try my best to borrow one to capture the essence of the photos more vividly. If I am unable to find a digital camera, then I'm going to have to use my phone digital camera, which is not too disappointing, and editing always helps improve the quality.

Further down are more examples of what I envision or what I am inspired by to incorporate into my images.

References

Bbking100. "Whistler | Portrait Photos." Portraits 2.0. N.p., 25 Dec. 2013. Web. 25 Mar. 2016. <http://www.portrait-photos.org/photo/39289.html>.

Laurent, Olivier. "See 22 of This Year's Best Portraits." Time. Time, 29 Oct. 2014. Web. 25 Mar. 2016. <http://time.com/3812650/best-portrait-photography/>.

"Location Photography Miami | Los Angeles | New York." Portrait Photographers Miami L Celebrity Portrait Photography Florida. N.p., n.d. Web. 25 Mar. 2016. <http://briansmith.com/location-photography/>.

Mojayskaya, Julia. "In the Bog | Portrait Photos." Portraits 2.0. N.p., 21 Oct. 2013. Web. 25 Mar. 2016. <http://www.portrait-photos.org/photo/36581.html>.

Noritsyn, Pavel. "Girl Standing against the Wall | Portrait Photos." Portraits 2.0. N.p., 21 June 2013. Web. 25 Mar. 2016. <http://www.portrait-photos.org/photo/36503.html>.

"101 Portrait Photography Tips." Improve Photography. N.p., 03 Aug. 2011. Web. 25 Mar. 2016. <http://improvephotography.com/1305/101-portrait-photography-tips-to-improve-your-photography/>.

Колбая, Александр. "Temptress | Portrait Photos." Portraits 2.0. N.p., 21 June 2013. Web. 25 Mar. 2016. <http://www.portrait-photos.org/photo/36688.html>.

Return from Break

Hello everyone!
It's been a while, hasn't it?
Well, during spring break, I traveled to New York City for the first time ever. In my mind, I wanted to photograph regular people on daily events; however, due to the hasty city movements, I was not able to capture moments, nor could I fully dedicate time towards photographing because of my packed schedule, as well as the intense cold that nearly froze off my fingers. In the end, I was unfortunately unable to capture natural, realistic moments, but I was able to take a couple of pictures of my sister, just for experimenting.

Those pictures, as seen, were all posed and not photographed in a way that brings a naturalist outlook; however, ultimately, I found it much easier to have the freedom and ability to direct my sister into taking the stance I deemed best for the picture or looking at the camera in a certain way. That cold night on the Brooklyn Bridge, where my fingers grew numb with the menacing cold, were worth the trouble and effort since I was able to capture those two images. Moreover, they made me realize that I would rather photograph with posers, since it is easier to get an essence of the spirit or meaning I have in mind for the image.  

Writing Samples

For my own writing, I am including three of my pieces that I think mostly relate to the theme I am trying to explore. This does not mean that my writing pieces will follow the same format, length, style, or genre; I am merely putting up some of my pieces that I think I can get a jump start from and use to guide me on how far I am from achieving what I want to incorporate in my magazine. 

there's the dust on the bedsheets

there are houses nearby

that echo stories, long lost by the lamppost

on 22nd street.

I brushed my hand along the ruins

of this house

and found the dirt bristling among many.

you ask me, why do I haunt this house? 

why do I take interest

in a long forgotten memory

where children roared 

and fires cracked beneath the bedsheets

and where she came running

outside her house

and knocking on mine one night

late after 3 a.m. 

the fires surged the walls 

and emptied any color painted 

with patterns and lines, with intricacy and hopes

that the paint would never chip away.

yet I remember how she sat on the steps by her front door,

smoking cigarettes that infiltrated her lungs

and accumulated there, leaving nothing but soot and ash

soot and ash. 

"want light?" 

I asked one day, 

as she sat on her door step,

and her eyes widened like a wild animal's

awakened from an eternal sleep,

as if the man she called her husband

were the bear who engorged all

when disturbed from his sleep. 

and as it ended,

the fires left the bear inside the house,

engulfed by raging fires he himself started.

it ate away at the bedsheets and mirrors alike,

yet as she knocked on my door late after 3 a.m.,

I could see in her eyes that it was the scorched, burnt paintings

she mourned for,

the only remnant of any talent she had

before the bear had taken command, and stolen any 

wist of dreams she had. 

she's sitting on my bedpost,

covered in sheets and covers to wipe away the soot

that stung to her skin.

she's sitting on my bedpost,

staring at my clean, pristine floors

while her children pull at her dress,

demanding answers

to soothe the aching pain of

"where is daddy?" 

that woman,

she's long gone,

but her pain still haunts me,

and I still linger by that house,

demanding answers 

of how our youth wastes away

beneath burnt bedsheets. 

The City Lights

I walked on a sidewalk one night, and I saw the jagged lines zig zag through the pavement, disturbing the flow of the city stones. The city was alit with the torchlights hovering like fireballs in the air, illuminating by-passers hurrying through those winding streets. There were cars everywhere; the stench of gasoline alive and the honking of car horns audible over the sound of my own breathing. Despite the crowds of people and the buzz in which they moved, I felt entranced within the scenery, as if I were enveloped by the aura of the energy vibrating around me, inhaling the cigarette smoke and the evaporated sweat hanging. I stepped each foot with a graceful swirl, as if I were a dancer performing a show, as if my art were displayed with every inch of my movements. Time, for once, did not exist. It was just the city and me, the lamp lights and me, the concrete stones and me. The cars were still hurrying past, yet there was one that caught my eye as I stood bedazzled. The car did not hurry; it silently grazed past the chaos, as if, like me, it was aware of the city around us. It kept moving and slowly came to a stop by the side. Out rushed a man who slammed the door and glanced around, to make sure that no one noticed his hesitancy, his paranoia. He then peeked through the windows and nodded, taking one last stride with his eyes. He was doing it rather poorly, I thought, since his eyes did not meet mine; his eyes were not aware of my presence. He began heading away, and after plugging my earphones deeper, I followed. 

Chestnut

That boy, you heard them say he's such a gem. Every time you saw him, a streak of his chestnut hair had covered his forehead, and a part of you longed to know him and stroke the hair out of his forehead so you could see what type of gem he hid, to assure that it was worth the rumors.

Truth is, you couldn't bear the rumors. Not the gem, nor the one when they all said your daddy had crawled into mama's bed one night and pushed her legs apart so hard that she woke up bruised the next morning. They kept saying that if he was still allowed to do those things, one day your mama wouldn't wake up at all.

You hated the rumors because you knew they were right. They were right, yet they were wrong, because all your daddy had done was seat you next to him in church so you'd both laugh at the way he mimicked the priest's words. His attention was always guided elsewhere, yet during church, he seemed so intent on making a fool out of the priest, on making the point that he did not believe the lies he was spoon-fed as a child, that he made a fool out of himself.

It was all a nice morning when you saw the boy with chestnut hair again. The sun was shining at your back and you had allowed yourself to bathe alongside the air and the plants and pretended you lived within nature. But then the chestnut hair had blocked your view, and you saw that the boy had chestnut eyes, too. His eyes were gleaming and fearful, like someone had hurled a snowstorm on them, and he was saying something you couldn't hear. Suddenly, you couldn't hair anything, because a gunshot had fired and the ringing of it was still in your ears, colliding with the ringing of your heart stabbing at your chest bones. You didn't know what to do, because you knew where it was coming from, and you found your hands suddenly intertwined within those of the chestnut hair boy. You were surprised at his strength, because he was able to drag you with him, but in reality your body had just grown limp.

There was an urgency within his footsteps, like he wanted to lead you away somewhere safe, and he kept repeating that it was all going to be alright. He repeated it so much that it began to sound like he was saying it just to soothe the aching dull of his body, and you yanked away your hand from his, because everything they had told you was a lie, even him. You grabbed his face and slapped the chestnut hair away from his forehead, and you found nothing. There was no gem in this boy, just a frail small body with bones and hollow cheeks. They lied to you, he lied to you, and you wanted to see daddy again, to marvel at how white he kept his teeth when he smiled at you in church.

You ran to your mama's bed and found the blood soaking through the sheets and to the mattress; there was a stench, a body, and there was your mama standing against the wall, gun in her hand. You looked in her eyes and saw that they were chestnut, too, and you suddenly understood the chestnut boy, that he was no gem. He was no gem because he was a bastard boy, and yet they called him one even though they all knew he was worth nothing. 

Those chestnut eyes of your mama bore into yours and you screamed at her to stop, to not leave you, because she'd already taken away your daddy from you, and all that was left was here: his body and a pool of blood. The boy was there again, holding your arms, yet you quivered against him because his touch was poison, and you fought so hard. His touch worked on you, because you were so frail and weak, even weaker than him. You weren't able to run to your mama and point the gun away from her own heart, but to yours. The boy knew what'd you do and so he held you tight, while your mama just kept staring at you with the gun at her chest. You were so helpless, so desperate, yet the sound of the echoing gunshot next managed to null your body and steal all the chestnut from the boy's hair. 

Inspiration

Lately, I've been brainstorming ideas about how to give my magazine a certain theme or purpose, or how to make it more specific. Most successful literary magazines usually add in a theme that heightens the sense of purpose within each edition (example: culture) while others are focused around genres (like a literary science fiction magazine.) 

Some magazines publish only certain works, like solely poetry or solely short story. The Bitter Oleander, for example, publishes works of poetry "whose imaginations open [their] eyes to a world [they] thought [they] knew but were mistaken. A world our habits, our education and our beliefs blind us from everyday." 

I have also noticed a pattern: there is a different featured poet in every volume published. Also, each volume has a specific theme that is a branch of the overarching purpose stated above. Volume 16 No.2 is centered around the international community's mindset of poets, featuring the poet Ana Minga. Volume 13 No.2 centers around city poetry with the featured poet Rob Cook. Their newest edition, Volume 21 No.2, features the NYC poet Stephanie Dickinson, with a new perspective on how living in one of the most renowned cities in the world is. Mostly each volume also includes translations of other foreign works, diversifying the magazine immensely. 

AGNI is another literary magazine with seventy five issues over five decades and is considered to be "one of the strongest voices of one of the most active writing communities in America." It centers on emerging writers and on developing audiences for contemporary literature. 

In contrast, Black Denim Lit is a literary magazine that only publishes works of science fiction and fantasy. Moreover, they are more focused on electronic books and publications rather than print, which is something that I'm not targeting for. However, it was beneficial for me to see how each different literary magazine seeks to diversify and stand out amongst the others. 

References: 

"AGNI Online." AGNI Online. N.p., n.d. Web. 16 Mar. 2016. <http://www.bu.edu/agni/index.html>.

"Black Denim Lit." This Month, 150-pg Issue, Free for EReaders. N.p., n.d. Web. 16 Mar. 2016. <http://www.bdlit.com/>.

"Book Publisher | Poetry & Short Fiction Publisher | Bitter Oleander Press." Book Publisher, Poetry & Short Fiction Publisher. N.p., n.d. Web. 16 Mar. 2016. <http://www.bitteroleander.com/>.

I Got Indesign!

I downloaded my 30 day free trial today, and I'm so excited to be exploring more of this program!

Just look at how nice that looks! What's more, there's a whole "Getting Started" section that has plenty of tutorials to help me get a head start with the usage of this. 

Asides from watching start tutorials, I've begun to experiment with the software, like how to design a very basic document, as seen here: 

Even though I was baffled at first at my inexperience, I am willing to progress through tutorials as well a trial and error. Bring it on, Adobe!

New Idea

I was reading the magazine bioStories publisher's description here and this is what it said: 

"bioStories offers word portraits of the people surrounding us in our daily lives, including the strangers we pass on the street unnoticed and those intimate to us who have been most influential and most familiar but who remain strangers to others. We particularly look for work that offers slices of a life that help the reader imagine the whole of that life; work that demonstrates that ordinary people's experiences often contain extraordinary moments, visionary ideas, inspirational acts, and examples of success and failure that prove instructive. In short, we believe every life displays moments of grace. bioStories wishes to share pieces of these lives and celebrate them." 

I suddenly got the idea of a magazine that focuses on slices of life; photographs of people going about their day and with poetry that either narrates the picture or relates to it. I want my magazine to reflect a diverse group of people with different people that all somehow relate to each other; with snippets of their stories that might represent a greater whole. 

My idea for how I will do this is to include 3 photographs with 3 columns on each of my pages with a poem, vignette, or short piece that resonates with the picture. I want the collection as a whole to flow altogether fluidly, as if different writers created them and pieced them together to form a greater narrative.

For the photographs, I've been thinking artistic, unique portraits of diverse types of people doing different things in their day. I will be gone to New York City for the first time this spring break, so I'm hoping to get inspired by the beauty and art alive within the city, and maybe I will take some snapshots that will turn golden. 

As for the writing, I’ve found great pieces that inspire this idea. One of them is Jennifer S. Deayton’s Wanderlust, which can be found here. bioStories’s Volume 4 Issue 2 was extremely inspiriting as well and can be found here. Moreover, a personal friend of mine has a writing style that I admire greatly: she illustrates short snippets of stories that form a collective whole. One of her pieces can be found here (I highly recommend this one.) 

References

BioStories Summer/Fall 2014 4.2 (2014): 1-133. BioStories. Web. 17 Mar. 2016.

Deayton, Jennifer S. "Wanderlust." AGNI Online. AGNI Magazine, n.d. Web. 17 Mar. 2016. 

Wilensky, Greta. "Rafael." Souvenir. N.p., n.d. Web. 17 Mar. 2016. 

Adobe Indesign

Before continuing on with the idea of my research, I realized that first of all I should set the basis for my magazine layout publishing software. I have decided to use the software Adobe Indesign since this is most feasible for me: it is available on the school computers in my AICE Media Studies class as well as having a 30 day free trial if needed outside classroom use.

I understand that this is a restrictive time limit; however, I am going to try to get as much as I can finished in class before I resort to the 30 day free trial. Besides, before I even get started on my project, I need plenty of research to solidify my ideas, and that will take some time. Thus, once I have completed my research and set a basis for my ideas, 30 days should be more than enough time for me.

Here, I found websites with tutorials for Adobe Indesign. Since I have never used this software, I need as much help with the process as I can get.

This website provides a complete learning guide for the beginner; it is a full course and embeds short videos to teach the basics of using InDesign. The course is completely free; it only requires you to sign up in order to be able to watch the videos.

Moreover, I have found an article with 44 tutorials on Adobe Indesign. I have started to look at them as well as experimenting with the software, which my next blog post will be about.

References:

 Adobe InDesign for BeginnersMaster the art of creative page layout with Adobe InDesign CS5.5. Taught by a leading Certified Trainer. (n.d.). Retrieved March 12, 2016, from https://www.adobeknowhow.com/courselanding/adobe-indesign-cs-5-5#

44 brilliant InDesign tutorials. (2014, May 2). Retrieved March 12, 2016, from http://www.creativebloq.com/graphic-design-tips/indesign-tutorials-1232639 

Literary Magazine Covers

Today, I've been looking at literary magazine covers just to get the sense of what mine could look like. The magazine cover is a great example of seeing what the magazine could encompass; how artistic it is, what type of submissions, and what mine could look like.

I decided to start with this because unlike a novel, a cover is one of the fastest ways to judge the content of a magazine. Since the cover is extremely essential in capturing the viewer's eye, the creators of a magazine have to be meticulous in their choices regarding the cover.

For example, we have...

As seen here, the drawing has various vibrant, energetic colors. The artist (Najia Zayed) launched the literary magazine Canto open to submissions like short stories, artwork, and poetry. Even though this picture does not really show the masthead or anything else besides the cover photo, it is a good start to envisioning what my magazine could look like. 

And then we have...

With this particular one, the masthead and cover lines are visible. This magazine cover looks more like a traditional magazine cover, with cover lines that are supposed to lure a viewer in and spark their interest. The cover photo is extremely colorful and artistic, capturing the eye. As seen with the previous one, the cover photo is a drawing and not a photograph. 

This is especially important for my idea. If I am going for a more artistic vibe, then my cover photo has to be a drawing, with eccentric colors and an abstract idea represented with the photo, not just a concrete, flat picture. 

What does this mean for me? As I research more, I have to find friends that are willing to compose artworks for me. There are two individuals that I have in my mind; however, if they are unable to accomplish what I ask for, I am obliged to request one of the art teachers in my high school, Mrs. Jenkins, to help me in my quest of finding an artist. I am not an artist myself and am unable to draw; however, I am determined to find someone who will make this possible for me.

References:

Bourassa, Blair. "Love Is Such an Old Fashioned Word." Web log post.Voice in the Wilderness. WordPress, n.d. Web. 11 Mar. 2016. <https://blairbourassa.wordpress.com/short-stories/love-is-such-an-old-fashioned-word-excerpt/>.

Warner, Kenneth. "Canto Magazine Bursts Upon the Literary Scene in Rochester." Web log post. Democrat& Chronicle. N.p., 17 Sept. 2013. Web. 11 Mar. 2016. <http://blogs.democratandchronicle.com/rochester/?p=3621>.

Introducing Me

You might be wondering, what of a magazine is there to chronicle?

...Well, I'm here to show you. I'm Naz and I'll be working on a magazine for a class project, of which the genre is undecided for now. I am mostly thinking about working on a literary magazine; a magazine that is strictly for displaying works of writing and literature.

Why this choice specifically? If I work on a literary magazine, then I will be able to incorporate my skills as a writer to a platform that goes beyond the white sheet of paper. This is a great opportunity to test my skills and learning; I am willing to put all my effort into creating a polished product that displays the best of my abilities.

What is the vibe I'm going for? I want this to be very artistic. The magazine will serve as an archive of my complete original works, including the pictures and the writing. Therefore, in order to succeed, I have to make sure that the artistic elements are the main constituents.

How will I accomplish this "artsy" feel? To be quite honest, I am not experienced in creating large products like this one. That's why I'll have to experiment with magazine softwares and to learn through the process. I have some limited experience with Photoshop, yet I'm going to have to teach myself as I go.

What is this blog exactly for, then? This will chronicle my journey in creating this magazine, and my posts will show gradual progress as I work my way through the process. It will be a long ride, but I'm excited to experience the road bumps and chilling breezes along the way.