Last Saturday, Cut&Paste, launched its 2009 Global Tour in Los Angeles. I got the chance to drive down and catch the event at club Avalon in Hollywood (which for me, is usually a hip-hop infused night spot, so it was interesting to see a change in there).

The 2D competition launched the event, with eight competitors battling it out to create an entire design from scratch based on a theme. The first heat called for a tattoo based on “human nature” and the second involved a lunch box design based on “time.” Check out the site to see what the designers came up with.

With Cintiqs firing up, fonts in place, digital cameras ready to take pictures (the only photos that could be used were of anything taken at the event during the 15 minute competition), four artists at a time worked on stage while judges breathed down their necks. Huge screens projected from each Cintiq, and a camera followed the artists on a main screen to showcase their workflow. In the end, the one female of the eight 2D competitors won the event. She showcased her drawing skills quickly and efficiently, which I think is what helped her win it… simple brush tools in Photoshop put to good use, and a quick application of vector graphics and color made for a clean 15 minute composition.

A friend from high school, Vince Akuin, was one of the competitors, and advanced to the second heat during the competition. He wowed the crowd during the first set as he painted his tat design on a photo of his calf, which set him apart from the others who used vector graphics over plain white canvases. He’s an amazing artist and illustrator. Check out his blog to see his work. Congrats Vince.

All in all, Cut&Paste was a fun event. It had a fast paced vibe which is pretty much how it always feels when there are deadlines to be met, not to mention 15 minute intervals with hopes of winning Wacom tablets, trips, and fame. I tried my hand at the audience 2D competition. It was for a 55DSL t-shirt design revolving around the theme “The Fifth Dimension.” Hm. They suggested, “Think psychedelic western.” It seemed a lot of people were taking the logo and adding science fiction decor around it, so I decided to draw. All fun.

The event is going up to the Bay, to the east coast, to Europe, and Asia. Catch it if you can and have a good time being surrounded by artists, art enthusiasts, and big timers battling it out on stage… battle… at a club… but with artists. :)

The side of Club Avalon in Hollywood.

Gigantic projectors showing the workspaces of the competitors.

One of the announcers had a mouse painted gold around his neck. The one on the left is the guy who says "Finish Him!" in Mortal Kombat. Or is it Scorpion's "Get over here?" I can't remember which. Either way, it was tight hearing him say it in person.

DJ! He played throughout the event, sneaking some "Sergeant Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band" by the Beatles over some hip-hop. Loved it.

Battle going down.

A friend from high school, Vince Akuin. Amazing artist.

Center screen.

The winning 2D piece by Janee Meadows. And she still had time to kill.

Asking competition questions as my supportive boyfriend looks on. (You can only see his chin though).

Above: photo by Jason Lewis.

Playing around during the audience competition.

The beginnings of my illustration for 55DSL. All fun.

As a graphic designer for a scientific/research facility (the Marine Science Institute (MSI) at UC Santa Barbara) I create a lot of graphics for books, interactive media, etc.  in the science field (among many other print/web/video projects of different fields). My favorite… Google Oceans.

Last summer, MSI’s Science of Marine Reserves (SMR) research team at PISCO, the Partnerhip for Interdisciplinary Studies of Coastal Oceans, began an animation project for Google Oceans that would visualize what happens to fish and sea life population when marine reserves are established throughout the globe. It’s nice to know Google Earth is increasingly becoming an educational tool in today’s world -  it’s not just for pretending like you’re flying from the Eiffel Tower to Mt. Everest anymore (but Google sure had a way of luring people in, didn’t they?).

MARINE PROTECTED AREAS

Google Oceans just launched this morning so you can see the art I worked on for one of the many new ocean apps in there.

1. Once you download the new version of Google Earth, turn on the Oceans layer, and click on the arrow next to it to reveal the various new projects.

2. Double-click Marine Protected Areas. You’ll be directed to one of the many marine reserves, signified by the blue and white globe icons.

3. You can click on each globe and a pop-up window inside Google Oceans will appear. Inside that window is a Science tab that holds the Flash animations which visualize data collected by the SMR team.

Screenshot example of a sponge reef off of Dry Tortugas, FL. after the site has been protected.

Screenshot of a highlighted fish species (one of my favorites.. that mysteroperca bonaci) that you can click on to get more information about it.

So far, only a handful of what are about 150 marine reserves have animations ready in the Science tab, but we’re hoping to get most, if not all, done over time.

In terms of art, making these scenes was a good challenge. I created each reef (coral, temperate, and sponge) by referencing photos, digitally painting with various brushes, cloning textures, and manipulating light. As for the sea life, I had to carefully get each species down in vector format. Although cute and tiny in the animations, each one is a complex system of carefully traced fin rays, spots, and tedious five color gradients that had to be fit in a tiny tiny file size in the end.

So, with that said, check out the animations and see how things change when sea life is protected. It’s nice to know that my art is part of something so big. There are also many other projects in Google Earth and Oceans to explore… just turn them on and you see what you run into.

Testing, testing.

Hi, and welcome to my portfolio and art blog. karoleendesign.com is very much in its baby stages. So, although no one will see this blog until the site is up and running, I shall say, “Hello and welcome” in advance.