Tag: Rider University

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portfolio requests

Oliver Giller – LeMasney Consulting

Oliver Giller - LeMasney Consulting
Oliver Giller - LeMasney Consulting
Oliver Giller - LeMasney Consulting
Oliver Giller – LeMasney Consulting

With just a few minutes to spare to get in today’s sketch (Easter) I’m thrilled to share this portrait of Oliver Giller. Oliver is the person to first introduced me to the concept of Open Source. He is easily the largest philosophical influence on my life, and helped to form what I list amongst the most important beliefs that I have. I lost touch with him after he graduated from Rider University about 9 years ago, but always remembered the things that he introduced me to, including the GNU Image Manipulation Program, Linux, and the GNU General Public License.

Withing the last 2 years or so, though, we’ve reconnected, and I’m happy to say that we are even doing a project together, which I’m doing this sketch for. I’m less happy to report that Oliver had to undergo brain surgery recently which left him with a scar, and in Oliver’s work to recover he donated a picture of his new stitches and asked that I do something creative with it for our project, essentially a journal of his recent health issues.

In Inkscape, I did a bitmap trace of Oliver’s face, in which you could clearly see the scar and stitches, but without explanation, it looked only as though he had a bad haircut on one side. I decided in the interest of clarity and also of not offending anyone with the graphic nature of the subject to take a highly stylized approach to the scar and stitches. It was fun to stitch a pattern using the Bezier tool, and I think I may use this technique again.

I’m of the firm belief that Oliver has all the best chances to make a full recovery, including a beautiful wife and family, parents who have supported him forever, and a strong network of friends. Thanks, Oliver, for all you’ve given me in life, now go kick this thing’s ass, so you can get back to the important stuff.

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portfolio

83 of 365 is a tasty, hot and fresh pizza guy in #inkscape

Tasty, Hot and Fresh
Tasty, Hot and Fresh
Tasty, Hot and Fresh
Tasty, Hot and Fresh

Hey, friends! So, today’s sketch is a flashback for me to just after I got my BFA from University of the Arts in 1998. I was lucky enough to land two jobs: Rider University’s  Instructional Technology Specialist position, and also Bucks County Community College’s  Sculpture Lab Assistant. I loved both jobs dearly, and learned a lot from both positions. They were both very service oriented positions, and they both came with new friends. In the Sculpture gig, I worked with another guy doing the same thing and he convinced me that my artistic contribution was going to be interpretations of the ubiquitous Approving Pizza Chef Guy, the one who graces what must be 50% of all pizza boxes. I started drawing him on warning signs around the shop, and he even got etched into a large metal sand pit using an Arc Welder. I’m sure he’s still there, forever scribed in molten metal, but he’s otherwise stopped showing up directly in my work until now. At any rate, with that experience I learned to keep a certain sense of fun and irony in my work, and so in that way the Approving Pizza Chef Guy (and the other Lab Tech) have been a part of my work ever since.

Approving Pizza Chef Guy
Approving Pizza Chef Guy

So I started with the Pizza guy image and I did lot of little tweaks to make him mine. I flipped him, and then bitmap traced him. I duplicated and reversed his hand so that he’d be giving a “2 thumbs up”. Using the calligraphy tool, I gave him bangs and a beard, extended (and made him stroke) his thin Daliesque mustache, and puffed up his hat. I made him stop winking. I then used the watercolor technique of a wide stroke of color with the calligraphy tool under the lines to color the piece. I created the pizza and placed it, moonlike, behind him. Finally, I added the text. I missed him, and I’m glad I had this opportunity to revive him.

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portfolio

39 of 365 is a tree of knowledge showing its roots #inkscape

Tree of knowledge - LeMasney Consulting
Tree of knowledge - LeMasney Consulting
Tree of knowledge - LeMasney Consulting
Tree of knowledge – LeMasney Consulting

In honor of my official transcript showing that I graduated from Rider University in December of 2009 with a Master of Arts degree in Organizational Leadership, I wanted to make a tree, a common symbol of knowledge and education. It also is one of the key elements of Rider’s brand. I used the pencil tool mostly, set to 50% smoothing, and shape: Triangle in to create the roots and trunk. I then used the ellipse tool in order to create many overlapping green circles, and path: unioned them for the foliage. To amplify the beauty of the branches, I set the foliage transparency down a bit. I made a background plane with a gradient with about 5 stops to create a natural, but muted, background.

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  • Rider University: Identity Theft Countermeasures (johnwlemasney.wordpress.com)
  • Open Source Graphics Workshop Series (johnwlemasney.wordpress.com)
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consulting

What is this all about?

Inkscape
Image via Wikipedia

365 Sketches is a response to a post I read tonight that suggests that I design something every day ( http://www.smashingmagazine.com/2009/12/22/design-something-every-day/ ). As an Inkscape enthusiast, I wanted specifically to share ways in which I feel that Inkscape excels as a design application. I was inspired by the post to post a sketch every day from Inkscape, something quick, minimal, and demonstrative of Inkscape’s abilities. As a theme, I’m starting with faces, but I don’t feel like I’m limiting myself just to faces. If I feel like straying from the theme, I will. I also intend to maybe post more than one post if I feel like it, or let the post skip a day if necessary. All in all though, I’m going to try to end up at the end of 2010 with at least 365 sketches.

Here’s to Inkscape!

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professional activities professional experience research interests technology

Rider University: Identity Theft Countermeasures

Digital Identity Mapping
Image by fredcavazza via Flickr

Event: ID Theft

Date: Thursday, October 29th, 2009 at 9 AM.

Venue: Sweigart Auditorium, Rider University, Lawrenceville, NJ

Abstract:  I spoke as part of a sequential panel on the ways in which we can protect ourselves from identity theft by electronic means.

Presentation: http://docs.google.com/Presentation?id=dckfm9fw_269svttxnfj

Commentary and notes:

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Categories
professional activities professional experience teaching experience technology

Open Source Graphics Workshop Series

Inkscape
Image via Wikipedia

Date: October 13th through December 10th, 2009.

Venue: Rider University, Memorial 310

Abstract: In these workshops, John LeMasney shows how to use open source (ideologically and monetarily free) software  packages Inkscape and the GNU Image Manipulation Program (GIMP) in order to create graphic design, artwork, and digital imagery.

Presentation: http://docs.google.com/present/edit?id=0Ad-YsRMv5bPqZGNrZm05ZndfMjIwMjJrM3djY3A&hl=en

Video: [vodpod id=Groupvideo.3669457&w=425&h=350&fv=]

Commentary and notes: Details on the workshops available at

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