Tiki Mugs

In Māori mythology, Tiki is the person created by either Tūmatauenga or Tāne. By extension, a tiki is a large or small wooden or stone carving in humanoid form, although this is a somewhat archaic usage in the Māori language. Carvings similar to tikis and coming to represent deified ancestors are found in most Polynesian cultures. They often serve to mark the boundaries of sacred or significant sites.

The veneration of the dead, including one’s ancestors, is based on love and respect for the deceased. In some cultures, it is related to beliefs that the dead have a continued existence, and may possess the ability to influence the fortune of the living. Some groups venerate their direct, familial ancestors. 

In Europe, Asia, Oceania, African and Afro-diasporic cultures, the goal of ancestor veneration is to ensure the ancestors’ continued well-being and positive disposition towards the living, and sometimes to ask for special favours or assistance. The social or non-religious function of ancestor veneration is to cultivate kinship values, such as filial piety, family loyalty, and continuity of the family lineage. Ancestor veneration occurs in societies with every degree of social, political, and technological complexity, and it remains an important component of various religious practices in modern times.

Who is one person you would honor? Why?

use this to guide your design

Project Goal:

Create 8 Tiki designs to represent a family member you wish to honor. Use 1 physical trait and 1 personality trait to lead your design. Choose 1 design to sculpt into a clay mug. All families are different, if you think of them as family you can choose them.

Examples

I selected my grandfather to honor with my design. For a physical trait I chose to show the baseball cap he always would wear. His personality trait I wanted to show was his happiness and kindness.

Public Art & Sidewalk Chalk Paint Recipe

Project Goal: Create an image spreading a positive message in your neighborhood using chalk you have or if you can try the recipe for sidewalk chalk paint found here.

If you don’t have access to these materials any image of support and hope made with whatever materials you do have is good too!

Your image could:

  • Say something emotionally supportive to people passing by
  • encourage good behaviors like social distancing or mask wearing

Warning: make sure that you do this somewhere you have permission to do so!

My Example

Sidewalk Chalk Recipe

  1. add 1 cup of water to 1 cup of cornstarch.
  2. Mix until there are no clumps of cornstarch
  3. Next add a few drops of food coloring and mix until blended.

Warning: depending on what you use for color these could be staining so watch out & test first!

Sometimes the most beautiful art can come from the hardest of cercomstances. The Covid-19 pandemic had lead to both terrible hardships for people all over the world and to beautiful and powerful artworks spreading messages of hope, health, and healing.

Editorial Illustration

Project Goal: Choose 1 article from any online source and create an illustration using any combinations of analog and digital illustration tools that displays and clarifies the content of the article.

My Examples

Glitches in Online A.P. Tests Add to Students’ Anxieties
Technical problems with the digital versions of the Advanced Placement exams caused angst for high school students and parents at an already stressful time.
As Virus Linger in Michigan, a New Crisis Arrives: Flooding Thousands of residents of Midland, Mich., fled their homes as waters rose, trying to keep at a safe social distance even in shelters.

Original, editorial illustration is everywhere these days from the covers of magazines to the front pages of leading news sources around the globe.

Across the spectrum of print and online publications, art directors rely on illustrators not only to create beautiful and attention-getting images, but also to help impart information and express complex ideas. Editorial illustrations bring stories to life and entice readers to engage with content. It’s bread-and-butter work for many illustrators, and many find it extremely satisfying. 

Crafting an illustration that accompanies an article or news feature–to reveal its content at a glance–is all about taking a concept and making it visual.

“David Plunkert came up with the excellent idea of the happy mask hiding the true face behind it, to show the United States’ penchant for touting its environmental progress while at the same time being one of the largest exporters of natural gas, oil, and coal in the world,” says Tracy Cox of Sierra magazine. “

An editorial illustrator typically creates illustrations for magazines and newspapers, which are printed on a weekly or monthly basis. This translates to consistent and varied work for professional illustrators.

This was for a story about discovering new uses for old drugs

Editorial illustration entices readers to engage with content.  That makes sense because for so many of us, what grabs our attention is the illustration first, then the words.

Is YouTube safe for kids?
About the app’s moderation problem with “recommended videos” containing dangerous content.

Tackling complex conceptual content is probably the most important aspect of what a good editorial illustration can do.  But there’s more to the impact editorial illustration has.

From an article about hospitals having to ration essential care. Can they do it fairly?

Editorial illustration can be representational, stylized, or abstract; a likeness of someone who’s famous, a beautifully-rendered image that distinguishes one feature of a product from another. In each case, an editorial illustration shows more than words can describe.

An article on the innovative idea and perspective to measure the future of economy.

The best illustrators know how to synthesize the content of a story into a form that gives insight into its meaning.