nelsdrums

EMOTIONS by Nels Dielman and Kelli Martin

The Emotions project is now a book. I was digging this little widget tool from Blurb. The fullscreen and thumbnail pagination views are very nice. I’ve added a new “hipstamatic” film light-leak style image for each student.

If you haven’t used Blurb, I encourage you to make your own book. Thier Booksmart application practically does it for you — with templated styles to choose from. Order it with the paper upgrade. The quality of printing is fantastic.

Yesterday morning I completed an “Emotions” photography project for my son’s 3rd grade class.

Last Thursday, I went to speak to the class about advertising. We discussed modeling and making emotional expressions with our faces. We brainstormed a lengthy list of emotions, and then stepped outside to take some pictures. Fellow class parent Kelli Martin and I photographed each child doing various emotions in a marathon session yielding hundreds of photos.

I selected nine images for each student, and then cropped/retouched into an 8×10 grid for printing and framing. Four fun versions were created: color graded, distressed, gradient map illustration, and cartoon.

I returned yesterday morning and presented the imagery to the class in a fun Keynote slide show that included their images, and a clip of video showing several of the students doing their expressions.

In addition I supplied each student with a printed poster of their classmates, and links for digital copies to share with their families.

What do you think? Here are a few more samples.

Monday night I completed “Fall Fun 2010″, a Gap-like art project featuring all 23 of my son’s kindergarden classmates. Just before Thanksgiving I photographed the children in the schoolyard. I explained my job as an art director for advertising, and told them that they were all “Talent” or “Models” for my project.

It was challenging to fit so many people into such a small space. Blame that on the state budget. Number two son, Miles, is featured jumping into a pile of leaves.

Today I went back to unveil the final product via a big screen projection complete with music. I described the “client presentation” process, and told them they were the clients. They were very good clients, since they liked everything. I gave them each “leave behinds” of an 13 x 19 archival giclee (poster print suitable for framing) and a personalized 5×7 image with a link to this post. It is really fun how excited the kids are when they see themselves on the screen for the first time. They literally vibrate with energy!

This is part III of a 4-part series. Last year I did a summer scene called “Summer Break 2009″ and two years ago a winter scene titled “Snow Day 2007″. Only one season left!

Right click the image above and choose “Save link as…” or “Open link in new window” to download a copy of the large version.

What do you think? (make a comment below)

Sunday afternoon I completed one of the most rewarding projects this year. A Gap Ad-like art project featuring all of my son’s second grade classmates. A couple of weeks ago, my brother-in-law and I photographed the children in the classroom. I explained my job as an art director for advertising, and told them that they were all “Talent” or “Models” for my project.

Today I went back to unveil the final product via a big screen projection complete with music. I described the “client presentation” process, and told them they were the clients. They were very good clients, since they liked everything. I gave them each “leave behinds” of an 13 x 19 archival giclee (poster print suitable for framing) and a DVD rom with images and the presentation movie. They were soooo happy, it left me with a stupid grin on my face all day.

This is part II of a 4-part series. Last school year I did a winter scene titled “Snow Day 2007″. Only two seasons left!

Right click the image above and choose “Save link as…” or “Open link in new window” to download a copy of the large version.

What do you think? (make a comment below)

I’ve been hacking away at the Slideflow demo by Christian Becker at Beckr.org and using images from my favorite fractal designer Blatte at ExotericRoach.org. Pretty cool stuff, eh?

The Beach Boys song came on the radio during dinner, and Lars surprised me by jumping up and doing this routine that he was rehearsing for a school show. So I grabbed my laptop and camera. We looked up the lyrics, so I could sing the song, and Lars performed so we could show it to mommy – who was out of town on business. Miles just wanted in on the action.

What did you think of the show?

Today I completed one of the most rewarding projects this year. A Gap Ad-like art project featuring all of my son’s first grade classmates. Exactly one week ago, my brother-in-law and I took photos of all of the kids wearing their winter gear. I explained my job as an art director for advertising, and told them that they were all “Talent” or “Models” for my project.

Today I went back to unveil the final product via a bigscreen projection complete with music. I described the “client presentation” process, and told them they were the clients. They were very good clients, since they liked everything. I gave them all “leave behinds” of a poster print and a DVD rom with images and the presentation movie. And also one giant poster mounted on foamcore for the classroom. They were really psyched.

Here are some larger files, and a little Quicktime movie with commentary.

To save the image above, right-click and choose “save link as…” or “open in new window”.

What do you think? (make a comment below)

I just posted this cool video of “Break It Down” from our last show the UFD Site. Kicking ass Chicago style horn ending written by Mike Rotondi! Click here to check it out!.

Oh yeah, that is me on drums. If you want a version for your iPod Video, click UFD-BreakItDown-02.23.2007.mp4. Or you can just watch it on YouTube.

Do you remember your first time riding without training wheels? Lars did it this weekend at six years of age. And no skinned knees. What a blast!

I am donating drum lessons for my son’s school auction. It will be the first time to teach since college. That’s why I made this little promotional poster.

Here is a little bit of solo drumming.

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