2 week plan

27th - strenuously sorted through all 611 photos from my photography session at The Crucible. Got it down to just 9. I'll pick the best from those. I should consider taking a few pictures of Danielle as well since she is almost as featured as Camden.

29th - worked on formatting design and fitting some photos in. Scheduled to take photos of Danielle next week. Will continue with feature design and other art spread.

3rd -

5th -

7th -

my page # for article: 34-35
WSS, pepperall squares (and other: crucible?) page #: 28-29

Design Practice

CARPE - design (blogpost 15.0)

Contrast: This photo is better in black in white because if it were in color it would be too complex to look at. The lack of color gives that contrasting feel but also matches the text on the next page. Also, the size of the text varies. The "god" draws people in because of its size and popular (and contradicting)  ideas.


Proximity: the title and by line fall in line with one another. The text gets smaller as the reader progresses down.

Alignment: The space between the photos and in between the columns are equal. The page numbers are aligned. Both spreads have 3 columns.

Repetition: The four black and white photos on the left are all the same size and color. They are also all close up images. In the first spread: there is one big photo and one big, bolded word.

Eye-line: neither of the above spread have an eye line that extend across both pages. But, the white space is nicely managed. The photos and text are group together. It is organized (and not annoying). Since there is so much purposeful white space, an eye line isn't necessary.

final draft (blogpost 14.0)

Art After High School
by Sam Saucier

The theater is quiet. A group of student actors are scattered across the stage, scripts in hand. They are rehearsing one of the most pivotal scenes in this year’s production of The Crucible. They have been practicing this moment more than any other in the show, making sure their intensity and interaction blends well enough to reenact a convincing courtroom scene from the famously historic Salem witch trials. Among these students is junior Camden Loeser, who is playing Reverend Parris.

Loeser’s favorite part about performing is the anticipation before he enters the stage. He enjoys the nervous feeling that has developed from stage fright into an anxious confidence over years of adjusting comfortably into performance. “Knowing that people are about to see you and be impressed with your talents,” says Loeser, “that’s the best.”

Loeser has been involved in theater since age four when he played a mouse in his first show, Twas One Crazy Night Before Christmas. Loeser’s favorite performance to this day is The Sound of Music, in which he portrayed Friederich in the Ogunquit Playhouse production in the summer of 2010. “When you perform the show as much as I did, you become the character,” says Loeser, who valued the production for its professional experience.

“I guess my dad got me into it,” says Loeser, on his biggest inspiration. “I ended up loving it and kept doing it. The things I do onstage kind of resemble the stuff he did.” Most of the social and theatrical circles Loeser runs in are ones that he was introduced to by his father, David, who was actively involved in local community theater productions. He passed away in 2006 after years of battling leukemia. “He was always really supportive of everything I did. He was always there. He got me into that [theater] world.”

Loeser plans on pursuing musical theater after high school, though he’s worried about the competitiveness of art schools like Wagner and Boston University, just a few of his choices. Applying to these universities often requires a colorful resume to prove how well rounded of an artist the student is. Fortunately, Loeser is what people of the artistic world call a “triple threat”. This term showcases Loeser’s three talents: singing, dancing and acting.  These combined abilities are attractive to art schools and programs, but that does not mean Loeser won’t have to work hard.

“[It’s scary] knowing that there will always be someone better than you,” says Loeser. For professional actors, competition, training and preparing for auditions is an enormous part of the business, not unlike professional athletes. “That’s your entire life.”

It takes incredible dedication to become an artist. With an overflowing wave of young artists, it is difficult to stand out and be successful. Even in the small community of TA students, Loeser is just one of many looking to impress art schools.

“Everyone likes drawing, everyone like photography, everyone likes writing,” says senior Danielle Morin, “It’s hard to excel and get noticed.”

Morin has been drawing since she was very young. “I used to always draw, especially when I went to my grandmother’s house because she loved art.” She recalls enrolling in numerous art classes and camps throughout her childhood, “I wasn’t always good,” but Morin says she only fell in love with drawing last year. Her self-portrait that she drew in Mrs. Merry’s class is her favorite creation to date. “It was in charcoal, which I had never used before,” says Morin, pulling up a picture of the drawing on her phone. The new material presented a challenge to Morin that she proudly overcame.

But for Morin, this doesn’t seem to be the path she will be following. She worries about the consistency of an artist’s career and whether or not that will be enough to financially support her. “My mother comes into play,” says Morin, whose mother is concerned that her daughter may end up “living on the streets” if she pursues a career in art.

The “starving artist” image is not always one of poetic desire. It is a rational fear for young artists to be concerned about supporting themselves for the first time. According to the US Department of Labor, 60% of artists are self-employed (2008).

Mrs. Roth is a career counselor at TA and specializes in working with students pursuing a vast array of job types, providing services such as job shadowing. Roth has conducted research studying job availability for the rising generations, and knows the struggle that many young artists will face once they graduate college. “You really have to want it and be willing to sacrifice everything, potentially, in terms of comforts,” she says.

Nowadays, a bachelor’s degree in art is essential for a professional career in many artistic fields. People looking to pursue these career paths should be aware of evolving jobs that are presented with innovative technology and modern applications of art. For example, fine artists have the possibility of creating illustrations for magazines and other commercialized products as well as scientific sketches.

For those looking into theater need to be prepared for short-term guarantee of employment. Only about 50 of 100,000 actors live the highly paid, glamorous life that we are exposed to through the media.

“There are some industries that are pretty hard for Maine kids to get into because it’s all about networking,” says Roth. “Everything distills to relationships. If you’re in a big city you’ve got more people to tap into because that’s where it’s happening.”

Being isolated in the small towns of the east coast, it is rare to have connections to those who pull the strings in artistic business communities. That is why students from these parts must work extra hard to pull themselves into those circles. Many will struggle with steady success in their career.

But many high school students struggle with the notion of what constitutes being successful. Is it yearly salary? Number of tickets sold or books published? “As long as I feel happy in what I’m doing and feel like this what I’m supposed to do,” says Loeser, “I want it to feel beneficial to me.”

“You have to please other people,” says Morin. “You have to be consistently good.”

Unsure about her career in drawing, Morin says she may try photography. But, she will not leave her art behind, “If I get a solid job, I’d like to try and sell my art on the side. You never know because of this economy.”

As for Loeser, “I don’t think I’ll do anything else. I don’t love anything else more than theater enough to want to.”