Final Reflection!!!

So ends another exciting semester at UW-Stout. By exciting of course I mean moderately amusing, but I'll take what I can get. Looking back on life-drawing two specifically, I'd say that it was ultimately a success.
LD2 was a great class, I felt that it was more enjoyable than LD1. It seemed to have a different atmosphere, mainly because people who were there wanted to be there. For the majority of the semester, we focused on skulls and faces. I thought this was a good thing, because drawing the human skull and face is very difficult. I now feel I have a much better grasp, especially of the the 3D qualities and planes, of the face/head. Drawing the classmates was also very fun and interesting,as it gave true measure of our drawing skills.
Our final project, being the skeleton, was a challenge. Drawing correct proportions and working at such such a large scale was no easy task. In the end, I felt that it turned out pretty well. My favorite thing about life life drawing is drawing without a grid. This forces the artist to truly see and understand the form, with limited focus to light and dark. It is a great way to vary from the typical drawing style, and combined with other styles, will help to make me a more well-rounded artist.

More Metal!! \m/

i believe i have now found my favorite thing to do. that thing i is speaking of is forging! We did a forging project in Metals class, and it was bomb. I started by making a wrist piece, but after hours of frustration i decided to make a set of ear-rings. The strange thing is that i was not distraught with making the project. I even took my failed pieces and used them to make into a neck piece!
Making metal art has really been a great experience for me. I'll be doing an independent study next semester in order to keep learning, and perhaps even the blacksmith course this summer.

Metal!!!

As much as i love listening to metal, i also love working with it. One of the projects we did in Art Metals was casting rings. Below you will see a silver ring that i made. The was no simple task. First we started by carving the ring out of wax. After cleaning it to near perfection, we had to invest it in plaster. After cooking it for a while, it was time to cast it with silver. Cleaning and sanding came after, followed by buffing.
I really enjoyed doing this project, and i found the long process with many steps to be almost therapeutic. I was really happy with how the ring turned oput and hope to make more in the future.

Skellies!!!

For a few weeks now, we have been working on full, life-size skeletons. It has been quite the difficult task. One of the hardest parts has been getting the proportions done. Up close it is easy to see it as correct, when really its totally off. In fact when i first drew the head, it was nearly 50% too big. It would only make sense as Minnie Driver's head. The leg was also too short, fixing these mistakes was not awful, except it left some nasty eraser marks.
I felt the picture itself turned out as a success, though. It stand over 6 feet tall, and is proportionally accurate. The spine is also done to completion (although if i had more time i would probably keep working on it).
It was amazing to see how the different bones had different contours and planes. It was difficult to capture on paper, but in the end, it really all came together.

Turkey!!!!

This week we basically just set up for the big ol' skeleton project. At Thanksgiving I participaed in the sin of gluttony with much joy and enthusiasm. I was going to take a picture of my protruding gut, but decided that would be cruel and usual.

Critique!!!

This week we had our critique of our classmate drawings. It was very exciting to see all of the finished products from everyone in the class. We each had a fair amount of time to have our pieces evaluated, which is always helpful when planning for what to improve on next time.
Wednesday we spent most of the class critiquing the work in progress of an advanced student. This was very interesting because the nature of the piece had many of us wondering what it was trying to convey. Being a work in progress, the advance student will have the oppurtnity to make adjustments, something an artist doesnt always have. Later in class we had discussed our game plan for the rest of the semester, which will mainly include drawing a life size human skeleton. This will be quite the task, and not an easy one at that. Nevertheless, I am excited to get started on it.

This is me being awesome:

Drawing Classmates!!!!

This week in my exciting life, we drew classmates as a follow up to our skull studies. In all, we will draw three, and two are basically completed. It is very difficult, especially because of how hard it is for a model to remain in the same position for such a long period of time. Also, no pressure drawing someone who will draw you, it definitely has no potential for possible awkward situation. These are pictures of Nathan and Brandon, and the next victim will be Jordan.
In other news, I spent the weekend painting some friends' basement in an "artistic" fashion, have wicked a capella jam sessions, and filing a ring out of wax. I also made some wicked music contacts, and will soon start a synth-driven power-pop band.
I wish.

Last week!!!!!

Lat week we went to buy paper and than i was drawn on thursday. Therefore, I truly did nothing, and there is nothing to report.

Obscure Angles and Homecoming!!!!!!!!!!!!

Besides drawing from memory, this week we took on the harder-then-it sounds task of drawing skulls from unfamiliar angles. Even though we have been drawing skulls all month and you would think we would have it down pat, the rude awaking of completing this task succeeded in proving me qukte wrong. I post some pics up soon (i know I 've been saying this forever, but I will make good on my promise =] ...maybe). Today we will draw skulls from memory as some form of a quiz, or sadistic ritual...
This past weekend was homecoming and I cannot express how excited I was to not have homework in this class, especially considering I didn't complete any of my homework from the other classes. Its not that I am a bad student, I'm just expressing my opinion on the importance of picking your battles and taking losses. Sure, I lost 3 points in American Government, but i had a totally stellar and care-free weekend, and now feel rejuvenated to take on even larger amounts of homework.
But please don't.

Drawing from Memory!!!!!!!!!!

Today we draweded from memory. More specifically, we draweded skulls from memory. Although not necessarily easy, it was definitely fun. It was helpful that iI had a skull of my own...on my shoulders that is. Unfortunately it is currently covered in skin and hair, which makes it harder to draw. I figure in a hundred years or so, most of that stuff will be gone, making my skull much easier to draw. I often wonder if India Jones draweded skulls, being that he saw them so frequently. I imagine he did and was great at it.
I have a significant amount of pictures to put up from the last couple weeks and plan to do so soon, as I know how all of my multitudes of fans are dying to see them. Sometimes I wonder what it would be like to leave this life of fame and luxury. Its hard to walk down the street everyday with people screaming at me, women chasing me, and men shooting me envious looks. Its tough being beautiful and talented....and beautiful. But alas, it is my curse, and I will persevere. Pics will be up soon, my lovely fans, pics will be up soon...

First Critique!!

We had our first critique this week, which is also my first critique of the new semester. Doing them in smaller groups first seemed to be a good way to really discuss and talk about what we observed and learned while doing this project. One thing that is always hard to judge is what t he teacher expects from us in each project. The cool thing is though, that there really is no one right or wrong way to do the project. There was a large variety of ways students attacked the project and Amy pointed out different strong points in each of them. Hopefully I will develop a better feel for what she is looking for.
I do not really know what is in store next for LD2, but in other art related what-nots, I am learning to solder in metals \m/ class. It is not easy, ut I am getting the hang of it. It will be interesting to see what skills I develop through that class, as it is all new to me. Tuesday we make jewelry from found objects. He calls it the One Day Wonder. I wonder why.
In other news; my amp is broke, my Ibanez is restrung, and I acquired a mini-fridge.

Pictures of the Skull project coming soon (hopefully tomorrow).

Skulls!!!

The first real week of classes is complete and school finally seems to be in full swing. This week has been an eventful one, filled with homework and many fun activities, including the beginning of swing club, playin ' at the waterfront, and of course "wings wednesday."
This week in life drawing we have picked up whee we left off in LD1 with the study of skulls. Monday was more of a practice day, and Wednesday we actually worked on the skull project itself, which consists of doing 3 skull drawings from different angles. Each one takes around 3 hours to complete.
I think it is a great idea repeating the final assignment from LD1. This will help to get us all back up to speed easier by starting us with familiar material. It also provides us with a great opportunity to compare our work from the previous semester. What better way to compare progress than by doing the same project twice at different times. The question is, will I prove to be rusty after the summer, or will I be able to produce skulls that our superior? I guess we learn whether or not drawing is like riding a bike or not. In order to show this I will be posting a picture of one of my skulls from last semester on this blog post. Tomorrow, when all of my new skull drawings are complete, I will add a picture of a new one. It should be interesting to see them side by side.

Back!!

Well, its the first blog-post of the new school year, so lets do this.
This summer, I worked at a golf course on a maintenance crew. Now I sure we're all just tickled to know why exactly that is relevant to a life-drawing blog, and the answer is quite simple. I didn't do any real art this summer. Now, the reason I say "real art" is because although I may not have been drawing this summer, working on a crew that deals almost entirely with aesthetics, one still can get the same sense of satisfaction from doing landscaping as drawing a beautiful picture. Instead of paper or canvas, I had a golf course. Whether I was striping greens, spinning bunkers, or weeding flower beds, the main object of any of the mainly jobs we did was to make everything as beautiful as possible. This takes alot of training ,practice, and learning how to accurately handle the machinery and tools used to do these jobs.
In life drawing, it is also important to learn how to handle tools, whether a piece of charcoal or our hand. It is only through practice and repetition that we can learn how to refine our skills and technique. Learning to correctly control your arm and hand to make the line you desire is like learning the feel and handle of a Toro 350 Sidewinder (mower). Anyways, its good to be back drawing again. I am looking forward to taking this class and expanding my knowledge of drawing and anatomy.
Also, I did MMA this summer and got my chin split open, so I thought that would be a cool picture considering that I have no other photos of the summer. So enjoy!

Final Review!!!!

Throughout this semester I have learned a great deal about drawing, from obvious things such as drawing forms more accurately, to more overlooked things such as holding the charcoal properly and keeping it sharp. Cross contours are also something I never did, but it has opened a whole new way to view plane shifts. One of the most important things I have learned is how to use good gestural mark making. Although i am not great at it, I have learned how to use better contast in line weight, and how to highlight stressed areas with it, iving the drawing a much more "alive" feeling.
Since midterm, I have greatly improved on my mark making (as mentioned before). I guess a big thing I needed to do last semester was keep up on my mannikin and blog posts, so I hope I'm up to speed more. As for the mannikin itself, i feel i have done a better job making his muscles look more real. But punctuality was the biggest problem, for which I do apologize.
In the future, I will be taking Life Drawing 2, which I look forward to. People and the relation with one another and other things is my favorite subject when it comes to making art, so doing more life-drawing is ideal. Although it may not seem to directly be applied when I teach high school, many princples will be incorporated, such and mark making and cross contour.
Its been a great class, and I look forward to taking LD2 next semester!

Click here 4 my flickr account

FACE!!!

We've been working on drawing noses and eyes lately, lots of plane shifts and whatnot. This is Mr. Noll's eye and shnoz. We will be doing lips and eyes next.

Skulls

Because I am so metal \m/, I have decided to draw SKULLS!!! JK, it was an assignment (although I have been known to be pretty edgy).

farewell Shelly!!

After spending the semester together, Shelly and I have decided to part ways. She swore it was her and not me, but something tell me that's not entirely true. Anywho, she's off to the shores of North Carolina to go re-unite with her family. Here are a few pictures from the semester. Miss you, Shelly!!!

New Experience this Year #3

Over the past semester, I've been learning some new instruments, as well as new styles of playing the ones I already know. Piano and violin are new to me, so judge too harsh...guitar i've been playing for while, but recently been expanding on style and technique. These are new experiences I've been using to keep my world super exciting!!

New Experience this Year #2

Another fun yet time consuming task I took on this year was playin in a FUNK band. That's right...FUNK!!!! It has been as fun as it is stressful, but definitely a good experience. We've played about a dozen shows since Halloween, and will continue to keep playin in the future. Keep it FUNK.

New Experience this Year #1

This semester I participated in the Silhouette Fashion Show. It was quite the experience, definitely new stuff for me. We did fittings, shoots, and the runway. Talk about intense...being generally shy I found it slightly nerve-racking being in front of all those people. Was it a fun anyway??? It was not only a blast but an honor to be counted on in that way. Its important as an artist to experience new things, so i'll be documenting some of those things for the blog. Stay Tuned.

Mid Semester Review

This semester has most assuredly been an intersting one. Between taking too many classes and acquiring new bad habits, I seem to be just as productive as I am unproductive (think about it, it works). Life Drawing has definitely been an interesting class to say the least. I have learned a great deal this semester, from human anatomy to how to identify truly beautiful mark-making. Seeing my work from day 1 to now, I have seen major improvements in every aspect of the game. The clay fella also is helping me to draw more accurately as well. The cross contour drawings have also helped me to see figures with a new perspective.
I am excited to see what t he next semester has to offer. I hope to further train my hand and eye, as well sharpen my overall knowledge of human anatomy (small as it is). It will be nice to start working with arms, hands, feet, and eventually the head. I definitely intend to take life-drawing 2 in the future, and hope to learn to apply these techniques when I teach one day to high-schoolers.

my flicker account

This week we took a field trip to the Walker and Bell Museum in the twin cities. At the Walker, there were many interesting pieces to look at. My favorite was a short film called La Jetee. La Jetee was a French science fiction movie from 1962. The movie was done almost entirely in still images, with the exception of a 3-/+ second part. Because I came into it in the middle, I stayed and watched the film's first half after it finished the first time for me.
La Jetee had a very interesting plot. After nuclear WWIII destroys most of the planet, survivors live underground, but are sick. "Prisoners" are experimented on and sent back in time to find medicine and somehow save the people. The main charactor succeeds and is scheduled to be executed. He flees back into time, but is followed and killed. His death was the death that he had witnessed as a child.
This short film was very captivating, and the ominous feeling it gave made the film very sensational and hard to leave. It was almost mesmerizing.

Reflection on the Week!!!!

This week we only had one class, which ended up freeing up hw time for yours truly. During that one class we learned about the ribcage of the human form. This helped us to understand and better draw the anterior of the model. Being that ribs were the majority of the new material, I decided to do a further in-depth research on the ribs. Fortunately for me, Lammer's had a special on country style ribs; only 99 cents per pound!!!!!!! Very excited to hurry up and do research, I have acquired some Jack Daniels Examination BBQ Sauce, and have been dilegently studying these ribs once, sometimes twice a day. I have learned remarkable things and intend to continue this study of the ribs. The work is hard, but I am prepared to bite the bullet.