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.

Meet my Shell...

In Life Drawing, we have all been given a shell to draw, care for, nurture, and otherwise entertain for the remainder of the semester. My shell, "Shelly," is scientifically named fasciolaria tulipa, or in real people talk, the "true tulip." Although she is currently vacant, she often host residents, mainly carnivorously-natured snails. I found out she used to be from the North Carolina shores, although she commonly can be seen in off of Texas, Brazil, and the West Indies.
Now if you know anything about shells, you NEVER should ask them what they weigh. I was not shy, although nervous, to inquire as to her overall length. She is 4.5'' long, although many in her family have been known to reach up to 9.5 inches in length. Lines on the whorls of the shell are growth lines, which can also be seen of the edge of the parietal callus, or inner lip, of the shell's aperture. The smallest whorls at the tip form the apex. She has beautiful brown blotches covering the whorls, and when she goes out, she likes to wear pearls she borrows from her clam friends (shells known are for being vain and sometimes over-dramatic, although most of time, they just kind of hang out).

As you can see, Shelly is also a talented musician.

Reflection on this Week's Work...

Many things has happened this week in the exciting world of life drawing. We has started working with the spine as the prime structure in the human form. It has become the foundation of all our drawings. Its strange the way sometimes when I am observing people in normal situations I will picture what their spine looks like. My posture has also improved significantly.
The other especially neat-o thing we are working on is learning anatomical terms. One of the reasons I am taking this class is because I have an interest in human anatomy. This has made for an all-together very informative week as far as my knowledge status is concerned. I am seeing differences in the way I draw already, and am excited to see what is to come!

Reflection on this Week's Work

Blind Contour Drawing

This was an interesting exercise. To describe what we did, we had to draw our human model form for 30 min. Catch is we weren't allow to look at what we were drawing. Its was a very strange experience. Because you are not looking at what you are drawing, you stay completely focused on the form, moving your arm as your eye moves over the form. You enter a very relaxed state of mind. You stop seeing the form, and start to feel it. The main area I focused on was the feet, but at one point I worked my way up to the forearm. You can easily see a forearm at the top, and several (haha) feet forms accompanied by a legion of toes. Overall, I found this to be a very productive exercise, especially for truly observing the shape and position of the body. I think it would be great way to prep for a rendering, in that you could get a true feeling for the body before you attempted to draw it.
If I had to decribe my picture in three words, I would probably say depth, edgy, and redundant.

Figured I'd better do a bio...

The full name my parents gave me is Daniel Lloyd Kuchenbecker. Because this is undoubtedly long and obnoxious, you can shorten it any way you please. I am an Art Education major at UW-Stout, emphasis on drawing. I am a junior this year, and hope to be done with school in the next 2 years.
My hometown is Eagle River, WI, which is in the far north central part of the state. I have always lived in Wisconsin and thoughly enjoy the beauty and comfort that can be found in the midwest. Besides drawin' pretty pictures, I enjoy music playin', swing dancin', wood choppin', toad stompin', nerf herdin', and general adventurin'.
I'm new to blogging, but I'll try and keep this puppy updated for y'all to enjoy.

DannyK's Awesome Artistic Adventures

Here are some projects I have done while in at Stout. These ones in particular are from Painting 1, Drawing 2, and 2D Design.