Final Overview

For one last glimpse into the past few months of drawing I have selected the pieces you see here.
I felt that the strengths that I posses where preserved. Those being the gestural quality of the work, capturing the natural fluid motion of the body, and a fair sense of perspective with the confidence of the marks being made. The weaknesses of the previous pieces show improvement on the aspects I discussed ie (patience, and confidence with the media, as well as spending more time with the pieces) and the new work reflects that care and effort on the areas I focused on. What I wanted to learn and needed to learn coincided beautifully. I wanted keen anatomical knowledge of the body and the lectures finished the body of information needed in order to render the form with more precision. Also they showed commonplace misconception of some of the features that the form presents as well as being able to make enlightened decisions after the initial strokes made to map out the page. This class was everything I had hoped for, and I can't wait to put the information presented with the practice into effect in my own work.

Shell; the Big One

This was an interesting and challenging assignment. The Large paper by comparison was different and odd to work with at first. It took a little warming up to via practice strokes, but after getting used to the scale I started to enjoy the experience. Once the edge was discovered the shape of the form fell into place. I feel that overworking the problem has become an obstacle. Finding a good starting point, and really comiting the form to my mind after studying the shell would prove a good practice to fall into for positive habit to form with my regular drawing practice. Taking the time to explore any form is really looking at the assignment as art, rather that work, or at least enjoying the work placed before you in order to do it at an excellent level. So, in essence, patience for practice with a subtle change in mind set would produce a superior product, as well as heighten the pleasure factor. I think I could control which lines I bring out better, as well as simplifying the line work to make the finished product more elegant. Also by paying more attention to the object I feel that I could pay more justice to the product. Line quality, proportion, and the sense of horror vaccui would all cease to be obstacles. I think, also, that the integrity of the assignment would be maintained more closely in the end. One last thing that I noticed about my work is that finding the correct media is of vital importance. Using pencil for the under drawing, then charcoal to find the forms, and finally building up to the conte' for detailing work is the route to take. I won't feel like I am jumping into the assignment blind, and balancing out confidence with patience is, with any luck, the way to make the next piece more successful than the last. (side note*also a few gesture studies of the shell itself would be in the plans for the next piece.) In conclusion, I feel that the overall piece was a success but could be greatly improved upon, and that the change in scale of the end work is a positive learning experience, for confidence building, visual criticism, and artistic integrity (one still has the feel of making a finished product as opposed to simply doing homework). It gave me the ability to see my strengths and weaknesses laid bare, without the strain of scale getting in the way of the eye.

"The SHeLL" (in all it's form and glory)

The new shells came in Tuesday. I had mine in hand by Thursday and since then it was an upward battle between me and my little conical piece of sea decor. We tried to start it out easy. You know how awkward some introductions are, this being no exception. I thought it might be nice to get to know each other by a few informal thumbnails, maybe later do a few quick gesture studies. You know to break the ice. It is rude after all to go into intimate detail about a shells aesthetic right away. To put it bluntly, if you are going to be staring at something with nothing but a look of intense scrutiny on you face for hours on end the least of your expectations is to know the name of the darn thing. *note; (it is, and will always be "SHeLL".) So i coxed it on to a pillow for a couple of hours of fun on the couch, and then around three am I announced that I shall be going to bed, and it could stay on the couch if it would like, but was not invited to the bedroom. Despite a fairly intimate encounter with "SHeLL" , also a fairly successful one I have decided that maybe I didn't give enough attention to "SHeLL", and may call it later and set an apology date. Perhaps offer to do it's cone.

It came right out.

Open ended second drawings have been a little trying. I do a lot of gesture drawings on my own because my focus in art is usually figurative or narrative, so I have sketches lying around all over my apartment. It is a little frustrating doing quick gesture drawings and then not having the time to develop them, even though I love doing them I can't wait to get to the meaty part of the course.

My shell on the other hand ended up as quite a pleasant afternoon in Phelan Park. A nice afternoon outside and Bob Marley on the i-pod did the trick for letting that loose. I also enjoyed the critique with Amy. Check In's are always a good thing. No direction home and all that.

The Mannequin is going along swimmingly. Working the muscle structure in clay is like a 3-D gross neato lab where I get to build my very own person. "Well BoB that thigh is coming along quite nicely. " "Could ya' hurry it up a little bit Tim." is usually the response I get. But besides Bob being a little testy things are good. Nothing can put a damper on your day like an uppity mannequin. I think he looks pretty good though. Thank you August!

What I feel I've learned so far this semester are consequently aspects I returned to school to learn. A fine tuning if you will. Looking at perspective and absolutes for anatomical construction will help my style redevelop with a more classically trained eye that will hopefully come to fruition in future works, with the right amount of time. Specifically when we looked at the curvature of the spine and the four points, as well as the "why" of anatomical structure that is invisible to the naked eye, but the effects of what this information can do when deciphering body planes and form. The upturn of the pelvis, the way the muscles of the leg curve and form around the knee, and how to find landmarks on the body like the C7.

What I would like to learn more about is perspective views, and detailing, and layout design leading into the specifics of an individual. What lines to pay attention to in order to give the figure personality. I would also like to study a simplification of the body in order to tone down my mark making, so I will be able to bring out lines better and add definition to my drawings. In essence continuing what we've started and re-applying these concepts to what I've been doing outside of class.