Editorial: I now know I am "INFJ" oh yeah! (told in first person fictisous narritive)

Introverted Intuitive Feeling Judging types, like myself often muse on their plateau of solitude of the utterances and ramblings of the flock that they belong to rumbling somewhere far off in the distance. Aries by dogma and "INFJ" by trade, we the 22% introverted, 25% Intuitives, 12% feelers that only judge with 11% of our being tend to gravitate towards a weightier cause. We are the virtual psychic Robin Hoods for the blue collar working class, Heroes of the oppressed and in our fellowship with all humanity dream of a day when justice will come and there will be the emergence of a third or even fourth political party that holds some standing with the common voter, well at least enough to make a difference, or put up a really good fight. Our virtual clarity of perception makes our presence felt on the innermost circle of the soul, true empaths that grasp that the heart and mind only work in conjunction and cannot stand alone. Apparently though prophetic by reputation we too "express a range of emotion and opinions of, for, and about people". When I am not daydreaming of a pacifistic social upheaval I day dream in the corner biding my time. Silent and aloof, waiting for the snap in my mind and the spring in my soul to balance the scales. Pondering, probing, wishing and waiting for tomorrow to begin today. But that is only because I have been "twice blessed with clarity of vision both internal and exterenal". For when the subconscious ceases to be present, and the true self is reached only then will the world around us crystallize and we will remember to let go of all things that truly do not matter. On that day our freedom will finally rise from the ashes of the phoenix as set the night sky aflame with it's majestic flight. It's kinda sad that the results remind me of me, but then again...

Ordinary to Extraordinary Half Block Walk

For our first assignment, "Ordinary to Extraordinary" I felt that I critiqued the first failure to a tee. All of the mistakes made in the first piece were turned over and renovated in the second to fabricate a drawing that I am proud of. The second piece posses a continuity within the overall composition which the first attempt blatantly lacked. I think that the key to the success of the second piece is that I feel that I had enough of a picture in front of me to realize the image that I was grasping at initially. The second construction is ordered, not over worked, edited, and also more elegantly drawn without time constraints as well as a more considerable amount of patience as well as study within the duration of the drawing of the piece. I feel that it is more clearly defined, as well as refined, also the definition of the piece is more professional, as well as considerate, and finally there was more care placed in the final design of the second drawing while the first I look more as a "to scale" prototype. All and all I wish a few things, but not much could have changed in the end product. Mostly factors of time, media management and workplace environment.
In the piece I tried to capture the ever presence of the apartment I live in in by juxtaposing images from home, with myself as a character reference. Surrounded by daily norms, in the form of object and ritual I wanted to encompass what my mornings are derived of before the short jaunt down the block to class. As the brightness of the day hits me and the passerby's I'm am out and above the lock and key of my humble domicile, and with the short landscape passing me as I walk through a window of the mind's eye into a distant place I am still dreaming of coffee. All the while my cat awaits my return, keeping watch over 1302.

ArtLessons chaps 1-3

I found myself agreeing with the way the author went about describing the reasoning behind choosing art as your profession. I have asked myself some of the very same questions in passing and have come up with some of the same answers. Art is a challenging profession, and because I that an honest trade. The artistic merit can only be defined and seen by the care and craftsmanship behind and successful piece. The book talks of vocation in it's full meaning and I find the parallel in my own life impossible to dismiss. To sing with my hands and make image for honest pay. I have found the right place for me to be. Here outside the city I am comfortably alone, and have surrounded myself with the necessary psychic tools for the job. Between time and the quiet, patience could be woven into practice here. Learning to do what you love is not a thrill seeking odyssey. Growing pains now aside I have a clear picture of what is needed to learn at the foothills of the master's mountain. I also love the ideology behind educating oneself in theological and spiritual matters of the world outside. Finding a physical example of the mentality of a soul helps us understand the subjective. This in turn opens our eyes up to ideas that are being presented before us, and if they seem strange and difficult in nature perhaps a Zen Garden will push out any fear that lurks beneath the inward struggle between ignorance and ego. Being able to be enlightened is part of the job description, otherwise inspiration would never come calling. Finally write. I couldn't keep track otherwise and would have to remember to remember, and I would not be able to work honestly, because the image deserves to not have parts left out. Finding every impression of a moment takes reflection. Otherwise art work is impotent and half-hearted, sterile and blind without the homage it is due.

Semester Intro

Hello, there are some who call me Tim, most... call me Tim.
I am a nontraditional return student here in Menomonie and I am having a great time.
Pretty much a self taught artist I my studio courses back in the day were never my "A" courses, passed them, but that is all. This time round I feel prepared in my commitment, decision making, my and passion for the Arts as a drive that motivates me in my work and propels me toward the future. Working past fear and traditional boundaries of art students I left disgusted and come back hopeful and intuitive. I feel because of my past efforts I have better idea of what questions to ask as well as what direction to go... Having already learned what mistakes to make I now know how I go about my creative process and am here to learn from every misstep of the past the traditional teachings for the future. Eager and passive I wait, silently cheering on the intrinsic philosopher savant seeded in every artist. Until the day all comes into full bloom, I am content to listen.

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.