Open Figure session

So. Open figure session, was a very.....interesting experience.  I a.) had never drawn a model, and b.) I had never drawn a model....that was naked. Anyways it was a great learning experience, and I got more by watching other artists then really working on my own.  These two are just basic sketches, one done with regular charcoal, the other with vine charcoal.

Continued Randomness from the Sketchbook

So I know that it has been quite a while since my latest installment of my sketchbook.  The recent sketches have been really abstract, and slightly crazy.  I wasn't focusing on technique, but mainly wanting to just try different mediums and to just let it flow.  All of these are gesture drawings in charcoal.

This drawing was made with just a spare piece of charcoal in my drawer...it just grew from random lines, and became this.

These three pieces were done with vine charcoal and were just playing with shading and the creation of ideas. 

This drawing was also done in vine charcoal, and just appeared at the bottom of my page one day.

Portfolio

Well the semester is coming to a close, and it's time to post my completed portfolio.  Some of the pieces are finally completed....so enjoy (:

So, with it being a little past the midpoint of the semester, I thought I would post my portfolio of completed works.

This work was a still life of a pot. Simple enough. It is composed using charcoal, and the dry point technique.  There isn't any smudging.  It was one of my favorite projects to work on.

The next major project focused on linear perspective.  This was a challenging project, but allowed me to push the definitions of what reality is.  This isn't a completed work, but I hope to finish it quite soon.

 

The most recent project that we have been working on is the a still life, focusing on the development of form.  This uses a basic cow skull for the subject matter.  This piece is still in process, but should be finished in a few days. *Edit* Well this piece is finally completed, and I believe that it captures the likeness quite well.  Although it didn't quite meet the expected likeness, it still captures the shadows, and light pools.

After working on shading techniques for the first part of the semester, we moved on to the another technique using vine charcoal.  This technique had use covering the whole sheet with charcoal, and then essentially carving out the image. Another still life, it was defiantly an interesting technique.

After working for several weeks using charcoal, we finally made it to using oil pastels!  I really enjoyed working with this medium, with how forgiving it is compared to the charcoal.  I also enjoyed that we were moving away from the standard still life and progressing to portraits.  Here is the initial portrait:

And here is the portraits from the live model:

Although I enjoyed working on these, I did have some difficult getting the basic shapes and forms, as you can see from the first portrait.  The second piece I understood the concept better, and this was an unfinished work.

More Randomness from the Sketchbook (:

Alrighty. So here are some pieces that I have done since my last post. Most of them started as gesture drawings, and morphed into what they are.

This sketch was outside Cherry Hall.   I was trying to practice gesture drawing, which I really don't understand when applying to still life pieces (to each their own). It was a quick sketch, but it was nice to be outside.



I really enjoy shading. End statement.  I feel that can convey a piece better through shading then I can with line or placement.  This glass doesn't really exist to be honest, which could lead to issues with the light and such. But, its a sketch.


Again, I really, really enjoy shading.  This doesn't exist either, but I love still life pieces like this.  That's about all I have to say.

The following series of pieces are my abstract pieces, I guess?  All of them started as a gesture sketch, and just morphed into what they wanted to become.  I feel that the represent the blend of nature and humanity, and how even how we, ourselves are lost, we still have the deep connection to nature.  Or, interpret them for yourself. That's all.

Wedding? Funeral?  I think this piece captures the idea that both are a celebration of life and nature, whether it has passed or to come.




This piece is an expression of freeing oneself from the know and possible.




This piece represents the duality of image,self-worth, and discovery. Even if we cant see what others see in ourselves. 


This piece represents how we have bound Nature, and have built our cities and societies without embracing our own primal roots; we have forgotten.

Project One

Ok.  For this posting I'm going to post shots of my piece as it grows, and then give my thoughts at the end.

This piece was really a fun piece to work on.  I enjoyed taking the image from the master copy and blowing it up on the larger newsprint.  I hope that we get to do more pieces like this. (:

Random sketches.

So this was a random sketch that I did several nights ago.  I love drawing eyes, because they captivate the emotion and are just intriguing.

So this is just a simple still life, that I found in my room.  It was nice way to relax, and just sketch.

This piece was a fun piece to work on, and challenging.  I haven't sketched many faces before, and I figured why not. So I chose Lady Gaga, with her craziness.  This was the album cover from The Fame Monster.  The main challenge I found was with her mouth being so awkward to draw.  It was nice though to feel that the piece came out ok.