Drawing Jam 09

I spent a couple of hours at the Gage Academy's annual drawing jam on my way up to Whidbey.
Got a few gestures and a couple of portrait studies done.

Poetry is moving...

To http://mirror-profile.blogspot.com/

I've been revisiting some stuff I wrote a while back... and who knows, I may start writing again. Not like I ever stopped, but you know...

(Reposting this since some bugger left spam comments and regular comment deleting wasn't working on the college computer.)

Time for a second look, perhaps.

This is my "I Am From" poem from my sophomore English class in high school. So very true, yet rather impersonal. The words echo off the walls of a mind that prevented it from revealing any more.

If I were to rewrite this now, it would be much different... more thought/emotion oriented, bolder, softer... more of the person instead of the history.
But this is from when we first moved here, and a time when a lot of changes were taking place. No friends, no stability, no confidence. Not even sure of who I was, with only bloodlines and wistful memories to keep me on my feet. This was before it all began.

Universal Child

I am from thick, warm rain in the afternoon sunlight
I am from raging blizzards that slice you through
From sea captains and samurai, artisans and spies,
Sumo wrestlers and vikings

I am from constables and exiles,
Schoolteachers and fishermen
From Scottish poets and Richard’s butler
From stolen pigs, leprechauns, highlands and lochs

East is East and West is West,
And in me the twain has met
I am from stir-fries and pot roasts, sake and mashed potatoes
From mad rushing throngs and frogs singing to the moon

I am from idol makers and do unto others
From the divine wisdom of God and his prophets
And the human wisdom of Confucion sages,
Stand up straight and bow to your teacher

From buffalo herds and the trail of tears
From uncontrolled laughter and heart-wrenching pain
From wooden clogs and straw sandals
And soldiers’ boots you could see your face in

I am from barbarians and aristocrats
From dry old spinsters and love at first sight
From palace guards and Midwest farmers
From Au contraire and C'est la vie

I am from Henry Huggins and Jupiter Jones,
From Sydney Carton and Lucie Manette
From Fox in Socks and Hamlet of Denmark,
James Herriot and Elizabeth George Speare

I am from Pachelbel, Bach, and Simon and Garfunkel
From make-up and wigs and velveteen curtains
From Da Vinci and Rembrandt and Calvin and Hobbes
From charcoal sketches and Canon in D

Of multiple strands, so fragile, so strong

I am of the seven seas and the four winds of the earth

The Dance

This is probably my favorite piece I did throughout the course. It was our final project, and the assignment was to create a still-life sculpture out of paper, wire, and string, with no objects we could name, so that we would focus solely on shape, color and light.
It was the first time I actually put meaning into an abstract piece beforehand instead of putting together whatever I felt like and then making up an interpretation later.

So we have The Dance...

My display at the Gage Academy of Art in Seattle. It'll be there for a few weeks after which selected works from our class will be moved to the Seattle Art Museum.

value and temperature study

Oil on canvas sheet.

value study

Oil on canvas sheet.

study of light and figure

This was actually a four-day pose, but I was only there for three (which I'm very glad of. That was a fun weekend.)We painted from a live model in natural light, which means we had to paint fast and keep moving around the painting because of the light changing. I'm pretty happy with it, although my mother's first response was "oh that's interesting..."Oil on canvas board.

completed figure study

The completed figure study that our class did three weeks ago. Charcoal, pastel and chalk on toned paper.

self-portrait

My finished self-portrait. Another student was so kind as to let me use her camera, and she edited and e-mailed the pictures to me. It's a little fuzzy and saturated, but I'll get a better photo up here soon. Oil on canvas sheet.

figure studies - value and temperature

These were all done last week. Oil on canvas sheets.

still life value & temperature study

 Did this earlier in the course. Oil on canvas sheet.

self-portrait in progress

This was a study in complementary sets of color. I used mostly the orange-blue set, adding a little red here and there. Oil on canvas sheet.

figure in progress- 3 and 6 hours

The first and second days of a three-day pose. Charcoal and pastel on pre-toned paper.

cast drawing in progress

I finished the block-in and began rendering today. Done in graphite.

apple still life

Charcoal, pastel, and chalk on pre-toned paper.

figure study 2

Charcoal and graphite on toned paper.

figure study 1

Charcoal and graphite on toned paper.

pear still life

My first project at the Gage Academy course in Seattle.

Done in graphite.By the time I was done, the pear had ripened very nicely.

The Old Man of The Sea

Costumed model at last year's drawing jam at the Gage Academy of Art in Seattle.
Definitely doing that again this year.

Logos

Logo designs from my graphic design class. They were selected along with my Superman III poster to be displayed at an upcoming student exhibition.

III

Movie poster design for graphic design class.Superman III never really took off (pun!! haha) because a) Richard Pryor was in it as a sad attempt to turn it into an action/comedy, b) the poster was executed with fantastic technique but ridiculous composition, and c) did I mention Richard Pryor?

Due to synthetic Kryptonite, Superman is split into two beings representing his good side and bad side. Along the way, he pulls pranks such as blowing out the Olympic torch and straightening the Leaning Tower. (Much like Spiderman III but with fewer villains... that movie was so confusing the first time.)

So here is my version. Admittedly last-minute, but I think the concept is ok.

Black

Concept sketch for a graphic design project.

Corel Painter X, Wacom tablet.

Of Two Worlds

Rough sketch of Disney's Tarzan, from a CD cover.

Hero

Just playing around with ideas. Based off of Christopher Reeve as Superman/Clark Kent.

Corel Painter X, Wacom tablet

Shades of Silence

CD cover for part of the final project for my graphic design class.

Took about 40 minutes from concept to finish. Seriously last-minute.

Kind of a joke, since I'm not much of a musician, but hey, at least there won't be image copyright issues.

Done in Photoshop CS3.

The Cap'n seems to be actin' strange...r

2H pencil sketch. I've been spouting "I've got a jar of di-rt" for two days now.

Alien Nights Poster Design

They came. They saw. They partied.

Another assignment for graphic design class. We had to come up with taglines and design 4" x 4" promo images for a fictional film, to be turned into a montage by the teacher and displayed as a one-sheet poster.
So here is mine... fun with Adobe.

Keys

T-shirt design for my graphic design class. Considering it was really last minute, I guess it turned out all right.

Sometimes inspiration comes at unexpected times from unexpected sources.