Wednesday, January 27, 2016

Contour Line Drawings: The Room



First of all, I really apologize to everyone I drew.  You look much better than that in real life.  Secondly, both of these are practices because everyone left as I was going to start on my final.  I would use the second as my final, but I don't think that I'll ever be able to get everything and everyone back as they were, and also the table got really tilty in that drawing.
  But these are contour line drawings intended to fill up the whole space, with lines and textures, drawn smoothly, in one continuous line.

Thursday, January 21, 2016

Contour Line Drawings (Blind and Modified)


Blind
Modified 





















These were warm-ups we did that were contour-line drawings, but of our hands.  Blind contour drawings are done without looking at the paper, while modified are done while looking at the paper. But drawing with contour lines stipulate that you cannot raise your hand from the paper at all, and flowing lines are preferable.  The point of the drawing is to get not only the outline of the object being drawn, but also the interior details.  So, hopefully these drawings represent that.
   

Contour Line Drawing: Backpack


    This was the warm up we did, a contour-line drawing of a backpack. We were supposed to pay attention to all the details, the texture.  I didn't think I would b able to do it, to create something that appears three dimensional without the use of shading, but I think I did pretty well.  Of course, I know what it's supposed to be, so of course I think it looks good. 

Wednesday, January 20, 2016

Hand Drawing

    This was just a warm up we did, an initial assessment of skill level. I don't quite like how it turned out (I don't know what's going on with my thumb), but I think it's okay overall.  And it's a return to how I used to shade, which I don't really know how much I like either, but I think it's recognizable as a hand, so I'm happy with it.

Monday, January 4, 2016

Unconventional Materials Challenge

This challenge was really, really problematic for me.  I was going to create a piece of clothing?  But I didn't think my design would have incorporated enough of the bungee cords I received.  It only took two to go around my middle?  And none of the designs in the art room, or that I  had at home, had the sort of empire waist I wanted, and I didn't really want to have experiment with the pattern and the fabric I would've used (which was too gauzy to really wear anyways).
     So, I decided to make this sort of mobile thing?  But that didn't really work out either, because the cardboard ripped.  I mean, it worked out well, until the cardboard ripped.  Also, I overestimated the stretching capacity of the bungee cords, so the cords on the wings were really droopy and the cord on the tail and the head were really stretched out. Whatever.  If I ever attempt something like this again, I'll have a better plan, and think more about the three dimensional aspect of this.

The tail had already ripped off before I gave up.

The face was really cute. 

Origami Installation

The cranes were surprisingly simple to make, though I probably flubbed the last few steps on mine.  I only made smaller ones, so it was relatively simple on my end.  And, in the end, when we had piled up all the cranes together, and all of the little loops had been sewn in, it was really cool.  It was just this massive outpouring of art, and everyone in the class had done exactly the same thing I had done, and though everyone's was a bit different, the cranes I'd made had stopped being mine. I couldn't distinguish them from anyone else's, which is normally a really important part of the artistic process -- to set yourself and your art apart.
   Putting them up was a bit more difficult, because it as a larger installation in a busy place, and everyone was sort of doing something different, but the coherence was nice when it was all put together.  We laid all the cranes out on the floor in a v-shape and strung fishing line through the little embroidery loops (at least, that's what I think it was), and then it was hung from the lights in the front hall.  
   A really lovely piece of art came out of this lesson, as well as a demonstration (for the students and by the students) of what we could do if we wanted to.  Sometimes, I look at large pieces of art, and deny that I could do that.  Because it's so large, and improbable, and who would even appreciate my creation anyways?  But we were able to create this bunch of hanging birds in the busiest part of the school at one of the busiest times of the day, and people appreciated it.
   In Art 1 we explored the idea that the process and the product were both an equal part of the art.  That the process was as beautiful as the product itself.  This was also shown in the documentary 'Between the Folds.'  But, I suppose in a more literal sense, the process was the creation of the art, everything from the plain paper to the hanging it up. And the product was the arrangement of cranes on the ceiling.