Drawing -- 9/11

I completed an extra drawing for my own practice.  I used charcoal and tried a number of different techniques, including blending.  The drawing is 42 inches by 36 inches. I completed it on the last day before they shut up the studio for the summer.

Drawing -- Film

Our fourth assignment was to combine the theme of falling and jumping with movement.  We were encouraged to do a film using stop-action photography and the medium was open -- collage, silhouette, drawing, painting, etc.  We had studied the work of William Kentridge and were enthusiastic about giving it a try.  I completed a film (280 still photographs) and I hope you'll be amused.  It was based on the silhouettes of the previous exercise.  There are three narrative lines you may have trouble reading: 

1. Mr. Smith, the intended victim of... 

2. The darker side of nature

3. Fluffy, the kestrel.

The film is called “The Unexpected Encounter” and is on Vimeo.  Here is the link: http://vimeo.com/41797404

Drawing -- Silhouettes

Our third project was to create location-specific silhouettes and install them in our art building.  Our theme was "falling and jumping".  I created four silhouettes that were about 3 1/2 feet tall and installed them above the door to our class room, just as students enter the building.  There is a kind of narrative that goes along with them and I think you can see what it is.

Drawing -- Room with a ...

Our second exercise was slightly more traditional.  It was titled "Room with a ..." and was executed in charcoal.  For a room I chose a very modern looking mall space and for objects occupying the mall, I chose valves (vacuum tubes) and speakers from inside an old console radio.  Almost no other student in the class had any idea what I was drawing.  Many of them only had a vague idea of what a console radio was.  The drawing is 42 inches by 56 inches and was executed almost entirely in vine (light) charcoal.  I finally turned to compressed charcoal for the darkest blacks.  I enjoyed working with charcoal in a large format and will do some more this summer.

Drawing -- '53 Plymouth

This was the first exercise in our drawing class and the most interesting drawing exercise I have ever had.  We did the following over two class periods.  We taped our 36 x 48 inch paper to the wall and pasted random chunks of textured paper to it, "to activate the corners and sides".  (You can see a piece going across the shoulder and tie.)  We then pasted on various pages from the telephone directory.  (Notice the left side.)  We used our brayer (little roller) to keep everything flat.  We then rotated our paper 90 degrees and added a colored (blue) wash over one third of the paper.  We rotated 180 degrees and sketched in a figure from a randomly-selected 1953 newspaper clipping (Plymouth).  We rotated the paper 180 degrees again and sketched in another figure from a different clipping (man with tie).  We rotated again and wherever there were lines forming closed shapes, we painted them in with acrylic washes.  We then chose different colors to highlight the shapes of the figures.  We did not have to stick to the lines.  I enjoyed the process and like the result.  It eliminated all of our presuppositions about what you could or could not do with a drawing.  I'll do this kind of work again.

Ceramics -- Ikebana Vase

I think this is my best ceramic work for the semester.  It is an Ikebana vase for flower arrangement.  It was made by selecting a random ball of clay and slapping it against the table until it made an asymmetrical slab.  This formed the bottom and the basic shape of the vase.  The sides were built up using the coil and pinch method and then the rim was pulled in to accentuate the asymmetrical shape.  The glaze is Utah Red over Zeller White.  This worked especially well as it came out very, very glossy and highlighted each pinch and the lines between each coil.  On the interior the lines have a rusty cast.  The vase is 8 inches wide, 6 inches deep and 3 inches high.

Ceramics -- Pharaoh's Vase

This vase (or bowl) was built using slab construction.  The clay was Little John which tends to crack on the edges.  This gives the work a lot of interest and excitement.  The glaze is Utah Red over Zeller White.  The white glaze causes the red to shift to a greenish color and have rust-colored highlights wherever there are edges, cracks or indentations.  I especially love the random splotches of red that come through.  The vase is 6 inches high and 6 1/2 inches in diameter.