Ceramics and 3D Design

I realized I never really have any pictures of my ceramics pieces.  I think it's because my hands get so messy with clay so I never want to take my camera out.

But just a little update, our next assignment is making a 14-inch piece (using coils or strips of slabs) that has many changes in its profile.  The professor suggested using an already existing piece and making it our own.  So after Googling a little bit, I chose to do this one.

Yeah, yeah.  It's gonna be hard, but I'm not doing an exact replica.  I'm changing the bottom a bit so it goes in and then back out, and the swirly part is going to have to have support pieces because it's made out of clay and not wood like the original.  I've got the bottom almost built, so this week comes the hard part.  I'll try to snap a shot this week to give you a visual.

Now, my 3D Design piece is really annoying me.  It's just, I don't know.  I just don't like it.  We had to paint it using only red, blue, and yellow, and I just feel like those colors make anything look very elementary.

I actually hate how it turned out.  It's just so... I don't even know.  You can decide for yourself.

Next class I'm starting the next project.  Basically the same as this one, only instead of using only right angles and straight planes, we are not allowed to use right angles.  And we don't have to have the mold filled with plaster, it could be made out of just the foam board.

I am learning to dread this class.

Pointilism

The next drawing assignment is a focus on pointilism and realism.  Basically what we do is draw a grid on a picture, then create a larger scale grid on our paper, a draw one box at a time.  You only draw in each box what you see per box, you're not really supposed to look at the bigger picture as a whole until the end.

Here was our "warm up" pointilism piece.  An eyeball.

Yay!  It actually looks like an eyeball!

I'm actually really digging this project.  This is the kind of thing I can get behind.  I mean, that looks pretty real, right?  It took me a couple rows of the grid to really get into it, but once I could see how it was progressing I really enjoyed it.  And my professor called it a "really great drawing." 

!!!!

So, the next step is to pick a photo and do the same thing, but on a larger scale.  The photo is 6 x 8, so the drawing would be twice as big, 12 x 16.  I decided on this, one of my favorite photographs ever.

"The Afghan Girl" from National Geographic 1985

Okay, you should really check out the original (in color) and read the story, too.  When I was younger, my parents had like every single National Geographic, and those magazines are what originally got me interested in photography and why I took a photo class in high school.  And then, on the first day of class, we watched a short movie about the life and career of National Geographic photographers.  Coughfatecough.

Anyway, the whole point of this little anecdote is that this is one of the pictures that got me involved in photography, which led to me minoring in Fine Arts, which led to me taking this drawing class.  I normally wouldn't even attempt to draw this, but I think I did pretty well with the eye so hopefully I'll do it justice.  I'm really excited to just see the end result.

Oh, and we're using graphite pencils for this.  6 different ones, in fact, all with different softness of lead so they shade darker, sharper, etc.  I'm a fan.

I know, I know...

I've been slacking.  I haven't posted in a week (gasp!).  But in my defense, I've been super...lazy.  Not busy.  Just lazy.

But I'm making up for it now, with a great little story about my trip to the Met last Monday.

So, as I said before, the next assignment for my painting class is to do a reproduction.  I chose Van Gogh's "Wheat Field with Crows."  And there's a paper that goes along with the assignment.  We have to go to either the Museum of Modern Art or the Metropolitan Museum of Art so we can see in person the artist's style, brushstrokes, texture, etc. first hand.  Painting is my only class on Monday, and since we had the day off practice and I had nothing else to do, I thought to myself,

 "Hey, why not just go in today?"

So I go home, grab a coat, and race on over to the train station.  I'm pulling into my parking spot as the train is pulling into the station, so now I have to wait 30 minutes for the next one.  Oh, well.  No big deal.  I've got all day, I'll just catch the next one.

Once I get into the city, I know exactly what to do.  Before I left my house, I used HopStop.com to get directions via subway to the Met.  All I have to do is take the C train right from Penn Station to 86th Street, then walk a block to 85th and 5th, where the Met is.

But no.  Of course it couldn't be that simple.  I get to 85th Street, and not seeing any giant buildings with lots of stairs, I ask a hot dog stand guy where the Met is.

"Ohh, that's on the east side.  This is 85th West."

Oh geez.  Are you freaking kidding me?

Then he tells me, "Just walk straight through Central Park.  It's right on the other side."

I know something is wrong when the path splits into two, and neither of them go straight.

To make a long story short (too late), I end up walking more than 50 blocks from the Upper West side to the Upper East side.  Had I known it was that long, I may have taken a taxi or something.  I was wearing a pair of my favorite shoes, but they're not meant to be walking 50 blocks in New York City, so I started getting blisters on my heels.  By the time I saw those big white stairs, I was so relieved.  I'll just go in, sit down for a bit, look at the paintings, and have a nice relaxing afternoon.

The Met is closed on Mondays.

I think I stood and stared at the doors for a solid minute.  That doesn't sound long, but think about seeing someone just staring at a door, unmoving, for a whole minute.  By the time I peeled my eyes away from the sign, I knew I was in trouble.  I was not about the walk all the way back to the subway I took, and I had no idea where the closest station was.  I sat down on the steps to try to collect my thoughts and figure out what to do, and then it started drizzling.  The coat I grabbed to wear to the Met was my good suede leather coat.  I took my umbrella out, figuring it would be ok.  But no!  There's a hole in the lining, so only one half covers me!

I start just aimlessly walking down Madison Avenue, trying frantically to protect my coat, before I realize, "Oh, shit.  I'm on the Upper East side.  Everyone here is rich, there are no subways!"  I end up giving in a hailing a cab the 60 blocks back to Penn Station.

Once I'm on the train, I spread out thinking I'll have the seat to myself.  Nope.  It's super crowded so a really annoying a SMELLY guy sits next to me.  As I'm moving my things around, my coffee spills on my jeans!  Greeeeeat.  And then, just to add the cherry on top of my already brilliant day, the ticket guy informs me that it's peak time and I have an off-peak ticket, so I owe three more dollars to ride the train.


SERIOUSLY??

An All Around Update

I've gotten my first grades back in both drawing and painting.  And both grades were a B.  UGH.  It's just annoying because, especially in the drawing, I tried really really hard.  I mean really hard.  I'm just worried that these classes are going to really hurt my GPA.  A personal goal I set for myself is to be on the NFHCA Academic Squad and receive the CAA Commissioner's Award all four years of college.  You need a 3.3 GPA to get those awards, and I've gotten them for the past three years.  I can't screw up my last year because of these stupid art classes!

Okay, I take it back.  They aren't stupid.  But it's still frustrating.

Anyway, here's a quick little update.

Painting: First project got a B.  But we did a class critique where we drew a number that corresponded to someone's painting and we had to critique that painting on use of color, composition, craftsmanship, etc.  My professor told me after class that I had the best critique in the class.  So, apparently, I can't paint well, but I can certainly tell others what to do and how they need to fix it.  

Hmm.  Maybe I should change my major to psychiatry.

Drawing:  Our abstract assignment is done.  And I am really surprised about the outcome.  Here is how my composition turned out.

And my professor actually liked it!  His biggest critique is that I could use the white of the paper more to let some more light come through the drawing.  But, I don't know, I still just don't get it!  It's just a bunch of shapes and textures.  I don't really like it at all.  But for some odd reason he really responded well to it.  I even said in class that this sort of thing isn't the kind of aesthetic I respond to.  I think it's harder to draw a glass bottle than to make up a bunch of shading on a paper.  I just hope this is the last thing we do with this sort of topic...but I doubt it.

This is the one that I responded the most to:

Not many "textures," just the shading really.  But it was alright.  For this kind of thing, at least.

Ceramics: I'm in the process of firing my manipulated slab piece.  After it's out of the kiln, I'll glaze it.  My profile piece I just painted with slip glaze today, which will then be fired and will come out already colored.  I tried to do a blue with green on top kind of dripping and swirly, but I don't think it worked.  But this was just a test, since I'm not really fond of the profile anyway.  We also started work on the wheel on Tuesday!  It's definitely challenging and will take some getting used to, but I really like it.  I actually went back into the studio today to work some more, and I made a cute little pot.  Unfortunately with all the clay all over my hands/arms/shirt/pants/hair/face, I couldn't get my camera out to take a picture.  Maybe next week.  Seriously, the only bad part about the wheel is the clean up.  It's sooo messy.

3D Design:  Nothing.  Don't have class til Friday.

And....that's about it.  Remind me to tell you about my "trip" to the Metropolitan Museum of Art.  That's a great story, for when you're having a bad day and want to feel better about your life.

Why My Drawings Suck

You guys want to see why I feel so inadequate in my drawing class?  This is why.

Seriously?  SERIOUSLY?  

Painting Project #2

I am finally finished with the first painting project.  You know the one.  The one with the shapes and shades and all that other boring crap.  Here is the final outcome:

I was working on this thing last night, late enough that the janitor walked into the studio and had to leave when he saw me still in there.  There are some obvious changes from my first couple coats, but I think in the end it turned out okay.  There are some shades that obviously look similar, but it came to a point where I had to stop trying to make different colors because I kept accidentally making the same ones.  I think it's fairly clear that my dominant color is blue, right?  And in this picture, some of the oranges don't look so orange, but rather brown or red.  But in the painting, I think you can tell.

We got assigned our second project today, and wouldn't you know it, it's another reproduction!  These beginning art classes just looooooove having us make reproductions.  Apparently we're not skilled enough to be creative on our own.  Anyway, we had the choice between paintings by Guaguin, Van Gogh, and my food friend Cézanne!  Yeah, no way in hell am I going back to that Still Life with a Ginger Jar and Eggplants.  So, I chose a Van Gogh painting.  Here it is:

"Wheat Field with Crows"

You may think at a glance it's pretty easy and simple.  But take a closer look.  Those individualized wheat crops in that field are gonna be a challenge.  I think the brush strokes in this painting are really beautiful, and I'm really excited to make my own version.  In fact, I was so excited that I stayed late after class and got to painting.  First I blocked it all out with charcoal, but since there's not really much besides the landscape, I jumped into the paint.

Here's the first coat:

I'm coming across a couple problems already.  First of all, the printed out version I have is a lot brighter and more vibrant that other versions I'm coming across.  I'm gonna have to decide whether I want to go for the bright and bold or the light and dull.  I am also having a little trouble mixing the right green, but hey, it's just the first coat.

I'm really excited about this painting!  Since I've already got a head start on it, I'll hopefully be able to spend a lot of time on this one.

3D Design- Getting Plastered Again

I've still been catching up on some work I missed from a couple weekends ago, and it didn't help that my 3D Design professor didn't show up for our class on Wednesday.  It may have been the fact that I had reminded him we didn't have school on Friday and he didn't realize Wednesday was a Friday schedule, but whatever.  Now I'm still behind, but I don't know what to do with it.

After I filled my foamy duct-taped mold with plaster and let it sit for a couple days, I went back into the workshop and peeled away the mold.  And when I say peeled, I mean scraped with my fingernails to get off.  

This is the end result:

Turns out, the fact that I had to fill one of the rectangles on top by itself wasn't really a huge issue.  It all worked out!  The biggest problem is that there's some holes along the edges, and I guess I'll have to fill them in with plaster by hand.  I would've asked my professor about it, but since he wasn't it class, I couldn't.

And wow, can I just say, I thought it was hard making that square to go into the mold on the side.  Getting it out was like, 17 million times worse.

Apparently, the next step is to sand everything down, make it all even, and then we're going to paint it.  Lucky I'm taking this painting class and already have the supplies, right?  These art classes are starting to get really expensive...