First Semester

My first semester at the Academy of Art is almost over. I've just finished work on my final projects and I'm getting ready for summer break and some much needed rest. Here are two of my final projects and a few other drawings/studies from class.

This is my "Figurative Concepts" final. It is supposed to be me as bootlegger, or maybe mafia, or a union rep from the 40's. I was allowed to choose any costume I wanted.\. It took quite a long time: charcoal and white conte on toned paper.






"Drawing from Imagination" final. The friends and family members that I showed my three concept drawings to all voted for the Snow White illustration, so I was surprised when my classmates voted for zombie morgue scene number two. This took a very long time as well. I almost feel sorry for the zombie.






1hr. Clothed figure study. It was fun drawing the pattern on her dress.






20 minute clothed figure. This is what the model was actually wearing, I didn't change a thing. (except adding the upper arm band)




Another 20 minute clothed figure. Lying figures are difficult because I rarely get a chance to practice drawing people horizontally.






20 minute portrait. I still need a lot of work on my portraits. Luckily, I'm taking a whole class on portraits in the fall.





20 minute clothed figure, Amazon Warrior.

This semester has been a ton of fun and an amazing learning experience. I hope I can continue to improve little by little (bounds would be nicer) over the next few semesters. Once this semester is officially over I'm gonna take a few days off to clear my head but then I'll be back to the sketchbook to draw draw draw some more.

Point, Click, Instant Art

I wanted to post something but I haven't taken any photos since my friend Becky was here so dug some stuff up from that day. Hopefully I can find a few days over summer break to get some good shots: lately I tend to bring my sketchbook over my camera when I'm out and about.

Rosie the Dog

Final Project Vote

For one of my final projects I have to pick one story from two that were provided and draw a nice finished illustration based on the story using everything we've learned in the class so far. This week we had to come up with 2 or more concept pieces that show some of our ideas. The class will then vote on the one that they feel would work best as a finished piece.


The first story was a morgue scene with zombies coming back to life and Anna and George fighting them off. I made George a dog and made Anna Anna Karenina.

The second story was a scene from Snow White. The dwarfs are all spring cleaning with Snow White making supper.


I needed more dynamic shadows so I did another zombie concept piece. These are all rough and a lot more detail will go into them. I'm curious, does anyone have a favorite?

The Background

I finished this illustration for homework today. First I had to draw these two nude, then I added clothes (below) and finally I had to draw a background for them. I don't recommend this technique; next time I would more or less draw the whole thing at the same time, figuring out shadows and composition beforehand. But I'm happy with it despite all that.

A Week in Workshops

Every week I attend a number of drawing workshops as well as my regular classes. Here are some select drawings from the workshops as well as my homework assignments from last week.




My homework for "Drawing from Imagination" class. This week I need to design and draw a background for them.

Clothed Figure Workshop

Head and Hands Workshop

Figure Drawing Workshop

Clothed Figure Workshop

Special Peter Pan themed Sat. Workshop

Self portrait assignment for my Figurative Concepts class.

There is also a Monday night figure quick studies workshop but those 2 minute figures are still too awful for me to post. I'll be real happy when those are decent enough to show people.

March 31, 1952

Inspired by a character from, "The Book Thief". Something I did to keep myself busy between homework assignments.



Some anatomy practice. Mostly from imagination, I used a bit of reference if I got stuck.

Special Guest, Rebecca Greenberg

This week we have a special guest, Rebecca Greenberg, a dear friend and talented artist. Rebecca adores small children (and some medium sized children), loves dinner parties and can't wait to move back to San Francisco. We met earlier this week and wandered through Golden Gate Park where she got these wonderful shots.

My Sunday

Homework for my Figurative Concepts class.

In Class Work

These are some life drawings from various workshops. I think they were all 20 minute poses except for the portrait below.




This is our first week of portraits in my figure class. Believe it or not this took six hours. They should only take about 3 hours or less but this was the first time so it was learning process.

3 pt Robots

Robots done in 3pt. perspective for a homework assignment.

Patroclus

My most recent homework assignment was to find a painting that portrayed anatomy done by one of the old masters and to draw the figure in charcoal.



I chose this oil painting by Jacques Louis David.

Define Anger

Just for fun after a long day of homework and greasy quesadillas.






Update : This is a bit messy but I wanted to see if I could make this work with a darker palette.　　I think the image is a bit messy looking but it's definitely got a creepier feel.

Two Point Perspective

The idea for this week's drawing came from a radio show called "This American Life". It was a true story about a few boys who found a house that had been abandoned for 40 or more years. All the belongings had been left behind, it seemed that some horrible tragedy had befallen the entire family.



I decided to imagine the kitchen, this was the view I decided to draw.




I built a grid and constructed the kitchen.


The teacher told me I should put the light behind the camera, so I could learn how to plot to shadows, otherwise I might have had the window and the only light in the room.





The finished product. I learned a lot from a bunch of little mistakes I made on the way. It's very bright for what is supposed to be a creepy scene, but I'll figure it all out one of these days. It really was a lot of fun to draw. The original story can be heard on This American Life (here) .

SF Photos

I've only taken a few photos since I've moved, I figure it's more important to carry a sketchbook around than a camera these days. But here are a few I've taken over the last couple weeks.