Final Thoughts

The experience I had in this class was unforgettable. I have never drawn so much in a semester my entire life. I understand that this class was required and such, but the works were overwhelming. I can't remember the last time I had a free weekend, but that's not just Drawing I, it's classes overall. Now, for Drawing I, I thought the class was fun. My classmates were definitely interesting and class wasn't completely dull. I came from 3 AP Art classes in high school with knowledge pertaining to what we have discussed. It's great to do things over again because I have improved so much. The teacher was great as well. She was very nice but often overloaded us with work and have it due in so little time. I guess that's something to expect in college. Some of my classmates thought similarly in terms of work load. Managing time isn't a huge factor in this, because I spend hours doing work anyway for different classes. No matter how I manage my time, I will end up doing more school work than I will going to sleep. Of course, I'm not just picking out Drawing I, this again relates to all of my classes. Overall, the class wasn't bad and I felt that I have improved drastically. I look forward to Drawing II and I'm ready I use the skills that I learned and enhanced to tackle challenges that will be presented to me in the future.

Teacher - 5/5 (Nice Teacher, always trying to shape us into better students)
Classmates - 4/5 (They're so quiet, I can't blame them though.. I'm quiet as well)
Critiques - 4/5 (Sometimes, it can be quiet - but it's our fault)

Line into Value

Free Hand Drawings

The bones or "tight to loose" assignment was pretty fun to do. Bones were somewhat confusing to do at first, but I got the hang of it. The fabric in the back was tough too, this was actually one of my successful attempts at it.

Self portrait. This looks closer to me to than other self portraits I did, maybe because I actually see what I'm drawing. This was done with conte.

This was a sequential line assignment. I wasn't sure about how I was suppose to do this, but I think I got it. I tried using one line and creating values with only one line.

I didn't think this was an actual assignment, but I guess it was since I got a grade for it. I just sketched out a scene from outside of a restaurant.

 My second version of Autozone Park. I drew more of what it was than just the entrance like I did the first one. This was definitely a sketch compared to the first one.

 Memphis College of Art. I thought this was pretty tough to draw because we couldn't use rulers. The patterns on the school was a challenge. It was so many repetitive shapes it became contusing. I'm glad it came out pretty well with the hint of colors.

This was a pretty bad drawing. I was trying too hard with conte. I tried not to erase (it was impossible anyway due to the darkness of conte.) I felt like this was my weakest piece of the series.

Contours

This was a blind contour drawing done in Indian ink with a brush. This  was a very fun experiment. We each had to do four self portraits. I thought this was the most successful in all of my blind contour self portraits. This was one of my favorite assignments because it's fun to see the finishing product. I'm surprised I got the facial placements right!

 This is another blind self portrait, this time it is done with ink and stick. It was difficult to paint this because iI didn't know when I was running out of ink. There are some blank marks on my paper because there were times where I was drawing and didn't know whether I had ink or not.

 The third in the series. I thought this was really ugly. The material for this is conte. I think I did alright in terms of proportions. The placement of the nose and lips are almost perfect in my opinion. Keep in mind that this is a blind drawing... I surprised myself a little bit.   

 This was done with a pencil/regular graphite. I didn't really like this piece much, considering that this was my first blind contour drawing with graphite. Once again, the proportions were alright, but I lacked details. I should've spent more time. 

 The assignment was to draw a fruit, preferably a banana or pear. I drew it three times using the planar analysis technique, but I did it incorrectly. The assignment was to draw the fruit...but I had to use cross contour lines. I didn't know what that was at the time, but I know now.

 

This assignment was supposed to be a controlled contour drawing but I had done it incorrectly. I was carried away with details. I thought the piece alone was alright, nothing to rave about. This was a still life painting done with Indian ink. I wished I would have had more time to paint the surroundings, or even start over and do it correctly. 

This was definitely one of my favorites in all of blind contour drawings. I'm very surprised that I drew the skull the way that it is shown. I had fun with this assignment. I took the most time drawing this so the outcome was much better than previous blind drawings. I might experiment and add color and such in future assignments. Overall, I was very happy.

 This was one of my successful line works. I did a lot more experimental lines on the vase and flowers than the skeletons. I wish I would have went back over the bones with a bit more lines. I had a lot of fun using ink and stick for this assignment. I also had a great time in class drawing it. Maybe one of my favorite works all semester. 

This was a charcoal/conte drawing done as a class. Each person would add marks and such until time is called. The goal is to make out the most of what you see while constantly adding more and more layers onto eachother's works. The outcome was amazing. I'm glad I had a chance to do this as a group.

Planar Analysis

 

My teacher gave me and my classmates an opportunity to go outside to draw things we see in planar perspective/analysis. This statue was one that was near our school, so I thought it would be interesting. It was very sunny that day so it was hard to focus. This was actually my 2nd piece, my first one, I didn't do so well on. The face and hands took longer to do than the rest of the body. I felt pretty good after I was finished.

 

This is probably my favorite planar analysis still life. I thought I did well on the bones and the shoe. I tried putting the objects in perspective as well as focusing on planar and accuracy. The whole process took about 2- 3 hours. My end result turned out great and I can't wait to do more.

 

This was actually the first assignment I had done in class.I didn't do too much planar in my high school, so I thought this was a nice process/technique. I started with the lamp and ended with the cloth in the background. I thought the cloth was pretty tough to draw. I had no idea how to draw fabric in planar. I learned to do so in my later pieces.

  

The was a folded blankets assignment. I began by simply sketching out the folds of my blanket on my bed. The sketching process took about 10 minutes - a little longer due to confusion of folds. When I added the planar analysis, it was very confusing and almost to the point where I had to make up a bit of it. he ending result didn't look too bad, I wished I would have occupied more space though. 

For this assignment, our class had to draw another student. I chose my friend D'von Nathaniel. I thought I did pretty good regarding planar analysis and proportion. I spent a good couple of days to study him. It was very awkward, but classwork wise, it was worth it. I spent a lot of time getting down the contour, just the outline. I later started to implement details like the nose, lips and glasses. There may some awkward lines on the cheeks, but that's only because he had a skinny face. My end result is what appears before you.

The Art of Urban Sketching

There were many things that I have learned by drawing the environment around me. Urban sketching is almost like capturing gestures, you're visualizing the moment and working every detail you see onto paper. You start by simply sketching out what you're visualizing. Then you start to add more emphasis and details to make the area stand out more. The process takes a while, but in the end, you'll feel proud.

In the article about Urban Sketching, I have learned that it's crucial to pay attention to your surroundings and attempt to tell a story through your drawings. Drawings are a record of a time and place. Some artists draw in the morning, afternoon and night to see differences in their environment. Urban sketching isn't exactly doodling. You actually can create a masterpiece by using this technique of drawing. Below are some of my example of urban sketching.

Landmarks in Memphis

The Pyramid Arena was initially served as an area with 21,000 seats. Its exterior is made of stainless steel is the pyramid alone is considered to be the third largest in the world. It was an original attraction until the Fedex Forum took over and started hosting events; taking away the pyramid's spotlight. For those who wants to see, The Pyramid Arena is located at 1 Auction Avenue in Memphis, Tennessee.

Autozone Park  is a minor league baseball stadium located in Memphis, Tennessee. The park costs $80.5 million to build - making it one of the most expensive minor league stadiums ever built. It also has one of the largest screens in a minor league baseball stadium. The upper club levels contain 48 suites that are usually reserved for groups and/or local companies.  It is located in the heart of Memphis and it should definitely not be ignored. 

Blind Contour Drawing

Blind contour drawing is a method of drawing that requires a person to draw whatever they see without looking at their paper. They focus on the outline or "contour" and use one continuous line to draw without lifting their pencil to avoid confusion when drawing. An artist known as Ian Sklarsky uses this technique to create his works. He uses an ink pen to draw his subjects and later uses watercolor to add unique effects.

Sources : http://www.coolhunting.com/design/ina-sklarsky.php