Back to School Update - Drawing Class

I finished Drawing 120 last Fall and learned a great deal from it. In this class, drawing was interpreted quite broadly as you will see. There was a lot of work to be completed. There were out-of-class assignments and in-class workshops as well as lots of opportunities to practice drawing everything from figures to projected images and photos.
Besides actually learning to draw, a big emphasis seemed to be on learning how to develop the content and concept of a piece. There was an almost uncomfortable amount of "deep" thought and introspection at times, but I am glad to have done it. Our first assignment was to use a variety of media to create a three-act narrative using self-portrait as a vehicle. I chose to portray the integration of right and left brain thought.

The next assignment involved creating four drawings that captured our single personal place of sanctuary. Each had to use different media and be on a different surface.

These are the two that were the most
successful to my mind. I chose to portray different aspects of my home: my favorite spot to explore the world via reading, and a whimsical version of the dining room set that I inherited from my grandparents that has had generations of family meals gathered around it.





After completing these, we were to utilize some or all of the imagery from the earlier drawings to create a final complex drawing (at least 3X4 ft). It was a very interesting exercise to play with overlaying a number of different images.










One of the most fun in-class workshops was using graphite powder to create a drawing based on a collage of totally random images. Creating the collage on the right was half the fun. I loved the juxtaposition of the bears in the window and the red-neck jean legs merging into ostrich feet.

We finally got to work on small drawings in the next major assignment, but of course that meant lots of them. We were to investigate, with poignancy and intimacy, the relationship between objects and various areas of the body. I chose to look at communication through touch.










My favourite of the group was the finger on a touch screen. I have been thinking about doing some pieces on the impact of technology on the human experience and this is one that has been on my mind for a while. It is a bit of a play on Michelangelo's Creation of Adam in the Sistine Chapel.

The last assignment focused on the body and looking at qualities of a drawing as a metaphor for and abstraction of the body. We were to choose two adjectives associated with the body and create abstract drawings to express them. Next we were to choose two bodily experiences and to portray them in non-literal ways. I went a bit nuts with this one using scorched velum to portray mortality, string stretched across a root to represent tension, a macro plaster version of a finger print, and a felt based on a microscopic view of tissue. From these works we had to complete a large scale work (4X5 ft) that built on the strengths of these pieces.









I tea and rust stained antique linens, scorched them and suspended them on an antique dressing screen. Then I made a felt piece in roughly the shape of a body (below) and suspended it in front of the screen. It has a very primitive, universal feel to it that I enjoy.

Once again, this was a very worthwhile course from my point of view. Not only did I experiment with a lot of new techniques, I feel like I approach making an art piece in a different way. I am inclined now to experiment with studies and develop the concept as I go rather than trying to plan out a piece before I begin.