Saturday, December 20, 2008

And I'm Out


Two semesters down, many dollars spent, and a little work to show for it. The extraneously long five week interim between now and Spring semester shall be spent, for the most part, in the brisk Virginia mountains, far away from honking horns, rattling change cups and electrically powered public transportation, in an attempt to refuel the neurons necessary to kick the upcoming Spring term in the teeth. As for final projects, only one was noteworthy, specifically the final illustration for my Drawing From Imagination class, pictured below. We had three weeks to complete this project, and were allowed to chose from two briefs to illustrate: one a scene from Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, or another about a couple trapped in a crypt. It's (hopefully) obvious which one I chose, and the brief reads as such:
"The iron-hinged door wouldn't budge so Daniel and Anne crept back down the steps and through the coffin-lined crypt. The storm water was up their knees now. Distant groaning echoed from the far passage. Anne clung to Daniel , the ancient amulet blazing urgently around her neck. They were getting closer. The groaning was accompanied by moans and scuffing sounds from inside the coffins. Terror struck. The first corpse dragged itself into view. Instantly, another broke free from a nearby casket, and then another, until a shuffling pack of hungry cadavers surrounded them, and there was nowhere left to run."



The big-ol-hunka-poopy below was my attempt at a still life for my Chiaroscuro class, and between the images show here, its pretty obvious where most of my time was spent. I have declared the title for this piece as "F*ck It."

Saturday, December 13, 2008

Sunday, December 7, 2008

Turn 4


The fall semester is coming to a close (in a couple of weeks) and since all my energy is being expended towards final projects, I thought I would post a few pictures for the interim. The majority are from the "Open Studio" event we had this past Saturday for all the graduate studio occupants in the building, in which friends, family and the public are invited to see (and hopefully purchase) student artwork. All the artists here are either Illustration or Fine Art majors at various stages of their graduate career, and over all the day was very successful. The first two images are Aleta, my housemate(left) and Lila, my neighbor(right) together in my studio, as well as my studio-mate Orly, who's in her first semester at the Academy. The last few photos are some morning street shots I managed to catch while on my way to the downtown art store.










Wednesday, December 3, 2008

Pickin' Cotton


Recently finished is an 18"x24" charcoal portrait (sighted and measured from a photograph with no means of tracing or grid transfer, mind you) of James Cotton, famous harp player, for my Chiaroscuro class. Unfortunately, the photo bleaches some of the subtleties in his face, but such a result is to be expected when a quick exit from the studio is required for the advancement of dietary intake. The project is basically the same as the one designed for the portrait of Jack Nicholson that I did over the summer, which is now out of it's glass shell and back in my possession, allowing for a better quality shot of the finished project. Also included is a study in the art of plotting reflections (Drawing From Imagination) as well as a study in shadow shapes (Clothed Figure Drawing.)




Saturday, November 29, 2008

Thanksgiving (With Dad and Allen)


Since this was my first Thanksgiving away from home, Dad decided to come-on-down to San Francisco with his long-time buddy Allen to help celebrate the festivities. This was Dad's second time to the city, but Allen was still green, so after a great day of good food with close friends, we spent some time hitting a few of the city's sweet spots (similar to the itenearary during Wayne's trip.) What few pictures I took will tell the rest:

Dad and Allen managed to snag two nice rooms at the Stanyan Park Hotel.



The day after Thanksgiving(day three), we prepared for our sight-seeing excurison with breakfast at the Cliff House Restaurant...



We spent a while on the Golden Gate Bridge...







Followed by a cool ride on a Cable Car...




And after a walk on the piers to see the bay and get some chili, we took little stroll through Union Square on our way back to the train home (sorry Dad, couldn't resist)...





After long day and good times, it was back to the hotel for some much needed r&r. The hotel is the brown awning way in the background, but here's a shot of the laundromat down the street with the resident chow dog...

Wednesday, November 19, 2008

Conlfict-In three Parts


I shall refrain from any trivial attempts at casual banter in an attempt to save as much mental energy as possible for the last few weeks of school. The first few images comprise three weeks worth of work for my Drawing From Imagination class. The first week consisted of drawing two nude figures (in proper perspective) engaged in some form of physical combat, in which the focus was to achieve correct proportion and overlapping of the form of the figure from different angles. Week two's goal was to add clothing to the figures and as such, to study the way clothing wraps around and adheres to the human form in different poses, as well as enhancing the fighters' character and hinting at a narrative. The final work was to put these two fully developed characters into a proper environment, in which they can convincingly kick ass. If the visual aides presented cannot finish the explanation at this point, then it is not a successful illustration and will preempt my return to dock work.

I have also added some recent drawings from my Clothed Figure Drawing class, which have hopefully risen to the realm of "not fake."









Monday, November 10, 2008

My Daily Carriage


Since most of the artwork I have been producing lately has been that of studies or transitional steps towards finished products, I thought I would exhibit a small portion of my daily life by way of my main source of transportation through 'ol Frisco, the MUNI. The MUNI consists of electrically driven trains that go above and below ground as well as electric and hybrid buses. Electricity above ground is provided via cables that are strewn above the street, of which the trains an buses are hooked to. The particular bus I take (to the studio) on an almost daily basis is the 30 Stockton, which runs from downtown, through Chinatown, to my exit at on the other side of town, North Beach (assuming I am in one piece upon arrival) and beyond. Indeed, the 30 Stockton is a small, yet hearty dose of Chinese reality, as one gets a more in-depth look at other cultures when one is pressed unwillingy too close to someone else as the bus bobs an weaves through town, with the occasional "brake-slam" to make the experience all the more special. I have yet to learn any bits of the language, but I my ability to sense contempt from others gets heightened on the rare times I am forced to yell at elderly folks attempting to board a bus that has absolutely no room whatsoever, and will not move until they get f*ck out of the doorway, or the spaced out kids on their way school in the morning who crowd around both exits (with more than enough goddamn space towards the back) and refuse to move so I can exit the bus, forcing me to mutter explicatives as I ram my way through like its the last few seconds of the Super Bowl...

Anyway, I have included a few pictures from this morning, which was sadly (for the purposes of this post) pretty tame. Keep in mind, these views are of the front half of the bus, as I usually bulldoze my way to the rear exit and hold firm. Also, I was unable to get good shots of the various crowds in Chinatown waiting to board the bus that would rival a Led Zeppelin Reunion show.