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.







Wednesday, November 5, 2008

Good Enough To Fake It


The absence of substantial prose from this blog over the last few weeks can be attributed to my current situation of maintaining a semester full of studio art courses which have irrevocably rewired my brain to focus more on visual problem solving and less on creating self-proclaimed humorous and clever anecdotes with which to verbally paint a metaphorical picture of my semi-significant time in San Francisco. Astonishingly, the intense study of nostrils, knuckles, facial features and the human gesture requires little in the way of the written word, specifically that which is arranged in an intelligent and poetic manner in order to successfully convey a specific point of a particular idea through the use of analyzation and cited reference, which has ultimately ingrained the notion that I may be getting dumber by the day. But have no fear, as I plan to remedy this ailment through the reading of such literary classics as "The Jack-O'-Lantern That Ate My Brother," "Bunnicula: A Rabbit Tale Of Mystery," and of course "There's An Owl In The Shower." And as uninteresting as it may be, the title of this post is not a testament to my sexual prowess, but was instead given as advice from one of my professors in regards to my tendency to generalize figures in my drawings by leaving out important details, yet still creating a successful drawing. Since I am unsure as to my feelings about that advice, I have resolved to stay "pissed" until another suitable solution presents itself; but it probably just means I need to buckle down and start making better drawings.


On that note, I have included a few "fake" drawings here for your arousal, as well as a few shots from the not-so-getting-me-moist Alterntative Press Expo(APE) which was held here in the city this past weekend. And speaking of moisture, we experienced a little of that over the weekend as well; and since I am not one miss a party, I celebrated by spending the majority of Saturday walking the mean streets of San Fran and soaking of the fruits of Mother Nature's glory (as a result of knowing it was going to rain and not having an umbrella....dumber by the day.)










Saturday, November 1, 2008