Hi

HI
Did you know that using a callus remover( the on that has a plastic handle w/metal on one side and  file like surface on the opposite side) is a good tool for cleaning erasers and blinders.
I remember telling some but meant to tell all.
Terry Sager

Thank you

Just a small now to thank you all for a wonderful class and many new techniques. Don't be a stranger I'd you see me on campus and it was a gift to learn from such gifted artists.

Joeanna Martinez

 

Scratch Board Eyes

 

 

 

 

 

 

This is my make the same drawing for an hour drawing.

 

When I did this it wasn't how to do it but what to do. So I got a stamp ink pad and the eraser end of a pencil that was a little chewed up and just started to make shapes. All of a sudden this started to come out. And before I knew it the hour was up and I couldn't finish. I think it is better to have a plan before I started but for what I got it was ok.

 

This is my make an image that has strong emotional

 

This is a piece I did with oil painting it is taken from a photo I had taken of my daughter. She is the reason why I do anything and for me she makes my life brighter, granted there are days that she gives me a run for my money but at the end of the day I wouldn't want to be anywhere else but at home with her watching the same cartoon for the billionth time. My daughter is the one who brought me back from the dark road I was going down and she is the one who saved me. I am extremely proud of this work and of course there are a few things I would like to add so in the future I will do that as well .

Sullivan - Experimental Drawings and Writeups

Scratchboard eyes.

Ugliest Drawing 

For this image, I used Yupo paper, three colors of Conte crayon, watercolor paints, pencil, cookie crumbs, and Hot Cheetos crumbs.

I began by drawing a poorly thought-out, poorly executed image. With my left hand, I drew a stick figure, a dog, and a house. The style I used was childish, and I tried hard to create a poor composition. Then I dipped my fingers in watercolors and left fingerprints all over my drawing. Next, I took advantage of the nature of the Yupo paper by aggressively smearing everything. Last, I desecrated my finished image by grinding part of a cookie into it. I finished it off with fixative, which hopefully made some of the crumbs stick.

I wanted to create ugliness through a bad concept, a lack of skill, and disrespectful treatment of the finished image. This image, however, has ended up meaning something more like fun or playfulness—I really enjoyed the process of making this. I think the drawing might be more like an homage to childhood now.

The finished image just isn’t as ugly as I wanted it to be. I think I could make it uglier by perhaps crumpling or distorting the paper, turning it into 3d art of sorts. But then, that might be too interesting to be really ugly.

Spirit of a Food/Color

This drawing was made with Arches watercolor paper and watercolor paints.

I wanted to convey the spirit of one of my favorite foods, Cornish pasties. My initial focus was color. I chose a palette of colors that represent how I feel when I eat pasties, and began painting without much forethought. My idea was that the pastie would be represented by a colorful circle in the middle of a blue, sky-like ground. The circle was intended to show the coziness and self-contained nature of the pastie. I used a combination of washes, wet brush, and dry brush techniques to create the image.

I hoped that this piece would mean “pasties” to me, but when I look at it now, it just evokes a sense of dissatisfaction. This is not what I wanted the piece to look like, and what’s more, I don’t think it conveys the cozy, satisfied, homelike and happy feelings that I had in mind as I painted.

My main problem with this drawing is that it looks like a pizza. Wrong food! If I were to make any changes to this piece, I would scrap it and start over, using the same colors and same overall layout. This time, I would approach the central circle differently, allowing more white space to let the rough edges of dry brushstrokes be seen, and using less foodlike colors. I would also try hard to create more contrast, since the current piece is all midtones.

Draw the sound of a jet engine.

For this piece, I used Strathmore drawing paper, compressed charcoal, white charcoal pencil, 02 Micron pen, erasers, a blender, and a chamois.

I began by contemplating the sound of a jet engine and thinking about its characteristics. It’s loud, overwhelming, rumbling, and visceral—I needed to create an image that reflected that. I imagined the sound as being like a wall, blocking out all other sounds, while its roaring or rumbling quality created jagged circles. With that in mind, I sketched out a rough grid that I planned to fill in with details. I left the center of the page blank to represent the listener, who would feel small and blanked out because of the intensity of the noise.

After blocking out the basic shapes of the design, I laid in my overall shapes and tones with charcoal and my blending tools, and then went back and filled in lines and details with charcoal, white charcoal and pen. I finished by taking my plastic eraser and carving out the lightest areas in the design.

This piece feels, to me, like a fairly successful effort to abstractly represent something. I showed it to a friend, telling him that it was supposed to be the sound of a jet engine, and he said that he could see that. It also looks more or less how I’d imagined it, so it is successful on multiple counts.

If I were to expand upon this work, I would treat my existing drawing as a rough sketch or thumbnail for a much bigger image—maybe a wall-size one. I’d probably have to switch materials, unless I found a stick of compressed charcoal large enough to look the same.) I think I could convey a much more accurate idea of what a jet engine sounds like with a larger work.

Cut a shape from 8.5 x 11 paper; create a drawing that seems to belong to that shape.

For this piece, I used black Stonehenge paper, white Conte crayon, black Conte crayon, sepia and sanguine Conte pencils, and smudging tools. Of course, I also used scissors to cut out my shape.

I began working on this piece by cutting a shape out of my black paper. I tried to preserve as much of the original dimensions of the paper as I could—that is, my shape was still about 8.5 by 11—but otherwise simply cut as I felt like. I then put my cut-out shape away for later.

When I returned to work on this piece again, I laid several different layers of dots and stripes down on the shape, trying to feel out the bones of the image. Originally, I had planned to make it seem three-dimensional, but as I laid down and blended out layers of marks, I changed my mind. Using my previous work as a background, I sketched and fleshed out a human figure in a pose that the shape suggested to me. Of course, the shape of the paper isn’t completely human, so I deliberately omitted the head.

Now that it is finished, this piece has a sort of dark, weird energy. I’m not sure what to make of it, but I think it’s interesting. To me, it suggests tall tales, rituals, and folklore through the colors and markmaking.


If I were to change one thing about this piece, I would have continued to use dots and short strokes as my sole markmaking technique while I drew the figure—initially, that was an important part of the concept, but I gave up on it once I added the figure. If I were to expand on this piece, I would make it part of a series of paper shapes with headless figures inside. Each figure’s pose would be dictated by the paper.

Make repetitive, continuous marks on the paper for an hour. 

For this drawing, I chose to use white, black, and sanguine Conte crayons and some off-white drawing paper—Stonehenge, I think, although I’m not entirely certain about the paper’s provenance.

I chose to make my marks in three different colors, since I knew that if I simply worked in black the entire time, my page would become a solid wall of black by the end. I thought I would have a more interesting result if I split up the hour of drawing time by color. I spent the first 20 minutes working in black, the second in sanguine, and the third in white. During each segment of time, I drew continuous lines in geometric patterns, varying them according to my whims. I frequently copied or responded to the patterns I had drawn before. While I was making my marks with white Conte crayon, I was using a very small stub. It had a very broad surface, and between that and the amount of pigment already on the paper, most of the preceding patterns and textures were wiped out.

Creating this piece was a very meditative experience. I felt hypnotized by the way the crayon glided across the paper, and the small friction sounds it made seemed very loud to me. Excess crayon heaped up in small, powdery dunes where my tool had been, and I thought it added a really cool dimensional effect. I wanted to preserve those small ridges, but wasn’t able to. Based on the experience of drawing this (and to some extent the actual image), this piece means the passage of time to me, and also peace.

I would certainly use this technique again if I wanted to create subtle textures with little variation in value. I would also like to take the drawing as it stands now and find a way to add the three-dimensional texture I liked so much back in.

Draw with office supplies!

For this work, I used post-it notes and post-it flags, stamps, staples, a folder, an industrial size Sharpie, clear tape, packing tape, and a paperclip.

First, I cut my folder to size, and then used the paperclip (unfolded) to scratch my initial sketch into the surface. I then began to use my post-its and stamps to fill in value and color, tearing them to size and stapling or taping them down as needed. The teal folder provided a midtone; the stamps and post-its were all lighter values. In order to get darks back into the image, I relied on the Sharpie. Certain details—the highlights in my model’s hair and the earbud cords—were created with staples. Once I had finished collaging the image, drawing in my darkest values, and adding highlights with pieces of stamps, I used packing tape to seal the entire image and hold down any loose edges.

This image was frustrating to create—my work felt extremely clumsy, since I’m not used to working in collage—but the end result is interesting. It’s a fairly successful portrait of my friend / model, capturing his focus and his nerdy essence, even if his features aren’t entirely accurate. The color palette is not one I would have chosen if I’d had more options, but I think it’s good that I had to branch out.

If I were to alter this piece, I would try working in a limited palette—I realized about halfway through that instead of trying to (semi-) accurately represent the colors I was seeing, I ought to be using colors that would all look good together. I’d use all my cool-toned post-its for a more unified look. Alternately, I think getting a more accurate initial sketch would have been an improvement—I wish I had actually asked my friend to sit still, rather than trying to draw him as he went about his business.

Photocopy three-dimensional objects, then draw on the photocopy.

I used printer paper and oil pastels to create this drawing. While printer paper was not an ideal material, I used it because my printer couldn’t handle any other type of paper that I had on hand. It ended up providing an interesting challenge, as did the oil pastels—I am not experienced in using them.

My process in making this piece was as follows: I chose several interesting small objects and photocopied them. I made one color copy and one black and white copy. Inspired by that, I thought it would be interesting to add color to the black and white copy, so I traced over the objects and filled them in with color, attempting to render them as accurately as possible. (I changed the color of the tentacle, since I felt it would be more interesting to not have two red items.) I then filled in the background, using colors that complemented the colors of the object (blue for the brown/ orange-ish wooden triangle; green for the red rose; orange for the blue tentacle). I made extensive use of my blending tools throughout.

I intended this piece to be a surreal, dreamlike takeoff on a still life, since that was what the original scan looked like. However, now that it is complete, I have found an additional meaning in it—namely, that I need to learn how to work with oil pastels more effectively. The rainbow palette that I ended up using makes this work look more childish than I had intended, as well.

An interesting way to re-use this work would be to cut it up and combine it with the color scan to create a collage. Alternately, I could incorporate it into some sort of three-dimensional work, probably by cutting out the rose, tentacle, and wooden triangle and attaching them to their real-life counterparts.

Shirey-Experimental Drawings and Eyes

Draw Something in Response to a TV Program

            I had just finished watching the news, stories about the Malaysian plane that disappeared, Putin and Obama fighting like little girls over the Ukraine, the economy suffering in some areas, banning of the word bossy in schools, blah blah blah. It makes me so furious to even be in the same room as the news channel is on. You don’t hear anything good, and the news is mostly of stupid idiotic TV reality of Justin Bieber, new shows that are knock offs of a knock off. So much frustration bounces around in my head, and I created a piece to express that.

            Once again, I put black and white with subtle hints of color. Nothing totally obnoxious to look at, but it is still dynamic. Using my India ink again, I brushed harsh lines in different directions leaving some open white spaces in between to show the “grey area” of the news and how everything is probably censored and not telling the full truth, then I searched for something to add color, and found a red sharpie. The white spaces have traced outlines in red creating weird shapes, to symbolize my utter frustration and anger with the media and government. It didn’t take long to create this, probably because I had adrenaline after the program was finished and drew very fast and angrily. It’s an effective way to show my feelings about the world today, and I wouldn’t change it or expand upon it. It’s purely an abstract image.

Draw the Ugliest Drawing Possible

            First of all, I despise images that don’t have a lot of value shift of color shift. You can have a drawing that has black and grey value, but I like bold contrasts, so I did the opposite with this drawing. I grabbed the first thing that came to mind, which was a package of cotton balls and began to tear and glue where I deemed disgusting. It looks slapped together, and it is. In a matter of about 1-2 minutes, I had a piece of white computer paper with haphazard cotton splotches. What else, I thought. India ink! It was next to me, so I dipped a brush and soaked a light shade of ink on the cotton, and it looks like something drooled on it. Pretty successful ugly drawing, if I do say so myself, but I don’t think it’s the ugliest I could have done.

            It’s difficult to grasp the concept of the ugliest drawing possible in the first place, so I just went for it. If you think too hard about it for a while, it’ll look organized and well, thought out. Look around for whatever is out there, and have at it. It’ll turn out disgusting and look putrid. Ironically, the more I look at it, the more I begin to discover a complexity and interest in it. The cotton has a natural value, very light and obscure, but it’s there, and I am forcing a darker shade onto it throwing it into a swirl of entropy and confusion.

Draw Something with Nothing but Office Supplies

            I didn’t like this drawing at all. It did not turn out the way I wanted, and I did not have any interest to complete it, and it would help to have any office supplies available at all. I found a stapler which has green staples, a role of masking tape, blue artists tape and Elmer’s glue. Much like the drawings I did before, I didn’t think about what I was going to do. I randomly laid some masking tape on the paper to create a layered design, then used the artists tape to enhance the shape and stapled green staples on the overlapping parts. The glue was then used as a decoration of different designs.

            It turned out alright, but I could have expanded upon it much more extensively. Perhaps I could have actually tried drawing out an image of a face, or other object or created a space to which something could relate, but it turned out as an abstract piece that makes no sense at all. I do wish I took more time to complete it. It could have become something quite intriguing to look at and contain details that would pop up with more attention. There was so much potential, and I created something that was very simplistic.

Draw the Sound of a Jet Engine

            This project is a difficult one for me, because I can’t envision actual works of art with each challenge, however, I did like the jet engine drawing. When I think of the sound of an actual jet engine, I think of waves and actually seeing the frequencies in various colors as the aircraft takes off. To put this idea to paper, I began with a simple piece of computer paper and stared at it for a while. How could I do this? Looking around the room, I see my acrylic paints, grabbed a bottle and began to squirt layers of squiggly lines as waves. What colors did I want to see? Answer was, the ones that I could see right then and there, and it turned out particularly interesting to look at.

            As a process for making this piece, I honestly just wanted to get something down on the paper quickly and stylized to capture the movement of the waves, and it took me about 3 minutes to look for the colors around my room. I took two bottles of paint in each hand and squirted away. I do not have any attachment to this piece in the first place, however if I was to expand upon it, I would have probably drawn the tail end of the jet and had the sound coming out of the engines with the waves, or even coming out of a person’s mouth to add a surreal aspect. Though I think the simplicity of the drawing adds to the beauty. Splatter paintings show the most movement and emotion compared to a thought out sketch.

Make Your Own: Draw Something without Thinking to Embody Something Haunting While Looking at the Blog Page

            I sometimes just doodle without even knowing what I am drawing, and most of the time this happens with charcoal because of its extremely loose and graphic nature. When looking at the list of drawings we could do, I did not see any that tickled my fancy, and I was drawing the same time I looked at the blog. I looked down, and saw something haunting and eerie. It was an inhuman face coming out of a smoky background. It actually somewhat startled me, and it was probably a response to this whole project as frustration. Letting my hand loose on the paper, I finished it and decided it looked interesting enough to be an experimental drawing.  The circumstance in which it happened was comical; I furiously drew on the page, thinking, “I must finish this assignment!” It kinda matches my facial expression as I drew it.

            I wouldn’t do anything differently because of its immediate and spontaneous nature. You can’t change anything that was done so on the spot. Feelings or emotions would be so different, that the image would morph completely into a new drawing. Though I should have finished a background, or added some color to make it more interesting to look at, but I was not putting any thought into it, so it turned out how my hand wanted to draw that night.

This drawing was done in ball point pen when I was bored, and let my consciousness free. I didn't really have a specific reason why I drew it, besides coming up with elements as I went. I love the beauty and complexities of faces, and the face underneath the skin. Therefore I drew an image of a woman in Dia de los Muertos makeup with her face morphing into her skull. It represents true beauty, that every woman has true beauty, even if society doesn't think so. We are all born with the same structure underneath our skin. No woman is above or below the other. I could have used color and different mediums to create a more complete image, but the black and white qualities relate to my theme of equality.

For this drawing, I created an intaglio print depicting a light house with a cloudy background. It was created in copper and etched for a certain amount of time for the different shades of black. Two plates were used, one was a line plate the other was an aquatint plate, which is a highly toxic rosin. The entire process was difficult and tedious, and of course experimental. I have never done anything like this until this semester. The inking process was difficult and tedious, and took a while to complete. Plates had to be warmed up on a hot plate then the ink was spread over the etching with matte board cards then wiped off with tarlatans. The printing could begin with soaked paper, and perfect registration between the two plates.