Crit Week 2 the revenge of the crit

ITS CRITIQUE WEEK! The week when all the studios gather to judge everyones projects and make judgments to our own beliefs on our designs. Its also a great time to draw, especially when you need practice drawing people.. Big Crowds lots of overlap, it can get hectic (the drawing not the critiques. I got a few good drawings done today, one involving trying to fit everyone in my view into my space on my sketchbook.. I think I was moderately successful..

I think next time I will try to make the people fill up the whole page, just to give those who are reading this the sheer scale. There were probably close to 100 of us in our little tiny critique room. The rain was overpowering our presenters today, it was actually kind of funny, we had to stop for 10 minutes while we waited for a lull in the rain.

Just look at all those people, I myself am impressed with my effort you can really tell that their are alot of people between me and the projects being displayed. Certain people keep getting messed up because they kept fidgeting or someone would lean forward and block my view but I'd already be about half way through the person and not wanting to change the image, so I'd wait and then my subject would have moved anyway. Oh well! Still looks good to me

This is Ben Adam's Project, he designed a very interesting space for Rothko. I originally only intended to draw the project, but then the veil covering the stool it was seated upon began to call me, before I knew it the stool was too, and then the wall... and then the shadows so it pretty much became a whole scene, only his board is missing. I've been working with my markers so much I almost forgot how you can show contrast using just your pen, I was so ready to whip out my cool grays. By the way Suzanne I think you'd agree that the shadows were likely a cool gray number 1 today.. maybe a 2 in the darker spots.

In conclusion, now that I've finished my final project I'm happy to say that I reunite myself with my sketch book and have some fun. This year has been odd. I used to be incredibly bored, I'd simply play video games or talk to my friends. Now I love to go out and draw and look at the world around me. But this post has gone on far to long, and that big world is in need of documenting.

not quite mine but...

So I've been busy working hard towards my studio deadline... 5pm Friday, its going to be grand! At least we have Beaux arts Ball on Saturday and there had better be a wild rumpus... thats what my ticket says anyway and thusly anything less is unacceptable.. anyway I have a purpose here... As of late I've been feeling kind of like, I have no style, and I realized a drawing style is not going to just fall into my lap. So I've been trying to take some time to pick up on a few drawing styles of others you know hodge podge it into a style all my own. Well those who know me know that I love video games.. and thusly webcomics affiliated with video games.. Well it just so happens two of my personal favorites have begun streaming their drawing process live over our incredible edible internet and I have been tuning into watch and learn from how they've been doing it. and now I thought I'd share that with my avid readers...

Scott Kurtz, author and artist of PVP Online, has been streaming his drawing process fairly often from what I can tell at Ustream

The other being the dynamic duo over at Penny Arcade, Mike Krahulik and Jerry Holkins run the show Penny Arcade TV another Ustream program, which shows the creation of their comic from start to finish and often times will have a little Q&A session following for various techiniques into drawing by hand or using the WACOM tablet that I am absolutly dying to get my hands on... perhaps one day...

Anyway, I thought I'd share these links as I find that watching them is actually helping me understand how I draw a little bit better and while their styles may be a little cartoony for a designer it still helps to see the techniques being applied.

Stoels Ideal House

Sketch up attack!

I've been playing with my markers again...

As my title suggests, I've been coloring, really using marker paper, retracing drawings from my sketch book and using markers there, because I'm so afraid I'll ruin drawings that I like before I add color, thus far I've been kind of impressed with myself and my coloring. Let me know what you think, faithful.... reader (I'm convinced there is only one person looking at this, mostly because she has too.. HI SUZANNE!)

As you can see, my bench sitting, woman who looked angry has made her second apperance, this time in glorious Kevi-color! A new coloring system that is taking the world by storm.

I also have a colored version of a drawing that we did today at the EUC. From the second floor you get a really good view of the corridor where all those college organizations ask you to sign their petition, or give them more money.

Now its by no means as good as the work that Suzanne did but I do like it, and the color seems to have turned out pretty well. I believe the shadow from the column hitting the wall to be the most successful part. Cant wait to go back and try again, this time I believe I use a more technical perspective technique. I will not be defeated by a simple building.. Next time EUC, next time.

Everyday Objects

For drawing class on Thursday we were told to draw everyday objects since our space renderings lacked well, signs of life... So I set out to draw what I could.


You have your tea kettle, quite frankly one of the most important things for a house

Your toaster, another important element to any home, for if you cant have toast with your tea what is the point?

Old timey radio, mostly just because I like how the old ones look as compared to the new ones.

Remote control, because getting up to turn anything on is just stupid..

and a phone, because well, people dont really seem to have these any more and who knows maybe one day my children will look back at this and ask me.. whats that? and I can tell an awkward story about a time when people didnt use Mobiles for everything

El Careton and more!

Tuesday's class took a little excursion over to El Careton a fantastic place to get a bite to eat and a really good view from which to draw. This was the result of that adventure, as well as a few other drawings that were done earlier or later that day.

So we have here a less than happy looking woman and the Brown Music Building. I must say I think that despite my poor perspective I think it turned out well.. and dots make it look so much better, those dots will make a resurgence in drawings I did later as well..

Now these drawings are not really related to my drawing lecture but they use techniques I've learned from it so up they go..
Firstly we have a drawing of the capital building, I did not go to DC but I still ended up drawing some of its major landmarks, I think it looks pretty good, some scaling errors towards the center with the columns but turned out better than I thought it would.

Also got the Lincoln Memorial Drawn just for good measure, as it is one of the first things people think of when monuments are mentioned.

Furniture aka I may as well be a catalog for IKEA

So with our first experiements with assignments in color I must say, I am excited. Despite my little episode about my perspective flat. I am happy to say that I was very happy with the furnishings I drew. especially this first one here, the lovely bed done with water colors. For my first experience with water colors I think it turned out pretty well although I forgot about leaving white space to show where their was a lot of white, sorry susanne.

Next I did 2 chairs, one of which I chose specifically because it was called Patrik and I was reminded of our own professor Patrick, odd that I draw that conclusion. I like this one, done with makers on marker paper. I used warm grays on the shadows and think that it shows really good contrast on the cushions not exposed to a lot of light. And the shadow gradients over time to the full light hitting the seat which I really think makes it all the better.

Below it sits another chair this time a wooden chair done with colored pencil on bond paper. This one I'm not to happy with just because I see how much I do not like colored pencils, while they do show texture well its very difficult to show contrast. Perhaps I should have gone over it with gray scale markers first but again, I'm a forgetful person but now I'll be remembering these errors and correcting them.
On this final page we have a sofa and you guessed it a chair. The sofa is marker on ink paper. I think this is my worst of all 5 drawings because the ink paper did not really absorb the marker as it has no tooth and thusly made it quite difficult to get a nice even coat on, then areas that I went back over to try and make it even appear to contrasted. I do like that the paper is heavy and thick but it lacks the tooth I think it needs for me to find it useful. Further experiments will be required.

My final Drawing is of course the lovely brown leather chair. This was actually the first sketch I did for this assignment hence its very boxy nature. I think it turned out quite good too good contrast, the light I think is very clear, the white colored pencil really worked some kind of magic on it. My only complaint is the shadow underneath which I think I did way to heavy, I accidentally used my warm gray number 3 when I did the follow up to show where it was getting darker, beginners mistake and nothing more.

On a final note, I think they turned out right good for a real first attempt at using color. Can't wait to work with colors more as we advance to the end of the term. Now that I've used them its like a whole new world has been opened up to me.