Planar View Coming Along Nicely

I enjoy painting. But, as I watch my planar view come into being, I am beginning to think that I  have an inate ability to sculpt.  My modest and humble disposition is in danger.  I am really good at this! Della Robbia---move over!  This still needs work, I think the brow is a little heavy yet.



The lower shot was added today May 1, 2012.  The piece made it into the show.  I will add another photo- it is mounted on a piece of wood and treated with oil paint.

Sculpting Class- Beginning the Planar View

We are going to do a bust, or sculpt a head. For starters we have copied the plaster one in the center--we have to make a planer view first- which is a depiction of the angles of the face- this will be on one side. The other side will be musculature. Then in November we shall get our human model and build onto it into the model's likeness.

I just realized--I have not shared with my readers anything about my professors. I have Professor Fox for design and Professor Naegel for Sculpting and Foundation Drawing. Both are very good instructors- offering suggestions and guidance. Professor Naegel has to repeat himself many times to the students. "Do you have a ruler? Have you bought your supplies? No eating in class. Listen, everyone--you have to do your homework. I am expecting you to hand in your assignments." Prof. Naegel is a potter also. He teaches ceramics- which I am hoping to take in the spring.

Design 1

This is a type collage.

Foundation Drawing

I have quite a lot to learn about drawing, but I have a good start. This is a still life that I am not finished with.

finalization of letter i project

I finished up the letter i project. the final on the no focal point design is done very neatly. The focal point design is a little messy. I really think that the focal point design is a winner. rule of thirds and leading lines. The plaka is tricky the work with. It has to be just the right consistency to flow off the brush. We took our 5X5 designs and blew them up 200 percent with the copier. Next we penciled heavily the back side of the blow up. Next we took the penciled side of the blow up and put it right against the illustration board and went over the other side of the blow up outlining the i's Sort of like home made carbon paper. Then with the light pencil lines on the illustration board, we could see where we needed to ink. After inking the outlines we filled in the i's with plaka (black) and white over where the black went, that should not have.

Project II in design -lower case letter i

OUr next project in design class is to take a lower case letter i and make an original design out of repeating it. I have some ideas going on--did twelve thumbnails.- there is election year--all the little i's following the big i. There is "love" random i's and two kissing. there is the pied piper i's. there is the tick tack toe i's- some need a few revisions. We have to submit two on fancy paper all done to perfection. One should have a focal point and one not--just a pattern. No fancy script or distortions allowed. Must try to incorporate different weighted lines, sizes and proximity.

Projects due this Week!

My biomorphic wire sculpting project is a success. I call it "old gnarly" because of the way the wires are twisted around. The professor gave me a lot of guidance. I appreciate his help, after all, he is there to educate me. Some of the other students don't really understand that point.

Old gnarly has three points of interest, which is a rule in design. Three things work well. gnarly has the upwards movement and the base,(pseudotail) and the hole. My daughter sees an embryo. I think the missile part is almost phallic.--move over Georgia O'Keefe!

In design I expounded on the rose motif. I think designs should have a motif and there are enough different shapes in the rose plant to work. This is the project just about finished. I know that there will be some strong criticism. I am not the greatest final project drawing expert. I am much more proficient at sketching.

In intro to drawing we are finishing a still life that's goal is to teach us line.

Art Class Overview

The top photo is the intro to drawing assignment....Draw Picasso upsidedown, and don't look at what you are drawing, looking mostly at the upside down pic. I couldn't help myself...I did not right side the drawing until the end, but I did look at my work a lot.

Natural forms for design class~ we brought them into class to draw. Very interesting, everybody makes a long walk to class from the g lot...and we walk by cmac. All along the path there are these low lying rose bushes with an abundance of hips. I was, "like wow, that is the perfect form to draw"...I want to theme the whole project roses..I am going to get some branches. Luckily, I was the only person to bring them in!

The point is to draw a lot of natural plants, forms, etc. And beef up the contrast in our drawings, to make them stand out. the we will arrange the sketches onto thumbnails and then the final project will be I think 11 X 14. I said to the professor...What is the goal? stylized or a pattern like your shirt? He said, " yeah, something like my shirt." he was wearing a printed shirt with leaves...it had a "design" pattern! Eureka! I am in design class! Now I get it!

My favorite! The wire sculpture! It is a biomorphic form---with the elements incorporated--that my professor suggested.---suggestive of a fish, but some see dolphin or bee. click on photos to see them up close.

Today was the beginning of the wire sculpture project

Our first project for sculpting and modeling is a wire sculpture. I decided that I wanted to keep it simple. For a biomorphic design you can either simplify or embellish the original form. It must be suggestive of a biological substance/creature/form. I chose to work off the form of a fish. My project morphed as I did sketches. Right now the form is in a fish motif. It must be expanded upon to only suggest a fish. Not sure exactly how to take it to that point. But drawing is crucial to sculpting--that is where the idea gets worked out. And it is also used in the progression of the idea. Now I will sketch some ideas of how to take the form away from the obviousness of the fish. The notes on the side are ideas and elements of design.....how to make it work, whatever direction I take it.

What's a Good Bargain in Education

I am going to get edjumacated. Has anyone noticed the dichotomy of philosophical viewpoints? That is the arrogant vs the bargain basement mentality regarding educational systems. What I am trying to say is that some people really look down their noses at the community college system. Sociology 101 is sociology 101 where ever you go!

I first encountered this in 1979. I was a arrogant little dr's daughter and I chose to go to Ithaca college. I later transferred the credits I earned to flcc when I pursued my nursing degree. in 1979 I could have received a continuation of my education---psych, sociology, into to the college level sciences at flcc. Instead I went off to the fancy school and withdrew.

When my kids went off to college--Natalie could not decide between Cornell and flcc. Cornell bribed her with a camping trip, so she went there. Natalie is not pretentious.

The four year private school is a racket. It plays on parent's pride. Thousands of dollars are raked into these institutions because a parent wants to brag the fact that their child is a success. It is a major status statement! Well, he might become successful, but has he learned to play the game or to think on his own? I paid 16,000 dollars for my daughter to go to Cornell and I am very proud of her. She excelled. My son went to Flcc and he makes more than she does. He is an agricultural worker for a famous grocery store chain. I was lucky that because my daughter was so gifted she received grant money. I am equally blessed that I was able to pay for my son's education right out of pocket.

Some say that a community college is a junior college- a continuation of high school. I have been to Hobart William Smith and Ithaca and I don't see the great chasm of quality that would be expected for the price difference.

All the profs want to see you go on to get a four year degree. That is a good thing. I think that the community college is a wonderful institution. It is an equalizer in this world of financial inequality. I don't think that the education is of a lesser quality.

Mona Lisa Smile Day

It was my first day in art history today. If anybody has seen the movie Mona Lisa Smile--my art history class was a little like that. She put up slides and we responded if we knew the work of art. The famous pics were an arc de triumph, the colosseum, a goddess sculpture...and so on, of course early cave paintings!

We were not like the girls at the ivy league school, but we did okay.

In intro to drawing- the prof went over expectations and gathered info about each of us. He is the same teacher who will instruct me in sculpting. In the art class we will be using pencils, sketch pads and drawing pads...big ones. We will sit on this funny benches. I will have to do a photo blog to explain! Prof Barron showed an interest as to where we all were from. I don't think that he realizes that I am fifty! What does highschool mean to someone who has been out for over thirty years!

The professor of the design class--a studio class, went over expectations, rules and regs and supply needs. We have to gather natural forms--like thistles and bring them into class in a bag for Thursday. The class work is all done in black and white. He was not too curious about us as people.

We shall be introduced to color in the second semester!

First Day of Art School

When I grew up, my Mom used to say, "when I was in art school...." "In art school we did...." I am starting art school, Mom, I hope you would be proud. I once thought, "be your own person, Amy....don't reference your mother when you discuss your talent." Do I have talent? I don't know. But my mother was very talented. I thought about my favorite singer song writer Leonard Cohen..his son Adam is a musician and so is John Lennon's son. We cannot change the fact that our parents are a part of who we are. They help form our identity. So, Mom, I thought of you today when I listened to my sculpting professor, Barron, at my new adventure in "Art School." I thought, I bet my mom is right here with me. I will think of my mother, when I tell people. "hey, I am going to art school!"

"Art school" sounds bohemian. I attend FLCC, not too bohemian! Finger Lakes Community College. I am a firm believer in bargains and shopping locally! The college is 10 minutes away, even doable by bicycle.

The great thing about community colleges is that you can redo one's high school years. In high school I was all college prep/ math science. No time for art. The schedule was full. Art was a secret longing. In my twenties and thirties I was a farmer's wife/mom and then a nurse. My mother was alive and she was the artist. I was intimidated to try to even go there! So I focused on my career and motherhood.
Mom passed away 10 years ago this December. I wish I could have shown her more of my appreciation of her talent.

I have just one class on Mondays, Sculpting and Modeling--and this class is usually for second year students. The prof said not to worry, that the class would work along with the other classes that I am taking simultaneously. I am excited to try this out. I already have a plan for my first project, the wire sculpture assignment.

The other students are all young. I am fifty. Mid-life exploration. If I do well enough I might consider doing a double major with graphic arts, as I only have to do about 4 classes next year to fulfill my degree requirements. If I do a double major then there definitely might be career potential.

My plan is to do this web-log and give a chronological account of my education as it happens!