Summer Session I Portfolios

I have condensed all the remaining portfolios from Summer Session I into the drawing studio. There are several still to be picked up. That studio will be cleaned soon, so you'd better get your things before they become "examples" for the beginning classes, and free portfolios for the newby's .   

Summer Session I: Drawing (wrap-up)

Portfolios are ready to be picked up.  Make sure you also get your series.

It was good to look through the portfolios and see some of the surprises from our Cave Hill and Falls of the Ohio trips, especially since there had not been an opportunity to see some of them before.  The finished quality many of them possessed was, indeed, a welcome sight.

This was a fast, furious, and enjoyable six week session, and the dynamic I thought was inspiring. I appreciated the amount of sharing that went on with this blog and hope that you'll check back from time to time just to see what's happening with our drawing community.  I also hope that regardless of your concentration and/or major, that you'll continue to exercise the development of your skills, both manual and conceptual, in your sketchbooks.  And as Fine Arts majors, I hope you will continue to explore the contemporary world of art and become familiar with the vast range of contemporary theories and the artists who practice them. 

Be sure to check out the series post just below this one, and have a wonderful summer.  I hope to see you in the fall.

The Series:

Below are examples of the series project from the Summer I drawing class.  In some cases, because of scale or presentation, I was not able to include the entire series on a few.  This was a very involved project for a summer session, and there were many very rewarding results. The expectation of seven hours per week involvement is clearly evident in many of the groupings, and the uniqueness of each series made for an informative final critique.

Fran did a series based on dreams with beautifully drawn sleepers surrounded by very creative dream images that have a "concept art" influence. They are each roughly 22" x 30" with graphite and acrylic washes.

Aberlyn referred to herself as a "Jesus Hippie" in one of our critiques and based this series on her religious beliefs while at the same time allowing viewers to explore the abstract qualities in order to make their own associations. Each panel is about 30" x 21".

Sam explored clouds and their temporary amorphous shapes. They're about 4" x 7" done in graphite.

Trista developed a series also based on her response to the sky and it's contrast to landscape. These images are roughly 6" x 9".

Tiffany developed a group based on the gestation of a flower with the final image in full bloom. Each image is roughly 9" x 7".

Tatum continued her close up examination of flowers through oil pastels and mark making. Each image is approximately 15" x 20".

Shawn's series was four panels about 10" x 40" with mixed media.  It represents a traveling point of view to a metaphorical point of view.

These two panels are parts of Nate's series of four that explore contemporary Vanitas, a type of symbolic still life common during the 16th and 17th centuries.  The word, Vanitas, is latin, meaning emptiness, and loosely translated corresponds to the meaninglessness of earthly life and the transient nature of vanity. Each panel is roughly 40" x 60" done in charcoal.

Khara created a series about waves that was influenced by her participation in the surf culture. There are four different sized panels, about 16" x 10", in mixed media.

Katie did this three paneled series based on a project that she very much enjoyed from her experience in 2-D design, cubist influenced images of a guitar. Cubism was an art movement pioneered by Picasso and Braque in the early 20th century.  In cubist artworks, objects are broken up and reassembled in abstract form, depicting the subject from a multitude of viewpoints. Each panel is about 16" x 8" and done with chalk pastel.

Jessica developed a three paneled series of plant forms, these two are 11" x 9"' in mixed media.

Jerrye had a series of three drawings in graphite, about 18" x 24" also of plant forms in different containers.

Daphne did these nine small drawings of flowers with pastels, they're only a few inches by a few inches in dimension, and she mounted them as 'photos' like one would find in a scrapbook.

Connie did this large piece that incorporates her series of tents into a large piece made from an old tent.  She also drew the accoutrement of period reenactment encampments and essentially collaged those into the image. it's roughly 47" square in mixed media.

These are two of Beth's six panels that take the idea of postcards created about some of Louisville's landmarks, removing sections of the photographic images, and then draws those sections back into the image. They are each about 5" x 7" done with colored pencil. Around each image she has inscribed the latitude and longitude coordinates of each location and then mounted with onto a black surface with photo mounts.

Ashley did a series of nine, 9" x 12" Vogue magazine covers with prominent women in the covers.  They are mixed media and collage.

Sketchbooks

This was one of the pages from Jessica's sketchbook, and by the time she had exceeded the 20 page minimum, her approach and process with charcoal was starting to have a unified consistency and style.

This is one of Fran's pages, clearly showing a commitment to observation and mark making.

This page is from Aberlyn's sketchbook in which she explored a variety of approaches and media. This particular image was almost like a sustained gesture of a tea kettle sitting on a stove.

Daphne's sketchbook also had a variety of media explorations, and this collage was especially intricate in the way she assembled the page.

Katie had several pages of media and form explorations. This particular page (which I unfortunately had to crop on the scanner) did some interesting things with composition and design.

The examples above demonstrate "substantive pages" from those sketchbooks. In same cases there were 19 more pages of equal substance, in others there may have been only a few more. However, when the sketchbook was utilized to accelerate progress in drawing, I felt they were very successful.

This is from the syllabus:

Keeping a sketchbook can accelerate your progress in drawing, and given that this summer course is only six weeks long, use your sketchbook as often as possible. It will constitute, in part, 20% of your final grade. Your sketchbook should have at least 20 substantive pages by the end of the session. It can (and should) be used for practicing observational drawing outside the studio or for recording notes on ideas or visual observations in written form. It can function like a scrapbook or diary (provided you don’t mind me reading it) or a combination of all of the above. It is the best place to work out ideas visually because it is always at hand, but only if you make the commitment to carry it around with you.  Our Blog has a link to Artists’ Sketchbooks Online (Posted January 09) an amazing web site with hundreds of sketchbooks.  The site should be visited as frequently as possible.  There’s lots of inspiration there. The first page of your sketchbook should be used to catalogue your blog entry times and dates.

Sketchbook entries ranged from quick sketches to labored renderings, from collages to media experiements, from observational studies to imagination.  If they were "substantive", then they were awarded credit, if they weren't "substantive", then they didn't receive credit.  I looked for 20 substantive pages (I usually require 40 pages during a full semester).  20 pages = A, 19 pages = A-, 18 pages = B+, 17 pages = B, etc., etc., etc.  You get the picture.

See you Monday for individual critiques over your series.

Thursday at the Falls of the Ohio

It looks like we'll get another chance to be outside tomorrow, so I'll meet you at the railroad bridge. That is, of course, provided some freak storm doesn't roll in, in which case we'll be in the studio.  The forecast is very promising until about 5:00 in the afternoon.  See you in the morning. 

DON'T FORGET TO BRING YOUR SKETCHBOOKS.

Critiques/Portfolio

A recap of what was discussed this morning with a few extra things to think about. Everyone has signed up for an individual critique time on Monday, and then the final group critique will be Tuesday, from 9:00-12:00.  You'll be turning in your sketchbooks this Thursday, so if we're at the Falls of the Ohio again, be sure to bring your sketchbooks with you.

Final portfolios will be left in the studio after final critique. Your portfolio will contain 2 still life drawings, 2 Cave Hill drawings, 1 figure drawing, 1 or 2 Falls of the Ohio drawing(s), and your series (at least 3 drawings). Drawings in your portfolio should be leafed, that is placing a protective sheet between each drawing so as not to smear charcoals, pastels, or soft graphite. Any "spiral fuzz" needs to be trimmed off of the work and edges should be cleaned (think craftsmanship). Drawings should be presented in chronological order, first on top, last on the bottom, the series presented as one group at the very end.

A few more questions to consider about your series: Do you see jumpy or gradual changes in the series?  If jumpy, it may not feel like a series, what do you need to do to make the images more serial in resolution?  Are you familiar with artists' work that you can connect with?  What have you learned about your way of working, or even your classmates' ways of working? How has a sketchbook helped with in the series? Are the compositions, use of media, and ideas working together in a way that makes sense to you? 

Come to Campus

The hour by hour forecast says that the storms are arriving around 10:00 a.m. (90%), and the weather map looks grim about two hours west of Louisville.  See you in the studio.

Falls of the Ohio, Day 1

Trista has a very interesting drawing evolving from her spot in one of the rock canyons. A view looking out over the river just as the rock ledges start to turn around the bend of the river.  She using lots of marks and textures to express the rocks, foliage, and flowing river. I'm hoping that the weather is kind to us tomorrow like it was today so she can get it finished.

 
Nate stayed up by the railroad bridge to capture the sharp perspective and the dramatic atmospheric perspective.  He also has a very good start that could use another day of looking and processing.

This crew found a user friendly spot, mostly shaded, and I manage to catch them just as the session was winding down.  Khara, Aberlyn, Jerrye, Daphne, and Sam were combining rocks, trees, river, and bridge into their drawings with some going very well.  Jerrye and Aberlyn were getting into the charcoal with pretty impressive results.

Connie perched up on the hill by the interpretive center to take in a more panoramic point of view.  She was getting into a lot more blending today and matching actual colors with what she saw.

Ashley also found a spot close to where Nate was but turned to take in the sharp diagonals of an ice storm felled tree.  Both she and Nate were also photographed by a "journalist", but not sure what publication....maybe ArtNews!

I was glad that everyone caught the change of plans from Cave Hill to the riverfront in Clarksville. From all reports at the end of the session, it was an enjoyable experience.  Most of the drawings I saw seemed to reflect that enjoyment, and it's good to see that we're starting to loosen up a bit with the landscape process.  I will probably wait until tomorrow morning to post any last minute changes, but if it's raining, or if it looks like it's going to rain, then we'll meet on campus.  June is always good for fast weather changes, and even though the precipitation forecast has a stronger percentage for tomorrow, it always best to just look out the window and see what's happening.  Anyway, good job today. 

Monday's Aventure

So here's the new plan, "Plan B" if you will.  Cynthia, my wife, and I went to the Falls of the Ohio (state park) today to scout it out.  What we found was a more interesting area and it doesn't cost a cent to park.  The flood gates are open, as I suspected, so the fossil beds at the FotO are covered with water, as you can see in one of the images below. However, it makes for some pretty dramatic stuff further up river in the park just before you get into the state park. So we'll meet there, weather permitting, by the old rail road bridge in Clarksville.

This is a view looking out beyond where the flood gates are opened at the turbulent river.

I thought this was an interesting combination of man-made and natural surroundings, and it was the entry into the lower part of the area below Riverside Drive.

Ran into an artist, Al Gorman, who assembles the river's refuge into stunning temporary sculptures, many of which are scattered around the area where we'll be drawing.  They are made out of the things he finds washed up, such as styrofoam, old fishing bobbers (see that eye), and interesting pieces of driftwood.

The driftwood gets caught up in the trees and provides very contrasting angles for drawings.

Wandering around the beach/forest area there are lots of drift wood beds, some that are dense in thickness, like layers of bones bleached white by the sun.  Very beautiful and captivating.

The flood gates are open and as the water flows through the spillway, it crashes against the bridge supports, creating very dramatic responses to those obstacles.

The river has such a strong current creating a thunderous sound.  It really sets up some very interesting points of landscape view.

This is one of the scenes of the swollen Ohio River spilling through one of the spillways in the dam, it was a beautiful location.

This is a pathway below Riverside Drive that offers a very different landscape perspective that at Cave Hill.

From IUS, take 65 South, take Exit 0, go straight once you're off the exit ramp, you'll go under the 2nd street bridge, keep going straight, merge onto Riverside Dr, keep going straight.

From Louisville, take 65 North, take Exit 0, when you get to the bottom turn left, make a left right after going under the overpass, make a left at the next turn, make a right at the next turn, merge onto Riverside Drive, keep going straight.

What to bring: Check back with the list for Cave Hill.  Make sure you bring a garbage bag to sit on should you decide to plant yourself in a damp area. There's a little hiking involved, so shoes that will work in sand would be good. If you have some bug repellent, you may want to bring that as well.

I will be parked by the Rail Road Bridge that goes over Riverside Drive. You'll see me, I 'm the one with the hatchback opened.  See you Monday morning.  Questions/comments?

Some Cave Hill Experiences

One of the rock formations at the Falls of the Ohio State Park in Clarksville.

This is the finished drawing that Shawn worked on the first day and that was posted as an in-progress piece.  He combined oil and dry pastels.

Sam studied the water of the lake and pushed dry pastels into subtle blends and textures.  I think he intends to add a few more trees to the blue area to obfuscate the edge of the world.

Jessica got lose and much more involved with mark making in this piece which adds a lot of interesting textures and color combinations.

Fran worked with oil pastels on this Gargoyle and show a very keen eye for detail.

Ashley found this beautiful fountain and has treated one of the figures as fleshy rather than bronze, extending the life drawing sessions into the landscape sessions. 

 
The first two days at Cave Hill produced some very interesting approaches to pastel.  A few further explored charcoal and several of those were very strong.  I am including here some of the pastel works and the different approaches taken in the processing of those images. Some were using oil pastels and others dry, and several were using these media for the first time with very little intro other that the two previously posted videos.  It's like having a box of new toys, you pull out a few to see what they do and you end up creating an experience that shows you something about who you are as an artist.  Self discovery is a very positive things when it comes to creative explorations.

The response to Cave Hill was very positive that I'm thinking another trip there next week would be a good idea.  The Falls of the Ohio (click to go there) is also a good idea, but I'll have to drive down there in the next day or so to see if the locks are open because of the heavy rains in the last week or so. If they're open, the interesting rock formations will be under water which doesn't mix well with dry pastels.

Thursday in the Studio

Tomorrow's forecast calls for scattered strong storms, so we'll be meeting on campus in the studio.  Bring your drawings from Cave Hill.

Second Day at Cave Hill

Trista found a very beautiful sculpture to draw, but she found herself moving back out of the sun as it move across the lawn.  She eventually was so far back that the sculpture seemed to tiny to see. I'll include it here if she wants some added detail.

Trista's sculpture.

Sam spent another day on the drawing he started yesterday of the lake.  After he finishes that one, he'll switch to the other side of the bridge to drawing the "Cave Hill" behind him.

Khara started a charcoal drawing of the lake and the surrounding landscape.  The warm toned paper added a summer day impression to the work even though it was a black and buff drawing.

 
Beth was working on the lake with the dam and overflow wall.  She's very meticulous with her approach and so she may be returning another time to finish up what is going pretty well.

It was a big day, everyone present, scattered throughout the cemetery, and drawing. On Thursday, if the weather cooperates, we will meet at the end of the session were we meet in the mornings to sit outside in the shade and review the first week of our landscape efforts. I'm sensing hesitation from several of you who aren't quite sure how to go about getting into the dry and oil pastels.  If you haven't reviewed the videos yet from the earlier post, it should help. Try to be a little lose with the media, more spontaneous, and think about layering for color mixes and blends.  The above pictures are from this morning's session.