State of the Series

Last week we had a long discussion about the many ideas that were being considered for the semester-long series project. The ideas were, for the most part, the result of thinking, "What am I going to draw for my series?" Perhaps a better approach would be to start drawing, anything, from anywhere...from observation, from imagination, from experimentation. Also beneficial would be defining the problem in your own vernacular, "What is a series?" Perhaps a collection of related images created in succession. Maybe they relate conceptually, maybe by process, maybe by subject. Look at the examples that were distributed at the beginning of the semester, look at the examples from our blog, research artists who work in series (that's probably going to be almost all of the ones you find).

The summer classes that responded to the same project, albeit compressed, generally had 3-6 drawings by the end of the summer session. Six weeks as opposed to sixteen weeks. Makes me curious to see what a ten week difference makes to the evolution of such an ambitious project.

As each series begins to develop, there will likely be changes made, media explored, ideas adjusted. You may end up with ten drawings, with four of them constituting a resolved series. Be open to that possibility. In the end, it will be far better to show and discuss the four that are related in succession, than the ten that jump from one idea to another, or one media to another. Not that the entire exploration of ten drawings couldn't be included in final portfolios, but for the presentation of the final series, the four may be the cream of the crop and worthy of saying "this is the culmination of my creative investigations."

New Drawings

Again, one of benefits of having a dedicated studio for drawing students is being able to work on still-life arrangements for longer than just a few hours during one session. The following drawings were the result, for the most part, of two sessions, although a couple were finished in one. The still-life was composed of several unifying white geometric forms, illuminated with colored lights, and the contrasted with a black chord woven through the forms.

Shane's response focused in tightly on the forms and he improvised on the wire to create what almost appears to be tomb stones and ivy.

Patrick's approach was a tighter and more carefully blended range of values and colors with a stronger sense of external rather than internal light.

Marie's handling of the pastels feels very painterly and adds another unifying element to the image.

Kristin's process demonstrates a lot of spontaneity, giving the white plaster forms a strong sense of energy.

AlexS barely opens the composition which gives the space a very compact feel. His use of pastels and layering of color also creates a very painterly surface.

AlexK captured a strong sense of space through the dramatic use of light and dark. He also has a spontaneous approach to his work that imbues the image with a lot of energy.

Where we are....

Having the drawing studio designated for the S200, S301, S401, and S405 classes is proving to be very positive change for that part of the program for students in those upper level classes. Today we were able to look at all the work that each person created so far this semester, all hung on the walls at the same time. And although we are still relatively early in the semester, seeing three in-class images from each one in the class was enlightening, and inspiring. It allowed us all to see with a better perspective the approaches to balancing process, media, and idea. It allowed us to see how ideas are formed and how ideas come from the drawing process.

This was one of Shane Doebler's drawings that was created during an off-campus visit to the Falls of the Ohio State Park. He took advantage of the rock formations and the spatial distancing, one of the beautiful qualities of the Falls, to push his process from soft and atmospheric, almost abstract, to distinct and informed. (Click on any of the images to see a larger version)

Sam Chumley's response to the project, "create a drawing based on the element of wind", utilized a heavy rag paper and fine tipped markers to suggest the energy of wind on the landscape. The combination of the marker-marks and the paper texture resulted in a line quality that in some places lacked visibility, but in concept felt windy.

Louise Clausen found a great tree to draw, a mighty Sycamore sensuously rooted into the rocks at its feet. The patches of white under the shedding bark almost appeared fleshy, and Louise capitalized on that characteristic.

Kristin Thompson has an aggressive mark-making approach to her work that is clearly identifiable in any subject she approaches. In this response to "wind", the butterflies almost appear animated by the balance between her subject and her process.

Jessica Elam sat on the edge of a rock slab at the Falls of the Ohio and took in an expanse of the environment, pushing color into color and value into value, until she found this response to that situation. The pastels were initially aggressive, but eventually found a quietness to the execution.

I found Alex Stotts sitting in a valley of rocks looking out toward the river, his hand moving as fast as he was looking, as sensitively as he was seeing. He layered colors and values and was very open to incorporating additional approaches. I can feel that space.

Alex Kennedy's response to wind takes the character, tension, and gesture of line and creates wind. When I asked the class if there was a drawing that truely expressed the element of wind, one person immediately responded to this drawing. I felt that everyone had a similar response.