Skull research

The past few classes of drawing skulls have been very interesting to me. The three skull drawings that were due was definitely my favorite assignment yet. The organic and complex form of the shells create an amazing composition on the paper. Before completing my drawings I did some research online to view what other artists where doing for skull drawings. The inspiration that I derived from these images, along with all the skills and knowledge that I have learned about life drawing really helped me create three very nice skull drawings.

Midterm Post

The past half a semester in Life Drawing I has been an excellent skill building and learning experience. The variety of drawing subjects and assignments has kept the class very interesting. I really enjoy how the class periods usually consist of learning about the muscles of the body, doing gesture drawings, and then doing one or two longer drawings. I enjoy the change of pace compared to past classes like Drawing I and II where it was 3 hours straight of still lifes. The amount of information obtained from lecture and working on the manikin has been very surprising to me. Coming into the class I did not expect to learn so much detail about the human figure, but after doing the muscles I definitely understand why it is so beneficial. Although the manikins can be frustrating, I think they are one of the most beneficial parts of the class. Looking at images and sketches during lecture only sinks in to such an extent, so physically molding and attaching the muscles has been very reinforcing.

Drawings that have been very beneficial to me have been the 3-5 minute gesture drawings. This amount of time allows me to obtain a variety of line-weight, but at the same time forces me to use quick gestural motions to capture the entire figure. This style of drawing is easily related to my industrial design studios. Being able to capture perspective and form in quick strokes of pencil or pen is a desired skill for ideation sketching and rendering. I feel that my strengths are in my line-weights. After having classes like Presentation Techniques and various Industrial Design studios, I have learned about the importance of varying line thicknesses. However, I feel that my weakness in the class is proportion. I often struggle starting my drawings and when I finally get my proportions correct, I find myself not using the entire page. During the 2nd half of the semester I want to focus on creating correctly proportioned figures that take up the page space well. Also, I want to slow down and start with lighter strokes in my drawings, and then once my proportion is correct, start laying down varying thicknesses. Overall I am pleased with my progress so far and I am excited to finish out the semester.

Flickr:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/danieljnoll/

The Walker Visit

White Brick

Odd Nerdrum

This painting by Odd Nerdrum titled "White Brick" is a hand ground paint based on linseed oil and egg on canvas on cardboard. It is unframed and 21.125 x 21 x 0.5 inches. As shown in the painting above, the subject is a white brick on a reflective surface. The background is dark brown which transitions into a lighter brown, reflective foreground surface.

The reason I chose this painting is because of the simplicity of the subject. The way that Odd Nerdrum took such a simple object, a brick, and displayed it in such a beautiful manner is very impressive to me. The detail in the surface of the brick is very intriguing. Also, what really drew me into the painting was the beautiful colors that are depicted in the reflection of the brick. There is a hint of a glacier blue that is a nice accent against the white and brown surfaces. Also, the light edges of the brick and shading of the different surfaces create an excellent three-dimensional feel.

My Shell

My shell is a Gastropod seashell known as the Horse Conch Shell or Pleuroploca gigantea. It is the state shell of Florida. It is native to the marine waters around Florida and is the largest conch shell in the world. It can be found along the Atlantic coast from North Carolina down to the Gulf of Mexico. It can sometimes reach up to 24 inches long.

The shell is a light tan in color and has spiraling points going around it. It also has a long canal going down the middle. It's inhabitant is a gastropod mollusk. It is the largest and most successful class of mollusks. The shell has fine spiraling lines that lead towards the many points that spiral down to a point.

Contour Research

Instead of putting up some of my work from class this week, I decided to do a little research and find a few figure drawings that have great strokes and line weight. I am hoping that this will help me have some images to reference for my own style. Overall that week was very successful. I really enjoyed learning about the spine in class and am excited to continue throughout the body!

Blind Contour Drawing

My process for this drawing was to use contour lines to create not only an outline of the figure, but also the interior features. I first started in the lower left of the figure at the toes and feet, and then continued to slowly move up toward the shoulders. I focused on starting with a light outline of the body part, and then tried to use contour lines to show surface detail. Although my drawing may look heavy and chaotic, I definitely think that it expresses the figure as a whole, not just an outline.

Physical . Confident . Abstract

Here are a few of my final Industrial Design projects over the last semester.

Walkie Talkie Design

Polaroid Camera Design

I also enjoy photography. Here are a few images: