SUMMER IN THE CITY

The air has just turned from the crispness of spring to the solid humidity of summer.

The trees are in bloom


I can finally bask my pale legs in the sunshine



The courtyard of my school is secluded from the busy street, sunny, and grassy, and thus perfect for naps. Bring a blanket, though, or else you'll get cigarette butts in your hair

Even the dead brick walls are in bloom!

FINAL PROJECT TIME YAY - INSTALLATION DRAWING - INSPIRATION POST

IT'S FINALS TIME.
PREPARE YOURSELVES FOR TWO WEEKS STRAIGHT OF BLOOD SWEAT AND TEARS, IN THE NAME OF ART!!

But seriously, hashing out my ideas like this, explaining them and showing what I want it to look like, is super helpful for a scatterbrain like me.

For this project, I was inspired by location. There is this dismal, usually abandoned hallway in my school, with bleak white walls. You hear the echoes of your footsteps, and faint strains of the voices of other people, but you can't see anyone else. It seemed like a lair.

So, I'm going to draw a frightful monster in this lair! To scare innocent people walking through the film/video area!!

I've always been drawn to Medusa: a woman who started off a a human, but turned into this frightful monster. (It seems that other people are too: when I asked my class if they knew Medusa, almost everyone said that they did. Few people could name the hero who slew her).

So that's how I want to portray her : Wild and Monstrous, but still somehow a little human.

I'm inspired by...

The boldness of street artist Swoon...

The mix of human sensuality and fierce monstrousness of Adam Hughes

NOTES FROM ART SCHOOL

A few observations from my first year in the paint-splattered, charcoal-dusted, grungy place I call home.

1. You will probably not get through art school without doing something dumb to your hair at some point. For instance, dyeing it so much it turns to a strawlike fuzz, or shaving it all off. Accept this. It's just hair, it grows back.
2. Some of your assignments, particularly in the foundation year, will be mind-numbing and difficult. I could tell you you're learning from them, but I'd be lying. (I drew boxes in charcoal for 3 damn weeks straight. Tell me how that's useful). You are, however, learning the fine skill of punching through frustration, which is extremely valuable no matter what you end up doing in your life.
3. Cafeteria food ranges from "strange tasting but edible" to "no no no why is this in my mouth". Learn what's good and what's not.
4. Good teachers make or break a class. Especially the long studio classes. Suffering though a 1.5 hour English class with a boring teacher is okay, while suffering through a five hour class with a similarly boring teacher is excruciating. 
5. Don't be afraid to switch classes if you have a feeling the class is gonna make you miserable. Save yourself a semester of bashing your head against the wall.
6. Stock up on charcoal and newsprint. You will be burning through those things like crazy.
7. Art supplies left unattended for a few days in workrooms? Your supplies now. 
8. Do NOT use the nasty spray fixative/spray paint in the communal workroom with terrible vents or everybody will hate you. Spray booths and the outdoors exist for a reason.
9. In a pinch, an old magazine makes a decent mixing pallette. And you can throw it away when you're done! 
10. There will be some days when all that's keeping you running is caffeine. That is okay. 

Collegical Things

A brief memoir, in pictures, of my first semester in college.

It is a regular occurance to find plastic elephants in the courtyard

I learned how to mix colors and maneuver pallette knives!

The recipes for different paper dyes in the Papermaking studio.

The view from my room at night is lovely. (Usually loud. But at least it's pretty)

Color pallettes = essential for the n00b painter

Wish I could say this was mine. Just a class diagram

Class drawing boards= old as time itself and filthy 

I've got no idea what this is but it's sort of cute.

Stained glass window panels!

These pictures are from a peice made out of sand by a monk. After it was completed, it was tipped into the river and destroyed.

Drawing studio in the morning light.

The view from the 12th floor library in the fall!