Finito

Life Drawing has been a very beneficial class for me. Learning new ways to approach the human form and drawing in general has dramatically affected my process and in turn product. Art school is more about learning processes than product. Everything is a process, especially a work of art. Learning new ways of working as well as seeing helps depict the three dimensionality of form. Seeing internal structures and planes rather than value helps set up a good foundation that can alter ways of building mass on flat surface. An artistic block can be overcome by looking at the process through a different vantage point. These alternative approaches to creating form create new platforms to manipulate space and conceptually develop the figure.

Life drawing has also taught me the importance of line quality. A simple line can hold a lot of information about weight, spatial configuration and planar changes. A few lines together can describe a lot about space, light, form, muscle tension and even motion. A picture of lines is also much more maneuverable than a picture built out of value. A few internal lines can be far more descriptive than an outline or shadow shapes.

Drawing and Yoga are two of my greatest passions, the combination of the two is just utterly delightful. I found the yoga to be very beneficial to life drawing through mirror neurons and muscle memory. I often felt my muscles while building or drawing them. This gave me an intuitive spatial memory of the form being depicted. Actually feeling the muscles through memory helped me develop a sense of tension in the figure and where to stress line quality. Building the muscles also helped me in understanding internal structures, I do wish I could of drawn the maniken from a few more angles.

Free Hugs

FREE HUGS

The first act of the evening involved me settling a debt between a friend through one of my notorious exchanges. I don't accept or give back money when owed as monetary matters are moot. I had managed to find an antique drafting set and thought my good friend could find some use as he once had dreams of designing shoes with an Industrial Design Major. My good friend was not so happy with his compasses and did not believe that the dusty set was worth the twenty dollars despite my claims that the uses found in the compass would be priceless. Regardless he still joined me for the senior shows and to check out the Industrial Design department.

I caused more of a scene than intended in the Interior Design room. All was going well as I snacked my way around the tables and picked up a temporary tattoo saying "Free Hugs". I Began checking a few of the exhibits until I ran into a girls design of a rehabilitation facility. One of the rooms pictured was a yoga studio with a silhouette of a figure doing a standing warrior. I impulsively and very inappropriately leaned over and planted a figure in a tree pose with my marker. Being a teacher of Yoga I was so enthusiastically enthralled with the passion of seeing yoga that I was compelled to make an erroneous decision in an act of vandalism. Before I could finish the figure to blend with the image I was interrupted by a person who was not pleased of my actions. In fairly short time there amassed a small mob of angry people and one student whom was in disbelief of her art being subject to a further act of art. The only thing I could do at this point was offer free hugs to a group of people who really looked like they needed one.

I was kicked out of the room without receiving a single hug. I kept my hopes up despite not a soul finding enough love to accept a hug, or turn a cheek for a peck. We were told we needed to vacate the premises. I wasn't going anywhere until my friend saw the ID department but he told me he was leaving and would make it there some day. Susan Hunt, UW-STOUT'S art director, began chasing me around the building. I ran up to the organ room where I played a song and dedicated the piece to Susan, standing just outside the door on the phone-line.

I was escorted out of the building and very shortly running from the police. I ran to a discrete location where I felt it appropriate that the Police meet me. After we establish the setting I begin on the next scene of rolling back through the exhibition and getting matters sorted with an entourage. Outside the building the police cite me my first vandalism citation. I tell them instead of writing a ticket of bullshit monetary infractions that I would get my club, Zen Living, to submit to community service and clean up the towns graffiti. The police had refuted my claims of monetary matters saying that my group should not be subject to punishment, I told them my fifty some hands would enjoy cleaning the community up and consider it a Chrismas gift to the fine town of Menomonie. Alas against all reason the police fined me two hundred and fifty dollars to which I do not have a dollar of.

The next morning at the raw deal cafe I ran into our director Susan Hunt. I stopped by Susan's table to reminisce on Cy Twombly. A woman named Rindy Sam traversed a gallery, and put on a deep cannon red lipstick and plucked one onto one of Cy's finished canvases. The woman stated she was overcome with passion, with love, a testimony to this moment, the power of art and Rindy thought the artist would understand. Rindy was charged with vandalism despite the fact that the only reason a majority of people know Cy Twombly is due to that infamous kiss.

I was offering Hugs and only asking for forgiveness. In search of human compassion, humility, community, and proper justice I only found anger blinding the love I offered to a community, and a debt for a few dollars. The victimized womans artwork was defaced, however I believe her piece recieved more attention and will be remembered over many other pieces. The students work was executed beautifully and professionally and my actions were entirely inappropriate. I will continue to offer my apologies even if the student cannot find it in herself to hear me out and accept the present situation for what it is.

a motion for commotion

In my most recent painting project our assignment was to pick an artist to emulate. Studying cubism in art history, I fell in love with the cubist tools to depict and condense space. I particularly found an interest in Marcel Duchamps' futurist cubism study of motion, as seeing in Nude Descending a Staircase. Cubism is as if an object is static and you were to move around it where as in Futurism, the viewer remains static as the object moves.
I've also taken an interest in Graffiti and have attempted to combine Japanese Graffiti with Cubism. Cubism introduced entwining words into compositions, an example being the infamous "Jou" seeing repeated throughout cubism. I chose Japanese Graffiti because I am quite fond of the foreign colour influence as well as culture, the act of writing graffiti is reminiscent of the spontaneous "NOW" of Japanese calligraphy. Graffiti has so much motion and flow through the letter's natural characteristics in the writing as well as in the actual process of reading the graffiti. I chose to depict a train because of the associations throughout graffiti and art history. Trains also contain much movement and cube forms. One of the futurist's concentration was embracing the machine of mankind, which is often symbolized by a train. The word and title of this piece is Locomotion.


Taking an academic approach to Graffiti has proven to be beneficial to my education. I had never been any good at drawing letters and learning to write will compliment my pictures greatly. Being able to form and manipulate letters will enable me to make poster art as well. Going to Yo Dawg for my free lunch of the day I suggested to Diane, the owner of Yo Dawg, that I could make her a new coffee sign as the one currently up isn't very aesthetically pleasing to my eyes. She replied no that's fine you'll have to sit down and wait for your food. I replied No it's really no problem, I've been studying graffiti and would enjoy making you a new poster. In response she said "Don't worry about it, sit down and enjoy your lunch" I said "Sure, I'll sit down with some markers" Diane snapped back "Sit down, eat your lunch and get out of here" After I ate my lunch and studied the graffiti walls, I walked up to the other manager and told him I'd make him a better coffee sign if Diane allowed it. Mark, another manager, replied "What? you don't like my sign? My wife made that sign... And you know what, she's going to finish painting the bathrooms to." Not wanting to see my work complimented by such distaste, and wanting that wallspace I took down a poster from my Dormitory stating "hot dogs: $1 Brats: $2" and wrote "Competition" in graffiti on the back. This is to open there eyes to the competitive business of selling hotdogs and advertise my own Graffiti abilities.

A Blog about Blogs

The title of this blog resonates detest through my veins. I don't enjoy blogging and feel there is numerous other things I could be doing with my time. One of the reasons I am an artist is to avoid sitting in front of a computer screen. Regardless I understand how useful of a tool blogging actually is. In a college setting it makes for a very useful way of determining a semester's progress as well as create a good medium for taking notes in and furthering said notes through other students blogs. Blogging has helped me in talking about my work, my artist's voice, and vocalizing the artistic process as well as the pictorial plane. I believe I did a fairly decent job in sustaining a blog, I have some interesting posts that I believe would be valuable to other students as I am beginning to get some public work done and have further public projects in the mix. I would have liked to write a further in depth analysis of many of my posts but my own impatience and view of the blogging as a distraction got the better of me. Although I do understand the value of having an online presence as this is a connection with the world and has stemmed many contemporary artists careers, however the network of artists here feels untapped. I've received only a few required comments although this is to be expected as I have only given a few. I have surfed through a few various blogs but I feel I am a minority to the online populous doing so as there are little comments left anywhere. I rarely have commented where I probably should have, artists can benefit from feedback, good or bad. The blogging process is undoubtedly one that is good to be familiar with.

Man

The clay manikin has been a fun project that has taught me the interior structure of the human body. Learning how light hits the body inside out has been tremendously beneficial on understanding how to depict the human form. Yoga has taught me to feel my form, building a clay man is another step in understanding the figure as well as my own body. I feel drawing the clay figure is the next step in processing this information
This is an anterior shot of the torso. I feel my crafting is a little rough because I had no carving tools in building my muscles however I feel I retained more information by crafting and constructing the muscles using my hands. I feel the strongest aspect of this view is the imprint of my wrist band leading down the abdominal section reading "Donate Life".


This Posterior View of the manikin shows the Spinal erectors, longisimus and thoracis muscles. Yoga has taught me the sheer importance of the spine as it effects every part of your body. This muscle mass twists around the neck, down the spine and reaches into the pelvis. These muscles are designed to support against gravity as well as move the entire body. My muscles seem to have gotten a little bulky on the sides but overall I feel I have a much better sense of what exactly I'm stretching in a twisting triangle.


This Anterior view of the leg shows tensor . Looking onto the muscles now I feel I should have made the quads and vastus muscles larger. Although, I do have really skinny legs and feel the manikin is appropiate in reflecting myself. This picture also sow the tensor fasciae which I have coloured in white. I feel that making the muscles multiple colours, using bodyworlds as a reference, has created a more visually aesthetic piece as well as helped me in understanding the musculature system.


The posterior view of the leg depicts the gluteus maximus down to the soleus and achilles tendon. I see the side extensors could be shaved down a bit however the gastronemues does fit perfectly into the bicep femoris, creating a spatial triangular gap. The muscles could fit together better if I had used tools however I feel I captured the gesture of the legs as they twist around the leg. Through building the manikin I feel I have furthered my understanding in how the muscles behave. This is extremely valuable depicting the form in giving emphasis on action as well as visual stimuli.

A timely depiction

Presented here are several long studies. The female figure was really enjoyable to draw however it was executed very ineffectively. The torso is stretched and to have avoided this I should have made a more pliable figural study, including interior landmarks rather than attempt to catch light as it falls on the figure. This was the first female drawing in class and I could not resist denying the beauty of those reflections.

The male figure study with detailed abdominal section and shoulder girdle turned out fairly well. The line of the leg is rather descriptive suggesting form in space and fading into interior depiction of the musculature system. The anatomy lessons we've been going through have been very helpful in defining exterior space. The gesture lines of the piece show through and I like that expressive touch.

The female contour drawing turned out really good for me. The proportion worked rather well seeing as I had a fairly foreshortened view of the model sitting in the lotus position on the floor. The drawing looks like an organic landscape to me, pulling my eyes through space and over physical form. My eyes are drawn all the way back to connect with the models eye, visible just through the poorly shaded armpit. I also consider the geographic contour lines to be successful in depicting space. This form of depiction is somewhat new to me and I found it to be remarkably descriptive in describing space and form through line quality.

guessture

Pictured above are three early gesture drawings. These are inadequate in describing form as they give no real description of interior structure or any reference to the three dimensions of a figure. They are merely two dimensional outlines of the model. Below the text are gesture figure studies with a little more developed flavour. The red sketch, being only a thirty second study is actually quite descriptive, far more so than an outline and actually excluding the outline entirely. The figure has recognizable landmarks for interior and exterior imagery. The simple line stroke almost even carries an attitude with it. The placement could have been better as the figure is just stepping over the line. The landmarks are presented in the one minute sketch, however the hips are a little wide and the ribcage appears a little large thus losing some information. The linework in the legs are very descriptive, implying more form. The five minute study includes interior landmarks as well as begining to dapple in multi-coloured line work. I was attempting to emphasize the stretch through detailing the muscles being stretched in red. I really enjoy the placement of the figure as the weight of the drawing is brought heavily on the character, his hand reaching out of the borders, almost pulling himself out of the picture.

Tagger Party

Thursday night was rolling around and I actually found a party that interested me. The disc golf house was throwing a tagger party which entitles tagging a person and tagging a wall. The media was marker, black paint and white t-shirts. Jake Olson and I showed up, said hello to a few peeps and jumped right into the walls. The party was a blast canvas was everywhere, every wall and even walking around you on every persons back. After a few warm up sketches we started working together on a mural. We actually had no idea how it turned out until several days later when photos started popping up on facebook.

Leggings

In building the Leg I've discovered that there are a lot of forces that come into play for a simple stretch. I think my leg turned out pretty decent although in looking at these photos it has come to my attention that the Vastus Medius is a little small on my mannequin. Just looking at the twisted tangles of the hip adducters makes me want to stretch out with some hip openers. On that note I'm going to do some yoga.

Group of mannequins

It was noted to avoid drawing in muscle tendons as it distracts from the behavior of the muscles. Tools were discussed, from techniques on carving to how to get into gaps with a smooth finish. The bulk of muscle was brought up and it was determined to feel your own muscles and build from there. The length of tendons as well as their connecting points were compared as well as the lower longissimus thoracis . Eric has had to remove muscle mass in order to place form underneath and build off of. Cal's mannequin has a fashionable mustache. For the actual building of the muscles, either rolling in the hand or flattening of the muscle was found to be easiest.

Molding a Man

Image Description: The spinal Erectors stretch from the skull to the tail bone. The spinalis tendons reach up and down the spine holding the curve of the spine and providing a strong base for the larger twisting longismus muscles to wrap up into. The iliocostalis almost seems to be an extension of the longismus, layering and twisting out, reaching across the ribs, holding them into the spine. The quadratus lumborum pulls the hips and the rib cage together, putting less weight on the spine and giving the body more evenly spread connectors. The obliques and abdominals hold the front of the body and even the back. Being primary core muscles the abs and obliques in combination with the lumborum connect the front body to the back.

I am having fun molding a man out of clay. I believe this process will be extremely beneficial in understanding, seeing, feeling and drawing the human form. As I build muscle mass I imagine what I am doing in my own body. Applying the mirror neurons to the process helps build the form as well as understanding it better. I am very in touch with my own body through my yoga practice and understanding what all the muscles look like under the surface will be beneficial for my stretching as well. Actually seeing how the muscle's twist around the skeletal structure to fight gravity is really a beautiful design to be enjoyed.

Yo Dawg!

Yo Dawg, a local restaurant opening up, had posted fliers calling for muralists and taggers. With opportunity knocking, Franklun (Jake Olson), VIX (Alec Rudolf), and WE (me) answered the call. Zach Herling also donated some work and time. We were paid by being the official taste testers for the vendors, as well as one free meal a day for the rest of the year. My main piece is the one with the monkey sitting in the lotus on top of a cloud that is also cloned several times as sheep jumping over a wall. The wall fades off into recognizable Menomonie buildings which are the smoke stack, the tainter theater, the clock tower and walmart.

Hip Hop

Pictured here
Apollo's Diana 1504-05 Durer 116X73mm Engraving
After Michelangelo's David 1524 Da Vinci 270X201mm Pen ink black chalk
Vitruvian Man, Da Vinci 344X245mm Pen Ink Watercolour

The Pelvis is a good landmark with landmarks for describing the human form. It is a shape that is quite easy to recognize in terms of skeletal structure. It is easily located on yourself and imperative to understanding how the human is built, how the human moves and how the human reacts against gravity. With that being said standing straight starts at the toes and a large portion of posture is how the pelvis accepts and distributes the weight. The spinal column extends from the pelvis, setting the core to any drawing.

The Cage

Pictured here from Anatomy Lessons from the Great Masters by Robert Hale and Terene Coyle
Jacopo Pontormo's Studies, Red Chalk, 16 1/8" X 10 5/8"
Andrea Del Sarto's Study of St. John the Baptist for Baptism of the multitude, Red Chalk
Theodore Gericault Study for one of the figures on the raft of medusa, Charcoal, 11 1/2 X 8 1/8"
I have found the ribcage to be a valuable tool for mapping information. In class we were told that the spine and cage will have many variables but the sternum is always the same. I do not have the luxury of body recall in this instance because my sternum makes a few extra curves. Slightly after the manubrium, my chest expanded so much that it collapsed into itself. Learning the true gestural shape and behavior of the bones as they pour out of the spine has proven a good structure to build surface off of. The ribcage has proven to be crucial in understanding the human figure.

Gesture Drawin'

It would seem as if I have lost my 30 min. sketch from sept 9th, thus I have included the fifteen minute gesture at the end of class. Also pictured are the sept 16th twenty min. sketch and below the half hour of sept. 11th. In drawing the core structure of a human I have significantly learned the importance of line quality. Drawing 100 people I discovered how much you can describe an individual in a manner of seconds with only a few lines. These details include but are not limited to how they hold themselves against gravity, comfort level, what manner they carry themselves and captures an easily accurate sense of proportion. In combining the core (sept 11th) with the outline (sept 9th) you can truly achieve an accurate rendering (sept 16th) in rather quick time. I feel that core drawings are even more descriptive than outline drawings. The core gives a sense of depth, a proportional structure to work out from. I also found that making the shoulder blade line into a cylinder and the pelvis into a spherical-cubic shape really helped set the rest of the body. The spine also being a successful mapping tool. I found that joints were much easier handled with small circles on the axis. The hands and feet are also very descriptive of the persons position, what they are doing, and how they are doing it. I have also found that Yoga is beneficial to understanding the body. Being more aware of my own body and having a wide range of postures in my body memory it has been very helpful in depicting the human form in understanding how the position feels as well as looks.

Three representational drawings

A toast to the fruit of knowledge, 25.5”X19” May 2008, Pastel, The problem was to design a self-portrait involving a vegetable and utilize complimentary colour harmonies. I attempted to leave implications to the fruit of knowledge.










What did one telephone say to another?, 22”X30”, Dec 2007, Charcoal, This is a Koan I developed. A Koan is a question such as what is the sound of one hand clapping? The idea developed as a part of interdependent arising. This is a term possibly best described in scientific terms, with the universe exploding from one point and expanding into infinity becoming more and more distorted, on the molecular level everything is a chemical reaction of another chemical reaction, down to the synapses of the human brain and the movement in your hand. This process is also very similar to the child's game of telephone.








The Hallucinogenic Experience Called Life; A Self Portrait, 8’’X10’’, Dec 2007, This is a funny karmic situation of the ego that arises from the idea that life; described as a set of senses and experiences both real and unreal, is a self portrait. With this piece I really wanted to break borders and reach out of the box.