Visuals

 

Week 10

What I did:

 I fixed my hand drawing to be more proportional and have better perspective. I started to do my first “re-drawing” of the hand that will create the moving sensation. It was a lot of work for little pay off, so I went into a new direction. I focused on a simple sphere form and conducted 10 small experiments working with highlight, shadows, transparency, moralization, looping effects, single moving entities, and a compilations of each. I started my powerpoint for the presentation and have written and rewritten explanations and descriptions of what I will say during the presentation.

What I accomplished/ discovered/ encountered: 

I have learned that I have a really hard time staying on task and staying motivated though this process. My academic classes are taking a lot of my energy and time and I find that I don't have much left over for my art and for exploration. I just can't wait until my creative writing class is over. It is all busy work- I send 7 hours having to critique other peoples writing, not focusing on my own growth and practice. I am really irritated by it. ---back to IP--- I really enjoyed dissecting my process and doing experiments with my drawings through simple forms. It has given me a way to find solutions to move forward with out much commitment. I think the commitment part of this process has been the most debilitating of them all. I wish I started doing this experiments a lot sooner so that I could be on my way to producing actual stuff that will go into the show. But as I continue, my thoughts and experiences change with every new thing I do.

What is next:

I am going to continue doing experiments with my drawings with a focus on light, and movement.

I am looking forward to a new semester.

Week 7-9

 

What I did:

I finished my large drawing that I mentioned in my last post and also added some movement to the image. I started my next drawing and got the structure down, now I need to complete the movement. I wrote a proposal for my IP project and my Grant proposal that included images I developed of how I imagine the installation to look. I did a lot of research on bacteria and observed how it moves and grows. I made a map of my thoughts in my studio. I also met with my sociology professor to share my work with her and get any incite on how to make my work go from an individual “concern” to a social “issue.” I met with my poetry teacher to talk to him about my work and get some references that deal with “looping” of time, unsettling content, and ambiguity in visual and written art. I met with two lovely women in the Development of Language & Literacy department to talk about dyslexia relating to my art and as a personal endeavor. I also met with a psychology grad student in charge of a research campaign for children and adolescents with depression. By meeting with these various people I am beginning to grow and find my own type of audience and network for my work.

What I accomplished/ discovered/ encountered:

While trying to finish my last drawing with the girl on the island, I got very discouraged. I hated what I was doing and I didn't find any meaning in it at all. This concerned me because this drawing was one that I have wanted to do for the last couple of years. I thought it would be a cathartic experience; I thought that catharsis was the main drive for my work. But I was wrong. The drawing was very personal and had a lot of elements that I was juggling with. In addition to that, I was trying to express something that I just could not see in this piece, making me even more discouraged to finish it. I eventually got, what I felt I need to do to, done so that I could move on to the next thing. I learned that I needed to simplify my idea and focus on the subtitles that I am most interested in. I started my next drawing and it was of a small section of the body, the wrist. I pushed the wrist and hand in a strained position and framed it thoughtfully. From there I fell back in love with my drawing technique because I was much more apart of this drawing then the last one. Choosing a smaller section of the body and simplifying my approach allowed me to think about what was important. It make me think more about what I am trying to communicate, how I want the viewer to experience my work, and how I am going to accomplish it. I am in a much better place now.

What is next:

I am going to continue drawing and experimenting with ways of incorporating motion within drawings. I am going to experiment with lighting, value shifts, and perspective/positioning of my drawings. I am also going to experiment with ways to display my work, whether it me with projectors or monitors or other materials.

Visuals

 

Even further in the right direction

Visuals

A sketch in the right direction

Week 6

What I did:

I feel like I just wrote a blog post. This week has gone by fast and not a lot has changed sense last week. I did not get to spend a much time in the studio this week because I was ill and have been feel a bit down on myself. But I am here now drawing. I will finish my drawing by Monday and then start a new one. My proposal is complete as well.

What I accomplished/ discovered/ encountered:

After writing my proposal for the second time, after peer discussion, I was able to narrow my interests and see what I want to apply to this project in particular. I think before I was thinking about all my interest as a whole rather than as being in relation to one project. I have to remember that this is one of many project I will do in my life time and I don't have to stuff all my interests into one project. Right now I am just doing a lot of drawing and creating samples of what is possible. Eventually I will have to start getting my narrative set in concrete and write down what I want to communicate.

What is next:

I am going to keep making sample drawings and animations. By thanksgiving I will see what I have and create a more solid narrative with my drawings.

Visuals

Visuals

Week 5

 

What I did:

This week I spent a lot of time in the studio drawing, about 9 hours in total. I messed around with making animations on photoshop, 6 hours. I started a new drawing that will be animated which I am taking extra time on because I want it to look complete, 5 hours. I also started creating a more professional website for my graphic design work, 6 hours so far.

What I accomplished/ discovered/ encountered:

I figured out the direction I want to go for my IP project. It will consist of digital illustrations that are slightly animated. Like I have said before, I realized that ambiguity is an important element that I need to incorporate into my work because I think reveling just a enough will create the poetic conversation I am looking work. This will also create some distance between me and my work which is what I was concerned about before. I have also been getting myself ready for potential work opportunities by recreating a professional website which has work that is a bit more commercially marketable. I is hard not to think about the reality of ending school and needing to find job opportunities. Although I am not doing graphic design and such for IP, it was nice collecting work I have done and organizing them for me to actually see what potential I have out side the studio setting.

What is next:

I am going to continue drawing and creating slightly animated images. I am going to the library and check out poetry books and continue writing myself. I am just going to make, make, make!

Week 4

What I did:

This week I finished my three models of possible final projects and wrote a proposal for one of them. I went to the figure drawing class on saturday. I drew a little bit more in my sketchbook. I watched many videos of William Kentridge. I read about the de-medicalization of Homosexuality. And, I sat around thinking a lot about my values and made visual representation of them.

What I accomplished/ discovered/ encountered:

I would have never thought that IP would create such a world wind of emotions inside of me. I mean, at the beginning of the day I feel wonderful, fully confidant in my direction, and then by the end of the day I am beaten down, scared and confused all over again. Looking at my personal values this week has put some things in perspective for me. I realized that my values are influenced by others in my life and it put a lot of strain on what I want to create. These values have made me want to censor my work. It may seem wrong to allow others to influence/censer what I want to make, but I realized that this is a challenge for me. Having some censorship in my work is important because it creates some ambiguity. I realized that narration is important to me. And, ambiguity can create a sense of poetry that I am looking for in my work. I realized that saying a little can say a lot. With my past work, I have been very literal and “in your face” about my subject and context. I can still create imagery that is emotionally driven, and powerful without being so explicit. I want to start focusing on the little things, not the whole picture.

What is next:

I will continue exploring and doing what I have been doing, research and making. But I am going to start writing a lot more. I am going to set 1 hour aside each day for me to write.

Visuals

Possible Project number two

Visuals

small model of possible option number one

Week 3

 

What I did:

This week I spent a lot of time in the studio. On Saturday I spent five hours drawing. On Sunday I checked out two more books from the library that pertain to hypochondria and hysteria, as well as medieval medical illustrations. I spent two hours looking through these books. Monday I continued to practice my drawing for two and a half hours. Tuesday, we were assigned to think about three options or directs we are leaning towards as our final project and make a model of each. For my first option, I want to create a large panel with many drawings of memories I had as a child, some are real and some are made up by my own imagination as a kid, and stories I have heard from my parents. The drawings will be arranged similarly to a comic book but with out a forced sequence. This project will highlight my drawing style and be a cathartic experience for me. I spend about five hours in total making my first option. My second option involves a collection of home videos from my childhood and creating a composition and narrative with small looping clips of my past. I am still currently work on it, but so far I have spent six hours in total downloading and converting files to edit. My third option involves three dimensional form. I spent three hours last night pouring alginate on my face. None of the pieces came out, so I have to talk to John in the ceramics department to see what I am doing wrong.

What I accomplished/ discovered/ encountered:

I have tackled and learned a lot this week about where I am going in this process. I learned that this time is the best time to make mistakes and not to be afraid of making them. So, I should make and make and make, and then later make decisions. I learned that it is important to do lots of research on what interests me and what influences my work so that my work is more credible, which also open up multiple markets for where my work will fit in the real world.

What is next:

I will continue doing research, making mistakes, diving into different materials and mediums, and keep my mind and eyes open for my next “AH-HA” moment.

Visuals

This is a drawing I did yesterday.

 It is one of many drawings I will do that will culminate into my own visual language.

Week 2

What I did:

This week I drew 5 self portraits, about 4 hours in total. I read an article on hysteria in the 18^th and 19^th century and created a collection of interesting thought from my reading, 1 hour. I read about the history of vibrators, 1 hour. I went to the library and checked out 8 books. Some of the books are about artist, drawing technique, graphic design, drawing the anatomy, and others are about medical illustrations in medieval time, poetry on anxiety, and the physiology of hypochondria, totaling my research at 6 hours. I met with Brad Smith and talked with him for a while, 45 minutes, about my interest in going to the cadaver lab. He made me think about a lot of things that I had not thought about. I gessoed 5 panels so I can start painting, 2 hours. I started a journal and have been writing down dreams and memories I had as a child which may become content for my project.

What I accomplished/ discovered/ encountered:

This week was full of worry and discovery. I can feel myself becoming closer and closer to the thing that makes me tick. I have realized that although I know what interests me, I need to start creating a vocabulary for myself in order to communicated what I truly want. Doing research, reading and writing has started an internal dialog for myself, and making connections are the next step that will make my work more profound. I also discovered that I have to start jumping into making. I have been very excited to learn so many new things that the making part has slowed down. The only way I am going to get good at anything is to keep doing it. After talking with Brad Smith, I had a chance to communicated my direction and interests to him and how it is related to the body. I realized that maybe cadavers are not the right direction because they have little resemblance to a live or fresh body, and that my true interest lie in our relationship with our bodies on a physiological and social stand point. This helped put me into the direction of where my research should continue.

What I should do next:

Next, I am going to start painting, collecting more of my thoughts, meet with my sociology professor, and continue reading the books I got from the library.

Week 1

What I did:

This week was move in week! I am getting settled into my own personal studio and am making my self right at home. It is also the week that the first project is due. I worked on preliminary sketches for an hour in small scale and large scale. I took references photographs for the drawing I was going to create for 30 minutes. Then I continued onto my final drawing on 18x22 inch paper. The beginning sketch took 2 hours. I worked in charcoal for 4 hours, then erased it all, 30 minutes. I worked in pen for 6 hours. I watched Art 21: Paul McCarthy for 30 minutes. Did some research on Hypochondria for 45 minutes. And I also e-mailed Brian Smith to hopefully access the cadaver at the anatomy lab.

What I accomplished/ discovered/ encountered:

The first project gave me an opportunity to think about what I like about my previous work and what I don't like. I like my style and I like the body. I don't always like myself to be the subject, but maybe focus on a sociological stand point. It made me think critically about what I am trying to accomplish conceptually. I decided that a theme I want to explore is Hypochondria. I know for a fact I should continue my exploration evolving the body. This project for me fell flat because I was repeating elements from past work that I have already explored. It is time to move on to the deeper reasons for why the body fascinates me so much.

What I should do next:

Next week I will do 5 self portraits, research artists who use their body's and the body in art, read up on Hypochondriac disorder, and continue collecting and researching things I am interested in.

IP has begun

It is official. My Integrative Projects has begun. It should be quite exciting.