Lost

Since first semester after hearing that we'll experiment with miniatures in second semester, the first thing that came into my head was a sculpture of a scene submerged in water. 

Throughout the semester we experimented with different kinds of sculpture from readymades, books, textiles and armature, miniatures and a couple more that I forgot in class.

Anyway our final could have been anything but I decided to stick to my idea and go with it. I struggled at first to create a composition that worked in water, most of what I was able to come up with didn't make use of it being submerged. I then had an idea, but when it came to buying supplies for it...let's just say miniature materials aren't cheap. At all. My wallet wept that day. 

So I changed that idea and worked with the supplies that I was able to buy and with the abundant materials I had, I made a second piece with similar themes of lost and loneliness. I used containers with an open top so that people can have a bird's eye view on the scene when they get close, as though they were peeking into this world that is confined in the space. I also made it (especially the second one) to be pieces that you could just place on a table as decoration.

Ta-da!

Marooned

No Stories to Tell

They were a hit! A lot of people liked them and a classmate of mine took many pictures of it. I was happy with how they turned out and I'm even more glad people loved them. I still have materials left over and even had a third one planned (same size/container as the smaller one) but due to time I wasn't able to finish it, so I'll probably make more.

***

I had a ton of fun making these and spent several days just working on them, putting in as much detail in the little space I had.  Here are some process pictures.

I first started by making the armature for the cliff out of foil. This was the most important part for 2 reasons: it needed to be in scale with the rest of my miniature pieces and it needed to fit in its container. For this one in particular, I needed the landmass to be able to be taken out and put back in when I filled it with water rather than resorting to using a funnel.

I used apoxie to sculpt the cliff because it's waterproof and I love apoxie. 

To paint I just used acrylic. I did many, many, many layers of paint on this and used a variety of different greens and browns to make it look natural. I asked if I needed to coat the paint with anything if I put it in water but my instructor told me it should be fine, which it was. To make the colour of the water I just took watercolour paint and mixed it.

Here's the second one painted and glued some pieces of bushes and the campfire with just regular old white glue. For this one I created holes for the trees to be placed in. In the final the trees are not glued and are able to be removed. The trees themselves were from a kit, all I had to do was paint the trunks of the trees and take clumps of the foliage material and hook it onto the branches.

Here's the final with the figure, which was part of a pack of hobo figurines. I created the rocks with the little bit of apoxie that I had left when I mixed it and painted them as well. After noticing how illogical it was for him to have a campfire surrounded by three trees, I threw in the rocks that I made into one of the holes. This one's shape was difficult to place into its rounded container and required me to do a scooping motion to get it in.

Wild West

Our independent painting project required us to choose an idea for a series of paintings. My original idea was not met with glee by my instructor during a mid-term meeting to see progress. So rather than continuing a series that my instructor dislikes, I decided to restart and change my idea. 

I went for a series of paintings with western motifs. All of them were done with gouache and watercolour.

This one is my favourite, I spent a day researching rock formations and it was a good practice of atmospheric perspective.

Yes, yes, the border, I know. Watercolour + that tape I used = bad.

Character design! For this one I painted it differently than how I normally would, parts of it I "drew" in which I found myself comfortable in doing. I'll definitely practice this approach more during the summer.This one stood out from the rest though and I had trouble figuring out how to install it with the others.

I liked the drawing better, but there are some parts of the painting that I like better than the drawing.

Obligatory WANTED poster. Yes, those bleeds were intended this time.

Sketch of this outlaw. I asked people, Beard? Moustache? Or none at all? The overall census was none. I also couldn't decide to throw in the name for the painting since some wanted posters had names and others didn't, but that too was "no". But if you're curious, his name is Doc Ringo: wanted for stealing carriages, filling them with dynamite, riding into town, setting it on fire and riding off into the sunset to steal more carriages. 

I didn't really like the painted one of this but still liked my rough drawing of it.

Also here are some thumbnails and other explorations.

***

My adventure with painting continues onward!

Sheridan Animation Portfolio 2013

Sorry for the delay, had been busy with school but I finally had time to upload.

First let me get some basic information out of the way because I know people that will assemble their own portfolio will find this and wonder about certain things:

• How many times did you apply?
  I tried 3 times. I first attended Art Fundamentals then transferred into Visual and Creative Arts, then took the third year for VCA.
• What was your previous score?
  We don't talk about my first one...But my second attempt got me a 2.18 and this year I got a 3.37.
• What size was your portfolio?
  I used a big portfolio (18x24) to fit my life drawings, certain personal pieces, and it allowed me to present my smaller pieces in a tidier fashion.
• Which day did you submit?
  The second day. 

So here's my scoresheet.

And here it is! My animation portfolio! 

3 minute

5 minute

15 minute

Gaur

Orangutan

Here's Al, Spacemonkey Extraordinaire!

1. Cubism Drawing 
2. Hand Sculpture
3. CD Case Design
4. Stylized Portrait
5. A Sketchbook

Promotional Package

For my professional practice class we had to create a promotional package for ourselves which included: A bio, an artist statement and a CV. I also included with it a business card and decided to create a badge for myself as well. I also decided to go with my banner as my logo, I've grown attached to it.

I put this one on the cap of my plastic tube and since then people have kept pointing out how that was a neat idea. I thought I might as well make myself a walking advertisement in the process.

And my business card. I think it could be better but it gets the job done, I've been handing these out like free candy. At least I finally have my own card to put in with my business card collection! And I'll most likely change the title for myself sometime soon to whatever it is I want to specialize in in animation.

Descent Into Madness

Cubism, you are one crazy beast. 

Am I a masochist for choosing such a strenuous content to explore for an entire semester? 

Here are the rest of the projects we had to do:

We set up still lifes in groups depending on our content and bringing in an object related to our content. I was in the "extra" group that included people that didn't pick the typical anatomy, portrait, or chiaroscuro as their content. We had 3 hours to draw the still life and I included some wine glasses and that little jug in the middle since most Cubist still lifes are often typical still life subjects. Then we had to abstract the drawing we made.

We needed 2 smaller explorations before creating a final. I only like how the jug turned out and the background.

The Exquisite Corpse assignment. We were put into pairs and drew half of a clothed model on two sheets of triple mayfair. Unfortunately, I forgot to take a picture of my partner's side and mine together and I didn't like my bottom half that much. It wasn't as crazy as the top half which I did last, you can see I'm starting to become crazy because of cubism.

The final assignment required us to pitch an idea for the class to draw. The one picked was "indirect drawing" as a starting point (having very little to no control over drawing i.e. paint splatter). So I took some string, dipped it in ink, and dragged it across my page in various ways such as whipping it, dropping it, slithering it across the page, moving it back and forth and more.

Here's a photo of just the ink, I put tape in certain areas to create some interesting shapes.

I started off with drawing dancers after being in an event that involved dancing...and people attempting to make me/teach me to dance. I became entranced by the position of the arms, hands, and feet in dancing poses that I started to focus on them more. I then got into The Zone: drawing and erasing areas that I already drew for the sole purpose of taking a risk and going with it.

I was worried for a while that my final drawing wasn't going to reflect the work I put into understanding Cubism and worried that my last drawing in that class would be lacklustre. After two days of drawing, I finally grew to like it a couple days after finishing. There's something about seeing the mad side to yourself in visual form.

***

I began this semester with little knowledge and appreciation for Cubism but decided to pursue it as my content for an entire semester as a challenge for myself and to perceive things in a different manner. It was a struggle and surprise to discover how much you must think in three dimensions to create a cubist piece. Combining different viewpoints wasn't as easy as I thought.

I'm glad I took a risk rather than settling with something I'm comfortable with. I've expanded my artistic capabilities and now I appreciate Cubism on a different level and can connect and understand it a lot more than what my previous naive self thought: "That's stupid, anyone can do that." 

I never really enjoyed Cubism that much before, but now it's apparently "my thing" according to a couple of colleagues.