bit of an update

So these girls were fun to draw; I've been searching groups on Flickr to do gesture drawings from when I'm at home and lack live moving people to sketch.

I haven't gone to any drawing sessions around town for over a week and I have to say it's actually okay-feeling with me. The UofO is on hiatus for finals week and spring break; I haven't gone to NewZone for oh...three thursdays now? I noticed I started feeling really SERIOUS about my studies, as in, not having fun. Which of course is normal. Okay sure yes. Maybe Serious needs some nuance....how about Cramped as well? Yes that's more like it.

I tire of the model poses in figure drawing. Oh dear. Dear dear dear. I want to learn how to find interest in the static poses and sustain it. I have so little interest in drawing, say, a woman holding an aubergine. Unless I cartoon or caricature it. Heighten something!

How do art students and artists studying the figure develop an interest in those dull poses anyway?! I am certain I will find out, if I am to learn anything.

This afternoon I sat in the Library Cafe and sketched for awhile and felt very interested in everything, even shoes (see below). Methinks the interest, then, is very much internally generated.

Tomorrow morning I truck on up to campus: books go on sale at 8am! Bugger that hour though.

Gah. I'm going back to school. I feel a familiar feeling or three. Excitement, the nerves, the anticipation, the everythings. After a two-week-long Byzantine journey to try and gain assistance for course equivalencies from my former University and how those courses might count towards all the general education and foundational skills requirements at Lane.........I finally connected with the right person and I feel hugeness of reliefness. Many of the gen ed's do in fact carry forward. I will need four terms of math (joy and an armload of it! can I take these all pass/no pass??), a Speech, two science w/labs and the rest can all be ART ART ART ART.

Here's a few gestural doings. Adieu, for the nonce!




ps: I built two more raised beds, two more raised boxes, planted peas last month which are coming up in buckets. Today I borrowed a friend's really really old Ford pickup (it has a choke! I've never driven anything with a choke!), bought some organic soil, and filled the beds by failing wheelbarrow-fulls. Then I drove back to his place, retrieved my bicycle, and rode up the butte a couple of times (it's a rather small butte). A lovely day. May the next door neighbor's dog exhaust himself from barking very soon or I. Shall. Go. Mad. Ta for reals, I'm off to read about Mary Russell and Sherlock Holmes.

Greetings fellow cosmonauts!!!

Happy March! What have you all been up to? I hope you're all doing dandy fine and groovyliciously.

I've been watching Who Framed Roger Rabbit. What a phenomenal film. I like it much more immensely than, say...Avatar.

*dodges rotten tomatoes*

I saw WFRR back in the day and was pretty impressed; now I'm going to add charmed, riveted, transfixed and awed to the list of adjectives. I'm watching in installments, tonight will be the third and I think I'll bring along my sketchbook. I've also been reading Joann Sfar and Emmanuel Guibert's graphic novel, The Professor's Daughter. I spotted it on the shelf at the library who knows how. One glance through and I was enchanted and totally jazzed by the fluid, expressive lines of Guibert's sepia inks. Totally amazing. I'm going to buy this for my permanent collection (I don't buy many books due to budgetary constraints but this is definitely worth an exception).

So today while I was in the waiting room at the clinic, I sketched from the book and had a really great time. He is such an inspiration. The storywriting is superb, funny, and as engaging as the panels.




Some days ago I stumbled on a video made by Mark McDonell who teaches gesture drawing for animation. What a revelation. So loose and fun, playing with line. The live model was dressed as a pirate. Oh man I would love it if there was something like this going on in Eugene. Depending on how busy I am when Spring term starts......I just might have to start something up like this, or revive Dr. Sketchy's. It's 'What happens when cabaret meets art school' and there once upon a time was a Eugene coalition but it's fizzled out......why oh why?! There is, however, a burlesque show every sunday night at John Henry's.....which I hear is a mixed bag.

Also reading the late great Walt Stanchfield's series of well written and humorous writings, in the form of notes and handouts he gave to his students. Again, gesture drawing for animation......and a great philosophy on life. Beautiful.

All the things I've been finding lately are like little bon bons, but......nutritious :)

I'm all registered for classes and I managed to land every one I wanted! Three art (two studio) and one math (required, I'll be in maths for a year so I can finally take a college level class to complete my degree). I just bought a portfolio on eBay to lug around my huge pads of paper and drawing board, pencils and other art sundries, in comfort and style :) Also, I've commissioned a local guy, Lane Kagay of CETMA, to build a trailer for my bike. He's pretty amazing and I'm pretty stoked. Now I can tote my stuff and save oodles of travel time (walking and bussing the whole way with our underfunded public transportation system would net about an hour and twenty minutes one way......with a trailer and then a bus, the trip will be around 25 minutes).

This is my current favorite drawing instrument



A Stabilo Aquarelle, very smooth and dark, but not so smooth that it slides around all slippery on the page....just enough drag.

The mole on my neck isn't really a mole and it's not there any more. It grew very suddenly and quickly so I thought it best to have it lopped off (hence the trip to the clinic today). It's actually a mollusk. I kid you not. Okay it's a latin name but 'molluska' is in there. I waited three hours (not bad I guess, considering it's a clinic, understaffed, and all that), was ushered into a warm room, eventually greeted by an elderly gentleman who asked me what I was there for (people holding my chart kept asking me what I'd come in for, I found myself irritated). I said, "You're going to take this mole off and give me a full body exam." I was ushered into the surgery room, which was quite chilly. He suggested that he do the exam now, so I requested a gown. People came and went through the double swinging doors at will, no knocking.

I voiced my concern over the temperature and the lack of privacy, after the doctor said he would take the mole off first. With me in the flimsy gown lying back in the chair. No I don't think so. I gave him a suggestion for doing an exam in a warm room, or after the surgery part of the gig, as I didn't fancy shivering and wondering if someone was going to charge through the door at any given moment (I asked the nurse to please announce himself by knocking first....the doctor wasn't around for that request and so.....yeah).

It was pretty weird. I submitted myself to the blade after redressing myself in sweatshirt and jeans, my mollusk and I were parted, and I hauled my stuff back into the other room where I undressed and my mollusk-less neck began to bleed profusely. Like I'd been bitten by a snaggletooth vampire. The doctor mopped that up and swabbed me with a coagulant and I submitted myself to the exam.

Oh man it was a surreal morning :)

I'm going to watch Roger and the gang. Here are a couple more drawlin's.



This was at jury duty........as it turned out, the final lotteries didn't yield my number, so even though I didn't sit on jury for the cases, I've officially served. Cool!



Last saturday's model at UofO figure drawing open studio....she was great.



At the library the other day........I love sketching there. So many great characters. Must remember to bring my camera next time.

Hey did I mention? The model at UofO on my birthday was a young guy who turned 21 just that day. Pretty cool.