Semester's End

As the semester winds down, I'm getting back some of the work I've turned in. I thought I'd post a few of the pieces here.

Colored Pencil still life. This piece may not look it but it took FOREVER to complete. It was done with 8 colored pencils. In retrospect, I should have 'zoomed in' so I wouldn't have had so many different subjects to render.




"Emerald City"
You might remember this from a photo I posted here on my blog. The assignment here was to render a scene in linear perspective, from real life. We had to show something in one point perspective, something in two point perspective, something in three point perspective, cast shadows, and reflections. Since my town is "Greenville", and the large glass window is green, I drew on a green surface, and thus, the title.


This is a study of texture. The assignment was to FIND 10 textures (not to arrange a still life or whatever) and to recreate them in a charcoal or graphite drawing. This is Bill's junk drawer. If you look closely you'll see a candle, a key, a lock, a watch, a crumpled receipt, a lifesaver, some sock holders, a miniature Eiffel Tower from his 40th birthday trip, a backroller, a pair of glasses, a spool of thread, and a shell from Edisto.

Goodness, Truth & Beauty

I have the assignment this weekend of writing an artist's statement. Which feels a bit disingenuous because I feel like a poser. I'm an art student, not technically an artist, and making that transition -- mentally, if in no other way -- is challenging. Anyway, I've been thinking about what I'm trying to say with my art, what theme holds it together (if any), blah blah blah. I was driving home thinking about Goodness, Truth & Beauty, the threefold of expression of The Trinity, and how I hope that my work reflects a spiritual dimension that's characterized, at least in some limited way, in some measure, by Goodness, Truth or Beauty. Then I arrive home, walk through the door, and am stopped dead in my tracks by the afternoon sun pouring over these simple pumpkins ... and I just knew that I was on track with my artist's statement. Which photo do you like best?

Fall textures

I've been so consumed in my observations of fall colors, it's easy to forget the textures are nice too.

Atonement

I'm trying to atone a bit for my lame photo posting of late. So here are a few entries, hoping to garner your forgiveness. :-)

Zeus: Glamour Shot

After a morning of roughhousing with Fibi, his (platonic) girlfriend, Zeus shot me this look, which I overexposed for the glam effect.

Daylight Crescent

Silver milestone

Today is my 25th anniversary, on the 26th of November. These two shots were about all I could manage today to recognize the day!

Stunning Light

Chelsea called out to me, "Mom, you gotta get a picture of this". Of course, I'm not capturing it very well, but the light really was amazing. Then as the storm came closer it got darker, and THAT light was stunning too:

Grateful bird

This bird was part of my table decoration for Thanksgiving, and he was grateful not to be the 'other' bird.

Yep, it's that time of year

First game

He's waited a long time for this moment.

Car trouble

Mackenzie's car overheated today, and the prognosis doesn't appear too good.

Connected

Tony Cragg, World Events, 1996

Linear perspective

Rip Van Winkle Auto Sales

Dereliction

Abandoned gas station, abandoned car, abandoned building. And lots of weeds.

Veteran's Day

I guess this is a pretty uneventful street scene in my town, but it does encapsulate the day. The mailboxes (no mail service), the flag (thank you, veterans!), the fall color, and the building -- I spent the day behind this buiding down on the river drawing a cityscape. Plus the added bonus in this photo is an Elvis sighting.

Shoeshine

I got my car washed the other day, and inside the car wash was a shoeshine stand.

Glass, my version

It's a lousy picture, but here's my graphite version of the glass still life I took the other day.

Filtered Sunlight

in my neighborhood.

My classroom

Cool and clear, a perfect autumn

From Open Studios

Once a year over a hundred local artists open their studios for a weekend and allow the public to view their workspace and talk to them about their pieces and processes. Although I've got jet lag pretty bad, I went to my art teacher's studio and found these pieces that would look smashing in my bedroom. Unfortunately, there's no money in the budget right now for bedroom art, so I'll probably not be able to get these. But I do think they are cool. Her name is Enid Williams, just to give credit!

Time for new glasses

Bill gets fitted for some new funky frames.
If I can save up some money I'm going to consider these:

YMCA

San Diego skyline.

Eucalyptis

Paradise Point

We were in San Diego at Paradise Point Resort for a conference.

From 30,000 feet

Wednesday's: Glass still life

This is the set-up for the drawing I'm currently working on.