Ornamental Dandelions: 2nd semester work (fall '08)

just a sampling of what a 1st year art student does/experiences. what i experienced during this particular semester was a tremendous urge to chuck the drawing implement across the room and sculpt something with the paper. more than likely that was due to my own limitations, and my definite preference for 3 dimensional mediums - clay, metals, etc. but i learned a lot, especially about perseverence, and the fact that just because i don't enjoy it as much as other things doesn't mean it's not worth doing :) also, composition & execution are 2 completely different skills...

2D design:

a letterform composition & transparency project in adobe creative suite - oooh, to have had this program during my stint in the mayor's office! the glare is because my professor put it up on display @ school (with work by 3 of my classmates) & i took the photo when it was behind glass (btw, my professor saw a chicken in this design - can you find it? :)

in this project, the very edges of the design on the far left & right are excerpts from a famous print called metamorphasis by m.c. escher - our assignment was to reproduce both segments & fill in the middle with our own design, making the transition seamless - in pen & ink, not my most reliable medium...but i learned a lot, especially that clean & precise execution can cover a multitude of design shortcomings :)

my favorite design from this class - an assignment to draw the negative space (everything NOT the object) of a still life, similar to a photo negative. the objects i chose were a milkglass bottle i use as a vase, a stem of silk orchids, and some beach rocks i can never resist picking up. the lesson here is that when you use objects you love, you get better results than if you forgot about the assignment & dumped out your purse to find something to draw :)

drawing I - still lifes, some preliminary figure drawing, some charcoal drawings that drove me crazy but turned out better than i thought at the time: