First Figure Drawing Class

So, I love drawing, and I really love figure drawing. Last semester I took my first figure drawing class, and loved when we actually drew the figure... Here's some of the work I did in this class over the semester. And look for more to come as I am taking Figure Drawing 322 this semester (as long as BYU will let me add it).

These first ones are loose gestures done with conte. And at BYU, the models are students who have to wear bikinis or speedos.

I enjoyed it when we had guys to draw, well at least when the guys had muscles. Way more fun! Here's just more gestural poses. (like 2-5 minutes)



We worked on correct proportions and used grids to accomplish it.


And here's some extended poses (like 3 hours):



We did some ink washes, so here's a self-portrait and then a figure:
And here's a conte with gesso:

And here's an exercise we did where we had to draw an exact copy of a work made by an artist. Josh and I both really like how it turned out. Too bad it's a replica of someone else's handy work.

Intro to Ceramics

I took an introductory ceramics class--Ceramics Fundamentals 216. I am NOT a ceramics artist by any means, but I did enjoy the class, for the most part, because I got to play with clay! Ceramics is very different from my other art classes because you really can't procrastinate. You have to plan time to make an item, time to let it dry, firing time, glaze time, time for another firing, and maybe even another firing if it didn't turn out the way you wanted it.

So here's the first assignment. We had to make a sphere, cylinder, and a cone. Then we sliced them and put them together in some abstract way. Then we did a Raku glaze and firing, which was pretty fun. That's why it has such funky colors.
The second assignment was to make some man-made objects and play with different glazes. I made a computer mouse, paper clip (of sorts), and a cell phone. This was a lot of fun!


The third assignment was to make organic objects, in preparation for the final. I did a flower pod, that is not very interesting. And I made the leaves off the top of a pineapple.
The final assignment had to be 20 inches in one direction. Mine turned into a large vase of sorts. It was supposed to be like the bottom (fruit) part of a pineapple. I think it turned out pretty good considering I had no idea how it would turn out. There was some reduction that occurred in the kiln, so the inside was supposed to be bright yellow (like the inside of a pineapple) but instead turned a green color. Random, but it works! May I suggest making a vase of this size on a wheel? We didn't use the wheel at all in the class, that's in the 300 level class.

First Semester of Art

This last year has marked my very first year in the art program at BYU. Most of the classes are pretty basic or just introductory classes. To be honest I don't feel like anyone of these works are too impressive, so I'll just show you some of the best from this year, including spring term.

Drawing
This was a project and not an exercise so I chose to have some fun and make this oval shape. It's all done with thicker and thinner lines, no shading. The assignment was "surveillance."

2-D Design
In 2-D Design we had to learn how to represent things graphically. So the left is just organic lines, the center colored geometric shapes, and right a contour or negative shape of a tree.
This was my favorite piece from 2-D design and maybe the year. I combined collage clippings with regular and stippling shading. This is like Josh's favorite piece too. Plus, I used the Rule of 3rds.

3-D Design

I gave the earrings I made for this class to one of my best friends, MaryDawn, who was my Freshman roommate. She definitely rocks the copper plating and CD pieced earrings.
If you have come to our home you are sure to have seen this. I hot glued together some playing cards in a sort of carousel. The sculpture is created of repeated planar units.
Also on display in our home is this piece, my first experience at welding. I felt like a blacksmith as I used a forge and hammer and anvil to create this piece out of steel. It's supposed to be a simplified Nike Shox. I had fun making it.

Intro to Photography
Night picture, and I let the image blur.
This is a high key image... meaning everything is white. It's our fridge.
This one is complementary colors (red and green).

Lithography Fundamentals
This was my first print I made in this class, and I did for Josh, and his dad. It's a Ferrari 250 TR. This was done with litho crayon on aluminum plate.
I thought this would look cool as a print, cause it makes them look kinda old. This was a transfer print.
I took the print and add a wash to it. Cool huh?
This was my final project. Finally color! But, it was wicked hard and didn't turn out too well. But, it was a fun idea.

Painting Fundamentals
These first two are exercises. We learned how to paint grasille (black and white values) and then how to glaze over them. So I painted a little landscape and then put a yellow and a red glaze over it, just to practice the idea.
I did the same thing here too, except for the weird brownish red little painting. That was an alla prima (all at once/first) painting.
This was my final project. I painting the really nice clock we got for our wedding because it has the colors red and gold in it already. I painted it grasille first, then did a yellow glaze, then a red, and finally a black glaze. I think it turned out pretty well for my first painting done in such a way.