FINAL PROJECT: The Jungle

Here are some highlights of the final projects from Spring 2016. A major difference from previous semesters is the employment of mixed mediums. All previous classes used charcoal materials only.

Shiho Nakagawa

Crysta Maguire

Elijah Schwarz

Graham Metcalfe

Gretta Collaso

Joy Montague

Jesus Cornejo

TEXTURE: Single Object

Amy Harris

Crysta Maguire

Gretta Collaso

Martin Little

Last Wednesday in preparation for the final project, the class made drawings of individual, textural objects using the drawing medium of their choice. The objective was to create an iconic composition, addressing texture as well as light and form. Amy and Crysta chose ink. Both drawings exhibit a very objective and illustrative description of their chosen forms. The line quality is well accented and the textures are present without being overstated.
Gretta chose charcoal. Both additive and reductive techniques were employed to capture the peaks and valleys of the driftwood. This medium and drawing method are particularly well suited to rendering the fluid nature of the form.
In contrast, Martin chose graphite to draw his piece of driftwood. His drawing has a very different presence than Gretta's. The contrasts in tonality and texture are crisp and clean. Each area is locked into its place and isolated rather than one flowing into the other.

SELF PORTRAITS

Ben Farren

Joy Montague

Last night the class made self portraits. Again the drawings were started by copying a skull projected on the screen. The skull drawing was then reworked with the portrait drawn over the top. Ben's drawing is a stylized illustration complete with reverse quote on his t-shirt. The real beauty of the drawing is the manner in which he has drawn the hair. It appears as a solid mass with overlapping light and dark accents.
Joy's drawing is very well proportioned to the page. The advancing and receding planes are very well defined. In addition, the features address all the key elements discussed in class; curvature of eyes and mouth, darkness of upper lip, etc.

PORTRAITS: Features and the Whole Face

Jim Paschal

 Friday morning began with a series of drawings addressing the individual features of the face. Jim's drawing above has skillfully identified light patterns around the eye. Notice how the eyeball is present behind the lower eyelid. The eyelid arches across the eyeball. In addition, he has clearly illustrated the top portion of the eyelid and the recessed edges of the eyeball.

Linda Fleming

 Linda's drawing of a mouth has illustrated the dark and light patterns beginning with the upper lip (dark), lower lip (light), shadow under lower lip (dark), etc. In addition she has captured the highlight over the upper lip and the dimples in the corners of the mouth.

Devon Ste. Marie-Rubin

 Devon's drawing of a nose illustrates the top, side and bottom planes. Notice how the ball of the nose is shaded similarly to the way values are applied to a sphere. Furthermore, this is a great study for the mouth as well. The curvature and projection of the mouth is particularly well rendered.

Apollonio Fontanilla

 In the afternoon, the class made full portrait studies of each other. Apo's drawing of Linda is very muted in tone yet is expressively powerful. This drawing is surprisingly textural.

Devon Ste. Marie-Rubin

Devon has drawn a very striking image of Lyric with a strong gaze and exaggerated volumes. The features and structure of the head are bold and strong. The mark-making is rich and varied with smeared, textured and reductive applications.

PORTRAITS

Crysta Maguire

Jorge Tuluxan

Joy Montague

Last night the class drew portraits from each other. The previous evening students made drawings of a skull. The skull drawing was reworked last night with the portrait drawn over the top. The benefit of the skull is to provide a loose structure as well as to get the paper a little dirty. Each of the drawings above address the underlying structure of the face. In addition, they illustrate the dark and light pattern within the eyes, under the nose, lower lip and chin. Without this rhythm portraits may appear too flat.

PORTRAIT DRAWING: The Features

Joy Montague

Elijah Schwarz

Andrameda Martinez

Last night the class began Portrait studies. Before drawing the whole face the class made a series of studies addressing the individual features. When drawing eyes it is important to remember that you are drawing a spherical form. The eyelids should have a top and frontal plane. In addition, they should arc across the eyeball. Shadows should be placed in the corners of the eye as well as below the upper eyelid.
Noses should also exhibit top, side and possibly bottom planes. The ball of the nose should overlap the nostrils and should not only be shaded on the lower half but should project a cast shadow as well.
And lastly, the mouth should be drawn with a subtle arc across the dental sphere. The upper lip is generally darker than the lower lip. In addition, the mouth will have more volume if the lower lip is rendered with tone and limited line rather than totally outlining the shape.