Structural Drawing: Initials in 1-Point Perspective

This is one of the only drawings I completed for my structural drawing class before I had to drop the course. I'll retake the class in an upcoming semester.

2D Design: Forms in Space

The objective of this piece was to create a sense of space using forms that don't exist in real life, but look like they could. The deadline for this project arrived before I was able to complete the background, which is why the background in underdeveloped.

Pencil on sketch paper.

2D Design: Transparent Shapes

We had to use 60 shapes (20 each of three different types... in my case, triangles, circles, and rectangles), with as much variety as possible in regard to size, proportion, concentration, and so forth. All shapes had to be transparent, meaning we had to consider both the original and derivative shapes in our design.

In the first picture, the image was filled in with various shades of grey. Again, the objective was to create maximum variety in contrast, distribution of value, and so foth.

The second picture is the same design, but with a hue added to some (but not all) of the design. The colored fields needed to have the same home value as their counterparts in the greyscale version. Some of the colored fields have a solid color; others have a pattern in an attempt to visually match home values.

Both paintings were done in gouache on illustration board.

3D Design: Fragmentation Assignment

This assignment was to take a simple geometric form and show it in three different stages of fragmentation. The design elements in the sketch below are blue styrofoam on wooden dowels. The base is corrugated cardboard with grey illustration board on top, shaped with a band saw.

My original design had the fragments flying away from each other, and a new shape in the middle emerging from the geometric form. Unfortunately, the project required that the final design element should retain the flavor of the original, so I had to revise this piece and exercise some restraint. I also changed the shape of the base for the final at my instructor's suggestion.

The next two images are views of the final piece. The design elements are stained wood on copper Williams rods. The base is spray-painted wood.

This piece was nominated for the annual student art show.

3D Design: Rectilinear Final

This is the rectilinear final project. See previous post for criteria.

The base, mass, and beam are made of various soft woods. The plane is made of Masonite.

I received an "A" for the design, and another "A" for craftsmanship. My instructor remarked that he had never seen the edge of the base used that way for this assignment.

3D Design: Rectilinear Sketches

These are three-dimensional sketches made of illustration board for the recilinear design assignment.

Requirements:
(1) Design must include one mass, one plane, and one beam.
(2) All design elements must be positioned at right angles to each other.
(3) The design must be freestanding and supported by only one design element touching the base.
(4) Design elements must not share common surfaces. That is, they must meld into or pass through each other. This requirement does not apply to the base.
(5) No dimension or proportion may be used more than once within the design. This also applies to negative space, and to the design elements' relationship to each other and to the base. Symmetry is to be avoided in any form.

Again, sorry about the poor image quality. The same cheap camera was all I had.

3D Design: 2x4 Assignment

For one of our first assignments in 3D Design, we had to cut and sand a 2x4 (an inferior wood for making sculptural works) to dimensions given by the instructor. We applied spackle, then sanded it again. Finally we sprayed it with primer and paint. The objective was to make it as smooth and flawless as possible, basically making this an exercise in craftsmanship. It doesn't look like much, but it represents a few hours of work.

The project was made more complicated by the fact that the paint provided by the college supply store was very poor quality. The can of primer didn't even spray! I ended up buying my own primer and spray paint from Home Depot.


(Sorry for the poor image quality, all I had was a cheap 1 megapixel camera at the time.)

Digital Design Projects

My first semester at CCAD also included a Computer Fundamentals class (now called Digital Design) that taught basic skills in Painter, Photoshop, InDesign, and so forth. Here are a couple of items from that class.

The first is a quick, craptacular line drawing on paper that I scanned and then colored. Not much, but I liked playing with this little fantasy about taking my frustrations out on technology (and I enjoyed exploiting the Mac logo while I was at it.)

EDIT: I have removed the image described in the paragraph below, because it includes non-libre content (scanned photographs) that are legally permissible under fair use, but conflict with my Creative Commons license.

This was a Photoshop exercise. We had to use existing images (from print, no downloading allowed!) and apply several Photoshop effects to make a new composition. I put together this little mock promotional piece for my home state. The images came from a women's sportswear catalog.

I got an A in this class. I think it was mostly because I actually knew how to drop the finished work in the appropriate network folder for the instructor to retrieve. Teachers like technical competence.

Freshman Still Life Drawings, Part 2

More still life drawings from my first semester at CCAD, this time in charcoal. I always liked charcoal as a "fake-it-till-you-make-it" medium. My challenge was to use charcoal with precision. Even a medium as pliable as charcoal still benefits from a decisive hand.






I'm especially proud of the piece below. It was something of a breakthrough for me. One of those moments when you throw yourself aggressively into finishing a piece because you know it's working and you're looking forward to the result.

Freshman Still Life Drawings, Part 1

These are pencil drawings from my first semester at CCAD. You can see how I was very timid at first, barely even daring do make a mark on the paper because I was afraid of making a bad drawing and proving that coming here was a bad idea. I got braver as the semester went on.





My courage grew as the semester continued. I started putting the letters "DTS" (Dare To Suck) under my signature. I got more aggressive with the pencil and even started to (gasp!) use more than one lead hardness/softness in a single drawing.