Queen of the Bees

My Illustration II class got the opportunity to go see "A Circus Family: Picasso to Leger" at the BMA before spring break.  The exhibit was worth every dollar--I have always taken an interest in Picasso's paintings and studies of circus people, and it was amazing to see some Toulouse-Lautrec prints in living color.  I wasted no time filling my sketchbook with studies of the posters--their strong compositions and energetic layouts will be sure to inspire me in future Illustration assignments.  For our "circus portrait" project in Illustration II, we were to depict a well-known celebrity as a circus performer (acrobat, lion tamer, ringmaster, etc) that somehow related to their image or persona in the real world.  I was inspired by Amy Winehouse's towering hairdo, and so she became a circus freak known as "Queen of the Bees."  (it was between her and Mary-Kate Olsen as the Incredible Shrinking Woman) As always, click for a larger view!

Lighting Workshop

These are from last semester--all Illustration majors were required to attend a lighting workshop in the BBOX performance space.  I'm not sure if you can read my scribbled handwriting, but the topmost sketch is drawn from 2-point side lighting, the middle from "Rembrandt lighting" (creates a triangular patch on the cheek) and the bottom from bottom lighting (also called "up" or "foot" lighting..)  All are five-minute exercises executed in sharpie.

Blood Type

For my Hand Letters class we were assigned a project entitled "Nature's Alphabet," where we had to render an alphabet inspired by natural elements.  (Leaves, birds, vegetables, etc)  I chose the circulatory system, and used my handy 1940s anatomy book to aid me in depicting realistic vein and artery structures.  I apologize for the low image quality; the file size had to be greatly reduced in order for me to upload.  We used this alphabet in a later project---I will post it later this week, if I can recover my lost flash drive!

Ponytail Type

Fun With Dick And Jane

Collaged image for my printmaking class, Hand-Drawn Photo.  Continuation of a series I started freshman year of Dick and Jane characters interacting with deep-sea creatures (see color illustrations below)  All text is from the original readers; only recontextualized.

The Fall of the House of Usher

The Illustration department at MICA has been buzzing for the past few weeks because of the upcoming experimental production of Edgar Allan Poe's "The Fall of the House of Usher."  Sets, posters, flyers, and programs are all being designed by MICA Illustration students--the image depicted above is a detail of a poster design by Cameron Shojaei that I converted to black and white and adapted for a program.  My entire Hand Letters class had to do the same assignment: take a portion of one of the poster designs and incorporate hand-drawn type into the grayscale image.  One of the faculty will select a few of these designs to print for the show.  I'm looking forward to seeing what the set looks like, and how the performance plays out.  It is a brief show, only about 15 minutes long, but one of my roommates will be on stage so that makes the event even more exciting.  That's all for now--I'm hoping later this week to post some more of my work from Hand Letters!

Looking Back, Looking Ahead

Second semester has begun--I feel like the course load is much greater than last, due to the fact that I've been up past two o'clock nearly every night since my return.  I sent in my portfolio for Competitive Scholarships last night, so I've included a few of those images in today's post.  It would be great to get some money for next year, considering I've had to dip into my savings account time and again to make up for no work-study job this year.  Some good news: I accepted a job at Blue Lake Fine Arts Camp (http://www.bluelake.org/employment_staff.html) for the summer, which should be a lot of fun.  I went there twice during my grade school years, and the atmosphere is a great combination of rustic living, intense study, and of course the usual camp activities like swimming and talent shows.  I will be a Cabin Counselor and Health Provider (which basically just means you are certified to handle emergency medical situations in case they arise) in addition to assisting faculty with class instruction in the visual arts (drawing & painting, ceramics, and fibers).  I'm looking forward to living there for the summer.  In the meantime, it's work, work, work. Don't get me wrong, it's a lot of fun, but sometimes I wish there were more hours in a day to get everything done!

Anachronistic Drawing Final

For my Life Drawing final we were told to do an anachronistic piece that transformed the original state of an old master drawing by putting ourselves in the scene as a fully modern player.  I chose a well-known drawing by Albrecht Durer (top) titled Adam and Eve and replaced the apple in Eve's hand with a different kind of Apple... It works as a pun as well as a commentary on the cultural and societal impact of technology (Mac in particular, which is the preferred operating system for most visual artists)  I'm sure there are a half-dozen other interpretations you can make from a piece like this, but I'll leave it at that.  Overall it was a fun project, and I learned a lot trying to integrate my style of drawing while keeping true to the meticulous air of a Durer engraving.  That man had an extremely steady hand and a lot of patience!