Printmaking

I took very long time with design. First, I thought about doing animals, then human. Animals were too same and humans were not really fun but no different than Pop-Artist, Andy Warhol. Designing parts was a long process. Finally I came up with tiger with pattern and a general riding a horse. I just didn't plan the whole design of the block but made it as I was carving or transferring the design on the block. 

Carving wasn't that easy as I thought. It took two or three days. My arms got numbed. I needed to take breaks in between. After inking, I printed on the paper. 

I found printing parts the most difficult because if I put too much ink on the block, the fine details will be clogged up and be disappeared. After proof-printing, I had to make some corrections. It was fun. I wanted to do them on the black ink but the bookstore was out of black color; therefore, I just bought brown. 

Printing making was the funnest assignment of this semester because I've get to create as much as i want and can give it to people as a present!! 

Mask

Media: Wet clay (Columbia Red), many ceramic tools, acrylic colors, addable 3D media, etc

I was very concerned about textures on the surface of the mask because I know that once I make a pattern I wouldn't be able to change after it's fired. I was just concerned how would the texture be united to all the other parts of the mask to be one artistic mask. I really thought over and over again. Also, shapes of eyes, noses, and mouth was difficult to choose. Every time I try something new, I wanted to incorporate everything in the mask but I couldn't. I had so many ideas that would make my mask work greatly; however, I was a little sad that I could choose only one style for my mask. Putting every details in one mask will be too complicated so that it wouldn't be nice. Wet clay also made it difficult to working on the back of the clay to make hangers. Wet clay just sat down after I flip it. Some textures were crushed down also. My design was set when I found out scale-like texture. I made up my mind to create Avatar-like character mask. Something like merman. I didn't mean to make my mask so scary because I know that it would be scary at night. 

Mask Texture

 
 

Gesture Drawing

Title :Gesture Drawing

Media: Charcoals, papers, few moving pictures 

I was to learn how to move my hand to make a body movement. I wasn’t asked to draw details but just a proportion of the body by using bubbles and frames. Two dancers’ moves were captured and we were given 2minutes for each drawing. Drawing or sketching a move must start with a frame of the body. The whole shape of the body should appear first, and then added with bubbles and joints. It will be smoothed as we find the right line. Folded body will be seen through other parts of the body. It is pretty unrealistic; however, the drawing was to find the right proportion of the body according to different body movements.

At first, my drawing somehow didn’t balance the body proportion—head was relatively bigger than its trunk, legs were unrealistically long. However, as we tried more drawings, I was able to get a concept of how body proportion is arranged. Human figure perception was affected with almost naked dancers. I was able to understand muscles’ difference as the body moves, bones were popped out when certain moves were made, and joints of the body. 

Cityscape

The purpose of this assignment was to understand 3-dimensional forms in various shapes with two point perspective. Two point perspective technique creates illusion of space. First, I attached two papers at each side (wing) and marked the vanishing points. All forms must vanish into that points. Even if one-floor building is smaller than two-story building, one-floor building will appear bigger than two-story building if one-floor building is closer to me. Also many buildings go straight (not distorted) when they comes to an eye level. Horizontal line is an eye-level. 

After I sketched my city which is a rural city, I used watercolor paints to create various colors of buildings. They were pretty colorful compared to real-existing buildings I have found online. After creating watercolor painting base, I used pastel to create foggy-style look. I made darkness (dim), night, and lights. 

Neutral Ground Drawing-Blue dancers

Media: Ebony pencil, knead-able eraser, neutral ground paper, figures 

Description: 

We continued on neutral ground drawing with blue figures of two dancers. The man had a woman on his head. She had arched and could not see her face, facing upward. First, I started with an eraser to create light values, and then I started using an ebony pencil to create darker values such as woman’s thigh, back, etc. I created light value with white chalk. I highlighted the man’s forehead, ear, and woman’s breast and knee area. I highlighted the areas where would have been closest if I was sitting in front of two figures dancing. I darkened (darkest area) where two figures meet. I thought about surface contour on subjects because actual contour line does not exist on real living things. It is well shown when you look at the picture closely—where woman’s head is, there is no lines between hairs and background. I just darkened the whole area to imply that darkness darkened the area so that we cannot really distinguish hair from the background. I think I increased my range of value from light to dark more than four because I used white chalk (1) and 8B (4) pencil. Other than that, I have erased part (2) and neutral ground (3). Therefore, there is no way that I would have less than four light and dark values when I used white chalk and the softest pencil, 8B. 

neutral ground still life

Media: Neutral Ground, still life, various kinds of B's pencil. 

Description: 

Neutral Ground Drawing was very new approach and new methods, different from what I usually have done. When I actually learned that Michelangelo’s artworks were using neutral ground, I was surprised. His works were amazing and I always have been impressed by his works because his details. His drawings look real.

When I was doing neutral ground drawing in the class, I get grounded pencil and simply smudge them on the whole sheet of paper. Then, by using a knead-able eraser I had to find the light values of figures first and adding darker values with an ebony pencil. When I began the drawing, I thought about the sizes of still life first and then started thinking about reflected lights at the back of the figures. However, I used a chalk to find the brightest parts of the drawing. I used the darkest value on the pot because it was the closest figure from my position. I also highlighted on a steel chair and a pot. I didn’t use very dark values on paper towel, because its texture is too soft to reflect lights as strong as other figures such as a steel chair. Soft figures usually absorb lights so they don’t really reflect lights—this fact makes me not to make figures to have many dark and light values at one.

I liked neutral ground drawing because it takes much less times than crosshatching which requires me to fill the whole sheet of paper. Instead, I can simply use my palm of hand and smudge. I could make light values easily by erasing, dark values by crosshatching or smudging pencils. I didn’t like it because it was somewhat like pastel drawing which makes the drawing foggy. I thought about contour lines even if the figures didn’t have contour lines. I used an eraser to find contour lines—division between background and the object. White chalk was like sprinkles over the cake. It gives higher quality of the drawing.

Crosshatching Seated Boy

Media: B's, H's pencils, eraser, and seated boy drawing

Description: 

I drew a contour line first and started shading with 2B. I started crosshatching. I crossed lines over to create dark values. 2Bs were not very effective for dark values such as armpit, so I used 4Bs. Extreme dark values were created by 8B. It was very soft. Under the butt was really dark so that I could not even tell what was under there, whether it is blanket or something else. I figured that extremely dark values have light value right next to it, and they contrast. Even if there is shadow, there is reflecting light. There was brightest light around his face. The boy seems like facing the light which makes shadow driven over him. Contour line didn’t exist there but it was distinguishable because dark and light value changes. The purpose of this assignment was to understand, create the dark and light values by using crosshatching

Contour/Texture-American Football

Media: Ebony or B's pencils, different kinds of textures, and eraser 
Description: 

We were told to set a composition of the picture from the magazines. We had to include two people and should not choose a drawing or a cartoon. The original was two boys playing American Football and one boy was attacking another. Two of boys seem to be Junior High School students. Their bodies weren’t muscular but feminine.

Drawing wasn’t that hard but choosing textures for boys were hard. First of all, I started with number on the players’ uniforms. I chose a matt because it has regular bumps which give a square pattern. I also tried to make it a three-dimensional look by pressing some parts harder. I chose a straw hat for a boy’s helmet. The straw hat has rounded pattern which also could help illustrating roundness of the helmet. I overlapped some parts to give a three-dimensional look. I chose a leather chair for skins, speaker for the player’s shirt, tiles for some part of the shirt, air-conditioner’s stripes for the sock, and vertical lines for the background which could possibly help two figures separate from the background.

When I was selecting textures for my assignment, I thoroughly thought about each figure’s real texture—Rough surface for rough texture, soft surface for soft texture, and so on.

Abraham Lincoln, Black paper and a chalk

Media: Black Paper, Chalk 

Title: Abraham Lincoln 

Description: 

 First of all, I did no longer use eight grids and just started from what I could see obviously. I started from the nose (center) so that I do not mess up other parts. Sometimes, the whole object is moved towards one side because parts of the figure are not in the right place.

             Compare to surface contour on the “seated boy,” Lincoln sculpture was similar because I can see no contour line around the figure because it is not a drawing. It is a real three-dimensional object which does not have contour lines because contour lines can be changed as I change my location.

             It could help me increase range of value from light to dark because the paper itself is black and I can create the brightest just by using a white chalk. However, I do not really know that my range has been increased by this exercise but I can tell that this exercise was really fun and I enjoyed it. It was something I never tried before. 

Negative/Positive Bird

I wanted to fill this negative area with something aquatic. 

I started from the bottom of the drawing. 

I filled  with coil-fish with waves, and then scale-like pattern on the right side of the drawing. 

After that, I was about to draw under water view on the left side, but I changed my mind to draw a well. A well has many bricks and they have many cracks which I can also include more details. The well is divided by sticks. Actually, it is a kite. The kite has four long lines crossing the circle and one corner is flipped by wind a little bit (my setting). 

I also wanted to add some water drop around the well. 

I was satisfied with this drawing. (I was just too tired to draw more details so I decided to be satisfied with it........) Good! Well done Laura. Compliments for myself. 

Finished by September 22, 2012. by Eunjung Kim

Crosshatching Still life drawing

Media: Pencil 2D Crosshatching Drawing 

We did positive/negative still life in the class. We were to use crosshatching to draw the still life. The purpose of this assignment was to understand the values of light and dark. Cross lines were projected over the still life which could also help illustrate the objects' three dimensional shape. The lines go straight on the background and they deform as they pass the still life.

Crosshatching lines were expected to be flat on the background since it is flat screen (Shadow of the still life looks a little three dimensional because of reflecting light when I was taking the picture). I emphasized the body sculpture, because, as you can see in the original picture taken, there is not much detail on the darkened side of the sculpture.

This crosshatching technique was expected throughout our assignments given previously, such as negative/positive still life and bird. The blank space of the paper was expected to be filled with any kinds of drawing, pattern, or etc. We did not have to do great or excellent on that drawing assignment but just to familiarize with the pencil’s characteristics, and dark and light values.

In my opinion, the concept of this exercise is for better understanding of three dimensional shapes and use of crosshatching. Additionally, contour drawing was one of the concepts. We did not copy contour lines that were there beforehand, but we made contour lines by ourselves by looking at the real figure. 

Positive/Negative Still Life

I took pictures in class so that I could continue on and finish outlining still life in case I don't finish on time. 

However, I finished and could start filling out the blank space (negative) with lines. 

First, I used a grid to find a composition and a layout. Then, I took a picture of it-(I cannot hold the grid while I am drawing). I also captured the positions and looks of still life in my mind and drew. 

In order to draw negative (background), I also had to draw positive shapes. After I got all the lines and details of still life, I erased lines of positive.

The picture above is not done yet. I did not know what to fill in the space. I wanted to go with nature-Roots, Trunks, and twigs with sky. 

The very right side does not look like roots, but I wanted to make a root-like pattern, which needs many 3D lines. 

Here is my completed drawing! 

By Eunjung Kim, finished in September 8, 2012. 

Upside down Picasso

In AR135 class, I copied Picasso's sketch. I did my best to make my drawing looks same. 

I used the upside-down method to copy more accurately. I used grid to see which lines are located in which box. Also, I folded the paper. All my class and I did was simply coping the lines in each grid. It was not that hard when there was grids. I still could have almost the same proportion and location of the original drawing. 

My man looks a little more greedy and furious. 

Keith Haring like drawing

Keith Haring is an artist who tried to talk about social issues in his drawing. 

He used symbols as a word. He used colors and lines to emphasize his drawings.

At first he started out his drawing on the chalk boards in subways. 

There are gaps in between times. He created an art for public. 

Sometimes he was arrested but after all he became very famous and popular. 

In my class AR135, my classmates and I attempted to try his drawing, implying social issues. We were able to use colors and any other medium but no words. 

I used black ink and poster colors. 

What do you think my keith-haring like drawing is implying? 

Basically, the drawing is symmetrical. It is balanced. No random blank space or size of the figures. Now, two figures at the bottom are two men. At the top of them, there is a red car without wheels. Two men's head replaced the wheels space. 

Why are there two men supporting car? 

I tried to imply that here in CNMI, gas prices have raised up severely so that almost everyone has been worried about his salary. We have $5.05 minimum wage in CNMI. Not much people are getting paid more than that. Most of all jobs offer $5.05. However, gas price is more expensive than that. I hear many stories about local people asking for money for gas. When especially there is no entertainment or any amusement in uptown in CNMI. There is no McDonald in Kagman, Capital Hill, or etc., but in Middle Road and Garapan which is still pretty far from all other places. Also, many stores are located in Garapan, Susupe, and San Antonio. Indeed, gas price is a burden. I wanted to say that gas price has been too much expensive and there are people who are suffering from it.