Sketching at a concert

My friend, Ben, and I went to a Baroque concert in downtown Greensboro. When I got there, I had the overwhelming urge to break out the mini-sketchbook and just start drawing. I can finally start to be proud of my drawings now. yay :)

Scaled figures and coffee

The best place to draw people is somewhere where they are sitting very still. What better place for that than a coffee shop?

Charlie's Cafe

Suzanne, our awesome teacher, decided that our next assignment was to go to a coffee shop and do some drawings. This was my favorite assignment yet. I ordered some coffee (a Rose Mocha...soo good,) got cozy in a squishy armchair, whipped out my sketchbook and started sketching. I really love how I draw when I'm interested in the subject. The atmosphere of a coffee shop is so warm and charming. Oh, I wish we could always draw coffee shops..although I'm sure I would develop a caffeine addiction.

Architectural sketching techniques

I like the quality of the lines in this sketch, drawn by a firm called TaStudio. I can tell they aren't done with a ruler because they are spaced unevenly and not all mechanically straight. But I like the way it all looks together.

This picture, drawn by Nadir Kianersi, has a cartoon quality that I really enjoy. The lines are very clean and slightly curved where they should be straight.

This is a gesture of Cinderella's castle in Disney World, done by Alina Chau . It looks very cool from afar and when I look at it closely, I can tell that it is really easy to do. the lines don't all connect, but my mind puts in what is supposed to be there.

God is in the Details

System Process

The process of making my "system" was a fun one. I started it off by cutting up a bunch of wood in my grandpa's shop--just to get a feel for the material and the machinery. (If Rich, the woodshop guy at school, saw this picture, he would probably cringe at how close my fingers are to the blade....I was sort of cringing too.)

Then I figured out neat ways to fit things together. I learned a new tip.."Always measure three times and cut once."

I really wanted to bring the word "tension" into the system somehow. I figured the way to really change the form of the 2x4 was to make it so some of the wood curved. I wedged both sides of a thin piece of wood in another big chunk of wood in a way that it curved upward like an arch. I then put that whole thing on another triangle to make it look like it is balancing.

I am really happy with the finished product. The composition of the system turned out better than I thought it would. This has been my favorite project yet. I'm just starting to figure out for myself just how versatile wood is. It is like a whole new world, waiting to be explored.