Entropy reigns once more!

The kitchen is out of commission while the backsplash is tiled, and the dining table is holding things other than food while the floor is planked. We eat either on the balcony or in restaurants.

And I retire to my "studio" to work on technique, recreating the

in-class still life to practice "pencil and thumb" measuring, Note chair substituting for easel - a little low, but good enough for practice, and the "still life" as a photograph taped to the wall.

Back in time ... not!

We drove down to the Edison-Ford winter homes in Fort Myers en route to an art and antiques fair in Naples. The later was not nearly as good as the former! It's somewhere we have been meaning to go for years -- now we need to revisit Edison's labs in Melno Park, NJ.

We examined the artifacts

in the museum, visited the houses, and enjoyed the vast collection of "botanicals" that remained after Edison and Ford's search for a local source and process for synthetic rubber.

Jack visited with Henry Ford (one and a half time life-size), and I chatted with Mrs Edison. Thomas looked on from under a huge banyan tree.

Beyond Edison's four major inventions -- the dynamo to generate electricity, electric light, the phonograph and the moving picture -- I realized an even greater indebtedness to

his research process and detailed lab notebooks.

It was a welcome break from my own "research" and artistic endeavors. But we were back too late for a walk on the beach.

Great angry men

Words fail me - in spite of hearing them for 90 minutes. A fantastic performance! Every bit as good as the Wall Street Journal said it was.

By comparison, my efforts to create an abstraction of The Raft of the Medusa and render it in black, white and halftone fades into the background.

Drawing Class 4 - Structure in Triangles

Before class I found online a description of how to measure with pencil and thumb -- and how to hold my pencil correctly. I pasted this picture to the top corner of my drawing board and made a conscious effort to correct the way I held my pencil every time I drifted back to the writing position. It really was easier to draw in the correct position --- but I didn't become proficient immediately :(

The first exercise was drawing from the screen - we needed to

determine the structure of Gricault's The Raft of Medusa and copy the drawing. I found the main triangles easily - it wasn't difficult to use the eye-thumb-pencil method with the straight edges of the paper. I had more difficulty adding the figures. I kept drifting away from measuring and just added details "by eye", until I discovered the outline did not match up with the next measured point. More

concentration is needed - my "eye" is not yet calibrated! And I work sooo slowly. But I was pleased that Brian used my drawing to discuss the structuring shapes when we all put our efforts in a row for the crit. Just like Jeff in the design class, Brian does not speak to individual work by name, but points out strong elements in different drawings.

We have a homework assignment based on this painting -- turn it into an abstraction and render using light, halftone and black.

During the break Brian disappeared and returned with a selection of objects

-- our "still life" exercise for the evening. I could not find a "unit of measurement" -- I focused on the distance between the ends of the handlebars, but nothing else was a multiple. Brian showed me what to do . He extended my distance to the edge of the crate, and "voila!" this unit could determine the points where the front wheel (on the diagonal through the shaft)

and the back fender met the floor. Seems simple when you know how - will I be able to do it next time? Only practice will tell.

Not forgotten

Just totally consumed over the past few days with an abstract submission for a conference. We -- a Turkish graduate student, a Swedish professor and a non-American American -- created an eloquent piece -- then discovered it should be 1000 words max, INCLUDING references. All hail the delete key! Now it's GONE - to Cambridge, England.

And I have to do three days' drawing practice before class this evening. See you tomorrow!

Ghost of Buddha

Do you recognize this? Its a "ghost light", found in every opera house. When the last person leaves the stage for the night, he or she pulls out the light from the wings and turns it on, so that the house will never be completely dark. If you look hard enough you can see it on the stage (stage front right, i.e., on the left) in a shot taken from the mezzanine during our tour of the opera house this morning.

To complement this illumination I paused for enlightenment under

the Bo tree in the Selby Gardens. Apparently Buddha meditated for many days (years?) under such a tree and recommended that others did the same.

It didn't help me with my drawing exercise!

One wall crumbles

I woke up with a solution to my problems with chapter 2 of my graphic novel, or as Jack always says, "I had a good night's work!" Chapter 2 is where I use "expert" views, i.e., from the academic literature on art, design, and organization. I've been trying to come up with suitable theorists, but now I've decided to feature two or three quite different positions for each area. That way I'm covered for not selecting THE main theorist of the moment! Now I have a different challenge- how to convey these opinions in the limited allotment of text spoken by Jill and Troll. If its anything like the two chapters I've completed, it will take me at least a week to complete the six panels of the chapter, and each panel will go through several iterations before I'm satisfied. But I have energy to begin!

I only took one photo today, and that was to post to Facebook, so you'll have to friend me if you want to see what it was!

Up against walls

I have three conference papers in progress, and all three are giving me trouble -- understanding postcolonialism for the study-abroad experiences paper, having some profound expert views on art, design and organization for my graphic novel, and writing a scintillating abstract for a lit review of design thinking. No matter which one I pondered today, I came up against a brick/blank wall. Not to mention my angst with my drawing -- I've set myself three exercise to do each day, and today number three was a disaster! I'm hoping for inspiration tomorrow -- on any one of them would be welcome!

Reflections on learning the practice of drawing

My thoughts are paradoxical: I feel as if I am without the vocabulary and knowledge shared among other members of the class (for example, I misinterpreted the homework and did something too simplistic), while I am thrilled to be learning about the craft from a practitioner who is also a gifted teacher. I could -- and maybe I should -- be in the "real beginners class" where I am sure we would be concentrating on technique, and I would be able to complete the exercises; instead I am in a class were we learn from studying details of the work of great artists and insights from the instructor as to how he uses them, and are expected to internalize the learning and put it into our own practice.

During the in-class drawing exercise I was completely lost -- I didn't know how to approach the task, let alone produce a drawing that represented the "model" - a torso dummy wearing a scarf and with a skull for a head, sitting on a child's tricycle, with a draped table and pot of flowers nearby. The instructor came to my aid and explained how to make the tricycle in the proper proportion and place by using observational measuring, but then I discovered I did not have sufficient space on the paper for the basket of flowers! Unfortunately time ran out and the class ended so I did not see the other students' work -- maybe they were as challenged as I was, though I doubt it!

More practice is needed ... which I intend to do. Then I will look forward to next week's challenges.

P.S. on yesterday's post

I was NOT completely alone. Here's the scene at the public beach, at least a mile further down the beach

As promised -

Reflections on my drawing class tomorrow.

New books = inspiration

This afternoon the USPS delivered two books ordered from Amazon: One, Lawrence Weschler's "true to life", had been recommended by my drawing instructor when I asked for something to read to go along with the course, explaining that in my discipline of management, students are always assigned reading between classes. Already I've found inspiration - in the first chapter when David Hockney talks about creating photo collages, he says, "Relative importance, not accuracy was what I was trying to convey. Which is to say, the entire process was just like drawing." Ahha! a key to developing style! I've been trying sooo hard to draw things "right". I must think instead of what I value in the scene. (Probably easier said than done!)

The other book, Ellen Dissanayake's "What is art for?", turned up in some of my Googling around, and I intend to use it as inspiration for a panel in graphic novel chapter 3 - expert views on art, design, and management.

Tomorrow the temperature is forecast to be close to 80F (27C) and I anticipate a pleasant afternoon reading on the beach -- my only dilemma is how to read both books simultaneously!

How fast do YOU walk?

An article in today's Wall Street Journal describes "Sidewalk Rage" as a real phenomenon. According to the latest research on the topic, people heading for work walk at 4.42 feet per second, while tourists walk at 3.79 feet per second, and people over 65 at 3.63 feet per second. Our research indicates that we walk on the beach at 4.2 feet per second. More research is needed to see if this speed makes us susceptible to beach walker's rage.

Wanderings

I've been "off station" for a few days. Sometimes I've been at my drawing board rather than at my computer - I've been drawing chairs this week, using different materials and different angles for the chairs. I thought it would be an easy task, but it's turned out to be much more difficult than I thought. I still can't draw a straight line, and none of my drawings looked as if you could actually sit in the chair. Tomorrow I'll try something else. I'm under the impression that practice is what I need - and I find that I get to a point where I know I don't have sufficient skill to render a good likeness, so I might as well switch to something else.

I've also been "off site", visiting friends of many years who winter in Kissimmee. We went to a nice band concert Sunday afternoon (think high school band grown up and retired!) on a campus of Florida Southern University (FSU) that had several buildings designed by Frank Lloyd Wright. All well and good, provided you are vertically challenged.

Then today I "wandered" through several different files and projects dealing with administrivia and weekend emails. I started serious reading on postcolonialism for the paper Jeanie and I are presenting in Naples (IT not FL). That means my graphic novel is on hold for a while -- although I know I'm continuously processing how I'm going to present Chapter 2 - Experts' views.

Weather is getting warmer again with blue skies. Nice.

Drawing class number 2 reflections

I was too discouraged yesterday when I retuned from class to post. Now I can take some distance from my dismal efforts and put it into perspective. My first thought today is that my feelings are no different than at this point in my design class - I'm overwhelmed by all I can't do and don't know, and a pedagogy that continuously compares to "the perfect" is a totally different, and sometimes humiliating, experience. But that's what I wanted! And, to be fair to myself, I am a complete novice in the intermediate class! The instructor does not demean me for what I can't do/know and my classmates are all very encouraging. More (much) practice is needed!

The lecture-conversation was on space/relationships via the various arithmetic ratios (e.g., the olden mean, Fiboriacci recursion) that artists (Picasso and Dali were the class examples) used to compose their paintings, and our homework is to find a specific artwork and create an abstraction by using tracing paper to construct the lines and spaces that create the ratios. (To put my own work in perspective, I use the center point and mid-point of each side. No wonder it is so dull!) I had never thought of deconstructing paintings that way, so I look forward to "solving" the puzzle. I was about to write "enjoy" but decided there will be much frustration involved.

The "crit" this week was of work that students brought to class. We have one "star" in the class and he brought in some work from a figure drawing class. He has an interesting technique using pastel , very strong, not "pretty" at all. But he's able to convey shape and depth in just a few strokes. I can definitely learn from that - but I'm not sure that I would want that style. My own strength (I believe) is a good eye for perspective, but against that I have a tendency to want to be too true to life. (If so, why not just take a photo?) I need to find my own "style".

As a further example of "style", the class ended with Brian showing us some of his work and explaining his technique for each. He's been selected to appear in New American Paintings. We quizzed him quite extensively as to whether he really applied measurement rules while in the artwork was in progress. He dodged the question!

I've my own personal homework for the week -- maybe I'll post some along the way!

There and here

Yesterday we went to Paris -- well, to the Sarasota Opera House for a wonderful production of La Boheme - but then when isn't Puccini "wonderful"?

And today it was up and down the swimming pool for my daily (well, most days) laps.

Then finishing my practice drawings for tomorrow's class. We are supposed to bring "something we're working

on" for "the crit" -- I'm working on drawing straight lines and symmetrical curves in "Five minute drawings." Check back this time tomorrow and I'll tell you about "the verdict."

All the while I'm trying to let go of Chapter 2 in my graphic novel in favor of worrying on the CM-7 piece Jeanie and I plan to present in Naples in June. I'm not being very successful.

Slogday

It's been a day of "slogging", working on the layout of Chapter 1 and continuing my drawing practice. Neither had a very successful outcome -- several of the design decisions I made for the graphic novel did not look right when out into practice, and as for my drawing ability -- just when I think I'm getting better, I find that the next attempt is beyond awful. Neither activity warrants a photograph; both require at least one more iteration. I'm not discouraged, it's no different from struggles when writing a text-only paper. But I do look forward to having more success -- maybe tomorrow.

A long way for information

We finally walked as far as the public beach today -- 4 miles roundtrip. Our reward was learning that the Gulf water temperature is 65 degrees F.

Children of all ages ...

The only thing that wasn't great about our Circus Sarasota experience today was my photos - I just can't capture the excitement of the acts! One shot I thought would be great - then the spotlights swung round, right into the lens! And the last act was so daring that I just grasped the edge of my seat and couldn't let go to use he camera!

This is the third year in a row that we've seen the annual show, and it was interesting to see how some acts were similar, and others different variations of classics. It's just one ring, with a couple of animal acts -- horses and dogs -- plus lots of aerobatics. I was surprised how few clowns there were-just one roaming the stands, plus a couple of clown acts. It got a mixed review in the local paper, but we certainly had our $15's worth! I've nominated "the American Circus" as an example of the "confluence of art, design, and organization" in chapter 4 of my graphic novel, and I haven't changed my mind after this evening. That's a good thing!

Yummy

Ready to draw - ready to learn

I don't think the next 10 Thursday evenings will turn me into Leonardo - but I do expect to have a lot of fun. And to learn in new ways. I joined 8 other "mature" students (7 women, 1 man), of varying competences and experience, though I am the only one who has never drawn before. The instructor, Brian Haverlock, is great! Today, after everyone had introduced themselves and he questioned us about our interests and goals, we worked on shape, line. placement, movement, and figure/ground relationships, first using examples from some contemporary artists (pictures projected on screen) and then in drawing a still life of a box, vase with flowers, and jug. We did two 5-minute drawings, then two 2-minute drawings, with a line-up of output and crit after each. Highest praise for one of my efforts was that it looked Matisse-like. You could have fooled me! We have to bring in "something we're working on" for next week. I'm not sure what that will be.

Which happening was more important?

1. I finally mastered "selection" in Photoshop, so I could at least make a trial panel for my chapter on examples of confluence of art, design, and organization. Don't worry if you can't see the relevance of this composite - that's what words in bubbles are for!

2. We found an electric kettle we liked at Bed, Bath. & Beyond - along with a whole cart of other items we couldn't do without - despite having had no idea that we needed them before entering the store!