The Design Masquerade

I thought the title would be fitting since I am not yet a full fledged designer. However, I did design, and create this mask by hand. To give you some background information, our task was to create a container that houses a personal memory. Now, you may say that this is not a container. Furthermore, you may ask "what exactly does it house." Well, I am glad you asked. My first idea, which will be posted in a few days, was to design a box that resembled the Kennedy Center in D.C. This box would represent my first trip to the Kennedy Center, in which I attribute my journey and love for design, culinary arts, fashion, theatre and decorum. This box would have had many drawers which each would have symbolized a different aspect of my love for design in all areas of life. The roof was detachable, and underneath housed two chandeliers and two water fountains that are unique to the Kennedy Center. However, after my first critique I realized that I really needed to focus on one aspect of the Kennedy Center and not many. A couple days passed when an idea literally jumped into my head and YELLED, "HERE I AM. MAKE ME!" This mask contains, houses and provokes my memory of the Kennedy Center. The ribbon symbolizes the red carpet that everyone who ever attends the Kennedy Center walks on. The mask symbolizes the fact that the Kennedy Center is a theatre. So, when I look at this mask I am immediately taken to my first trip to Kennedy Center where I saw the Don Quixote Ballet, and the feelings I felt as I walked down the red carpet to enter the beautiful theatre.

Black and White exposure

Drawing on black paper with a white pencil is so different from what I have become use to. It seems that I have to shade with a different goal in mind. I learned, after I finished this drawing, that you have to shade all of the light spots on the face, and let the paper fill in the rest.

Pencils All In A Row

Project: Design a Place for your pencils using only paper, and adhesives. From this assignment my brainstorming process began. This resulted in a goal that consisted of creating a case for my pencils that was portable, aesthetically pleasing and organized. Now, I have used many pencil cases before, and I have seen what my peers were creating. Having seen their ideas, I knew that I had to narrow down my choices from my list of ideas. After narrowing down my ideas I chose this design because it met all of my requirements from before. I am pleased with the results, and the velvet really makes it enjoyable to carry. Furthermore, the color contrast turned out to be very appropriate for the upcoming season.














When tasked with this project I made goals and parameters for myself. These parameters and goals are the basis for the inspiration of this project. I wanted the design to be portable, aesthetically pleasing, easy to place on a desk or pinned up on board, and organized. I feel liked I accomplished this task with this design.

Hard Like An Egg

When someone is trying to describe an object that is hard, people generally think, "oh it's hard like a rock". I experimented with an egg by placing it in my hand and squeezing with a generous amount of force. To my amazement the egg did not break. The result from this experiment is my egg project. The egg is precariously sitting on top of a rock sculpture juxtaposing the characteristics of a hard, yet fragile object. A rock is cracked by chiseling at it, or by cracking it and similarly an egg.














This clearer picture is for you to be able to see the sculpture more accurately. Please enjoy, and if you would like to buy this beautiful sculpture please send me a message, and we will work something out.

Guess Who?

This was my second drawing and if you are in my Interior Architecture drawing class or my environmental design class, and you can guess who this is, then I will have some more confidence in my ability to draw what I see. I did not have as much trouble with some of the features of this drawing, but I did have a lot of trouble with the curvature of the chin, the length of the nose, and the entire shape of the lips. Practice, practice, practice.

Profile KLM

This was the first of many to come profile drawings. I am having a harder time with the proportions, length, and angles of these profile drawings. Once I get the hang of the outline of the face I will then be able to focus more on the details of the eyes, lips, nose and cheeks. I am really enjoying learning how to draw faces. However, I thought I would get the hang of it more quickly than I have been.

Time Fuse

Again I was asked by Time to merge two different scenes from two different times together. The gentleman with his back towards me was the first victim of my scrutinization. The lady sitting across from him came later after he had left. Unfortunately, I again spent quite some time trying to make the angles, and the proportions accurate and I was not able to draw the surroundings. However, I did enjoy both of these drawings.

Unexpeted Obstruction

I sat down with my cup of coffee, (said with Boston accent) and my wonderful berry tart the other day and I began to draw. I had just finished the coffee table, and had started drawing this lady when a group of girls sat directly in front of me. I thought to myself, "what am I going to do now"? I took a second to deliberate my options when I decided to live on the edge and converge the two scenes. I spent much longer on the people than I had expected resulting in very few surroundings.

The Most Drab Classroom

Here, is my history classroom. It gives me the impression of a dungeon whenever I enter the room. It is dark, hollow, unprepossessing, and icy. May the figures here help portray the aura of the room.

I See You

Here was another exercise on drawing people using the contour style of drawing. The people on the ends exhibit a blank, vacant mien. As you can see from my self portrait, I really enjoy this style of drawing. I enjoy it, because it allows the viewer to put their own expression on the persons face by reading the body language and posture. A painter once told me, that one can interpret the mien of a person solely by looking at their body language.

People of The Abstract

This has been a great learning process. We are using our pencil to measure the lengths of depth. I am still attempting to grasp the concept, but I believe I will understand it more with practice. Nonetheless, there is something about these forms that pleases me. Especially the one to the left.

Central Park

It is quite difficult to draw when one is surrounded by huge buildings, and ubiquitous details. There were so many details that my mind became overwhelmed and could not focus on the contour. However, I did enjoy the view and i will most likely attempt this contour again.

Cutlutral Center

Ahh! After the first two we finally see some improvement. I really enjoyed this entire drawing. I appreciate how everything relates to each other and the depth of the picture. I had some difficulty giving the building some permanence and detail. It seems very unfinished and out of place. It disappears.

The Forlorn Building

Here, I was really trying to make the sides of the building accurate. I became so caught up in the details and the little angles that it drove me crazy. I realize from now on I have to sit down, relax, and just look at what I see. Whenever I rush or become frustrated, my drawings show. I am however, happy with the flag.

Fountain of Contortion

This was such a frustrating exercise, primarily because I was rushed in completing it, and nothing seemed to be working for me. My hand would not draw what I saw, my proportions were off and I could not convey the angles I saw onto paper. I am going to try contouring this fountain again in the future so be looking for it.

The Negative Bicycle

This is an exercise that we did in class to capture the negative space of an object "the bicycle" and the people surrounding it. I was further from the object than most so it gave me a different perspective During this exercise. The only aspect of this drawing that I do not like is the wheel on the left that resembles a balloon.

Updated Education

Here it is. The much awaited for, new contour that I promised.
As you can see I need to improve on the trees. I have found that some people only do the outline of the tree and it looks good. Yet, when I look at mine with just the outline I feel as if my eye does not complete the picture. However, my trees are progressing so we will see how they progress in another few weeks or so. Let me know what you think and if anyone has any suggestions please let me know.

The Mushroom King and Education

These two contours are my favorite so far. Above is the mushroom king that landed here on campus many years ago. There were no survivors because the beings inside could not live in our atmosphere. This really is a building on campus. However, I have no notion as to what it is. I hope you enjoy it as much as I do.

The drawing below is of the Education building. I really enjoyed the tree even though I have yet to learn how to draw trees well. There is something about the curves in the brick and the detail that lures me in. Unfortunately I only had 30 minutes to work on this drawing. I will definitely draw this picture again.

Outdoor Scenes

Sometimes in my drawing I feel as if I am becoming worse, and that is a scary direction to travel. Yet, every once in a while that is exactly what we need. The first picture is a view of downtown Greensboro from our studio windows. I really enjoyed the details in the buildings and for the first time felt like my trees were interpretable by other people. The second picture was really tough. I was outside sitting in an uncomfortable position and then I messed up. I misplaced the circle where the beams all come together. It almost seems as if it has a mirror effect. This one really made me frustrated, to the point where I think I will go back and redo this one. Keep an eye out for it in the future.

Studio Contour

After the blind contour the class moved on to contour drawings. The goal here is to draw just the lines that we see, and there is to be no shading unless we use lines to do so. This exercise is to help us focus on just the lines we see, and put them on paper. In addition, we will typically use pen so that we will not spend a lot of time erasing. The result is stupendous. I sat down and started drawing just the lines I saw, and when I was three quarters of the way through the picture came together more than I could have ever hoped for.

The first picture is of the work space in our studio. The second picture is in the critique room looking out into the hallway.

Mind Development

This was an exercise I was tasked with In Interior Architecture class not too long ago. We had been working on blind contour drawings where we have to draw what we see without looking at the paper at all. The goal is not to produce a beautiful picture, though you may, but rather to draw the exact lines that you see, and to make your eye travel at the same speed of your drawing utensil. I had 30 minutes in which I was not able to quit drawing at all. This is the result. Let me know what you think.

Self Portrait

This is how I view myself one day at a ballroom dancing competition in the near future. Lord willing at the Ohio Star Ball in November. This will be my first competition that is actually televised. I will most likely not be on television but the competition is so reputable that it will be televised.

The Egg's Transformation

This is where my egg went from an environment to a characteristic. My goal was to juxtapose the toughness and the fragility between the egg and the rock. You will see in the near future the final product of my egg. Then, you can decide for yourself whether or not I accomplished my intended goal.

An Inspiring Visual Journey

www.felicitygrace.blogspot.com

This blog makes me smile as I scroll down the page. I especially like the doorknob picture. When was the last time one took the time to notice a doorknob? Granted, we do not normally have artistic and intricate doorknobs, but nonetheless, I truly enjoy that she noticed those details in her travels. The other detail that I enjoy are the pictures that made me feel as if I were actually experiencing a part of the culture. The chocolate bunny is my favorite. Never have I seen anything like it.

As I scrolled down the page, I observed that the plants spoke to me on a personal level. This observation stemmed from the fact that I have recently been studying and practicing basic gardening and have come to appreciate the process of placing, timing, planting, caring for, and watching the plants grow. Rewarding and therapeutic are the best adjectives that come to mind when I think of the planting process.
Her flowers are exquisite, though her husband is the one that chooses the plants. The colors are vibrant, delicate, intricate, and very beautiful. Furthermore, I highly regard her inspiration and diligence in taking the time to analyze the plants she has, and list the ones she would like to have. She has set a goal for herself and has given herself direction for her garden. People should do the same in many areas of their lives, for in doing so, they would achieve much more.

Blog Review

I really enjoyed looking at and reading crack skull bob's blog. He really has a way of drawing one into his pictures and comments. He also has links to more artistic blogs than I could visit in a month. As I was navigating his blog I found myself really enjoying the attention to detail concerning the architectural drawings and I was particularly drawn to the collages. They flowed. Yes, that is the best way to put it. I know that I will continue researching his blog for quite some time now.

www.crackskullbob.squarespace.com

I have never been the same since

This is where it all began. I stepped through the doors and was told to draw upside down. I have never been the same since. This is a really good exercise to train your eye to look at lines and not the entire shape you are drawing.


















After I finished drawing upside down I was then directed to draw my neighbors foot. However this is not my neighbor. My neighbor ran away leaving me to draw Anna's foot, who was sitting on the front row. Lucky for me, she has a really pretty tattoo on her foot

Egg Characterisitcs

I loved the idea of trying to encompass many of the environments an egg is laid in. I had my reservations, because I knew that this was not a specific characteristic of an egg which the assignment called. I did however, make a prototype for the first critique in which I was told to explore a different approach.










This is the rock. This idea came from a fun experiment in my friends kitchen. I took an egg and squeezed it really hard and the egg did not break. I then became more brave and squeezed harder, and it broke. This is when I decided to show that an egg is similar to a rock in the sense that they both have some durability and strength.

Inspiration

These chairs are two that I drew to enhance my drawing skills.









This coffee table in front of the shade is beautiful. I really enjoy the simplicity as well as the color combination between them. I apologize that I have not provided a colored picture for you to enjoy.