Andy Wales talks to us and shows a stunning powerpoint!

We were fascinated by Andy's story of his strong desire to draw (at an early age!) - of his need to make art - of his quirky sense of humor that shines forth from his stories in his comic books. Andy has self-published three comics to date. He has created many three page comic stories that are published in a children's magazine. He has created four educational comics which involve much theory about how we learn and the different ways in which we are intelligent. He recently spent a weekend at a gathering (and showing) of many artists involved in small press comics.
Andy shared some of the small press comics that he has traded for over the years. Andy's passion to excell at drawing is seen in the many, many sketchbooks that he has filled through the years. He generously shared some of those with us, too. Andy asked us to look for the kind of art that appeals to us and to MAKE IT.
Thanks for the great talk - and energizing us to work more on our drawing skills!

James Gurney's ABC challenge

Project No. 3 was to answer James Gurney's ABC Challenge - a monthly illustration "problem." James posts a quote on his blog Gurney Journey and all are invited to send their artwork to be posted there. This month's quote - " I became immediately and irrationally angry. How dare this six foot chicken with a silly red crest on top of his narrow foolish head say that we humans were deficient in feii? I controlled..." Here are the solutions that our class developed.

Remember to click on the images to enlarge them and to see the artist's names.

Project No. 2 - "add-on"

I know, I know - I missed photographing these two charcoal drawings at the critique. I think that I've got to improve?

Project No. 2 (part one) - still life dominated by a mounted deer's head

Charcoal is an interesting material to work with. Much can be done by erasing and blending. Many of us though felt more comfortable with pencil. Informally three students claimed to like charcoal better than pencil.

Project No. 2 (part two)

Remember to click on the images to enlarge and to be able to see the artists' names.

Still life in charcoal started

Above anna works from the posed still life and, like many of us, is featuring the deer head. Below Cheniece is focused on two of the other elements of the still life - a picture frame and a bucket.

Above you have to think Orca to get the full impact of the image made by Ashley C for Project No. 1. Now I only have one more teacher error to repair.

Examples of charcoal exercises done in sketchbooks

Generally, most of us felt uncomfortable with charcoal. As we worked with it though, we began to like some of the effects we were able to master. The next project will be a charcoal drawing of a posed still life.