itesser ink: progress, uncensored

Top of the pile today, the high holiday of consumerism for our religion of capitalism, is making art with kids.

Last Thursday was my second day in the classroom talking to 5th graders about drawing. In the 30 minutes I have, it's hard to slow down and really teach. As exhilarating it is to get out there and impression young minds, I tend to worry I'm doing it all wrong.

I spent the first hour and a half putting together individual sketchbooks for the kids




And bound a few of the extras as proof-of-concept that, should a kid exceed the bounds of their first sketchbook, I would be able to collect multiple volumes together in a single compendium



Stapler binding for the win!

The first page has chatter about drawing in the form of Frequently Asked Questions [img]. The last page has suggestions for How and What to Draw [img].

What I wanted them to take away from the lesson was the value of quick, light lines. I demonstrated by doing rough gestural drawings on the whiteboard, and instructed them to do four in pencil and four in pen, to try different mediums. When our time was up, I collected their sketchbooks and spent another ninety minutes giving individual comments and suggestions via sticky notes.






This coming week I have Monday and Tuesday available, we'll see what my mom offers me. It's pretty clear to me that some time with basic anatomy would be well spent, I'm just not sure how to do it. Reference photos and sketching each one twice while talking about it? My mom suggested that I give more time for individual demonstrations to sink in.

I think my main talking points will be

+ Identifying the torso-shape
+ Head/chest proportions.
+ Doing those things in life drawing

The handout will also include notes on shoulders and spines, plus some fresh drawing mantras. (ie: "draw what you see, not what you think you see")

More about how awesomely productive today is, plus your daily poem/sketches after I make all those things happen.

Labels: bonus post, drawing class, photos

Oddly enough, today ends on a note much more familiar than I have hummed in a week or more. (Drawing!)

On the topic of positive thinking (or not doing so intentionally, and still having things to smile about), two opportunities have come my way in the last two days. One is short term and you'll hear about that next week. One is longer term and more tentative. The latter involves trying my hand at screenprinting. Two exciting projects I don't want to jinx.

Here is a brief photo essay about the 30 hours I was gone. A few more in the Flickr set










In the interest of keeping things chronological, in this gap of time I wrote today's poem.

Foraging

Merlot in hand
I stumble
into the rain-soaked grove
guided in circles
by birdsong

I marvel
at fading remnants
of the citrus crop

when high heels
betray me
mud on flannel pants
chilly earth to skin
I abandon
my search for yesterday's
memories

I follow the rooster back
to pick up
where last night left off

Some commentary below




More here at Flickr

The above poem is a high context daydream based on reality. Odd relationship with linebreaks in this one. I wish I could end that one line with "yesterday" and somehow indicate the possessive right before "memories". Or is that trite? What keeps me from shortening it to merely "yesterday" is sentimental attachment to the context that inspired the poem.

Last of all, a good old fashioned scannie:

Labels: excitement, mini world, photos, poem, projects, scannies, thanksgiving, the ranch, trips

These is a scan composite from yesterday. I'm getting close to the point where more of my days do not align with those the rest of this coast experiences. It's 6pm (wow), and I'm still in "starting my day" mode. "Today"'s scans will likely be posted in about 12 hours.

Reagan is so clever. The subject line for the email containing this latest round of drawings was "scannies". :D



For good measure, here are a couple snaps of the Eggplant Lasagnettes I made for dinner last night.



I'm no food photographer, but the the way it looked coming out of the oven was so close to my vision (minus that the mozzarella got ripped off in a couple places from baking to the foil) that I wept with joy and grabbed my camera.

The only other news I've got is that I had an Epic Fantasy breakthrough while at work. If this keeps happening, I just might keep going. The project needs a working title, a code name. An identifier of some kind. But I'm at a loss!

Labels: food, italian film, photos, sketches