Artastic

I have never seen the animated show Samurai Jack before this semester. It was done in a very cubist style with strong shapes.  We had to develop three characters: A comedic relief Wannabe who trails Samurai Jack and wants to be his student I dressed this kid in superman colours and homemade armour that is so large he keeps tripping over it.     A female samurai/potential relationship partner This character is half nature spirit, which makes her temperament unpredictable. Her father was a samurai. She is primarily an archer and she can enchant her arrows. With them she can create mischief, put someone to sleep, or put a truth spell on them, among other things. The horns on her head are a natural part of her. The entire design for her began with her eyes, the shape of which is repeated in her costume and her horns.   A villain This guy is enormous when placed next to the main character, shown here as a silhouette. He is a cyborg cyclops.   I had fun with all three.

We are currently exploring cubism in my Interpretive Illustration course. I was lucky to have a really interesting African sculpture that I could use for this assignment. I have always loved the style of this piece and it was fun to explore. Here is the original sculpture:

 My results from this exercise were very interesting. Despite the fact that I listen to a wide variety of music I am very particular about the music that I like. Due to my Hyperacusis some sounds that are normal for other people are physically painful for me. This was reflected in the third piece, which was based upon a Jazz song. The calm sounds of the music was cut across sharply by the painful sound of a trumpet, which is almost always a painful instrument for me to listen to. The first song is one of heavy drumbeats and brass that will be forever associated with 2001: A Space Odyssey   The second was classical, with a strong main theme. This was the Jazz piece. The next song was a very soothing classical piece. This last was a Funeral March by Wagner. I did not not know it was called that at the time I painted it, but the sombre background was the first impression I got from the song.

 I have always liked the way that this gorilla looks out at the viewer. I found the expression in his eyes full of depth when I took the source photo. I then turned it into an acrylic painting. When working on the same series of quick sketches I originally intended to do the entire figure, but as always his gaze pulls me in and I stuck to sketching his face. Here is the first sketch done in a realistic style. This one was drawn upside down. He has a rather sweet look to him.   This one was done using curved lines only This one was straight lines only. This one was drawn using a slow tempo for the lines This one was with a fast tempo for the lines

 Welcome to my first Blog - Ever! These sketches are from today's class. I found the Just Straight lines version yielded the most interesting results because it was the furthest from my usual drawing style. Realistic Version     Drawn Upside Down Version    Just Curved Lines Just Straight Lines Slow Tempo Fast Tempo