Drawing 1: Week 3

Week three of class was about contour drawing and surfaces. The platform in the middle of the room had lots and lots of paper bags arranged on it. Most of the bags were crumpled. We had to do a contour drawing of three bags, with just the outlines. Thickness and flow of the lines is what was important, not perfection. Here is the first drawing I did.

The other in-class drawing was of three bags, but this time we had to fill in the detail of one of the bags. I chose an extremely crumpled up bag to fill in the details of. It was very very frustrating. I thought it looked awful until I finally looked at it again half a week later.It looks pretty good. I should have filled in more of the shading!

We had several options for homework that week. Since the crumpled bag was so horrible to draw and shade in, I decided to draw and shade crumpled pieces of paper. I did the shading too dark.

This is not an easy thing to do if you want good results. I will have to practice more!

Drawing 1: Week 2

The second week of the drawing class focused on creating shadows and shading. In class we had to draw balls and boxes with proper shading and shadows with either charcoal or pencil (I chose charcoal!). There was a large platform in the middle of the room, covered with a white cloth, that had various sized boxes and balls arranged on it. This set up is what we had to use to draw our still life of simple objects.

First, we had to sketch thumbnails from different angles until we found a set up we wanted to draw. Here are my thumbnails: 

I did more thumbnails that I needed to. I couldn't figure out how I wanted the items arranged in my drawing.

I finally decided to draw an area that had three balls which almost made a straight line. The light was shining pretty much directly down on the objects, so there wasn't much shadow. This took me a few hours to draw:

I gave up on the in-class drawing when I couldn't think of any way to alter or improve it.

The homework assignment for the week was to create a still life drawing of three or five objects. I spent almost an hour creating a set up of objects I liked. Here are my thumbnail drawings:

The first set up was of three glass jars filled with either candy or sugar. While making the first thumbnail, I realized that candy inside of a glass jar is a very difficult thing to draw. This made me change the set up and started a search for simple objects. I finally decided on a small glass jar full of sugar, a tiny potted plant that I'm growing, and a spool of thread. 

The drawing took me three nights to complete. I had to draw at night to get the shadows how I wanted them! Kat was very helpful during the day:

That is, she was helpful until she decided to knock over the plant and thread while I was gone one day. She fortunately did that after I was finished with everything except shading the background.

Since I decided to set things up on the coffee table, I had to sit on the floor by the couch to get a nice angle. Here is another view of my set up:

The towel is on the floor because I was using charcoal to draw. Charcoal is very dusty and I didn't want to get that in the light colored carpet. That would be an awful thing.

Here is the final version of my drawing. Somehow the corner got bent. I might have to blame Kat for that...

And that concludes week two of my adventures in drawing. Maybe one day I'll figure out how to take better pictures...

Edit: I was told to make the background dark. Looking at this picture, I need to figure out how to make it even darker! And to take non-fuzzy pictures. New camera is needed, I guess :(

Drawing 1: Week 1

You may have noticed that I've been updating less often. There are several reasons for that. I figure I can at least provide a weekly post of something I make/create with the adventure of taking a drawing class. It'll be fun.

Since I teach at the college level, I'm able to take free classes. This semester I decided to take a class called "Drawing 1". I'm not entirely sure why I decided to take a drawing class. Possibly just because it seemed fun. And also because I don't think I'm very good at drawing. People with very little actual art background take art classes, right? Sure they do.

Anyhow, the drawing class takes place every Saturday for several hours. The first day was just spent going over the syllabus and needed materials/supplies. (Note: art supplies are expensive.) We also were given a homework assignment. I had to find a drawing by a famous draughtsman,  make a copy of it, and then reproduce it using the grid method.

This is the drawing I chose:

It is "Study of a lily" by Leonardo. The photo copy isn't that great, but it was the best I was able to get from the copy machine. (For the actual drawing, click here!) I spent nearly an hour going through art books at the local library. Most of the books focused on paintings which made it difficult to find pictures of drawings. This drawing seemed relatively simple and I think it's lovely.

This took me a few days to draw because I have limited time to spend on it. Throughout the week I added a bit at night before sleeping. Here is my progress:

Day 1:

Day 2:

Day 3:

Final version:

I think it turned out okay. It's too dark and there are a few areas I don't like. The pencil was weird and I kept smudging everything with my hand. I'm not used to all these fancy drawing supplies yet.

And this concludes the first week of taking a drawing class. See you next week with another update on the adventure.

Chicken Noodle Soup

Chicken noodle soup isn't something that I was taught how to make. I just started making it and adjusting it over time. And eventually I started using real ingredients instead of powdered ingredients. Every time I make chicken noodle soup, the recipe probably varies. Everything I put in is pretty much "to taste", so the recipe that I include below isn't really a recipe. Use it as a guideline.

You can use any chicken for this; I generally use boneless chicken breast. Using chicken still on the bone will provide more flavor. I also tend to add way too many noodles. The noodles absorb liquid after the package recommended boiling time, so keep that in mind. You can also use chicken broth instead of bouillon. And you can easily adjust the recipe to make a smaller amount!

Chicken Noodle Soup
10 C water + bouillon to make it into chicken broth
Salt & pepper "to taste"
1/2 to 1 pound chicken breast
1/2 onion, chopped
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 C carrots, sliced
1 C celery, sliced
1 1/2 C noodles (I used stars!)

Boil the chicken in the water/broth. Add the salt and pepper.

While the chicken is boiling, chop up the onion and garlic. Add it to the boiling water.

Slice up the carrots and celery. Add these to the boiling broth.

When the chicken is cooked all the way, pull it out of the broth.. Shred the chicken and then return it to the pot. I usually shred the chicken using two forks.

Add the noodles. Let boil for the recommended amount of time. Reduce the soup to a simmer. Let simmer for a while.

Enjoy!

1.5qt Slow Cooker Applesauce

I was given a 1.5qt slow cooker for Christmas. It is tiny and cute, but I have no idea what to make with such things. I spent a while searching for recipes the other day, and I found one for applesauce! I never thought I could be so excited to make applesauce, but yes... applesauce! This is very easy to make and just cooks overnight. You can keep the applesauce in the fridge for up to 2 weeks as well. I may never buy applesauce again.

Applesauce
4 or 5 baking apples
1/4 C water
1/2 to 1 t cinnamon
1/4 to 1/2 C sugar

Wash and peel the apples.I used Cortland apples.

Cut them into cubes or chunks and toss them into a clean 1.5qt slow cooker.

Pour in the water. Sprinkle with cinnamon. Add the sugar. (Cinnamon and sugar amounts are "to taste".)

Turn the slow cooker on low and let cook for 8-10 hours. I stirred it a few times. The applesauce will be chunky. If you prefer thin applesauce, smash down the chunks or use a food processor.

Enjoy!