How Goes The Villians Challenge?

Stormtroopers and Cylons...Lovely Villians...

Oh yeah and Klingons...Can't forget about them.
Please excuse the yucky hands, friends.
What's bad in ruff will be cool in finish.

VILLIANS CHALLENGE EXTENDED TO JULY 20!
get going on yours.

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My Students Are Cooler Than Your's

I don't know who suggested it but one of my students said it would be fun to wear a costume so we could draw everybody for class today and I was pleased to see everybody came dressed up. This was fun idea and everybody seemed to have a great time. We paraded around campus and should have had our trick or treat bags. We went outside to get some pictures in the smokey air (all of California is on fire right now - thus my fire department costume) Then we went inside to draw each other. What a great group of students I've got!

Everybody gets to silly now and then. I think I'm being beaten to death here.
Time for a little reflection.
Holy Sheet!
What is this sheet?

Verily, I seeketh me mead

This is an awesome hat! Why don't we wear stuff this anymore?

Chinese upper class from a time long past.

Crouching Tiger....?

Anyone for some Kendo?

Ready?
A kimono suprise.
Kinda blue
Ready for the Convention
Nothing up my sleeve.
Fairy Princess Queen she tells me
She's back!
I'm so shiney...
I guess I should get to work and help put these fires out.

Aren't my students great? We need to do this more often.

Supported Folds: More Class Notes For You

Yesterday we began our discussion on supported folds beginning with bend folds. These folds show activity and compression in joints. Bend folds are found at the elbow and knee, obviously, and also pelvis/leg insertion, arm/chest insertion and sometimes the ankles and wrists as well as the neck.
The tighter or thinner the material, the smaller the bend fold. More material means a larger bend fold. Here are some lecture notes. We continued the discussion with pull or tension folds. These are folds that stretch across the form or figure usually having several origins but all meet at one point of tension. I encourage all of you to find those folds that best describe the action or gesture of the cloth and simplify the rest. If you draw every fold you'll be copying and the drawing will become too complicated and appear stiff.

Next we covered my favorite type of fold, the zig zag fold. This type of fold describes a sense of compression as the material begins to pile on itself, usually at the floor or on top of forms. It's easy to get carried away when these folds, so again, pay attention to the intended look of your folds. Otherwise the folds will stop looking solid. Go and practice drawing folds!
Here are some stunningly beautiful examples of folds from Ver meer, Caravaggio and Velazquez respectively.

Had the above been painted today, it probably would have been titled "Damn, dude..."

SJSU Part 2

We met at SJSU again for another look at some of the costumes in the costume shop. This time, heavy material was the focus and we got to draw several renaissance outfits including this one which looked waaay better than horrible drawing I had time to do.Here are some photos from our visit. These were fun to draw and I really gained a deep respect for the skill and craft that goes into making these theatrical costumes not to mention what went into the real things.I got the opportunity to wear this Renaissance robe. That's right friends, Jeff Jackson-the nuclear holocaust of fashion.
As a thank you for opening up the shop to my students and myself, I baked brownies for Debbie and Rita in the shop. It turns out that these brownies not only didn't kill anybody but were good enough that I was asked for a recipe and so here it is, thanks again ladies.

For lack of a better title (other than The Antichrist of Weight Watchers Brownies) I am going to call them 'chocolatechipnutbuttermarshmallowbrowniekrispys'. You can make up your own title.

fudge brownie mix 1 pkg (2 eggs, 1/4 cup oil, 1/4 cup water)
1 bag mini marshmallows
chocolate chips 1 1/2 cups
1/2 cup creamy peanut butter (Jif is always better for baking)
1 tbs butter
1 1/2 cups rice krispys
13x9 pan

mix and cook brownies as directed on box. I like the fudge-y-er brownies from Duncan Hines but whatever is on sale or use what you like. (I haven't made brownies from scratch in years-who's got time for that?)
cook about 25 mins (see box)
check for done-ness with toothpick allow to cool

sprinkle marshmallows on top of brownies, I know it says a whole bag of mini marshmallows but dang, that's a lot of marshmallows-I just use enough to cover.
bake another 5-10 or until marshmallows golden brown, allow to cool

While brownies are baking, mix chocolate chips (I like Ghirardelli milk chocolate morsels but use whatever suits you), peanut butter and butter in sauce pan and melt completely on low temp

add Rice Krispys to chocolate mixture
spread on top of marshmallows

The Chocolate mix should still be warm enough to spread easily with a spatula or wooden spoon. I don’t worry about the Marshmallows mixing with the chocolate, though I do believe that the original recipe says should be three layers; brownie, marshmallow, and chocolate. If you want to do it that way, allow the chocolate mix to cool and then spoon evenly on marshmallows.
Allow to cool completely or place in freezer for 15 minutes before cutting into 1.5"-2" squares.
Enjoy!

Hanging Folds

Hi,
We've been covering basic folds in class and here some lecture notes regarding two types of hanging folds. The first and probably the easiest are called Pipe or Tube Folds. These folds happen when material has one point of origin while the rest of the cloth is effect by gravity's pull. Curtains, capes, and dresses show these type of folds.

I love marble statues, especially classical examples. I would love to possess the ability to make stone look like cloth. Take time to look at statues that exhibit drapery to see what to simplify and leave out. Here's Perseus with some pipe folds...and Medusa's head and a sword and not much else but those pipe folds sure are cool.Here's how to get started drawing in costume drapery. The first step is to recognize and draw the figure supporting the cloth underneath. Now you certainly are not expected to render the form under the material, just understand the planes that provide support. Though I have gone a little overboard in the next series of drawings, I hope you get the idea. Let's take an American icon-the Statue of Liberty. I have drawn her according to volume of her arms and neck, taking into consideration the accepted body type of a female from the late 1800s.I then found the direction of the topmost portion of the toga that covers her.

The cloth is thick and spills off the shoulder, here it's effected by gravity and angles toward the weight leg.

Then it is just a matter of seeing how much cloth is making its way down her trunk. Notice how it falls down to the left foot or area of most support. Look at the compression of the pipes as it comes in contact with the hard masses of the body.

Fill in the details. There are at least three layers of cloth covering the form but look how close they come in contact to right side of the body following the weight of the body.

Here's the topmost drapery rendered to obscure the figure. I know the shadow paths of the figure and cloth are going different directions, that was intensional to separate the two. If you don't see that, why not? Plot them.

Just the cloth for less confusion.
Here's a reference picture.
The other easy hanging fold is the "Hanging Sheet" or Diaper Fold, so called because they create a look like the material is hanging on a line to dry.
Here are some examples in marble that express pipe folds as well.

I don't really know what these two folks are doing here, but that is some crazy drapery sculpting. Look at how the 'cloth' spills down their backs accentuating the forms below. Hanging Sheets to the left, pipes to the right.


Now go draw your togas, folks.