introduction to conceptual art: drawing 208


So, dear reader, it is fall of 2006, and I am taking Drawing 208, a second year drawing class, in conceptual style, entitled "drawing the object". I am actually not quite done first year, so I get permission to enroll in this second year course. For my final course of first year, I will take Design Colour, but it is not offered until next semester. I'll fill in the fall with this fabulous drawing class! The first several weekly assignments are specific themes.

I think this one is to draw something that you desire:
Box of chocolates, charcoal

Next, yes, it's a still life drawing of a tampon on a hotdog bun. I am criticized for my use of sharpie marker, even though I think the whole thing is pretty edgy and potentially even conceptual. Fun fact: I actually set this up as a still life in my studio. As I drew it, over several days, the bun dried out and gradually shrunk.

"Dinner party" hits the lunch counter, ink and sharpie

I attempt to join in the conceptual game with this next piece, by hanging the actual pants on the wall, with the drawing displayed beside. The entire critique of this work is a discussion of the actual pants themselves, and whether I should have hung them on the wall. I think the conclusion is that the pants are better without the drawing! The drawing itself is "not risky".

Lucky pants, pastel on paper

This next assignment is to draw a vanitas:

Housewife's vanitas, acrylic on canvas

Still indulging in my desire to paint from life:

Red onion, acrylic on canvas

There follows a series of fruit and vegetable still lifes, in various media:






But wait . . . I think I have been cured! My "A" work of the semester is this abstract work, painted entirely with a pallet knife:


colour theory

It is the winter session of 2007, and I am enrolled in colour theory.

This first year "design" course contrasts with the conceptually-oriented drawing class of last semester: the instructor wants us to paint actual representations, often "from life"! Wow, I am thrilled! The heart of this course is the painting of colour charts, and on alternate weeks, a painting assignment.

We are provided with a blank chart, on 11" x 17" paper, and instructions on how to paint it in. Neatness counts, as well as the correctness of the colour.

For example, here is the first blank chart:

The assignment is to paint it in, like this:

But how do you get the colours "correct"? Aren't colours subjective? Well, in many contexts, perhaps they are, but in this course, we paint this first chart while referring to a master chart, painted in large, hung on the wall of the classroom. We receive marks for how closely we match our work to the master chart. Therefore, this first chart must be painted in the classroom. For subsequent chart work, we can refer to our own chart, this first assignment. It becomes our own personal copy of the master chart.

Here are the other charts, in no particular order. Each chart takes me about fifteen hours to paint:
For this chart, we have to mix our own black from the primary colours, which is very challenging:
Here are a couple of the painting assignments:
Feng shui in the computer age
This assignment is to paint three identical paintings, each in a different colour-way: warm, cool, and mixed. These are three separate paintings, acrylic on illustration board, sized 7 inches x 10 inches.
(I show these to a friend and he says, "When are you going to paint something that someone would want to buy?" in response to which I would like to pose my own question, "Why are people so idiotic?")

Here is the final assignment, twenty small paintings of the same scene. The scene is selected from various plein air sketches that we were required to draw. The colour-ways are mostly prescribed in the assignment - perhaps a couple of them are at our own option.
Each 5" x 7" painting takes me three hours to do. It is now April, 2007, and I manage to fit the sixty hours of painting in, under pressure during the last weeks of tax season. One morning my computer just doesn't start and, hallelujah! Normally an event precipitating panic, my computer problem is serendipity. I have a whole day to paint while my computer is under repair!

In this class I learn to mix colours and manage my paint palette, among the most useful skills that I have gained from this college experience.

plein air summer


Here are some works from the summer of 2007 - field trips with Maria, and new pals from colour theory, Jessica and Stuart.
Saturday afternoon on the Bow, acrylic, 9 x 12, private collection
At Riley Park, acrylic, 9 x 12

Forest floor, acrylic on board, 9 x 12, SOLD

Forest floor 2, acrylic on board, 9 x 12
A day in May, acrylic, 9 x 12
Sunday afternoon at Nosehill, acrylic, 12 x 16
Perhaps in keeping with this outdoor theme, I do some background performer work on a few occasions, this summer and in the fall. It is very interesting to have a "behind the scenes" look at film production. The pay for background work (if you don't have any lines) is a flat $100 for up to twelve hours, and then apparently they would pay you more if the hours go longer than that. Naturally, this means that you are certainly signing up for a full twelve hour day (and not more than twelve hours most likely), since the film people want to get the most labour for their money. Following this, the very disorganized casting agent won't get it together to actually pay me until months later - I think they keep no record of hours worked, and then they only pay when they are asked! Some payroll system! So, it's not particularly well paid, but it could be worth doing anyway if you really loved the work - or if you thought you would be discovered!

It is fun, and there are a lot of surprising details if you are looking for new and diverting experience. This is the set of a German western serial TV show - apparently they love westerns in Germany! I am not actually sure of the title of the show, since they don't tell the background people. Someday I may try to find and watch the episodes I was in.
Set of "Blue Mountain" at CL Ranch; I am the second woman from the right, in the blue dress