Playing catch up while I take a break...

So we've started back up again and are one week into the Winter Term.  Things are already kinda crazy and are definitely a sign of things to come... (my computer graphics teacher said this was the worst of the three terms as far as workload -- thanks for the encouraging words Amadeo).  :)

I'm taking 4 studio classes this term (1 more than last term) and all the names are a little confusing, but I promise I won't test you on this later...  they are Natural Science Illustration in Color, Applied Techniques in Natural Science Illustration, Applied Techniques in Color Science Illustration, and Design of Information Graphics, but whatever their names, they all amount to a whole ton of work.  So don't be surprise if you don't hear from me again until Spring break (in 9 weeks).

Before things got too crazy though, I wanted to catch you up on last term.  I never posted anything from my Field Sketching class and wanted to do so today, so here you go:

Remember when I blogged about our day at the UCSC Farm?  Well these are my sketches from that day

For homework we had to do sketches of whatever we wanted... 

I like to go for walks and runs here, it's only 5 minutes away from where I'm staying in Marina

We spent one day at Wild Things, a reserve that houses all sorts of animals that are trained and used in films

  Another assignment: we had to fit an entire skeleton on one page, this is a pigeon skeleton

Towards the end of the term we did a "replica" of another artists work.

I chose Claudia Nice, precisely because of this cactus - her's is on the left, my copy is on the right

After the "replica" we had to do another painting "in the style of" that artist, the choice was obvious...

Our final assignment was to identify something in nature 

based solely on our drawings of it in the field... This plant grows all along

the highway near my house and I see it on my way to Marina Dunes Reserve,

turns out, it's a plant called St. Catherine's Lace  :)

 That's a good selection of some of my favorites.  But I really ought to get back to work now on this term's upcoming assignments.  Right now, I'm working on two small acrylic paintings (one that is another "replica" like the one above, and one that is a small spot illustration of plant materials).  In the next week I'll be submitting two colored pencil pieces I finished this week, starting (and finishing) a third colored pencil piece and starting a "full scene" painting in acrylic.  I'll do my best to post some of these next weekend to keep up before the end of the term, but I'm not sure how that will pan out.  At the very least I'll keep you updated on new projects in the works.