Diving In

Starting the year off with a splash.

What I did:
    I spent at least an hour this week moving everything in to my studio. Although it isn't quite finished, I am already in love with it. It is wonderful to have a space that is completely devoted to making art.

my workspace!!

    Earlier this week, I began the first assignment of "make something". I spent two hours researching and rediscovering things that inspired and motivated me. I will delve into the specifics of my discoveries in the next section, but overall it was a refreshing time to refill my mind with ideas.
    One of the things I rediscovered was my anatomy sketchbook. I was really drawn (pun not intended) to a contour drawing of a mandible. I took some time to study it's shape and redraw it several times. An hour later I was ready to play. I took this open-ended assignment as a chance to see where my pencil took me. Not something I can do too often.
    Over the next few days I took time to add to my drawing, little by little. Overall, I spent about two hours drawing and tracing the piece. I started with the outline of a mandible I began drawing patterns and designs around it. While I drew I began to think about the kinds of things that are associated with jaw bones (e.g. eating, yawning, speaking, etc.) This thought process helped me come up with some of the surrounding designs.
    By the time I inked in the designs surrounding the mandible's contour, I had a negative space that I found intriguing. I decided to leave the space empty for the time being. Although the void was merely a call of intuition, I am beginning to consider the meaning of missing pieces; especially regarding the body.
    In order to finish the piece, I took an hour and a half for scanning, coloring and photoshopping my drawing.

i like to play

    Yesterday, I spent my three hours of studio time working up ideas and sketches about my dream IP projects and determining what happens if I change certain variables (e.g. medium, scale, audience...). Yesterday night however,  I spent three hours at the Max to Macs exhibit/demonstration at the Taubman Medical Library. The experience was amazing. Not only were there live demonstrations of medical illustration techniques from carbon dust to adobe illustrator, but the artists were more than happy to talk about their work, their lives, and offer all kinds of advice. It was the opportunity of a lifetime. I will be sure to keep in contact with my new resources as well as take some time to decide how much I want my love for medical illustration to play a role in my senior thesis.

What I accomplished/discovered/encountered:
    While looking over some of the images I had collected, I rediscovered an amazing illustrator, Teagan White. I took some time to look more closely at her work as well as read her bio. She deals with a lot of typography and anatomy. Her illustrations are usually science based and are super detailed. I would love for my work to be as beautiful and meaningful as hers. You should check out her website: http://www.teaganwhite.com/index.html. Below are just a few examples of her work that I found most captivating.

What I think I should do next:
    The next step for me right now is assessing all the possibilities of this project moving forward. After determining the different paths that my vision could take, I think I will be better prepared to take an actual step forward with my process. Until then, I will be trying to draw every single day. I also want to think about the symbolism associated with different body parts and what it represents when pieces are missing. Also, a little more research never hurt anybody...