Check out the description below my last "Work in Progress"...same ideas, different models!
One day in figure drawing, I decided to get crazy. I busted out my Prismacolors and drew the model, then started to fill him in with patterns. It reminds me of the way experience shapes a person, and how so many little elements come together to form a personality. I kind of like the negative space in some areas, so I haven't filled it all in. I'm not entirely sure how to finish this drawing, I've thought of even cutting the figure out and gluing it onto a bright piece of paper (or even a more neutral sheet of Canson paper), but I'm not sure yet. Your feedback is welcome!
_Here is my final sculpture project! What you see here is the result of my first foray into welding (which is so much fun!), two visits to the thrift store to buy fabric, one destroyed snuggie, and about 60 sticks of hot glue. The requirements for the project were originally to build a collapsible shelter using steel and fabric, and of course I drew a design that would not be practical to build at all. It was like metals class all over again- where I'd always draw something I really liked, having no knowledge of the processes I'd need to use to build it. Then my professor would say "You may want to simplify this, because it is going to be very difficult to actually solder/rivet/build". And then I'd say "But is it possible?" And he would say "It is doable, but you are going to have to work your butt off", and I'd say "No problem, I really want to make this"! Which generally resulted in me kicking myself for not making a more practical design that lent itself less to drawing and more to building, but then being happy about taking the risk in the end, even if it meant that my rivets were rather terrible upon close inspection. It's kind of a vicious cycle. Anyway, back to the wave. My professor talked with me about possibly simplifying the wave shape, but I really wanted to try making it the way I drew it. The trouble was, my original plan involved three crests, but since none of the equipment at JMU would bend the rods into three identical ones, I would just have to mess around and try to make one before I worried about the other two. I ended up using a roller to bend two rods into curves that came close to the ones in my drawing, and then I bent them the rest of the way by hand. After welding the first crest together, I got really excited because it looked just like I wanted it to look. The excitement was short-lived, since I then realized that I had no idea how to make that shape again since my process had been the usual "trial and error" approach, and the only measuring I'd done involved the "eyeball" technique. I decided to just finish making the shape of the bottom of the wave before stressing out about the other two crests. I made two more curves and welded them to the crest to form the basic shape, and quickly realized that the shape itself was not all that sturdy. My professor recommended that I weld some bars between the two lines as support. Once I realized how long this would take for just one crest, I decided to reevaluate my design and just extend the wave shape back from the area below the crest and down, so that it would still be a shelter but I would avoid trying to replicate the crest shape. I finished making the frame to the shelter one Saturday before the project was due, after a 5-hour cutting and welding session. Next was the fabric. I wasn't entirely sure how, but I wanted to make the tent resemble a stylized wave on the outside, but when inside, I wanted the viewer to have the illusion or feeling of being underwater. Mercy House Thrift Store didn't let me down; I found the perfect blue fabrics and pillows in about 5 minutes. I even found a sheer, shiny blue fabric that was perfect for the entrance, and flows in wrinkles across the top of the shelter so that while you relax on the pillows and look up, the ceiling is distorted by the ripples, like the sky is when you view it from underwater. I had originally planned to sew the cover together, but by the time I had cut out all the scale shapes, I only had a few days to finish. Hot glue to the rescue! Not that I was torn up about using glue instead of sewing, because in all honesty, I'm more comfortable using a band saw than I am with a needle and thread! I affixed the cover to the shelter in one Saturday by trapping myself in the studio for about 6 hours, taking a dinner and coffee break, and then returning for another 3. I was so excited about how it was turning out that time wasn't really an object, and it was one of those great days where I just turned on my iPod and forgot about everything else except for my project. After I finished the shelter, I even took a nap inside of it! |
Rachel's Blog
current projects and some random thoughts Archives
October 2012
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