30 Day Drawing Challenge (1)

I again apologize for my lack of blogging this school year. I've come to realize that my computer is a slowly dyeing breed. I started college with the above iMac G4 sans mesmerizing, clear plastic speakers. It was the first big purchase I made on my own, with my own money. It might have lasted four years of college, but my little academic heart didn't want to chance the temperamental AppleWorks and other applications as I set out to student teach and find a real job. I donated it to a school and I bought a cute, little, white iBook G4 my senior year of college with a loan from Nana. Now six years later, its still truckin' but ever so slowly.

I plan to buy a MacBook Pro come September, if not before, with my (graduate) student discount. I will be able to have a Picasa account and update my iPod, two things I currently can not do. Nor can I watch awesomely stupid videos on Facebook. Seriously, how else am I supposed to spend my time!?

Actually, I have really been enjoying my time lately. This is the first summer since I was probably 14 that I am NOT working. My second class of the summer is finishing up this week and I am looking forward to some beach time and perhaps some time planning and in my classroom. I've read a handful of books, I visited family both here in MA (Mom came for 4 days!) and on Long Island, and I've spent time with friends and their new baby. I've even found time to do art!

At the end of the school year, I made a bunch of copies of this and left them in a pocket folder on the bulletin board in my classroom. I told my students to take one if they tend to get bored, just want to draw or want a challenge. I said that I can't promise a reward, but if they come in next school year with all thirty drawings, I will think of something. So vague! (I dunno, maybe a candy bar? a check in my grade book?) But many kids took a copy and a week or so ago I thought I should step it up and try myself.

Life kinda got in the way though when I was told last week that the exhaust system in my 1999 Honda CRV (with over 100K) was totally rusted and it would cost a lot to replace it . Needless to say, I took a few days off from drawing to contemplate what to do, finally deciding to purchase a new car!

2007 Chevy HHR

A week in and its still nameless, but so far so good.

And back to the drawing.

Today I finished this:

Day 6: Favorite Book Character

This is Charlotte and her boat from The True Confessions of Charlotte Doyle by Avi. I think I read this in middle school and totally identified with the character. The original copy is still on my book shelf, dried glue, yellow pages and all. I wanted to modernize the cover and after a failed attempt of drawing Charlotte free hand, I decided to use the collage technique I've come to love. 

1. I did the background. This took the longest. I learned a technique at a workshop a few years go where the instructor used matte medium as an adhesive, but would peel some of the pieces off before they would completely dry. He would also add acrylic paint. Here I used the matte medium and pieces of blue magazine page. I then used two shades of blue sharpie and a white paint pen. Not entirely what I wanted, but still rough and textured. 
2. I drew the boat thinking about different filters you can use in Photoshop. 
3. I printed a reversed image of the original cover and traced some of the lines in Charlotte's portrait with black sharpie. This way it shows up on the back as just the line. I then added the blue lines to mimic the boat.
4. Cut and paste! 

I was aiming for street art. Whether I hit the mark or not, I don't know. But so far this is the page I am most satisfied with. I'm trying to take each page a little beyond drawing. I am also making it into a book once I have all 30 pages done. It feels really good to be making art and staying in practice. I will keep you posted!