A Great Max Photo for 2010

The Lux Review -

My drawing titled, Portrait of Chantal was accepted into the Lux Review and will be published in their next magazine.  Pretty cool and great news (on my birthday even).  I am reposting the drawing.

My Grades Are All In...

I was, as posted earlier, disappointed in the A- for printmaking, but I was happy (surprised) to receive an A+ in one of my Art Education courses, so all evened out in the end.  I had made peace with the A- and was ready for the inevitable drop in GPA but am pleased to have it at a 4.0 for one more semester.  This was important to me because I know that next semester is going to be a real challenge and wanted a buffer to take a little pressure off.

Grades-

To add to the last post: It's funny but this semester, I wasn't able to nail down any grades in any of my classes.  I had to totally let go of the GPA concerns and work my A_ _ off.  I didn't get any grades at all from my painting class.  I don't like working that way, I like knowing where I am at, where I am headed, and what can be done if I'm headed in the wrong direction.  This semester was extremely stressful in so many ways.  I have got to find a way to balance the stress of scholarship grade requirements, GPA and just the workload alone.  I am going to rest up because next semester is expected to be even tougher. I don't do well in art history courses, and I found out that the scheduled class was changed because the instructor will be out for health reasons.  Originally, all was well, a fellow student had the books that are required for the class I was supposed to take, and she let me borrow them, so I wouldn't have to buy books, and I could read up on the subject during break; now, that has changed.  But one glimmer of hope on "Rate my Professor. com," the professor for the new class had decent ratings.  Most of the art history teachers have scary ratings, like- senile, loses papers, loses tests.  So we shall see.  ARGH!  Eddy is helping me to cope with an A- , and my son Josh thinks I'm crazy to get so upset about an A-.  Coping and Crazy, that's how my holiday break is going.  How about yours?

Does an A- bother anyone else?

I was somewhat disheartened, bummed and really upset at receiving an A- for my semester grade in intro to printmaking.  I weary of the grading process and not being a part of the crowd that gets As just for being "cool."  It's seriously like being back in high school all over again.  For the most part, the cool kids, are the idiots that take up class time, cheat or are completely lazy and lack any real talent.  I know, it's still an A but it's a lesser A, and not the grade I should have received.  Oh well, move on and let it go- right.?.

Just for Fun - My Dog Max

Not art related - just for fun.  This is my pug Max; he is 7 months old.  Just a quick snapshot - he moved a little, so it's fuzzy but cute.   He likes to scratch on my canvases and paintings - tough critic!!!

Drawing Rough - Grid

This is two images of the initial drawing for the painting of the boy shown in my previous blog post.  I thought it would be good to put these up.  I had to create two diagonal grids, one for the boy and one for the positioning of the boy within the stairs.  I find the diagonal grid works better for me than the traditional grid.  Eddy took the pictures for me.  Thanks Eddy.

Art Education ... Lesson Plan

This was a lesson plan I created for another project in my Art Ed Class.

Art Education ...

This is a game board I made for one of my art education courses.  I used the artwork and artist from the Ponyo movie.  I created the board, some game pieces, cards and questions.  I am posting here the game board.  I created two halves in Photoshop and placed them on a board that can be folded like an actual store bought game.

Some Old, Some New

Below in my blog I have listed some older images, but there are also some images of my final for printmaking and for my painting courses.  Take a look... Thanks for following along on my blog.  I have officially made it through another semester.  A time for rest, holidays and family.

Abstract Painting - from earlier this summer.

I felt like adding another painting that I had finished over the summer.  It is a watercolor - mixed media, watercolor and wax.  It is titled- Scars.

Disharmony - Painting II

I am also reposting a picture I painted a little earlier in the semester. This painting expresses how I was feeling toward the end of this semester.  The title again is Disharmony.

Final Painting - Painting II Class

This is an extra credit project for Painting II class.  I had wrapped up my paintings a little early, so my professor asked me to paint ONE more.  Eddy was kind enough to buy me another canvas, as I had run out of money for the semester.  The painting was first painted with acrylic in gray tones, and then I glazed over with oils.  The painting could probably use a couple more hours work, but I think it turned out well, since I only had four sittings to work on it.  This painting was taken from a photo provided by Janet Scott.  It is a photo she had taken of her son.

Printmaking-Final Project

I am posting some images of my Printmaking Class Final Project.  I was pleased that my grade was an A+. I worked very hard on this project.  The ink work is done in drypoint etching.  I had to duplicate the process to create an edition of two each; I also ran another copy and finished it off with colored pencil.  This is a comic book story in two panels:
Backstory:

Etched in the Alter Ego, Zedie

Zachary Smith, a starving and unemployed Painting Major ingests radioactive Raw Umber while working on his final piece of work for Painting III.  Transformed with the ability of flight, strength and uncanny insight into the intricacies of Color Theory, Zachary takes on the alter ego of Zedie – traveling through the previously unknown intergalactic dimensions, righting wrongs and providing solace for struggling artists here in our own galaxy and beyond…

In Black and White:

In color:

This is Zachary Smith...starving, unemployed painting Major by day...

Super Zedie by night.

It Made It In and Won Third Place....so awesome!

My drawing made it into the juried undergrad show, and believe it or not, it won third place!!!