So, so busy.

Sorry it's been so long since I last posted... almost a full month.

I've been really really swamped, so this is probably going to be a really long post.

Anyways, I'm no longer a complete freshman at MICA. I've sucessfully completed my first semester, with a GPA of 3.4 which puts me on the Dean's List! YAYYYYY

My finals were basically comprised of: a creation of totally brand new pieces, interviews, self evaluations, and no sleep. One would think that with all the time I put into my finals I would have documentation of them right? Wrong. I only have documentation of my drawing final, which I find  really strange.

MY Drawing Final!!!

My Drawing final was to use four sheets of large paper and create a piece based on "Changes." I chose to do changes in myself, using two extremes. How I was freshman year of high school and freshman year of college. These two self portraits were supposed to reflect a short summary of who I was at those times. (High school on the left, college on the right) The hands represented my main activities of each of these periods, High school being stage crew, and college is without a doubt art. the third pair I included was more a normal pose which I tend to rest my hands when thinking. The next part of the drawing is the multiple whit oil pastel gestures of myself in my various "art poses" or how I tend to stand when I'm working. And coming from the center weave is a line of red string that ends with a dangling figure, a representation of myself, completely lost and at the mercy of whatever comes. (normally a waft of air that makes him sway) There are also words scribbled onto two sides, the left has the message "work" repeated over and over because I used to be a complete work-aholic (I might still be) and the right has the word "crazy" repeated because I am probably going to drive myself crazy one way or another. And that is a really humbling/scary thought. 

Here are some close ups on it. So you can see details!

Top half, sorry that it's so yellow comparatively, That's just how the studio lights work. Always.

Bottom half, you can see the relation between the figure and the paper more clearly, as well as the random stitching I have holding tow of the large sheets together. Also, you can look at the hands.

my little dangler. I think he's the most rad part of the piece, even though it's probably the most unrelated part. I just wanted to have him dangle!

BESIDES FINALS.

I am home  for winter break!!!! While that is normally a good thing, for me it isn't. I have so much emotional stuff to deal with at home that I'm not really able to cope with, which I force myself to try and ignore. It's really a bad system, and partially why I am going crazy. However, I have been trying to think about those drak, dark thoughts which keep me up at night shivering and dying inside to myself. IF you actually are reading this, then congrats you know a part of me you didn't know before~!

Aside from that, is the main holiday of the season! HANUKKAH!!!! lol jk, I'm suppossed to be Jewish, but in all reality, I could care less. However, we do get to meet our friends from around the country who come visit in the spirit of the other great(ish) holiday, Christmas. (AH THAT'S TODAY!) and in that spirit, I accepted a comission from a family friend that had recently started playing...Dungeons and Dragons.

Here is her half elf/half human ninja, Lathraea.

I had fun with this, even though I feel like a complete lame ass for doing it... even more so because I knew what she was talking about when she was describing how she plays. As an often watcher of MICA'a Guild, I know most of the part of D&D, and I guess I finally should get around to joining a game... or should I keep my dignity intact and leave? 

AHH NAAAAHHHHHH those kids are awesome, and I love Warhammer 40k, I'm a bigger nerd than some RP-ers.

Well, that's it for now, I'll upload some figure drawings and other fun works of mine later. At least I finally have the time!

till next time~!

~Ben

Sketchbook Redux

I need to start uploading my sketchbook work up here. I have gone through 5, and started 3 others since coming here, and I have only uploaded a few images from one watercolor book. In light of this I am uploading some work from my current sketchbook, keep an eye out for the rest of them coming soon!

 

To The Figure Once More

 It's supposed to be our drawing class's focus from now on. I hope it stays that way. We did another drawing tonight, but I will wait to finish that a little more before I post it. 

I'm rather happy with how the work form tonight turned out.

Two 2 minute poses (the sides) and a 5 minutes

Two 10 minute poses

Till next time~!

~Ben

Starting A Web...

...which will be at least 16 feet wide and hopefully at least 8 feet tall.

This is currently all I have. Hopefully it will sprawl all around the walls of my studio, and then I will have to transport it to my elements classroom, on basically the other side of the campus. The entire thing will be connected with rope and woven into various frames will be things that have been extremely important to me since coming to MICA, each on of these will be a foot print of sorts, connecting a pair of shoes that I can no longer wear. (I wore through them in multiple places and they started smelling funky, really funky.)

The focus is to eventually have this thing completely laced with rope and/or twine, each strand marking a connection that I can draw between different things.

Until next time~! 

~Ben

Media Filters take 2

So, as to a suggestion of some peers, I went back and re-worked Media Filters. Here is the new and improved version!

Yay re-working older Pieces!!!!!

peace out yo~

-Ben

Digital Life Painting Is Hard

especially on a train... it's so bumpy! aiaiaiai @__@

Anyways, I'm on my way home to NJ, which is strange, considering that I'm used to being on a cramped bus for this ride. Having table in the dining car is awesome, it has made this trip's beginning substantially better. Any who, here is what I could get done before she left. If some one else comes through I will try and paint them and upload them as well. I was trying to do this the same way I paint with Oil paints, but it didn't quite have the same stroke quality. I guess I'll learn how to do that eventually.

Roughly 40 or 50 minutes?  I'm really slow when working digitally.

Anyways, till next time!

-Ben

One Final Shave

A performance installation for my sculpture class. This was the final set up for the photos that I uploaded yesterday, along with the actual razor display.

The total installation, I had someone sit in the chair and I shaved them.

All my razors out for all too see. Made of: wood, dissolved Styrofoam, wire, air dry clay, aluminum, and the final one is a cookie.

My photos, Barbers Strop, and the sheet that I had around people's necks as a protector from falling hair.

We had a cool ass chair that looked very barber shop like, while not exactly a barber's chair, it is close.

I had a ton of fun with this performance, and I really wish that I could have taken photos of the actual show, or a video. I know that my Teacher's Assistant took a video or photos, but I don't know if he will give them to me.

Well, till next time!

-Ben

Shaving Sculpture?

So... I just had to shave my roommate for my Sculptural Forms class... and take pictures that I need to frame. Wait, isn't this sculpture? I'm confused...

Fist pose: I have the inconspicuousness razor sitting on the shelf.

Lathering up my roommate, partly open razor on the shelf.

Opening my razor, made of wire.

"Honing" my razor which is made out of clay.

Starting the shave! with a razor shaped cookie.

And actually shaving him with my real razor.

Well, it wasn't that weird right? well maybe it was... till next time!

Ben

Some Portraits

Supposed to be of myself, but I don't think they turned out right.

Myself in warm and cool colors, but i can't get the details in, and it really, really bothers me.

An up close that I did as a side study, but I made my face too long. also, my skin tone is not that light. and I have bigger lips, and a smaller nose... arggggggghhhhhhh!

In case you can't tell, I'm NOT happy with either of these, I just hope that my painting teacher accepts them. It was a lot of work.

till next time~!

-Ben

Media Filters

Egggggggsssssss

So much work, but so much fun. Haven't done an illustration like this in awhile.

enjoy~!

~Ben.

Time for Something...

(...mostly that I'm going to be trying to stop "facebooking" as much.)

Anyways, just another update for this week about how things are going here. Finished up an illustration for Elements of Visual Thinking, but I still need to color it and all that jazz. I also started a self portrait for painting, which is due in two weeks. We started on the figure in Drawing (finally) by drawing a skeleton, and I think we get a model next week w00t! (good thing I've been going to live model sessions out side of class every Friday up till now)

using my desk, something that is rarely done because I've not been drawing on sizes that will fit this, or I have been painting in my studio.

My wall, I think it needs more stuff on it. It just feels bare.

My room isn't that messy! It is also way cleaner than I am at home.

New painting: A self-portrait. I'll be in it twice, in different color palettes.

It's still pretty messy on this side.

And I need more space to walk around in, but I still get by. (P.S. Davian, I have your long-board)

And I'm going home this weekend! Mostly to see the Marching band do its last performance, and to see my old high school's fall play, which I still haven't the slightest clue as to what it is.

Well, That's it for now, till next time! 

~Ben

Drown Why Don't You.

Because seriously, I hate water. Well to be more accurate, I hate being over DEEP water. like the ocean. Which I think is a viable fear. (I'm not scared of being in shallow waters like pools or small lakes, but once you get to a BIG body of water, and I can't see land, nor can I see the bottom, then I get panicked.

One thing that really annoys me about this image of it is how yellow it is. In normal light, it looks much more vibrant, but in the basement, well... maybe it's just the lighting of where I was because there is a good shot of the white light later on. Another little annoyance is how it is supposed to be displayed. it should be really high, so that the base part should be about eye level, here that part is about mid chest level. When it is displayed properly, probably at next critique, I will snap a picture so you can see. the full effect.

Aquaphobia: The fear of drowning (and water in general)

I also went about cleaning up  my studio for the first time in over 4/5 weeks. So now it looks super spiffy and I can use it! 

The entire newly cleaned out place!

Just a few projects that have been lying around. Some finished, some not so much.

And a new blank wall ready to be used! (probably for a drawing assignment)

And I commandeered a spot that is not really part of any studio to flatten paper.

Don't mess bitches, don't mess. (I even asked nicely)

Well, that's it for now. I haven't ingested too much oil paint recently, so I think I'm alright! Till next time~!

Tat a!

~Ben

Fall Breakfast

So it is Fall break here at MICA, and I've been resting myself up for the upcoming onslaught of work that is probably going to come with the return of classes. But I haven't only been resting. I've been out to Washington D.C., and I've been drawing, and working. I'll put up some pictures of my D.C. trip later once I go through them and narrow out a few.

This is just a wekly-ish update, and I will leave you a small preview of the next piece I have been working on, The first piece for myself this entire school year it seems.

 

Well, that's all for now! I'll post the finished version later! 

Ta ta~

Ben

Something I Hate.

...and I really do, even thought I have done it a few times and I don't mind when I am, I just fee like shit afterwards. 

 

My first painting that I'm actually pretty happy with. :D

Ta ta~!

-Ben

Waxy

So during class today, one of the pieces was a person dipping his hand in hot wax and then eventually peeling the wax away. It was really cool, and he let us try afterwards. Dear lord it was really really hot, and I'm surprised as hell that he could not show the slightest sign of pain from doing it. But on the bright side, it looked really really cool!

My hand covered, I melted the fingertips by accidentally putting them against the hotplate.

Top view, not as much wax on there.

My friend helped me pull it off. It felt so weird to have my skin exposed again.

Just some wax hanging.

My hand's wax cast just piled on the table, looking cool.

The backside, where my fingers came out.

Ta ta for now!

Ben