Some Good Products To Clean Up The Charcoal

There have been a lot of people mentioning how difficult it is to clean the charcoal off of your hands and face after using so much of it. I've also heard a lot of complaints about getting fingerprints all over every surface. Well let me share a little learned-from-experience wisdom here. Go purchase two fairly inexpensive products that will help you beyond belief:

Lava Soap...

...which comes in a pump bottle like this...

...or in bars like this.

And Mr. Clean Magic Erasers.

Lava Soap has been around forever, and has pumice mixed in with the cleansing soap. The pumice is an exfoliant which removes the top layer of dead skin cells. That's where the charcoal is. It'll also get up under your fingernails nicely if you use it well.

Magic Erasers are a bit newer, having only been developed in the past decade, but DAMN do they work! They are the perfect thing to take dirty charcoal fingerprints off of walls, desks, chairs, 3D design work, etc. without damaging the surface of whatever you are cleaning.

Neither of these will make for a huge investment on your part. A few bucks spent now and you avoid a lot of problems down the road.

Some Charcoal-Erasure Animation Goodness From William Kentridge

A Reminder About What We'll Be Doing Wednesday, February 3

Erasure Out of Charcoal Ground: Planes
o Still Life—Planes
o Materials:
• Vine and compressed charcoal, black conte, chamois, hard eraser, good-quality white paper (22”x30”)

The 27th Annual Juried Student Exhibition

Art Museum of the University of Memphis
January 29-February 27, 2010

The 27th Annual Juried Student Exhibition opens at the Art Museum of the University of Memphis on January 29. Judges for the 2010 exhibition, which features work in all media from University of Memphis art students, are Robert J. Sanchez and Emiko Ren, Lewis-Sanchez ("Rob Y Ko Sanchez"), a collaborative team also known as Corner Liquor Store. Caseworks New Work from Nashville Lain York, Alicia Henry, Patrick DeGuira, Ron Lambert and Derek Cote Opening reception for both exhibitions: Friday, January 29 from 5 to 7:30 p.m. Awards will be announced at 6:30 p.m.

The British Television Advertising Awards - A Very Cool Event To Attend (If You Have $7)

Location: Memphis Brooks Museum of Art, Dorothy K. Hohenberg Auditorium

Contact: Elisabeth Callihan elisabeth.callihan@brooksmuseum.org 901.544.6208

Thursday, January 28 | 7 pm

Friday, January 29 | 7 pm

Sunday, January 31 | 2 pm

British Television Advertising Awards

Brimming with creativity, this year’s program of sly, sexy, hilarious, and thought-provoking British spots includes dancing marionettes, monkeys, and nudists as well as American celebrities Snoop Dogg, Rob Lowe, and Anjelica Huston. Among the standouts this year is a spectacular skydiving stunt for Honda that was broadcast live. Buy your tickets early, as these screenings are sure to sell out!

Tickets: $5 for members; $7 for non-members; Free with VIP Film Pass.

TICKETS

BTAA & the Brushmark

Enjoy British-inspired drink specials and menu items in the Brushmark Restaurant before or after the show. Bring your BTAA ticket in and receive $1-off any item! Dinner is available in the Brushmark Thursday and Friday from 5 – 9 pm. Brunch & Lunch are available from 11 am – 2:30 pm on Sunday.

Click here to make reservations and to see menu selections or call 901.544.6225.

Memphis Brooks Museum of Art | 1934 Poplar Avenue. Memphis, TN 38104 | 901.544.6200

Sanford Biggers

This video has very little to do with drawing, but Biggers is an extremely interesting guy, nonetheless. This is a studio visit with him:

A Reminder Of What We'll Be Doing And What You Will Need To Bring To Class Wednesday, 1-27-10

Composition: Positive-Negative or Figure-Ground relationships
o Importance of edge of picture plane
o Use of viewfinder
o Erasure from caharcoal ground
o Materials
• Vine and compressed charcoal, white conte, kneaded and hard erasers, spray fixative, chamois, 3 sheets of white bond paper (18”x24”)

Welcome

Alright folks, this is where we begin. If you are reading this, then I trust you have followed the directions I gave you and have established your own class blog. Please DO NOT forget to e-mail me the url address of your blog. I will be placing links to everyone's blogs in the "Student Blogs" section to the right. This will allow everyone to more easily locate your information and provide a central hub from which all of the blogs can be accessed. It would be best if I had your url BEFORE WEDNESDAY so that I can actually see everyone's blogs before class Wednesday morning.

Your class blog is an important part of the workload in this class. I personally feel that technology is such an integral and all-encompassing aspect of our lives, careers, and even social interactions, that to deny its influence--even when studying an institution as old and traditional as drawing--is ridiculous. Therefore, this blog counts as a percentage of your grade in this class. A small percentage, to be sure, but enough to push a plus or minus behind a letter grade. So, a good blog could be that one deciding factor that pushes your final course grade from, for example, a C+ to a B. So, please don't neglect it.

Good example blogs from students in last semester's Drawing 1 class:
http://clarefreeman.blogspot.com/
http://www.kaylasdrawing1blog.blogspot.com/

Don't forget to enter your first post. Make sure to blog a little bit about what you have come to MCA for. What is your major? What attracted you to MCA? What do you want to do in the future once you have received your degree? Etc.

Also, don't forget to attach a pocket in the back of your sketchbook like the one in the following example: