amazing drawings in pen, brush and ink - final crit 2016

PEN AND INK CLASS FINAL CRIT 8-22-16UC BERKELEY EXENSION

GLENN HIRSCH, INSTRUCTOR

Meredith Moles Calendar series

These intimate, light-hearted calendars record selected episodes of my life, day by day. The first calendar celebrates the joyful weeks leading up to my wedding, and the second calendar depicts the adventures of my honeymoon. In the third work in the series, I challenged myself to record a few recent weeks of my everyday life. I pushed my own boundaries around privacy to share the truest record of these weeks, as I've been pursuing fertility treatment, a very personal journey. I used a strict grid for the first calendar, loosening this to rows with flexible widths for the days in the second calendar. For the third calendar I expanded the format to a Talmudic layout, with the images serving as the central text, surrounded by commentary. These glimpses into my life were inspired directly by the Urban Sketchers movement. Visual calendars by Kathrin Jebsen-Marwedel, Cathy Johnson, and angler/historical urban sketcher Muriel Foster inspired my own calendars, and my style more generally owes thanks to urban sketchers Steven Reddy and Nina Johannson. In the spirit or urban sketching, I kept my tools for these works suitable for on-the-go drawing, using only supplies that could fit in a 4" x 8" kit: a single waterbrush, watercolor paints arranged in a makeup compact, and a few pens. That way, I could work on the drawings in the middle of it all: on a southern Turkey tour boat, in Istanbul cafes, in the doctor's office waiting for an ultrasound appointment. I present the most recent piece - still in progress as the days unfold-both as originally executed in the intimate location of the sketchbook, and in a larger format print for easier viewing. The two earlier pieces are both presented as prints.

Meredith Moles

Stairway

Come explore the Bay Area's secret stairways with me! From them you can glimpse alleyways and backyards, spot deer and wild turkeys, and take in sweeping views. The Stairway paintings each travel up one of these stairways, carving out the paths with crooked angles, sweeping curves, light and shadow, and deliciously saturated colors. While showing you some of the journey, the paintings also inspire you to imagine the next part of the adventure. Where do those playground slides lead? What would you see from the top of the hill? The series combines my lifelong delight in the playfulness of stairways - their ups and downs and curves and turns - with a love of the warm rolling hills of the Bay Area, as well as with a fascination with secret spaces: private backyard nooks, hidden passageways, treehouses, and more. In the spirit of Picasso and David Hockney, these paintings explore how to paint things the way we really see them. They show you a stairway not at as if you were staring at it from just one point - an artificial view - but as we truly experience it: walking up the path, looking left, looking right, glancing back down; taking in the broad view, and admiring each petal on a flower. Each painting is informed by a Hockney-inspired photomontage. The series also references M.C. Escher, especially his early prints of Italian hill cities, and draws from inspirations including Van Gogh, Alison Bechdel, and the Urban Sketchers movement, especially Steven Reddy and Nina Johansson.

misc. class work

Durer strip exercise

misc. class work

Museum sketchbook

Meredith’s field kit

Alyssa Oursler Influenced by a variety of feminist texts and personal experience, this mixed media collage series contrasts gentle watercolor with bold pen and ink. Visually, it calls upon the work of Banksy, Frida Kahlo and Picasso in order to ask: what are we teaching our daughters - that settling is better than solitude? That they must bury their sexuality like the prize at the bottom of a Cracker Jack box? That equality means acting more like men? That they should sell their stories to the man and call it even? I am a woman. I don't love pink. But day after day, I find myself thinking that I could use some rose-colored glasses. This series, in conjunction with an art + essay collection exploring many of the same questions and themes, is an attempt at making my own.

Joey Yang

This series portrays Donald Trump in an unflattering way to negate the charisma Trump has used to dominate the presidential race. Trump has been deliberate and savvy in his manipulation of media, so in response, I have manipulated media in a haphazard and unflattering way to draw him. Trump is rendered - usually yelling - with blind-contour drawing, coarse pen strokes, generous renderings of chin and neck, and a healthy dose of amateurism. The effect is to make Donald Trump appear as ugly as his rhetoric. My parents immigrated here thirty-five years ago in search of a better life. As all Americans are immigrants to this country in some way, Trump's anti-immigration rhetoric and divisive speech is anti-American. Despite his words, I am happy to consider myself American, and I am also happy to take part in the American tradition of exercising my 1st Amendment rights. I'm inspired by the work of the many political cartoonists who can make unspeakable things appear obvious yet funny, as well as pop artists like Keith Haring, Andy Warhol, and Roy Lichtenstein.

Christine Cooper

I drew images focused on the tension between mantras I sometimes use to help combat anxiety & fear with distorted self-portraits of different attitudes that I project when stressed. This project is meant to be an introspective look into how I handle chaos & feedback from other people on how I need to appear when stressed. This series uses a combination of watercolor wash, mantras written in marker, & black pen to try to capture my efforts to tame the chaos that is present in today's day and age. Some of the images have a calmer background, while others have a background that is so chaotic that it is difficult to find the mantra. Some of the portraits appear to be calm & unaffected, while others appear in an obvious state of distress.

sketchbook

Suchitra Sharma I present Gender Identity issues and stereotyped roles of women in society. Painting my images in Scroll format, I intend to make an image re-live via repetition and bring attention to the emotion and existence of imagery in diverse contexts.

While some of my work has a very direct symbolism and can be read literally, the other works speak of women’s issues in expressionist ways that are open to interpretations and invite conversations. In one series, use of anti-feminist quotes and real life trolls are used to raise awareness on issues like the gender wage gap.

The use of anti-feminist sacred text in this current series seeks conversations on current women’s identity imposed by historical oppressive belief systems. The juxtaposition of the same is presented symbolically by writing oppressive sacred texts from the book "Manusmriti" on contemporary synthetic glossy paper. The imagery intends to seek the emotions of pain and oppression.

The title "Departure" is bringing the attention of the viewer to depart from the oppressive rules of society for women.

The other work "I want to live" speaks of the women executed in 1818 as they refused to be the sex wives in the religious war. The mixed reactions of oppression, pain, anger and hope are depicted in the imagery via use of bold red ink with the text of hope "I want to live".

My work has been influenced by artists such as Edward Gorey, Nancy Spero and Jimmy Ong.

Another scroll in this series

misc. class work

Duer strip exercise

Su WaiWRESTLERS

It is no surprise that intimacy between men is deeply suppressed and frowned upon in modern society. Any sign of affection, even in a platonic relationship, is seen as "queer." Yet, it is our innate nature to feel curious about people of the same sex. So the exploration of intimacy between men often occurs behind closed doors or in-directly, such as in sports. This series, "Wrestlers," reveals am intimate dynamic between male wrestlers. The work of Thomas Eakins, George Luks and Max Slevogt inspired me to portray that dynamic through wrestling. Since intimacy between men is rather a complex experience today, I kept my choice of medium, technique and palette simple to stay focused on the subject of intimacy. I only used size 01, 03, 05, 005 pens and 1-3 colors in watercolor washes to execute the images. And I only used either parallel lines, cross-hatching, scribbles or a combination of these techniques to fill in the spaces.

Some of the images are cropped from found Internet images while others are original images of my partner and me wrestling each other. Some images are close-up while others are full figure.

All of the wrestlers are stripped down to reveal their vulnerability.

misc. class work

Courtney Morrison

By capturing a moment in time on small scale and using humble media - a few brushes, water, and black ink over paper with a simple wash - I hope to preserve "ordinary" people as they are seen, loved and remembered by other "ordinary" people. The result is portraits that feel both authentic and otherworldly; images that illuminate the transience of portraiture and of the present moment. The works in this series capture everyday people in ethereal undefined settings. The subtle detail of the figures' features and natural unassuming postures give a feel of honesty and intimacy to the overall works, while the graphic obscure backdrops add to the mystery: are these portraits of ghosts? Portraits of people who no longer exist- or perhaps who no longer exist as they once were? My inspiration comes from the likes of Aaron Shikler, Victor Hugo, and Ralph Steadman. Shikler succeeded in capturing the humanity of individuals of huge renown by showing them in their typical environments in unpretentious posing and postures; I spin this approach, contextualizing the small renown of my subjects by representing them on small scale and in unassuming postures wrought with great care, giving a sense of confidentiality to the imagery. The juxtaposition of these figures with a monochromatic palette including abstraction and use of inkblots creates an air of melancholic nostalgia, reminiscent of Hugo while tying stylistically to the illustrations of Steadman. Viewers are invited to have an intimate glimpse into moments in the lives of ordinary people who are resolute in their character and convictions. I work to communicate a more universal sense of familiarity and curiosity via these depictions of the people closest to my heart.

misc. class work

sketchbook

Ying Ren

Series in different media permanent ink, water-soluble ink, ink with brush, ink

with watercolor

misc. class work

Atif Chaudhry Since the earliest cave paintings and Venus figurines, humans have used art as a tool of reflection about ourselves and the environment that they inhabit. Art gives us an understanding about our place in the universe in a different way than other modes of inquiry like philosophy or science.

My work on the human figure is a redrawing of the varied attempts of humanity to reflect upon themselves: from ancient Greek Cycladic figures with their abstracted form to modern concerns of rationality and solitude.

I have drawn inspiration from the original artist that I reinterpreted, as well as the work of modern masters like Joan Miro, Paul Klee, and David Hockney.

misc. class work

MacKenzie Mount

Thanks everyone for a great semester!

First night drawing, seven kinds of line

amazing drawings in pen, brush and ink - final crit 2016

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