Art peeps! Come Help! (that means you!)

[Loric]

Ok, if you've followed the overly dramatic and plot-twisty Kabuki epic that is my life and application cycle.. you know I've been "asked" to show off my drawing chops to cement my position in a design program. Bizarre requests from an adcom aside (and after talking today, it seems one person on the adcom is responsible for all of this..) I need some legit help/advice on what "looks good" as a hand drawn show of skill.

 

Why am I here appealing to the visual arts folks..? Because I am "teh suk" at hand drawing. I'm not entirely hopeless, but I'm not great at it. Thus I don't readily have a small pile of quality sketches to just photograph/scan and send out to the committee. In my defense I got my BA and took all my drawing classes 3+ years ago, so it's not like I just recently had a bonfire and discarded all my old assignments and doodles.

 

I need to pull something out of my butt before next week. Preferably around 5 somethings apparently. (That's oddly specific, i know, i thought so too.) It's also supposedly optional and supposedly will not make/break my application (supposedly.) I "supposedly" have a choice in simply choosing not to submit the requested proof of my drawing ability.

 

So....

 

Ideas? Suggestions? Something that says "Hi, i'm not a complete amateur - I understand basic principles enough to pass the barometer of whatever that one person on the committee deems appropriate so they'll stop standing in my way of my dreams, degree, future high paying internship, and eventual life success."

 

I do, to an extent, actually understand those principles but I was hoping there'd be some ideas on a good plan of attack. Something landscape-y is probably a good starting point as it's for a design program. Even a chair or vague interior would probably be better than "rose in vase" ya know? Gah, those all sound so awful and boring to draw - which is probably why I never drew them.

 

Part of me feels like I'm being Tippy Turtle'd ("Draw Me!") and the other part suggests there's one hardcore fine art basis person on my committee who will damned if they're going to allow in someone to their newly formed design program who can barely doodle a stick person. "He can draft? He knows CAD? He can do scenic painting? He can program lighting cues? He can 3D model and animated? Screw all that - he needs to draw an apple with vine charcoal and draw it WELL!!"

 

So, group brainstorming - what can I realistically pull off in the hours I have left with a 40hr/wk job that's passably presentable? Something conceptually that doesn't say "Last minute class project" nor "I'm just doing this because you told me to."

 

Help.. please.. Obi Wan Art People.. you're my only hope.

[Loric]

Would sending a different school an example of RISD's "bicycle" portfolio requirement be in bad taste? I think I can draw a decent bicycle. I really have no idea. I've never tried. How hard can it be?

 

(three days later..)

 

OMG BIKES ARE HARD!!!!

[kafralal]

Although I have not followed your dramatic life and application cycle, It seems like the adcom might be wanting to see that you have drafting skills that are useful for impromtu communications with others on the job? If this sounds right, I would focus on something like construction details, or quick conceptual /schematic sketches of a stage set. Image yourself in conversation with someone trying to get a visual point across. I would keep it all loose and informal, make a lot of them and then choose the best ones to show.

[Loric]

Although I have not followed your dramatic life and application cycle, It seems like the adcom might be wanting to see that you have drafting skills that are useful for impromtu communications with others on the job? If this sounds right, I would focus on something like construction details, or quick conceptual /schematic sketches of a stage set. Image yourself in conversation with someone trying to get a visual point across. I would keep it all loose and informal, make a lot of them and then choose the best ones to show.

That sounds like a good plan of attack. Thanks.

[Yellow Magnet]

Wait... Are you applying for undergrad or grad? The bicycle portfolio requirement is for new undergraduate incoming freshman.  If that is the case, most top tier undergraduate programs know about RISD's 'Bicycle' prompt.  Its not distasteful to submit it to other school, but it would be naive to think they might not catch what it was created for.  

 

Would sending a different school an example of RISD's "bicycle" portfolio requirement be in bad taste? I think I can draw a decent bicycle. I really have no idea. I've never tried. How hard can it be?

 

(three days later..)

 

OMG BIKES ARE HARD!!!!

[douchamp]

wow, that's so strange. This is for graduate school? Is it industrial design your applying for? Though it's true that competence in observational drawing is an essential foundation skill to have, it does seem like someone's just screwing with you.

 

Anyway, my advice is google the term "analytical drawing". I'm certain that is what they are looking for. It's the traditional school of drawing that designers have had to learn. In terms of subject matter, a chair or some kind of tool would be something I would do. Basically anything that demonstrates that you can accurately  sight measure planes, angles, and draw as if you can see through an object (like a skeleton). I've provided some links to demonstrate what I mean, if what I'm saying isn't all that clear.

 

good luck

 

http://www.sangrammajumdar.com/2010.html

 

http://www.marlboroughfineart.com/images/35/uglo_0010fl.jpg

 

http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-3jnehQQWK5w/TkmOZEsBHuI/AAAAAAAADN8/CqQsz0nv684/s1600/1527%2Bsecond%2Bdrawing%2Bfrom%2Boriginal%2Bportrait%2Bof%2BGw%25C3%25A9na%25C3%25ABlle.JPG

 

http://one1more2time3.files.wordpress.com/2010/11/analytic-2.jpg

 

http://one1more2time3.files.wordpress.com/2010/11/analytic-3.jpg

[Loric]

Much appreciated. I actually have drawings if skeletons, oddly enough from drawing classes but I'm afraid they'll be like "too much reliance in contour lines, shadowing is not developed" etc...

Should I try to come up with new stuff or use the few old things I found and call it a day?

[douchamp]

That depends on what you think. Just be honest with yourself about the quality of the work, whether you think it satisfies requirements, and if it's even that important.

 

Though, the type of drawing I'm talking about completely excludes value. Shape and form are articulated through angles and planes. These kind of drawings are suppossed to look skeletal. Using values and contour lines to articulate structure is a bad thing in these instances. Structural form should be created through sight measuring angles, planes, and cross-contours. The idea is to give an empirical, 3d, understanding of how an object exists in space. Again, I'd draw a chair.  

 

Some of my links have paintings, so I'm sorry if that was misleading (just wanted you to be familiar with the look).

[Loric]

Ok. Gonna need to research a bit. I haven't had time to really look at the links. Met with a lawyer yesterday and I have been getting crap straight for a minor surgery next week. It's like - could you picked a worse time to put me in the spot? Lol.

I think that admissions knows who I am is possibly the most encouraging part of all of this.

Anywho, just gave a quick look at links. I can draw a chair. In fact I can legit draw a chair - I had to do it for history of architecture and furnishings. Weekly if not bi weekly I had to draw a room from the period we were on and fill it with furniture and accents to define the period.

I think I'll go with empire high back, parrot back, wingback, klismos and maybe the detail of barrel or claw foot. Maybe Egyptian cuz I love their slender lines.