Fallingwater Sketches

Here are some of the sketches I did while I was there. We were asked to try to compose a plan, elevation and perspective in one drawing. It was tough to do because we were there for such a little amount of time (about 2.5 hours) and we were asked to do at least three drawings. Nevertheless, here they are-

Fallingwater

Recently, we had the opportunity to travel to Fallingwater in Pennsylvania. Fallingwater is the famous Frank Lloyd Wright home, known for its horizontal lines, attention to detail and seemless blending into its surroundings. It was truly a great house. I guess the 2:45am wake up call was worth the visit! (We left at 4am on a friday and got home around midnight that same night.)

The house is located in the middle of the woods and with my Bio background, I couldn't help but notice the grogeous trees and this one popped out at me!

This picture shows the walk to the carport with these overhead beams:

When I said attention to detail I meant it! Check out how the structure accomodates the nature around it!

Here is a side view of the house. You can notice all the horizontal lines he uses and most of the house is made out of a local material: Potsville Sandstone (that's the linear stone on the sides of the house- also used as the flooring).

Wright used Cantilevers to "float" spaces over the water:

We ended our short visit to Fallingwater and headed over to another house Wright designed named Kentuck Knob. This house was much smaller, but the details were still there.
Here is Frank Lloyd Wright's Signature (on very few of his homes...)

View of Kentuck Knob

Skylights along the porch taht runs the length of the house:

So there you have it! I did some sketches at fallingwater that I'll try to put up soon! I have lots to report because I've been so busy lately (hence why the blog hasn't been updated in a little bit!) Stay tuned :)

Travel

Travel Possibilities?

So, I've recently become aware of a possible opportunity to spend 6 weeks in Europe studying abroad. If any of you know me, you know that I've yet to travel to Europe! I would looove to take advantage of this, especially because one of my biggest regrets in undergrad was not pursuing a trip abroad. So maybe this is my chance?! Any suggestions on where to go/ gear to buy/ the best places to sketch? Post your comments!

Also, in honor of travel, I'd like to share this awesome video (see post above and here: http://designartadventure.blogspot.com/2010/10/travel.html)

RIVAH Project

Our first project in our studio class started with a class meeting at Belle Isle. We were instructed to bring some large sheets of newsprint and charcoal. We spent the three hours sketching 3 spaces along the James River. After we did that we were to choose one spot and determine a 10'x10' area that would be our area of study.
Sounds great, doesn't it? I thought so. Then, I sat on a rock. And was bit. TWICE. Don't worry, I fought through the stinging pain and got my drawings done (and with the help of a nearby camp counselor got some sting cream too!)


Here is the space I chose- it's a spot where the river meets the edge of the rock:

Sitting in my spot, you can see a perfect view of Hollywood cemetary across the river.

I thought it deserved at least a rouch sketch (an indulgence that probably was not part of my assignment...whoops!)

Eventually, we were asked to study our space completely: go above the water, below the water etc. WE were to do 20 sketches/studies and at least 3 models of our space. Here are a few sketches...

Just to let you in on my process a little bit, I find that it's easier to plan out my models before I do them. Because of this, I get alot of pages that look a little something like this:

And they turn into something like this:

The above model was an effort to show the volume of the space to scale (we were not allowed to use curves- only 90 degree angles). The chipboard represents the rocks and the white represents the green.

The model below was done in order to show a little bit more about the layers of the spaces and how the rock and the water react to each other.

After the two "big" models, I did a couple of smaller models that zoomed in on certain spots in my space. I started by doing one that showed the topography of the rock a little bit more and I tried to show how the water reacts (which is really hard to do with paper!)

The last model I did I was studying how to show different types of water. I categorized the water (fast, smooth water, stagnant water, white water, slow, smooth water). Then I tried to think about how they would be shown in a model.

So, that's the river project! Sorry I haven't posted in a while- my computer caught a virus and I had to take it to the doctor. It's all better now though! :)

Put it in Perspective

I think one of my favorite things we've done so far was really only meant as skillbuilder, but turned out to produce some pretty nice drawings. It got me back in the habit of drawing at least. The assignment was to choose 8 interior spaces and draw them, using line weight, composition, line qualtiy, construction AND NO PENCIL!
I know. It's crazy. No erasing, no redrawing. This puts things in a little bit of a different perspective because it makes your lines so much more important. You'll see in some (all) of my drawings that I haven't mastered the line on the first try.

So, without further ado, here are some of the drawings that came from the assignment.

VCU LIBRARY:


Torpedo Factory Art Center, Alexamdria, VA:

Boutique Hotel, Arlington, VA:


US Capitol:

VCU Brand Center:

VCU Brand Center:

VCU Paint, Printmaking and Sculpture Building:

The last three are of the Natural History Museum at the Smithsonian:

Fall Semester Beginnings

Hello there! I'm so sorry to have this big 'ole gap in the middle of my blogging. I was getting on a role for a while and I just dropped off- BUT I have a good reason. Boy oh boy have they really piled it on during the first week of school! Back in the undergrad days we used to refer to that first week as "syllabus week" if any of you out there recall. Basically, it was still relax time because we didn't really do much and assignments weren't due for a while. Well, not so in the Masters world. They kicked us in the rear and put us to work!

I'm currently working on three projects and have already finished two. I'll talk about one of the projects in this post.

The project was designed with the intention of getting to know different materials used for modeling and figure out how best to join those materials. It was an exploration in curiousity and craftsmenship. We had to construct 18 boxes. Six had to be 4x4x4, six were 2x2x2 and the last six were 1x1x1. Of the six, one had to be chipboard, one museum board, corrugated cardboard, foamcore, recycled something, and basswood. One side of the box had to be hollow and the other side had to have a piece of plexiglass with a "glazed" treatment on it.

The glazing treatments are as follows:

transparent colorless

translucent colorless

transparent colored

translucent colored

patterned

graphic

So, again, sorry for the delay. I will try and keep up with my posting, but it seems having any sort of life outside the program is going to be tough. Hang in there with me though and check back in every now and then- I'll be SURE to post more! :)