Weekly Blog #9

What I did

Sat. 11/5/11: 2.5 hours

Wrote timeline and grant application rough draft for my IP project.

Sun. 11/6/11: 2 hours 45min.

Sketched out tsunami and hurricanes with pastels, sketched out new compositions.

Tues. 11/ 8/11: 2 hour working on IP grant application and budgeting research. 4.5 hours sketching out more hurricane drawings and watching storm footage online.

Weds. 11/9/11: 2.5 hours

Finished more hurricane drawings, scanned them, and explored new digital effects I can make based on my sketches.

Thurs. 10/11/11: 3 hours and 45min

Had in class clique, got encouraging comments on the new drawings I created. I learned what other directions I could take my drawing and research in. Edited and finished my IP grant application. Met with Juliet to review my application, got great feedback and help.

What I accomplished/discovered/encountered

In filling out my second grant application along with more intensive drawing studies on hurricanes and tsunamis, this week was more tiresome. I worked hard to improve my drawing skills and at the same time get as much accurate information about the expenses my project will have. It took a while to hear back from so many different printing companies, but I learned more about shipping options, such as having one box hold two prints being cheaper than having each one packaged separately. I also got samples of glass and paper delivered to me today and I am very excited to experiment with them and receive more.

In drafting out new drawings and trying to capture more interesting vantage points, I practice capturing more water depth. I continued more work on Tuesday and researched only hurricanes more intensely. I watched new clips online about being in a hurricane and how they are formed, discovering important facts like winds over 39 miles per hour is a tropical storm, over 74 miles per hour is a hurricane, and how the most crucial part of the storm is the eye. That helped me realize that my drawing where missing that fierce wind aspect that hurricanes have. They are a lot more in common to tornados in colors and central formation than I had originally thought. In presenting and reflecting on what I did to better draw my storms, during my in class critique, it felt good to hear that my skills are improving. My peers liked my work this week a lot more than the last and encouraged me to keep going, we all still feel that there is a strong “natural disasters” identifying element my studies still need but are closer to having.  My color exploration is better and more intensity this week in my mock-ups is helping me move forward. Below are some of my better sketches and digital explorations from this week.

In the researched I managed to do here and there, I found stories and titles of movies based on natural disasters. I saw this odd movie trailer called “Storm Warriors” that seemed to stretch the notion of storms and its powers in a corny way. "The Storm Warriors" I also found out about this fun kids book series called “Storm Runners” and it is about this kid and his farther chasing down tornados, hurricanes, and other storms around the U.S. It was interesting to read how much teens really like the book and how this topic of natural disaster is being introduced as something cool to read about as an adventure. Overall with the in class critique, research, and drawings I understood that I need to capture elements in nature that identify a natural disaster, not just elements or bits and pieces of nature.  

What I think I should do next

I need to push myself in new directions and get inspired more to get my making to next level. So for next week I will further read more and expand my research into myths, legends, dreams, and symbolism hurricanes have. I need to further understand what makes natural disasters a phenomenon that stands out from our average weather or seasonal changes. I will be continue drawing and explore more my digital effects under the influence of my research. Also playing around with samples of glass and paper I got from the printers is what I plan to do this week.