Mannequin so far...

Side

Detail of Neck

Back

Abs

Group Discussion

Ryan- Seperate the longissimus, and try to make it a bit thinner, as it is one uniform band, rather than a flat sheet like you have it now. Try to round out some of the spinal erector muscles, either by trimming the edges, or by adding little leech-like bands, and smoothing them out around the form. You could probably go without some of the minute details of the muscle fibers and strands because it tends to flatten the forms as we view them. It might be more beneficial to just be viewing the structure of the muscles, and to imagine the strands and fibers are there.

Mark- Try to use your tools to clean up the forms, and round them out so we can clearly observe where they meet and how they relate. The muscles in the upper neck get a bit bulky. Try to imagine skin over some of these areas and how they would be protruding and how you can make it seem to be one structure consisting of several forms, rather than a bunch of different objects. Take a good look at Amy's model and some reference material, and observe the proportions and relationships especially in these very complex and difficult areas like the spinal erector set.

General Note- The spinal erectors will now be referred to as the erector set...

Jake- You should thin the muscles out in the thigh and lower back in some of the areas where it seems to get a bit bulky. The external oblique should meet the ribcage, and the abs should meet the obliques in a more gentle and less geometric and clumsy fashion.

Spiritualized Concert

I went and saw Spiritualized two weeks ago in Minneapolis. It was a spectacular show.. super loud, super raw, and mind blowing. He opened with this crazy droned out rendition of "Amazing Grace," along with his backup choir of 2 women, who added an amazing gospel sound to the majority of his set.
Photo courtesy of Jeremy Nelson
At the end of the set, he proceeded to knock over his 2 mics with the neck of his guitar, and then threw the guitar into the middle of the stage and walked off.
He came back for a one song encore of "Lord, Can You Hear Me?" which was the perfect end to a beautiful set.
The highlight for me was when he played "Ladies and Gentlemen We are Floating in Space," which is one of my all time favorite songs, and mixed it together with the similar lyrics from Elvis' "Can't Help Falling in Love."
A wonderful show from an incredible band. I definitely reccomend them to anyone...

Ribs

One of the drawings of the ribs that we did the other day.

Current Life Drawings

Three of the 30 minute poses that we have done in class. I really enjoy the top one, of her standing, mostly because the torso is the only complete part, and the axis lines of the limbs look great to me...

Interactions...

These are 3 images that I feel are an accurate depiction of what is happening for me right now. My work as of late has all dealt with concepts of interactions. The interactions can be as simple as the processes that I did to produce the works, or they can be as complex as the concepts hidden under the creation.

The first piece is a pinhole photograph. It was taken in my room, and the exposure is 5 hours long. The camera can be seen in the middle of the image, reflected in the mirror. The camera was constructed from a paint can. Interaction is apparent in this one simply through the interaction between light and lens to create the physical image. But, there is more to be said about the space that the photo was taken. Since the exposure was 5 hours, there was a lot of things going on in the space at that time. People were moving through the plain of the lens throughout the whole exposure. Yet, because we would move by at a higher rate than the lens was able to capture us, none of our movements were captured. Pinhole photography is the one thing that I want to explore right now. There is a lot that I think I can do with it, and the photos produced are almost always interesting.

Next is a 35mm print. It is of a back-alley shot here in Menomonie, and is really pretty simple. The interaction in this one is more in the composition than anything else. There is the interaction of the water running down the drain pipe, and then running off the roof. This kind of interaction is between nature and the building. The composition can tell more of interactions. It is sort of yin-yang between the bricks and the wires, the building and the sky, and the building split by the running water.

Finally is the digital image collage. This shows interactions between nature and man, and simply can show how nature can be one of the most beautiful things to observe, but at the same time, it can cause more destruction and pain then anyone can imagine. The collage consists of a storm that is approaching, a storm that has passed, ice, and a friend of mine standing on the wreck of a barn that was blown down by a wind-storm.

Welcome

My name is Ryan and this is a picture of me
doing some really intense rock climbing
at Cave Point in Door County.
This space will be used for Life Drawing.