Rise Against Collage

I have finished my drawing in pencil and, in fear of what it will come out like when I add color, I thought I would post it up initially without any color.  I got the inspiration for this drawing when I was listening to Rise Against one day.  I felt like there were pictures behind all of the words in their songs so I decided to make a collage of images I got from a select few of their songs.

I encourage you to try to figure out what song the picture pertains to on your own but, if you are not familiar with Rise Against or can't figure it out, I will post the answers when I add the colored picture in a couple of days.

-A. Morgan

A Happy Memory

First of all it's been a while since I've posted.  During finals I didn't have the time to draw which made me really upset.  So, naturally, when I got home I was looking for something to draw.  Luckily, while I was watching TV one day, "The Goofy Movie" came on.  It was really fun to watch this classic movie that I had grown up with.  Laughing at all of the jokes and singing and dancing to the songs.  For days after I watched the movie I could not stop listening to Eye To Eye.  I was so happy that I had watched this childhood movie again that I realized I should recreate a clip from the movie.  After two days of drawing off and on this is what came out.  There is a quote from the song on the side but I figured the picture was more important.  The shading didn't show up very well on the scanner either but…I hope you enjoy this memory as much as I did!

-A. Morgan

I Don't Do Faces!

That was my mindset up until now.  For some reason, no matter how hard I tried, I could never, successfully, draw a face whether it be straight from a picture or just trying to do one from scratch.  However, since I'm trying to get better and broaden my drawing capabilities, I tried again.

“Everyone has a 'risk muscle.' You keep it in shape by trying new things. If you don't, it atrophies. Make a point of using it at least once a day.” ~Roger Von Oech

A few weeks ago my roommate took a couple pictures of my girlfriend and me.  The pictures came out really well and, since the first time seeing one of the pictures, I wanted to try to draw it.  I thought that it would be a good thing to try as my first real picture with faces and it would be a good practice of shading.  So, after six and a half straight hours of sitting at my desk and drawing, I finished what I think is a great first.  I'm actually really impressed with how it came out and, seeing how it came out, it gives me the "courage" to keep trying until I perfect those faces we so commonly see.  I hope you like it…I do!
(P.S.  My book is too big for the scanner so the darkness on the right side and top of the picture is because it was off.)

-A. Morgan

A Try At A Tattoo

This past weekend and into the past few days I have been working on a tattoo.  Not for me but for my friend.  This was asked for so that she could show her mom and, hopefully, get her approval on the design. The tattoo was to be made up of a quetzal, the national bird of Guatemala, and, in the background, a sunset.  Also,  this was going to be the first picture that needed color.  The bird was the easiest part and looked really good in pencil.  Not having used colors before was going to be a challenge though.  When I did the first layer of colors I didn't like it.  There was still white space and the color wasn't very consistent so I went for another layer.  Pressing harder this time, it came out much better!  Next thing on the list, though, was the sunset.  I wanted to do something that didn't detract from the bird, which is the main part of the picture, but was still just as pretty.  Therefore, I went with a cloudless sunset.  With the way the sunset turned out, it's not my favorite part of the drawing (I haven't learned how to blend colored pencils) but it still came out nicely.  Overall I think the drawing was a success and gives me something to work on in future pictures.  Let's hope her mother approves!

-A. Morgan

I Will Not Give Up

"I do not think that there is any other quality so essential to success of any kind as the quality of perseverance. It overcomes almost everything, even nature." -John D. Rockefeller
  
Since I last posted I have drawn another picture but I'm not going to put it up yet.  Possibly tomorrow I'll get it and put it up but I am in no rush.  Right now I am more focused on what I want.  What I ultimately want to do in my life.  How I want to get there.  What path I am going to take along the way.  My plan, since before I came to SFSU, was to attend a four year university, enjoy the life of living on campus in the dorms and meeting new people and get a degree.  Then after those four years I decided I would adventure back to southern california where I would attend an art school with the top Automotive Design program in America, The Art Center College of Design in Pasadena.  The few people I talked to since I made that decision went along with it and said it was a good, different approach to getting to where I wanted to be so I ran with it.
     I started out at SF State on track to get a major in Mechanical Engineering.  I'm not quite sure why engineering was what I chose but something, probably that book I read while doing a report on Automotive Design that gave the career an alternative name, Automotive Engineering, told me that it was the right thing to go for.  However, recently, as I was sitting in my "Materials in Engineering" class watching the teacher go on and on about stress testing, I decided that this is not what I want to do.  Drawing had always been my passion hence the title Automotive DESIGN.  I don't really care what stress a certain material can handle while under a certain pressure or what happens when you heat up or cool a metal.  I realize that, while designing cars, these are important factors but I just want to be able to let my ideas flow onto the paper, computer, or clay model as easily as they come into my head.
     So, realizing that this isn't what I really want to be doing, I made some appointments with counselors in the DAI (Design And Industry) offices.  The first meeting I went to went really well (despite the fact that it was with a person who wasn't in my wanted field)!  He said that my idea of wanting to come to a four year school, go through this amazing experience and then move on to and art school was a great idea that he hadn't really heard before.  With nothing but happiness inside of me, I made another appointment (this time with the right person).
     After weeks of anticipation I walk into the professors office with a skip in my step due to so much excitement!  The first question she asks me is, "What is it I want to do with a major in Product Design.  So I go to answer with my idea that everyone else has approved of and immediately she cuts me off telling me that I could have just gone to an art school right away and starts to list them off…like I didn't do my research beforehand.  But, her being the professor/counselor in this situation, I let her go on.  She tells me that Mechanical Engineering would be a better lead in major than any sort of Design because the student can get a different, more rounded background and can have more knowledge in what the cars need.  Then, every time I go to bring something up like the fact that I have talked to someone, who went to the art center for Automotive Design, who said that the engineering side of the education he got conflicted with the design part of him because it held him back from just letting his ideas flow, or that engineering really just isn't what I want to do, she shoots me down.
     I don't get it!  I thought counselors were supposed to help you to do what you are interested in.  I realize that changing majors is hard work and takes time but if you didn't want to put in the time and effort then why did you choose this job?  This is MY future we're talking about, not yours!  I know what I want.  It is very clear to me now.  I don't get why all of this "choosing your major" and "going through the hoops" to just do what makes you happy has to be so hard!
     I have a plan of action though.  To get a good idea I'm going to call the Art Center and see what they would be more impressed with as a major.  Then, once I have an idea of what is better, I can go from there.
     I would seriously like to thank everyone who has been so supportive of me and my dreams.  It means a lot to me.

-A. Morgan

Digging Up Some Memories

I went home for the weekend this past weekend to help out around the house and to see my family and, as I was looking through my old drawings, I found some pretty cool pictures.  I haven't drawn for a couple weeks (due to midterms) so I chose a few drawings that I thought I would put up to give you an idea of what kind of art I have done in the past and for how long.  I'll be back to it this week though.  Enjoy!

I really like this picture of Snoopy!  I don't remember why I chose to draw this but I did.  I did it as a drawing exercise with my class in fifth or sixth grade.  It was an exercise where we took the original picture, split it into eight sections and then drew our version of the picture by parts instead of as a whole.  

Ooooooh Snoopy…so cool!

This picture was drawn in freshman year of high school one day during concert band.  My friend and I drew pictures like this of houses, and sometimes cars, that we dreamed of.  This is the only one I can find that is left over from the many I drew but it is also the one that I am the most proud of becasue, well, if I had the opportunity to have this house as my home I would be ecstatic!

I drew this picture when I was about 15.  I drew it because I was thinking about getting a Mitsubishi Eclipse for my first car.  I took the car, chopped off the top making it a convertible and gave it a body kit and other noticeable aftermarket parts.  I remember drawing this and being so proud of the fact that I had designed, and put to paper, a design for a car using a body kit and other parts.  It was, for me, a very big step towards my goal of automotive design.

-A. Morgan

"Luck is an Illusion"

I saw this picture by another artist on the internet and it really intrigued me.  Not only because of how well it was drawn and the intricacy in the piece but because of the deeper meanings that can be found behind the drawing by remembering the title, "Luck is an Illusion," while studying the piece.  I chose to recreate this piece because, even through the picture's simplicity, it is very vast with what it portrays.  This is my second drawing and, taking three days to create it, I am very happy with how it turned out!

-A. Morgan