Summer Drawings So Far

I know I haven't been here for a long time... The first five weeks of summer was a whole semester packed in so little time, so a bit intense for just two simple classes... Afterwards I did a a few sketches from time to time.

Here is something I did at a Burger Meister while waiting for my order. Seems like the best times for me to sketch are when I need time to kill...

These I did at San Francisco Japantown while I was waiting for a friend (which was a few hours). I personally like how the bottom sketch turned out, though I think I can still do better. Since I haven't really been trying too much in sketching lately it's probably affecting my current performance in drawing.
I did try drawing trees in the Arboretum in Golden Gate Park, but I do not wish to show the turn outs (they are really bad...).
That is pretty much for now, I apologize for lack of updating, I guess I've just lost a little confidence in my drawing skills... I still wish to keep trying though, since I am taking a career path in interior design/architecture.

Extra Credit Project

Okay, just yesterday I finished my basswood model of the Jobson House (or at least did enough to think it's done). Here are various photos of the model:

I'd do a picture of a section, but I don't feel like chopping my model in half just yet.... I know it's not perfect, but I kind of think it's a personal best in matters of model making. 

So that's pretty much it for now, the semester's almost over, but there's still work to be done between then. 

Progress in life so far...

Somehow I still feel technically lost in what I want to do with myself, though there is a saying I heard from someone special that one should think: "what does the world want from me?"
To be honest, I am still having second thoughts about switching majors, yet somehow I feel a little comfortable with the work I am currently doing. Honestly, this interior design work is NOT easy, it's almost a whole new level of difficulty, yet I kind of enjoy the work so far (maybe because I have had drafting practice back in high school).
Anyway, right now we have been working on a 3D model of the Jobson House using a program called vectorworks; we are required to make a model of the exterior and interior in three dimensions, and then export the two floor plans, four elevations, and one section of the house into illustrator to add in extra detail. It's still a work in progress, but here's a little work in progress JPEG image:

Some of us in our design class have been working a basswood model of the house, it was originally suppose to be a final project but due to class scheduling difficulties, it's now just an extra credit project. Here are a few shoots of the model so far:

I originally wanted to use a special laser cutter in the school's wood shop, but I just decided to cut up everything with an exacto knife (had to glue back a lot the skinny wood parts that kept breaking off). I intend to add in some interior walls and the roof sometime soon. 

That's pretty much it for now, I kind of wished I got back into drawing stuff... Been a little busy and distracted to just go out and draw out things for fun. I do hope to get back to you all  soon on anything art related and whatnot.

The Jobson House

Still not entirely sure what I should be doing with myself, for now I'm hoping to keep my options open for just about any career path I can think of...
Anyway, right now in my interior design classes, we are working on drafting and modeling a house called the Jobson House, done by Charles Moore with Peter Hopkinson. It's suppose to be a summer house, or something like that. For drafting (in order), we had to draw out the ground floor plan, the second floor plan, four elevations (front, back, left, right), and a section (I choose to do the front section). They are not suppose to be too detailed just yet, we are just working on getting the measurements accurate and correct with the same line weight:

For my other class, we had to make a 3-D model of the Jobson House using museum board. Here are some 3/4 views of the front and the back:

That's pretty much it for now, I'll try to get back to you viewers if anything new comes up, school art or personal art related.

Spring Projects

I think this is the first time in forever that I actually decided to post something. For those who don't know, I just began my interior design classes this semester. One of my projects involved drawing a box full of fruit from the top and from the side in ten different ways:

This is the line drawing of the top part of the box.

This is a rendered drawing of the top (my personal favorite).

 This is suppose be the figure ground of the top (all objects in the box shaded in).

 This one is suppose to be a reverse figure ground (all negative space shaded in).

 This is just a line drawing of the side (don't ask me why it's side ways).

 This is a rendered drawing of the box sideways.
After drawing those six drawings, we had to cut the box in half and draw out the shown slices, like in actual architecture.

 This is the line drawing of the half box (don't ask me why it's sideways).

 This is the rendered drawing of the sliced box, with fruit starting to ripe.

 This is the figure ground of the half box.

This is the reverse figure ground of the sliced box (don't ask me why it's sideways).
In another project, we had to buy basswood and cut into specific pieces based on the instructions our professor gave us:

Basswood: 16 posts: 1/4" x 1/4" x 3"
                  16 cubes: 1" x 1" x 1"
                  8 half panels: 1 1/2" x 3" x 1/4"
                  8 panels: 3" x 3" x 1/4"
Plywood: 1 base: 12" x 12" x 1/2"
Had to them in wood shop, it was not easy (really intimidating) but it was a good experience to get under my belt. 
That's pretty much it for now, I'll let you know any other projects I do (school or personal) hopefully sometime soon.

Absent

Just wanted to explain my absence from posting... now I'm starting to reconsider doing this blog anymore...

During the week before Christmas day, I had to do some Christmas shopping for my family, plus I had to finish a drawing for a secret santa gift exchange I participated in on facebook.

The week after was mostly a little week vacation, I did a few sketches and scribbles here and there, but I'm not too happy to post them. In all honesty, I think I just lost my inspiration to draw... or I'm just having a lot of trouble getting started again. Hopefully this is just a passing thing that I'll eventually get over, like everything else. 

According to many of my colleagues, art professors, and some professional artists, many tend to think that their own art work is never good enough (mainly a sense of modesty). Strangely, this is natural thing, since the key to growing and getting better at something is to fail and keep learning from your mistakes. Yet many tend to take failure as a negative thing, since many of us probably think we're being judged based on success or failure in school and life in general. Though that's natural too, since we all want to be successful and great at what we each choose to do. 

Anyway, I'll try to get back to you all sometime this week with something... but if I stop posting entirely don't be surprised...

Done...

 With finals, so now I'm free for about 5 weeks. I hope to be able to dedicate these few weeks off to drawing; particularly still lives and possibly drafting, and maybe a few cartoons every now and again.
Anyway, back to typing out my issues on my changing majors decision... I'm confident enough to say that I'm still confused with what I should be doing with myself. I keep thinking back and forth, whether what I decided was right or wrong, just like I do with every damn decision I ever make in my life. I think maybe the few regrets I feel about this is not having the confidence I used to have about doing animation and the thought of leaving the good friends I have made in the program. Even though I'm not actually leaving, I feel like I'm walking out on something and just quitting. Though sometimes I think of myself as the many people who try for the program and just end up getting shot down because there is something missing that they just can't grasp. Don't get me wrong, I love to draw, that's why I tried for animation and/or illustration as a major... I could state why I changed, but I may sound like someone discouraging others for trying. To the people who read this and want to try for something like animation/illustration, go for it! Through experience and learning, you'll know whether this is something you want to do with yourself as a career. Or you could end up like me... it's your life, not mine.
Honestly, when I first came into this program, I kind of hoped to become an illustrator/comic book artist. In my second year, my thoughts for career turned to animating for an animation studio. Now, strangely, it's turning to interior design (or something in architecture). Maybe I'm just too concerned about my artwork not being good enough for the entertainment business, or maybe I'm just realizing my own flaws and strengths in matters of art. Whatever the reason, this just either proves how indecisive I am, or how much a person can change over a few years in college.
Just a side note, it helps to have good friends and family who are willing to support and encourage you in your decisions. So I owe a thanks to my good friends (both A/I and regular) for being supportive enough to keep me in this far and accepting my decision (even though it's crazy...) and to my own family for always supporting and encouraging my decisions; I would never even be here if it weren't for them.
I still can't say whether I'll stick with interior design or decide to try animation again, all I can really do is take everything one step and one day at a time (that's what my dad tells me almost every time I talk to him). That's technically all we can do as humans on this planet, make the most out of each day of our lives until we die.