Morning Vitruvius

So I like the idea of compound drawings. This one, if examined by quadrants clockwise: Plan, Elevation, Section and Perspective. Despite the complication of this sketch, my favorite part is the whit reflection below.

Coffee on the HIll

Despite the title, which was more about evoking memories then actually describing the location of the sketch, this was done like the rest of them so far at the comfort of my long maple farmer's table. This is another loosely applied color piece with careful lines. BUt I think it is successful as the sketch is kept small, enjoying the white space. The ring was placed a bit too soon and now resembles an aura coffee sunset.

Morning Orange 2

This is a little sloppy. Maybe a reaction to my too careful earlier ones, but I like it. There is a fluidity in the wash and the lines; with the orange applied loosely without a severe amount of care to the crisp edges of the flat and cylindrical containers.

Orange Field

This came out as a nice repeat of an earlier composition. The background orange came out much more consistent and the placement of the ring provides just enough tension between the background, the white space and the spoon that there is a quiet completeness to the composition...even if it is not too experimental.

Quick sketch

This one was done rather fast. I am trying to do one almost every other day and in doing so I hurried this one along. I kept the image smaller and still tried to strike a balance between the descriptive section and the standard "bird's eye" view of the cup.

Going minimal

I felt the others were getting too congested with colors, lines, shadows, etc. Kind of a congestion of representation. In this one I wanted to do simple touches of the orange handled spoon and the coffee to bring specificity of focus to the piece. I enjoy how quiet and less fussy this one became.

Orange Section

Now the section is orange as well as the solid horizontal and spoon. Smaller cup, smaller ring. A Careful composition but I feel it lacks the life of a more explorative drawing. Dislike thinking these are formulaic because i love the subtle compositions and testing mthods of light, shadow, surface and form...hmmm beginning to sound like architecture...

Morning Orange

So the first few I felt didn't have a tie to Syracuse, so I have begun working orange into the palate. Now we have an orange mug reflecting a white plate on a semi reflective surface. Despite the large ring, this is Stephanie Irwin's ( the Dean's Executive Assistant) favorite so far.

Morning joe

So not the most original name...here we see a section and perspective combination drawing. The plate on the left side gave me some grief. I was trying to get a section that was white instead of black. This forced me to make a coffee wash background... which shows the inconsistency of my brush. ugh. That's why I keep exercising!

Morning exercises

I should say that the school has provided mw with Fabriano card stock which is excellent for the ink and wash I like to do. Here is the second in the series, it's my "morning exercise"

Orange Coffee...?

As a tradition on this blog, coffee sketches have often made an appearance. Recently I have assisted with syracuse Architecture to build relationships with alumni and have volunteered some of these original sketches to promote the school and generate a creative "buzz" with our alumni by providing these little sketches as a correspondence card. I'll continue to post as they develop. Here's the first one.

For Stephanie

This one is a remake of an earlier composition with a stout all orange cup. Stephanie Irwin liked the original but thought the ring was too big. The ring, which has become a trademark of sorts, is the one thing that documents the true scale and is the seal of the completed composition, often being the last thing placed before the work is signed. In this case I cheated and used another bottom edge so as to test the composition of scale. I can't help but feel I cheated a bit, and not confident it is better, but for Mrs. Irwin, it was worth the exploration.