Crunch Time

Drawing Structure and Expression II:

Due to the holiday we only had one class this week. We started our self portraits. I’ve deiced to do three smaller drawings instead of one huge one. I’m working on left over gray paper from freshman year and my pastels. Gabe said we could use photographs, but only if it was for a pose you couldn’t hold such as smiling. You don’t want to smile for nine hours. Trust me.

Anyway, I decided to take advantage of her offer and took three photographs with ridiculous facial expressions. I’ve done a number of self portraits and I was tired of the formality it entailed, so I decided it would be better to shoot for humor. It’s also introducing some new elements. For example, one of the photos has my mouth wide open, so I got to draw teeth. None of the models smile, so drawing teeth is pretty new and interesting.

Advanced Painting:

My composition still needs work. With my last painting, Linda gave me a list of corrections, which I took down in a sketchbook. I felt kind of upset at first, but have gotten over it. I’m going to go back and try to fix all of them before the final crit. I’m not sure when that’s taking place. Probably on the 7^th, but perhaps I should ask.

Also, I found out the technique I’m using is surrealist Automatism. That’s basically when you make identifiable objects out of random patterns you find (a.k. a that cloud looks like a bunny). I was looking at Max Ernst and my art history book mentioned him and the style. On the painting I did last week, I was struggling pretty badly. Instead of using red, I switched to green. It probably isn’t finished, so I have to come in early tomorrow to attempt to fix it. Or not finished enough. All my paintings are more like sketches.

Ideas of Western Art II:

I went on my last Museum trip with the Wednesday class because it would not disrupt my English class as much. We went into the modern gallery in the Museum of Fine Arts and picked a painting for our paper. I’ve picked one of Picasso’s pre-cubist studies. It’s very tricky to write about. After so many paintings with a clear narrative, it’s odd to write about a piece without one. I find I’m relying a lot on description, though having a hard time explaining in a clear and logical manner what each piece is actually doing. I have to read over what I have and do some editing. It’s due Tuesday, so I have some time to edit. What I really need to focus on is writing my research paper and finding reference images for the artwork. I was able to take pictures at the Harvard Museum and the Museum of Fine Arts, but the Gardner Museum and the ICA prohibited photography, so I’ll have to go looking for that material online.

English Literature II:

We went over our outlines this week. My Professor says, total grade wise, that I’m in good shape. He said my outline was also a bit general. I have to edit the body paragraphs I’ve written and see what else needs to go into it. Today we discussed Waiting for the Barbarians and how, when an empire has done everything it can, the resulting boredom can lead to its own destruction. Next Thursday our Rushdie papers are due.

Social Ethics:

The first batch of students presented. I’m part of the second batch. We discussed Abortion, Animal Rights, Education, Righteous Indignation with Fast Food chains, Legalizing drugs, Affirmative Action, a lab journal looking to correct anger, and Aristotle’s view on happiness as an end. A few students were really nervous, but I think everyone did okay.

Next week I’m presenting on Euthanasia. I’ve read a lot of articles that seem to support it (as far as mercy killing is concerned), but I haven’t been able to find any good counter arguments. One article mentioned that it might lead from mercy killing to doing what the Nazi’s did in World War II: killing people with disabilities and mental illnesses to ‘purify’ society. The counter argument for that was the Nazi’s original aim was not to be merciful, but to remove those people. Again, I have to find some better counter arguments.

I also have to fix my Aristotle lab and start writing the final paper.

Front Desk:

I’m still working on scanning slides. Two other girls are helping me now. We have two weeks of the term left, but I’m not sure if we’ll have enough time. By myself devoting four hours a week, it definitely won’t have happened. There’s a decent shot with three of us.

Apartment Hunting:

I’ve made an appointment to check out North End apartments. I have a feeling I’m not going to find anything I really like, which is going to do nothing but create problems. I’ll cross that road when I get to it.

Summer Classes:

I had to drop Art on the Silk Road because only two people were signed up for it. Audrey checked the roster for me. She didn’t check the one for the Chemistry class, but she assured me it always took place. Honestly I don’t know. I suppose the changes are higher because it is a class that takes place on the hill, a.k.a with the main campus. Art on the Silk Road was targeted for NESAD, which is only a small portion of the University. There is a better chance more people will be taking the Chem 101. Maybe I should pull a Hermione Granger and email the professor ahead of time to ask what text books I should pick up…

Anyway my schedule is no longer set for the fall because I’m moving classes around. The Art on the Silk Road was going to cover two requirements. Now I have to take an extra class at some point. This isn’t good because I’ve already got a lot on my plate with the creative writing minor requirements. Also, I’m not even sure I need to take the English class I signed up for originally. Luckily, I finally set up a meeting to talk about a creative writing minor, so I can make sure I’m taking the classes when I talk to someone from the English department on Tuesday.

(EDIT: I’ve tried everything I can think of to keep these paragraphs from clumping up like that. I’m really sorry because that is a pain to read…)