nuts and bolts for all

The MECA semester has begun! Things got off to a rousing start with our first guest speaker of the year, the honorable Charles Hively of 3 x 3 Magazine. I've been a fan of his magazine and was thrilled to finally meet such a passionate advocate of the powers of good illustration.

I drew a portrait for the above flyer before meeting him, and he's more jovial than he appears here. His talk was informative and candid, and a good shot in the arm for illustrators of any age.

 

His background as an illustrator, an art director, and creative director gives him wisdom from all angles. He spelled out the concrete aspects of how an illustrator can impress art buyers with details from his Nuts and Bolts book and conference. Even as a 30 year veteran of the field, I had plenty to learn. Thanks to Charles for his incredible generosity!

Meanwhile, my class began by showing their summer sketchbooks, an assignment given to all majors in early May to keep their pencils and minds sharp. 

They were asked to draw 4 things. The first category: plants.

Love these detailed lupines in a field of cut paper by Hana Firestone:

 Here's lively brush work by Chelsea Canny:

Liz Long invented some startling new species:

This by Kiah Gardner makes me laugh:

Morgan Cremins has rosy vision:

Maria Antuna painted this vivid topology of expression.

Another category was drawing places they visited. Chris Vales drew this 4th story view from Maine College of Art:

 

Miles Cook shows an inner place:

Third category: machines. Here Declan McCarthy documented the vehicles parked outside a bar in Portsmouth, NH:

Ce Ce Cassidy captured the mechanism of anatomy:

The fourth sketchbook prompt was morphing in ten panels into your favorite muppet. This yielded hilarious results from Molly Steinmetz:

In fact, I am still collecting imagery from this prompt. More soon. Meanwhile, I am thrilled to have a new band of students with sharp pens and wits!

It promises to be an adventurous semester.