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"Old Toys and Glove"
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For this class, we were required to keep a sketchbook, and draw in it often. For my first sketchbook entry, I wanted to get off to a good start. I chose as subjects some toys from my childhood (a couple of transformers and a misc. mecha) and a gore-tex glove. I spent about three hours on this drawing, working after dark by lamplight. By using charcoal pencils I was able to get a good texture for the gloves, a good tonal range for the drawing, and was also able to include fine details through frequent sharpenings.
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by Ben Scheele / created 1-22-03
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"Fake Plants Become Real"
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Here I drew artificial plants using a couple of different techniques. On the lower one I used pen and ink to do a contour line drawing. It appears flat and bound to the page. For the upper one I used pencil to do a more realistic rendering. I also drew in the shadow, which makes it seem to come alive off the page.
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by Ben Scheele / created 1-26-03
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"Front Bus Interior"
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I thought it would be interesting to try drawing the interior of one of the Southwest Metro Transit buses that I rode to school in. I ended up needing another session to draw it, so I had to wait a couple of days for when I took the exact same bus again. It was interesting to see how a couple of things had shifted or changed slightly. It is also odd to see the front window as being empty. It would appear as a blur of color and light if I had taken a photographic exposure for as long as it took to draw this, so a white space there seems fitting. It is not capturing one still moment like a photograph can, but the experience of riding the bus; moving through space and time.
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by Ben Scheele / created 1-28-03 and 1-30-03
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"Sleepy, Yet Still Annoyed"
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I drew the family dog, Maya, one night while she was resting. Luckily, she didn't move at all, and I was able to complete the drawing. She didn't seem too thrilled with the fact that I was observing her so closely for so long. She seemed a bit annoyed. Maybe she just wanted to go to sleep. I added some dashes along portions of it to express the feeling she seemed to have. I think the drawing turned out well.
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by Ben Scheele / created 3-2-03
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"Go-bots 1" and "Go-bots 2"
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I used pen and ink in the first drawing, distorting certain portions to make the familiar object into something new. The second drawing, in pencil, I did as a way to come to terms with the space shuttle Columbia disaster, which happened a couple months earlier.
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by Ben Scheele / created 2-(17/18)-03 and 3-11-03
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"UFO" and "Go-bots 3"
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The first one was a favorite toy of mine. The inked lines and solid form show its sturdiness and stoicism. You can imagine it being much bigger than it actually is. The second I did in a more sketchy style to show that it was not as durable of a toy, and is showing its age. It was a very quick drawing, but it still captured its geometry and texture very well.
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by Ben Scheele / created 3-28-03 and 5-8-03
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"Veins"
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This leaf was found on a walk with my girlfriend. I drew it later at her house. I separated the veins from the leaf by drawing the outline and the internal lines separately. It was an interesting exercise. I added a splash of color, and Maggie added her seal of approval.
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by Ben Scheele / created 3-18-03
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"Rhythms of Nature 1"
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After an exercise in class, I did this drawing. I used dry plant materials from our garden along with ink washes to create a fluid and rhythmic drawing of the side yard and sugar maple tree.
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by Ben Scheele / created 4-28-03
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"Ornamental Grasses"
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I drew this one evening in the back yard as the light was fading. I used the same pencil to express the lightness and randomness of the grass, and the more well arranged flower clusters. There were many details in this subject, which I tried to piece together like a jigsaw puzzle. One cluster of flowers here, another there, with every part being tied to another. Nature has so many wonderful patterns to behold if one simply takes the time to observe and investigate.
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by Ben Scheele / created 4-22-03
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"Sedum" and "Ostrich Ferns"
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In these drawings I used a bamboo pen of my own design along with a brown ink to portray more beautiful natural forms from my back yard. They are both somewhat incomplete, but in different ways. The first, I drew half of it by drawing it less dense than it actually was, and in the second, I drew from center to edge, but not all the way on some of the stalks. I think they both give the feeling that the plants are growing and expanding, and that things will fill in later.
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by Ben Scheele / created 4-22-03 and 5-8-03
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"Pinecone" and "Frog On A Pot"
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I tried drawing the pinecone by erasing away from a gray background, then shading a couple of layers, and then drawing in details where needed. It was a very slow process, and was just starting to look good. The second was an exciting drawing, where the frog just sat there for a while, and just stared at me unblinkingly. The position I had to be in to draw it was a bit uncomfortable, so I gave up on this one as well. I am a patient person, unless there is physical discomfort involved. I'm sure the frog was glad to have me leave, anyways.
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by Ben Scheele / created early-mid April and 5-8-03
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"Blink"
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I did a few digital drawings for the sketchbook using my Wacom Graphire graphics tablet and Painter classic, some software which came with the tablet. Here I laid down some color and then swirled it together to make some interesting patterns. It was a simple drawing to create, yet it has a captivating quality to it.
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by Ben Scheele / created 3-22-03
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"Eye-Bird-Bug"
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This drawing used a few symbols which came to mind while I was working on it. It is a very freeform, stream of consciousness kind of drawing. It is ugly, uncouth, wierd, and just the kind of thing that art professors nowadays can appreciate.
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by Ben Scheele / created 3-23-03
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"Shi1 Tex"
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In this drawing I experimented with layering, textures, repetition, and line weights. The Chinese character that I drew repeatedly is from my Chinese name Shi Jie Ming, where Shi is the surname, or last name. You can see my whole signature written in my Chinese calligraphy. The sable brush produced a split line that looks a lot like what would happen if you used an old, damaged brush with not enough ink. I applied a texture to the whole drawing afterwards, which seemed to integrate all the layers, and make it appear as if it was drawn on a rough surface.
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by Ben Scheele / created 3-25-03
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Intermediate Drawing - Projects
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"Mecha Symbiosis"
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The first project for the class was to do a drawing in the stlye of a contemporary artist whose name I do not recall. He would often draw clothes, and use grids on the drawings to create an odd sense of space. For our assignment, we had to start with a grid, then draw our subect over, under, or around it. I chose to draw my Mk. II Gundam model again, because I had enjoyed drawing it so much before. I drew its hands at multiple locations, created areas of high contrast, and integrated it into the grid to create an illusion of three dimensionality. I also incorporated my hand and some imagery of lifeblood flowing. I finished it too late for the critique, so I didn't get many comments on it at all, although it is a piece I am rather fond of.
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by Ben Scheele / created 1-30-03
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"Self Portrait Deconstructed" and "Scruffy Self Portrait"
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We did a series of self portraits in the early portion of the class. Doing self portraits is is a good way to get accustomed to drawing the human form before starting with drawing another person, who might not be as patient of a subject. The first drawing here was not a part of this series of projects, but I kind of made it that way. Everyone was to find and copy an artwork of their own or of others, and then cut it up and link the cut pieces in some manner with more drawing. The artwork I chose was a self portrait I had done while at Normandale Community College. I cut into right angled geometric shapes, and then used colored pencils to create organic shapes, with areas of warm and cool colors that fit well with the corresponding portions of the drawing. My instructor said something to the effect of it being one of the more memorable self portraits she had seen in some time. For the drawing on the right I used pen and ink to do a lightly shaded drawing. The eyes came out being too big as they often seem to do in my self portraits. I don't think the technique I used worked all that well on the face, but the hair turned out very well. Besides just the style, these two self portraits are in stark contrast because one is more subjective, and the other is more objective.
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by Ben Scheele / created 2-13-03 and 2-18-03
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"Light/Dark Accumulation/Reduction" and "Depth-Map HF Exp 7b"
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This technique required for the drawing on the left is fairly evident; half starting with white and moving towards dark, and half starting with dark and moving towards dark. One one side you add, on the other you take away. Just like additive and subtractive sculpture, different ways of looking at your subject are required. It's another exercise to stretch your mind a bit. The technique used for the other image is not quite as obvious. I used a median filter in Photoshop to soften it a bit, and then I used POV-Ray to render a height field using the image, and mapped it to the surface as well. I experimented with various degrees of softening, and this was the one I liked best. It creates a pleasing texture, and some interesting 3D forms. It was one in a series of images I did, which I will explain further below.
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by Ben Scheele / created 2-3-03 and 4-22-03
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"Depth-Map of Woman In Chair" and "depth-map-hf-exp-6c"
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The technique used for this drawing was one my teacher was especially fond of having us use, probably because it is so difficult. I was plenty familiar with the concept of a depth-map, where the object is brighter when closer, and darker when farther away. It is closely related to a height field in POV-Ray, and it is used in creating stereoscopic images such as those in the Magic Eye books. I was able to get right into it, while many students had a lot of trouble with it. It is not a technique I would use on my own, simply because I am not especially fond of the final product. The process is what is valuable about this exercise. I was, however, able to produce interesting results from the output through the use of POV-Ray.
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by Ben Scheele / created 2-18-03 and 4-24-03
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"Depth-Map of Jeff" and "depth-map-hf-exp-3b"
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I like how this drawing turned out. It has a powerful look to it. The other version looks pretty cool too, and you can see where I got it right and where I didn't in trying to make the depth map.
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by Ben Scheele / created 2-25-03 and 4-24-03
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"Depth-Field, Equipotential Lines" and "depth-map-hf-exp"
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By the time I did this drawing, I had refined my abilities to create a depth-map. It turned out a lot more creepy than I expected, probably because I left the eyes white. For this one, I didn't blur it before putting it into POV-Ray, so it has a lot of noise from the digital camera that showed up as pins and needles in the final version. The HF version looks almost like a highly textured wood sculpture.
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by Ben Scheele / created 2-25-03 and 4-24-03
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"Wall Drawing - My Dreams"
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This was a major project that I started after watching a documentary on the works of a very cool guy whose name I can't quite remember. Everyone in the whole class was allowed to choose a large surface of the wall in an exhibition room in the studio arts building on which to create a drawing, using the process shown in the video. We could draw whatever we liked, as long as it was big. We all knew that the drawings would only be up for a couple of weeks, and then they would have to be covered up for a new exhibit. So, I chose as a subject something that would fit this project and that was significant to my life; my dreams. I started out by reviewing my dream logs, compiling significant dreams, and having and recording more in the nights leading up to the start of the drawing. I did a few sketches of the overall layout, which I used as references during the drawing. They translated well to the large format, and I had a lot of fun with shading and highlighting over such large areas. I filled every inch I could, and worked with my neighbors to integrate it into the whole exhibit. It took a long time with charcoal dust flying, and I got plenty sore and dirty, but it was a lot of fun. After a time for display, during which I was able to show some friends and family my work, I went back and helped cover it up. I used a broom to sweep away the looser material from the surface. I tend to rub and work the materials in my drawings, so enough stayed up to create the interesting effect of making it appear like a fading dream. Although my work was painted over and then smashed to bits along with the rest of that decrepit studio arts building, the experience will live on in my memory and the records of it will live on in cyberspace.
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by Ben Scheele / created March 4th and 6th, 2003
Alternate Views:
Drawings In Progress
Alligator Poet
Dynamic Dreams
Big Dreaming
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"#1, Beginning" and "#3, 2 Hands"
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I love taking drawing classes because it helps me to break out of set patterns of thinking. My teacher created exercises that would be sure to produce interesting results, simply because the setup was so unconventional. In these drawing, the format of the paper was different than what I was used to, and my drawing materials consisted of diluted ink and plant materials which I had collected. The model held a pose for only 30 seconds or less, meaning the pace was frantic. Due to the unfamiliar set-up, I had to come up with new techniques on the spot. It was rather exciting, and I had a lot of fun with it. I especially liked the part where she had us draw using both hands simultaneously. It was another way she got us to stretch, experiment, and break out of our previous boundaries. Ever since that class, I have had a reluctance to do things in a strictly conventional manner.
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by Ben Scheele / created 4-10-03
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"Leaning Figure", "Trio Circle",
"Trio of Figures", and
"Warm and Cool Nudes"
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I grouped these drawings together because they are all of the same model, drawn on the same day. I like them for their fluidity, style, whimsy, and boldness. Although the model was not easy on the eyes by any means, I think these drawings for the most part are. It is interesting how our eyes can filter out ugliness to see the beauty in anything if we choose to look at it another way. Artists can do this more easily, I feel, because they can look at things using their right brain, where symbols and labels fade away temporarily, and features that were previously obscured become visible. In the "Leaning Figure" drawing, I chose to look at the position of the figure, and how it's centerline had shifted. This allowed me to capture the gracefulness of the pose. In the next two drawings, I captured three short poses on each page, creating an interesting composition.
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by Ben Scheele / created mid-april 2003
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"Dynamism of Mountain Biking" and "Dynamism of Mountain Biking II"
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In the last weeks of the class, I was assigned the task of focusing on the works of one person, and emulating their style in a series of works. I chose to study the Italian futurists, specifically Umberto Boccioni. I found a very old book of his written in Italian, with a few useful pictures of his works at the Wilson library. I was very surprised and pleased to find that it was signed by Boccioni himself! I admired how he was able to capture the essence of something by using concepts from cubism as well as photography. I love studying the motion of things, both solid and fluid, and the interactions between those two phases of matter. In most of the sports I participate in, I am interacting with the air, and I can feel it flowing past me. I wanted to visualize the flow of air around my body, the motion of pedals over a bumpy trail, and the constant shift of focus from one feature of the terrain to another. I used charcoal on newsprint on these drawings, not intending them to be final drafts. I think that helped me to relax and go into a good state for creativity.
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by Ben Scheele / created 4-29-03
Wallpaper version of
"Dynamism of Mountain Biking"
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"Dynamism of Flight"
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In this drawing, my final project, I continued in the direction I had started with the last two studies. I collected images from my binder of cool aerospace related materials. I incorporated into the drawing the Pegasus rocket, Rutan's VariEze, and a great blue heron, my favorite bird. I visualized the flow and pressure distribution over the wings of the craft, and captured the motion of the flight of the heron. They all fit together very well, and the drawing is one of my favorites. I have had it up on my wall above the head of my bed for some time now.
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by Ben Scheele / created 5-14-03
Wallpaper version
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Introduction to Concepts in Visual Arts - Works
This class, I took out of sequence in the spring of 2004. I read the textbook a bunch to prepare for Intermediate Drawing, and it seemed like a very interesting class. I really enjoyed the field trips to the Minneapolis Institute of Arts, the Walker Art Center, the Weisman, and the Walker Sculpture Garden. The projects, collaboration, sketching, journaling, and writing were all very intriguing and enjoyable. I can see how doing this class first would have made sense, but I think it still worked very well the way I did it.
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"Art Definition"
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This was the first assignment for the class, and it made quite an impression on the instuctor. She said that she loved how I defined my personal meaning of "art" in such an artistic and creative way. I actually just thought that making it using the mindmapping techniques which my dad taught me would be the most efficient way.
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Wallpaper version
by Ben Scheele / created 1-25-04
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"Biome Chair Design"
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For our sketchbook assignments we would get a list of tasks to choose from. For this one, I chose to do an invention design illustration. I designed a chair that has sides that can transform into a table, and arms that can be wrapped around the front to hug the sitter, and provide a place to lean on or to rest a book while reading. I think this chair will be quite fun to use if I ever create it. It is fun to imagine using it, at least. Maybe I'll create a 3D model of the mechanisms behind it in SolidWorks before my student edition license runs out this fall. Then I could take it to a furniture designer/manufacturer, and see what they think.
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by Ben Scheele / created 2-4-04
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"Sculpture Plans At Sunset" and "Walking The Line"
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In these works, I drew inspiration from conceptual art and minimalist sculpture. The drawing is a simple plan for a public work of art; a group of forms that would be fun to climb over, around, and on. The photograph is inspired by Donald Judd's "Untititled", except I chose to give it more meaning. I also gave it a title to help the viewer understand what that meaning is, although it is still very open to interpretation.
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Wallpaper version for "walking"
by Ben Scheele / created 2-10-04 and 2-11-04
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"Liftoff" and "Trinity of Dog"
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I went for a great winter run with Maya at Minnewashta Regional Park, and took a few pictures of her playing around on the top of the big sledding hill. I then altered them in Photoshop for a sketchbook assignment. The first one had a great dynamic to it, but I wanted to do more than just filters, and put a bit more effort into the manipulation of the image. So, I went crazy with the second one, and did some cool stuff with the light and shadows to make the multiple images of Maya smuch more integrated into the scene. It was hilarious to see Maya carrying that huge stick through the deep snow like that. I tried to take that humorous image and give it a mystical quality. It illustrates well how our recollections of memorable experiences can be transformed in our minds and come to seem supernatural.
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Wallpaper version for "Trinity"
by Ben Scheele / photos taken 2-10-04, altered on 2-18-04
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"One of These Things Is Not Like The Others"
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The task I selected for this sketch was to draw an image in a photorealistic style. I used a kind of trompe l'oeil style to make the forms appear to jump off the page. The shading on the objects has several levels, but the shadows only have two; this is because there were two spotlights illuminating the scene. I did this drawing at Maggie's house and it took a while, too. I edited the image to remove the line between the two pages. When the image is blurred slightly, it resembles very closely how a blurry photograph of the scene would appear. The title refers to a segment of Sesame Street, where the kids would have to figure out which thing was the odd on out. I'm sure you can do so with this image. That ring is actually a very cool eight piece puzzle ring. Also, that weird tangled bird beak ball thing is a seedpod that I found at some rest stop on the way back from Ohio. It's pretty creepy, and rather tough to draw.
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by Ben Scheele / created 2-25-04
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"Jade Mountain Sketch"
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This was from my first visit to carefully study the jade mountain sculpture at the MIA. We each had to select a piece that we could visit repeatedly throughout the semester in order to do a series of writings and works inspired by it. I really enjoy looking at that sculpture, and I love doing stone sculpture, so I quickly narrowed in on it as my selection. You can see my writings on it here.
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by Ben Scheele / created 2-29-04
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"Dynamism of Cross-Country Skiing"
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In order to represent motion in my drawing, I employed a technique I had learned in my Intermediate Drawing class the previous year. I used the techniques of the Italian Futurists, and represented the kinematics of the cross-country skiing motions. I tried to show how the weight is distributed and the paths of the skis, poles, and the limbs they are connected to. I also made the grasses look as if they were being rustled by the wind. Overall, I like the rhythm, composition, and the balance of intensity and whimsy of the drawing. I think it expresses well my state of mind while I am skiing. I focus half on the mechanics of moving over the ground, and half on the beauty of the scenery.
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by Ben Scheele / created 3-19-04
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"Carving Pipestone Above The Clouds"
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This was a fun image to create. I first did a sketch in a very stylized and somewhat abstracted manner of myself doing some pipestone sculpture. You can see the knife, the pile of dust, and that I am wearing safety glasses. I then scanned the drawing, and used Photoshop to enhance the lines, and put a photograph in the background, upside down. The clouds that day around sunset were very beautiful mammatus formations, which can often be seen on the leading or trailing edges of a thunderstorm. When viewed upside down, they look like the tops of clouds one might see while flying in an airplane. I took the photo in a church parking lot, and you can see that the structure behind my head there is a church bell and cross. When looked at in different ways, the image can appear to be an approaching tornado, or a serene scene of an artist at work.
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by Ben Scheele / created 5-15-04
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"Stone Thoughts"
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This is the cover I created for my final project in this class, the collection of writings and artworks related to the artwork I chose to examine, the jade mountain at the MIA. This sculpture is actually the largest jade mountain in the western world, and is a real treasure to have in Minnestota. I remember seeing it many times throughout my childhood, and I was always amazed by it. Being able to do these creative projects on it was a wonderful opportunity for me. You can read my formal elements analysis essay, and my poem inspired by it.
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by Ben Scheele / created 5-15-04
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Beginning Chinese Calligraphy - Projects
I also took this class in the spring of 2004. It was a rather slow semester with respect to progress towards my BAEM degree, but it was a good way to get back in the swing of things after my fall semester in Ohio. I really enjoyed Beginning Chinese Calligraphy. The professor was understanding and very patient. He did get a bit too close for comfort sometimes, but it was necessary for efficient instruction. I learned a ton in this class, and fulfilled a longstanding goal of mine. My instructor taught the Li style, which is the first modern calligraphy, originating around 250 B.C. It has a graceful, rounded, natural style. These poems are all read from top to bottom and from right to left. The small text on the left of the pages is the date (year, month, day) and my name and title (student calligrapher).
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"Learning"
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This poem is a couplet, meaning it has two lines. My translation is as follows: Opening a book has benefits,
But learning, as an ocean, has no boundaries.
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by Ben Scheele / created 4-6-04
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"River Snowy"
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This was a very difficult piece due to its size and the variety of strokes required. I am rather pleased with how it turned out, as it is well balanced, and you can see some of my personal style coming through. I spent some time on the translation of it, because it is a very beautiful poem. I tried to match the meter and add some rhymes, and a lot of consonances and assonances. River Snowy
There are thousands of mountains, yet the flying birds have all called it a day.
There are trails leading everywhere, yet everyone's footprints have been swept away.
A single old man in a boat, wearing his bamboo hat and coat,
Is alone fishing on the cold river snowy.
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Wallpaper version
by Ben Scheele / created 5-2-04
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"Time"
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Here is a couplet which required a new technique. To make the characters extra large, I didn't use a larger brush, but instead used more of my current brush's surface area. I had to hold my elbow higher and press down harder, so it was a fairly difficult piece to do. We had been given a choice between handing in a poem with extra small characters or extra large characters. It was not too tough of a decision for me. Here is my translation: A foot of jade is a treasure,
But an inch of time is priceless.
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by Ben Scheele / created 5-5-04
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