3 Priliminary Drawings and Stencils

Here are my priliminary drawings of my Skateboard:

These are the stencils I'm using for my skateboard:

• The word "MAO"
• Two stencils of the face that when put together make the face of Moa Zedong.
  

The 5 Thumbnail Sketches For Skateboard

Here are the five thumbnail sketches i did:

Unit 2: Sanding of Skateboard (DECK)

The Process

Gluing the Skateboard



Step 1

Gluing the skateboard together was the first step in creating our skateboards. What we did was, we took the eight pieces of sheet maple, which had been precut, and placed them in a pile according to number. The Canadian maple sheets had already been stamped by the manufacturer, which showed us the order they'd be placed (from 1-8). We then placed the first sheet down, and right away put glue on it, we had to do the gluing fast because the super glue we were using dries very fast (within ten minutes). To glue the boards together we used paint rollers (that are for painting walls), and made a thin coat of glue on the sheet. It takes group effort to complete the process of gluing the board; one person had to time the gluing, another person to place the board pieces on top of just glued sheets, and two people to spread the glue on the sheet very fast. After all the gluing and placing of the boards, it should look like one big sheet (8 sheets thick). What we did to keep the boards all in place was, we took an ordinary screw and placed it through one of the eight holes. The screw only fits though, if you have all the board sheets aligned, this is not to important if the screw doesn't go through the board, it is just an extra step to keeping the board aligned.

Vacuum Sealing the Skateboard

Step 2

To vacuum seal the sheets of maple, all the eight sheets of maple must have been glued together, with a screw placed in one of the eight holes (possible step). This step must be done with in the ten minute time period, of gluing the skateboard as well. Take the glued board and place it upon the Styrofoam cutout that comes with the kit. This is used to shape the skateboard. Use two elastics to keep the sheets of maple in place. Also place a piece of fishing net to allow air to be easily sucked out when the air is later removed from the plastic bag. Once these things are attached to your board, place the skateboard neatly into the vacuum sealing bag. In order to close the vacuum sealing bag remove the unsticky strip of tape and make sure that is a good seal and that there is no air bubbles in the tape or air can escape. Close the bag, and take the pump for taking the air out of the bag. Continuously pump the bag, until all the air is sucked out. After one try of getting rid of all the air, pull at the sides of the bag around the skateboard. This will help get rid of any curling of the bag around the sheet pieces and will get rid of trapped air. Pump the bag once more to get rid of all the air. Let the sheets then sit for eight hours or more, so it can form into a skateboard. After set period of time remove the sealing bag, and other attachments to your board, and your skateboard is now complete. Make sure this step two is done within the ten minute period, for sealing the board in the sealing bag, or problem with your board may occur.

Carving the Skateboard

Step 3

To carve the skateboard, I used a sort of cheese grating utensil. This worked very well at removing the wood. To use the grating utensil, i pulled towards me. Make sure that when you use this utensil that you do it at a slow pace because if you rush through it, you may catch a wood piece and splinter your board, which just ruins your finished look. The finished look of the grating of the skateboard should have a smooth edge around the skateboard, with all of the sheets of wood edges being the same length. This step can take some time so don't rush it.

Sanding the Skateboard

(Need Picture)

Step 4

When i started sanding the skateboard i used a low numbered grade of sandpaper, because the lower the grade the harder the grain is, and the higher the grain of sandpaper the smother it is. I started from 60 - 80 - 100 - 120 - 220 - 400 (grade). For each grade i used one whole class length, so 120 minutes on each grade of sandpaper. This step was definitely the longest step of them all, the longer you sand your skateboard the nicer it looks i believe. When i personally got to the level 400 grade of sandpaper, I believe i reached the smoothest i could possibly get teh skateboard too.

My View on the Skateboard Project

I found this unit to be very enjoyable, and neat. The things i found easy were the making of the skateboard and the grating around teh edges of the skateboard. The hardest part would have to be teh sanding, because it took lots of time to reach the finished result, but I'm glad i spent all that time because the end result was a very smooth skateboard. Things that are important to know about this porject was the time it took to glue teh board, you have to be fast, because if you have a problem it can affect the outcome of your board. Also when you grate the edges of teh skateboard, make sure you follow the grain, because if you don't follow it, you'll end up with splintered wood.

Poetry Transformation

Picture:

By: Stephen Monus

Poem: POSTCARD

I write to you beneath this tent
While summer day becomes a shade
And startling magnificent
Flowers of the cannonade
Stud the pale blue firmament
And before existing fade

Author: Guillaume Apollinare (postcard sent to Andre Rouveyre, 20 Augest 1915)

Q. Write a 3-4 sentence explaining your interpretation of the poem. Explain how you used certain elements or principles of design to describe the selected piece of poetry.

The poem Postcard by Guillaume Apollinaire is a great small piece of poetry which I enjoyed reading, and presenting in my painting Postcard. In this poem Guillaume Apollinaire is taking about himself, who is writing to a friend (Andre) about a summers day. In this poem I used the words which I believed were important and I created my own visual painting of the poem Postcard.

Some elements of design I used were colors, shapes, and value. I used color because in the poem Guillaume talks about a pale blue flower and the changing of the day. I used shapes for example because it talks about a beautiful flowers. I also, used value because he talks about a transition from day to night.

Some principles of design i used were balance, contrast, and harmony. I used balance because I like to have balance in my paintings. I used contrast becasue of the transition from day to night, and I used harmony because it is a preety poem and so the image must also be preety.

Q. What discoveries or techniques did you find helpful through the process?

Discoveries:

I found that when I added the sewing portion to the blue flower I created, I found really brought out the blue, but it also created a nice border to the flower, making it stand out. I also found the sewing to make a drawn object appear more 3-d than painting on just the paper, I found it really added to my painting.


Techniques:

Some, techniques I used in my creative process were using the groves of the paper to make straight lines across the page. Also, by using the grooves this allowed me get rich detail out of the acrylic paints. Another technique I used were solid colors (no use of grooves), this gave me a transition between using the grooves versus using thicker/solid amounts of paint. I choose to do this because it seems to me, able to bring out the greens of the leaves and the blue flower. The last technique tried to use in my painting was the use of complementary colors, I wanted to use them because they make the painting look brighter, so I used green and red, and blue and a pale brownish orange.

Q. What are two skills that you learnt and what is one area that you feel you work on to improve your skills?

Two skills:

Two skills that I learnt from this project would be that by adding a new material or object to your painting can enhance your piece. Through the process of adding the sewing portion of the flower, I found it to be a challenge and difficult, but in the end it gave my painting a more 3-d look, which I was going for in the beginning. The second skill I learnt from this project was that the use of complementary colors can make your painting appear brighter and full of life. The complementary colors I used were green and red, and blue and orangey brown. Also, I used my complementary colors with tints (white) which gave my painting a sense of depth.

Unit One: Activity Two - Landscape Collage with Colour and Value

Here is my landscape collage.

1. Using the elements and principles of design describe the process of your collage.

The elements of design that I can use to describe my collage are contrast, focal point, movement, and balance. For contrast I used warm and cool colors next to each other, for focal point I used the serpentine road, for movement I used the crop rows, and for balance I used both an equal amount of warm and cool colors, and its proportionate.

2. What discoveries or techniques did you find helpful through the process?

I found the technique of layering to be a big help, because it added in giving my masterpiece a better sense of depth, because of some layering in my collage I believe it made my collage more successful than if I didn’t use layering. Another technique that I found that aided to collage was the use of warm and cool colors, this gave my collage a more life like approach then using just a grey scale.

3. What are two skills that you learnt and what is one area that you feel you can work on to improve your skills?

The skills I learnt from completing this collage, is that having layers in your collage give it a better feel of depth then having less layers, also by trying different colored clippings, this allows you to create a another sense of depth and movement in your masterpiece.

Contour Drawing - Cross-Hatching Landscape

Here, is my contour drawing with cross-hatching in it.



This is the photo i took from my vacation to Spain in the summer of 2008.

Contour Drawing - Parallel Landscape

Here, is my contour darwing with parallel lines in it.