I found these wired dragons online and it made things more clear how I was going to make my dragon project because I was so lost since I was looking at just my drawing instead of what a dragon looks like of being wired. I decided to morph the two ideas into one by using the bracelet idea and the wrapping style. I must admit this skill works better for me and I also discover I'm dangerous with wire LOL!

Inspiration and sketches for Wired!!

Ever since I started drawing, I've been interested in representing life. I was interested in faces, and the personality behind them. Portraits are still my favorite thing to draw and paint, so it would only make sense to try it in a new medium. I'm excited to take a lifeless material and bend it in such a way that it becomes recognizable as human. The ultimate feat is to create life from lifeless objects, isn't it?

Here's some of the work I've found inspiration in:

 This First piece is almost entirely just Contour line, it actually looks more like a drawing than a sculpture.

The two works below have a great sense of value. Especially the second one. In the middle, it appears to be lighter, then darker at the sides.

I especially love the Grouping in these pieces, the ability to create form from simple shapes overlapping and joining is amazing.

Here are some recent sketches I've done to try to visualize my work. And another inspiration source, some of my old work that I thought would tie in with the project :

Wire Project Inspiration and Idea

I've always liked weeping willows, because I'm attracted the the idea of trees having the conscious ability to feel.

The Pagan Tree of Life is representative of the spiritual symbolism in trees. It is usually depicted with a symbol similar to this. The unity in the composition uses continuous, interconnecting lines to represent the harmony of life as a spiritual aspect.

  

Life and death is easily represented in trees. It's easy to see why ancient civilizations used them as their spiritual symbol. Here is a tree which has lived a long time. The way it is twisted and aged showcases every stage of it's life, and it continues to hollow and deepen after it's death.

 Because of the twisting capabilities of wire, I would like to use it to portray the life of a tree.

 I did a sketch incorporating many of the elements I like best from outside inspiration, and from previous sketches I have done. My plan is to hang amber beads in the branches as 'lanterns' of sorts. In the center I would to put emphasis on a single amber bead that I will twist in the trunk.

Hi Katie,
This is the idea that I came up with for this "wired" project that we're doing. The idea I thought of are cute kittens because I love kittens and of course cats too though I thought this might work out for this project. Cute kittens are the best and they have a sense of  being playful all the time with people who take of them. I hope this will work for my "wired" project. It has asymmetrical balance(which none of the parts are equal on all sides), value(use of color: light and dark), and the use of variety(quality or state of having different forms or types, notable use of contrast, emphasis, difference in size and color).

My idea for this wired project is create a mask of some sort that has a great sense of Volume.  I am also a huge fan of the Grateful Dead so I possibly might do a "stealie" type mask (Seen in image 1).  I want the mask to have a good sense of balance and unity.  I might also add some stones into the wrap because that is something I'd like to get into.  I'm really excited to start and learn this process because some of my friends already work with wire.

Jose R. Wired Project

Hi,  Katie,

I’m Jose and this is my ideas for the "Wired Project". The fist, image I have chosen it has “Volume” and it makes me reflect how tide a person can be in its own world of lies. Only to think about the struggle, how that the person can even barely walk trough he's lies, this can be seen where the “Lines” are more concentrate. The second image is a dead bonsai, contains more like an abstract element. “Composition” I draw this one because I want to make people think about, what happens when someone leave a plan without basics things water, sunlight, and love. How green and beautiful tree can become in to a dead and dry tree.

“Volume”--- Space encloses or filled by three-dimensional objects.
“Lines”--- Different tones of values, the edges of adjoining areas of light and darkness.
 “Composition” ----- A complete work of art and, more specifically, to the way in which all its elements work together to produce overall effect. 

Hey Katie,
This is Drew. This is one of my ideas for the "Wired Project". I had an idea of an octopus laying on the ground with its legs curled sideways and or up and down, or in different directions. The look for my project should look similar to these there images below so you can get a better idea of what I want to do. I picked an octopus for this project because I the figure can have "Unity" between all the legs. Being able to "Balance" the head of the creature to create a nice figure. I also want to try and give the figure "Variety" of colors and shapes.

Let there be Dragons

 Hey Katie, this is me Dani these are my ideas; the first two  images are from the internet and the third image is my drawing I did. The first image is a fire Chinese dragon and the second image is an ice dragon. The reason why I have three images is because so I can see the difference between the Eastern and Western dragons not make them the same looking. Since I was in the dragon mood, so I finished the rest of my drawing which turnout very nicely and this is the first time I drew a dragon couple and it was quite a challenge and it was also cool at the same time. As you can see in this picture, (on the left is a female western dragon and on the right is a male eastern dragon) these dragons are in love and they are embracing  with one other as they flying in the sky together.  

Hey Katie,
This is my first idea for the project "Wired" I Enjoy this piece because of the Balance it portrays. I enjoy the playfulness of the child swinging on the rope swing i would say that would be the Focal Point. The leaves give Unity to the piece but also give it a rugged and realistic look. I would do a similar tree to this one but instead of just a plain black or grey tree i may possibly paint the wires into fall colors and give a more October feel to the piece.

Balance-(the art work stands as a whole neither side of the art seems more dense than the other)
Focal Point- (are of art work the eye is directed to right away)
Unity- (Similar aspects of the art work that seem to fit well together)

This is my second idea I really enjoy sea life this is why i like this piece so much. The colors on this Seahorse are breathtaking but also captures the essence of the Seahorses home, The Coral Reef. With this piece, If I so choose it, I would use marbles and small beads to capture Emphasis  to the Seahorses beauty and structure.

Emphasis- (stress the idea of...,)

Sample post: charcoal 

Hi

Here is my current idea for my wire project :)
I will have sketches posted in a couple days to accompany this photo to visually present my idea.
To verbally explain it:
I want to create a Chinese gate with a bell as shown in the photo but in addition, I will have a man swinging a suspended log which "gongs" the bell. The compositional arrangement of man and bell gate will set atop a craggy land mass. My emphasis/focal point will be the bell gate which I intend to achieve using a separate application of line grouping to create the contours of that form.
I intend to contain my project in volume with some form of vessel of which I can pour water into. I will inject black ink into the water which will result in a symmetrical reflection of the form upon the blackened waters. The darkened plane will also insert a wider aspect of value to the design. As a final touch- I will have a small raft or canoe beached upon the up-thrusting land mass. This feature I believe will hold the most emotive quality as the viewer will be left to ponder the journey implied which one must undertake to reach the bell gate. This more subjective quality may evoke loneliness, a sense of wandering or wonder. I especially like the majestic quality it may bestow upon the bell gate for it is the destination by which the journey is of necessity.

Permission to Fail!!!!!

I read all of your survey responses and I started seeing some common themes between all of you. A lot of you wrote that your biggest fear was failure. Failure is something that we are taught to be afraid of because it means that you were unsuccessful. However, a lot of you may disagree with me initially, but failure is your friend.

Failure is one of the greatest teachers. Without failure you do not learn how to move forward to create something that is successful. Failure happens when you take risks. Risk taking is important when it comes to art because it helps you create something great. Even if it fails, you can learn from your mistakes and move forward to make something spectacular.

I will give you an example with my own work. Here are some drawings I have done that were relatively save and really focused on technique (which technique is very important, but you can see they are a little bland)

Now, when I showed these drawings to my professors for a critique, they said that they are well drawn, but there isn't that much going on with the idea. You can do better than this. Of course, I was upset because I invested a lot of time into these pieces, but I was disappointed that my ideas seemed week. Essentially, these drawings failed. So from here I read, researched and thought of how I can approach my ideas. I knew I wanted to talk about images of beauty and how I can make an image that was humorous, yet talked about the silly things people go through to become beautiful. So I came up with these drawings.

I decided on the idea of making a pile of something beautiful. To me piles were always something that seemed like they could be absurd like the Princess and the Pea story with her piles of mattresses. So I decided to draw piles of beautiful objects to talk about how absurd the idea of beauty can me. This was a risk because I had never made drawings like this before and I didn't know how it would go over. After I made these, I thought, "Oh this is what my professors were trying to tell me!" I showed them these drawings and they really like them. This made me very happy because I took a risk and it payed off. So failure is something to be embraced. It is a great teacher that will help you move forward!

Hey I'm working on this super awesome thing! Yay!