Sketches, Chicago, and the Start of School

Over the past few months, I have been trying to enjoy my summer, but also got down to some bizz-nuss after being accepted into two separate shows. One is at the Fine Line Cafe, organized by "RAW Artists of Minneapolis". I will have as many pieces as I can fit on a table. Click Here (*Link to come as soon as I receive the link from the organizers) for a link to the page where you can buy tickets. I need to sell 20 tickets by September 19th! Even if you cannot make it, a purchase is appreciated. (And stop by the show TONIGHT at 8 pm, for this month's artists, including my brother Dylan Davis) Fine Line Cafe is located at 318 North 1st Avenue.

The other show is at Altered Esthetics in northeast Minneapolis, the specific exhibition being titled, 'Home', and featuring many other artists as well. The piece I had accepted is called 'Hands of Surveillance', and it was for a class assignment about how the government and other organizations are increasingly prying into our private lives, whether it's for 'national security' or figuring out how best to tailor ads to consumers. I'm not extremely paranoid myself about the topic, but it could make me pretty uneasy if I thought about it long enough. The opening is at 7 pm on September 2nd, and I believe it runs through much of September (Artist's Discussion on the 17th, 1-3 pm). It is in Northeast Minneapolis, on 1224 Quincy ST SE.

Otherwise I've been working a little at my slide library job, where I get to hang out with some great people, back in the Visual Resources department. Will be continuing that on through the school year.

Speaking of the school year, that starts on Monday, though technically I will be starting my first in-person class on Wednesday. I probably will start my online course, History of Illustration, on Monday. Already ran into the international students today, among other friends and acquaintances. The campus is buzzing and busy, and I'm very excited to begin the school year.

Oh, and I visited my grandparents this past week, which was nice. Then I (and my brother) dropped by Chicago and had pizza with my parents, and my cousin and his wife, some satisfying deep-dish pepperoni and sausage pizza, along with good conversation. We then spent some time with a couple friends who we had made in Ireland, and explored the city, including Bucktown, downtown, the Art Institute (museum and school), Millennium Park, a little of the lake front, and the Lakeview (Boystown) area, where I had a great dinner with my brother, my friend Meghann and my cousin and his wife. We left on the megabus, watching the tops of houses, apartments, churches, and cathedrals pass us by on the way out via the interstate.

In sketch news, Here are some recent sketches I made while at the Spyhouse Coffee on Hennepin Avenue. I tried some blind contour, followed by focusing on a single person, which included blind contour sketches of varying length of time (2 seconds to 10 seconds roughly). Then a longer, non-blind sketch. I notice I tend to give too much length to the head from the back to the front, because I used to give too little, so I kind of over-compensate now sometimes.

Also, sketching at a cafe is often an exercise in focus for me, because I have some anxiety/nervousness being around other people, and it's hard for me to just feel like purely drawing instead of having my thoughts racing.