snapshots from the spring semester, or bidding farewell to a year of hand-graphics

Our studio work will be nearly all digital graphics next year, so with this knowledge I especially enjoyed the opportunity to work on and improve my hand graphics skills. The prevailing hand graphics style in landscape architecture is stylized and geometrical, as one might expect. Nonetheless, personal style (so long as it is somewhat refined and "readable") is admired and encouraged. Also, it is still a necessary skill. Firms (so our profs tell us) look for good hand graphics when hiring interns and staff.
Some people naturally have a personal style that adheres more closely to the LA "norm." This is sort of hard to explain, but I guess there is a graphic standard of sorts. It is the kind of drawing that you see in books teaching presentation graphics. One of my classmates has it. His drawings are beautifully technical. His handwriting is brilliantly clear and precise, in a really pleasing way. I aspire to perfect my handwriting; I know he's worked to get it so precise.
Looking back at my drawings from the year, I know I'm evolving a style of my own, which is really kind of exciting. It is equally as cool to see the distinct styles of my classmates. If I saw a book of only their drawings, I know I could identify the artist by the marks.
An elevation drawing from my final studio project

A second elevation, same project as top (this elevation is "perpendicular" to the one at top, showing the end, instead of the side, of the vine-covered pavilion)

Plan view of my pocket park for Graphics II

Axonometric view of the same park. I encourage you to click on this image to enlarge. There are lots of details, such as the one below. I had fun drawing the people at the café-bar. See? They are listening to the jazz trio playing on the terrace.

goals

So *obviously* my goal for the summer first and foremost is to find a job. But aside from that, there are many personal projects that I haven't been able to work on since last August. Here is a partial list.

Purely personal projects:

• Knitting. First off, a sweater for Cara's baby, due in July! Second, socks for Mike. I've also been eying patterns on this great blog http://brooklyntweed.blogspot.com/. Now if I could only afford enough yarn for another sweater... I'd love to design a pattern of my own, and I have some visions I'd love to draw out.
  
• Painting. Ideally I'll have a few days before I have to move out when I can work on the LeRay/Jones painting.
• Sculpture: playing with paper and making abstract shapes. Specifically I have mobiles and light fixtures in mind.
  

Not as personal creative project:

• Planning and research for the Watercolor for Landscape Architects class I'm teaching in the fall