My First Week

So I've survived my first encounter with my classes.

Monday-- Clothed Figure Drawing
6. Solid. Hours of figure drawing. Wow. My first class at AAU ever. Going into this one felt very strange... I had my ID, and so on, and there was a room full of people where I'm supposed to be. The teacher was quite young-- probably my age actually-- and a graduate of the school himself, currently working as a children's book illustrator. He had samples of his work up on the walls. The sheer SPEED and fluency with which this guy works totally freaks me out, it's amazing. I have never, EVER had an art teacher with this sort of sheer illustrative skill before. Holy cow. So, we drew... I was missing some supplies at first, but I collected a pad of paper and the proper charcoal during break. I was stumbling, rusty, not accustomed to drawing clothes, nervous... but to my surprise most of the people in class seem to be about on a level with me. Which is... interesting, because usually I'm so much better than the rest of class that the teacher stops to stare, but here I'm just one of the gang. I was so nervous everyone else would be miles better than me, but so far things seem pretty even.

Tuesday-- Maya 1 -and- Digital Photography For Artists
Maya 1: Waiving Intro to Computer Graphics and so on was such a huge pain. I was terribly anxious as to whether I'd gotten into the correct class or not, if it would be too difficult or too easy. ...After the first hour and a half of Maya 1, my brain felt pummeled. The sheer amount of information was crazy-- I learned more about Maya just that day than I learned about AutoCAD in the entire TERM of that class back home. I have to design a creature by next week, which I'll then be modeling, texturing, and animating by the end of the term. The instructor was fluent and relentless. After class I went up to the computer lab to check over the cheat sheet and make sure I was retaining things-- learning a totally new 3D app is going to be driving me NUTS, I can tell!

Photography... ahhhhhh, THIS one is going to be INTERESTING. The instructor here reminds me of the sky pirate captain in Starudst. He honestly looks and sounds a little bit like DeNiro, same no-nonsense growly attitude, black hair, strong jaw. And when I noticed he hadn't given us any contact information and asked if he had an email... he said "Ah. ....I am an adjunct professor. I work here part time. I am not compensated for office hours or preparation. This means I am here essentially on a volunteer basis. Your ONLY contact with me will be in this class. If you see me outside of class.... don't talk to me. If you have a question, ask during class. Most of the time, if you have a question, it's something the rest of the class needs to hear-- and if it isn't, it's personal stuff that's none of my business and that I don't want to hear anyway. If you're sick or whatever and can't make it to class, I don't want to hear about it. If your house burned down and you can't do your homework, I don't want to hear about it. If you're two weeks pregnant and can't deal with life, I don't want to hear about it. ...Now, I don't want you guys to stress about anything, and we're going to have a lot of fun!!" ....He's one of the honchos in the department, he designed this class and wrote the textbook for it. He'll be taking us on a field trip to his professional studio. He also teaches an Astronomy class that I might just take.. cause honestly, this guy is awesome.

Wednesday-- Photo Storyboarding
So far? Boring. I'm paying $150 per session for... what exactly? Watching a video (La Jettee), riding in the bus, and waiting in line at the equipment center? And for assignments I have to take slides and then make film with all the editing in-camera? You've GOT to be kidding me.


AND finally... A JOB! I just had an interview at the video store next to Washington Park! And they liked me! I go in for my test run Saturday evening!