I chose The Glass Menagerie. There were themes of nostalgia and regret. Feeling trapped and yearning for escape. I tried playing with the Victrola as a symbol for nostalgia and the glass figures as memory. In one of the thumbnails I made Laura the glass figure. The shape of the windows and display case. Themes were nostalgia vs regret. Feeling trapped vs yearning for freedom. This was tough for sure.

I went with The Hound of the Baskervilles. Landed on chapter fourteen. In the first thumbnail I liked the visuals described in the book about the fog looking like an ice field and the house a floating ship. Second thumbnail is after the Hound has been shot with Watson examining the body. The third is upon discovering Mrs. Stapleton tied to a beam in the center of a room used as a gallery for a butterfly collection.

Great exercise, I don't think the likeness is all the way there in these. I spent too much time trying to figure out the jaw line in the first attempt. I prefer the 30 minute one where I pushed the values some more. The most interesting one to me was the 30 second attempt. I tried to keep the shadow shapes simple.

The first image was the low key value study or as close as I could get them. The most contrast being the area between the buildings. For the second I tried making it look like the light source was coming from off screen and directed at the man standing by the entrance.

Went digital on this assignment, still learning the program so it look a little longer than expected. Eye dropper and lasso tools were very much appreciated for this one.

I used markers and started with washing everything with a 4. Then I chipped away at the shadows as i saw them. I tend to stay in a high key when I draw so this was a good exercise.

Tried to keep them with in 3 values, it was difficult not trying to add too much and keep them simple. Squinted my eyes a lot to make some of the details blur and focus on the big shapes. I probably spent more time on these then I should have especially trying to chip away at the white areas with my eraser.

Live in a 1 bed room apartment with the wife and toddler so it gets tight. We split the living area in two its currently set up like the first sketch for illustration mostly. Works well for me since I work at night mostly. I would like to set up more like the second sketch with my easel to paint more often. I usually will move into the open space while my wife is at work and my daughter is at daycare to work during the day. Making a more open space would work better for painting, we may need to down size some elements or see how they can fit elsewhere.