Category Archives: Anatomy

We still have just a few more slots available for the upcoming class "Drawing from the Bestiary: Animal Anatomy of Real and Imagined Creatures" with one of our favorite artists, Saul Chernick. This class will teach students--via illustrated lectures and in-class projects including paper puppets and the creation of bestiary pages--"to use observational and imaginative drawing skills in tandem to capture the essential qualities of their subject" and "learn to draw animals (real, mythic, and otherwise) with greater skill and sensitivity."

You can see some of Chernick's wonderful artworks above; you can see more of them by clicking here. The class will take place on 4 consectutive Mondays, from June 25 to July 16th. The full class description follows. Also, please note that the class size is limited to 15, so if you are interested, please RSVP as soon as possible to morbidanatomy [at] gmail.com.

Drawing from the Bestiary: Animal Anatomy of Real and Imagined Creatures with Saul Chernick
A 4-part class with Artist Saul Chernick, M.F.A., Rutgers University
Dates: Mondays June 25, July 2, July 9 and July 16th (4 consecutive Mondays)
Time: 6:30-9:00 PM
Class Fee: $120
***Class size limited to 15; Must RSVP to morbidanatomy [at] gmail.com
This class is part of The Morbid Anatomy Art Academy

Contemporary artist and arts educator Saul Chernickis renowned for gorgeous artworks featuring convincingly corporeal depictions of imaginary or mythical creatures rendered in the style of Medieval and early Renaissance woodcuts from Northern Europe. Observatory is very pleased to announce a new workshop developed by Saul Chernick specially for the Morbid Anatomy Art Academy. In this class, Chernick will teach students--via illustrated lectures and in-class projects including paper puppets and bestiary pages--"to use observational and imaginative drawing skills in tandem to capture the essential qualities of their subject" and "learn to draw animals (real, mythic, and otherwise) with greater skill and sensitivity."

Full class description follows; you can see more of Chernick's fantastic work by clicking here. Class size limited to 15; Please RSVP to morbidanatomy [at] gmail.com.

Course Description
Open to artists of all levels, the goal of this workshop is help participants learn to draw animals (real, mythic, and otherwise) with greater skill and sensitivity. Through exercises in drawing and paper puppetry, participants will gain a deeper understanding of the skeletal/muscular structures of most mammals, reptiles, and birds. Participants will also learn to use observational and imaginative drawing skills in tandem to capture the essential qualities of their subject and create works of convincing visual fiction!
What to expect

• Participants will cull images from the web to create a dossier on the animal(s) that interest them
• Participants will fashion movable paper puppets to understand how their chosen animal moves
• Participants will draw studies of the skeletal and muscular structures of animals
• Participants will use the medium of their choice to create a Bestiary page entry that depicts an animal situated in an environment

Materials
What to bring to the first class:

• Choose 1-3 animals and gather pictures on the web. Be sure to get images of their skeletons in profile. Please print these as they may be hard to use on a phone screen.
• 3-5 sheets of Bristol Board Paper 9" x 12" or larger
• Pencils & erasers
• Scissors
• Xacto or utility knife
• Glue

What to bring for subsequent classes:

• White or tinted drawing paper 16" x 20" or 18" x 24"
• Tracing paper (same size as drawing paper)
• Mechanical and/or regular pencils (2h, hb, 2b, 4b)

Optional:

• Markers, watercolors, gouache, ink, brushes, chalk/oil pastels, colored pencils, Caran D’Ache, collage papers, etc (we’ll discuss further in detail!)

Saul Chernick, M.F.A., Rutgers University, is a visual artist and educator. Chernick has exhibited internationally in galleries and museums including the Aldrich Museum of Contemporary Art, the Bronx Museum of Art, the Jewish Museum of Art, as well as Max Protetch and Meulensteen Galleries in New York City. He has taught art for the public school system, the 92nd Street Y, Cooper Union, Parson's School of Design, and the Museum of Modern Art. He is currently the Professional Development Coordinator for the Joan Mitchell Foundation where he coaches New York artists in teaching art to young people throughout city. His work can be seen at http://www.saulchernick.com.

All images are by Saul Chernick and include, top to bottom:

1. Field Urchin, 2011, from a series of studies in which he attempted to impose the proportions of cherubs onto horses.
2. Desktop 2013, 2010, Ink, Watercolor, & Opaque White on Paper
3. Heavenly Touch , 2009, Ink, Watercolor, & Opaque White on Paper
4. Guilty Pleasures, 2010, Ink, Watercolor, & Opaque White on Paper
5. Ars Gratia Artis, 2010, Ink on Paper

You can found out more here. As mentioned above, class size is limited to 15, so if you are interested, please RSVP as soon as you are able to morbidanatomy [at] gmail.com.

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If only I lived in Los Angeles....

This Saturday, at the fantastic Velaslavasay Panorama:

You can find out more by clicking here.

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Imagine How Creativity Works By Jonah Lehrer Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. 252 pp. $26

Reviewed by Rickie Roberts

What do Bob Dylan, MIT, 3M, Tel Aviv, and the "I 0 New York" logo have in common?

In Imagine, author Jonah Lehrer weaves all of these people, places, and things into a brilliant narrative about well, simply put brilliance.

Lehrer is the author of two other equally engaging books, Proust Was a Neuroscientist (2007) and How We Decide (2009). Here, in only his third decade on this Earth, Lehrer has found a recipe for interpreting the insights, impulses, and creative possibilities of the most complex species on the planet. A graduate of Columbia University, he did a double major in neuroscience and English. In this unlikely pairing of disciplines, he has found a calling putting the highly intricate processes of the human mind into a language and a narrative that bring home his ideas to the more narrowly educated reader. In Proust Was a Neuroscientist, he explored the connection between the literary and scientific communities, and in How We Decide, he tackled the multifarious issue of decision-making by tying neuro-mechanics, context, culture, emotions, and history into a combination "how-do-we" and "how-to" book.

In Imagine, Lehrer has gone one step further. By exploring the common thread of imagination in the divergent worlds of song-writing, tape manufacturing, city building, play-writing, animation producing, mop inventing, and so much more, he is able to draw upon his unique combination of skills, knowledge, and experience to welcome the reader to a creative process that is becoming more and more critical in our society.

In chapter after chapter, he brings forward case studies of the contributions that creativity and imagination have made in success stories, ranging from bartending to pharmaceutical manufacturing. But he doesn't stop there. Through careful analysis of each case he helps us to understand the process that has taken place. From what is happening in neurotransmitters at the time of insight to the paint color on the walls, he guides us through these stories as if the lessons we learn here will make each one of us somehow capable of great things.

While he makes great use of his own scientific education and background in the narrative, Lehrer is able to do so in a way that makes even us common folk comfortable. He neither speaks over our heads in scientific matters nor does he seem to assume that the reader doesn't understand how the brain functions. He speaks of the right- and left-side brain functions without over-explanation, giving his readers credit for knowing enough about these topics to put the pieces together. Many a reader will appreciate this because once you accept that we are not all Ph.D,s you can relax and take this thrilling ride through the relationships between failure and accomplishment, brilliance and biochemistry.

Smartly, Lehrer begins the books with two studies that immediately put you at ease and suck you in with the curiosity that a well-crafted book can generate: the invention of the Swiffer Sweeper and the ubiquitous musings of Bob Dylan. Who wouldn't want to read on?

His tale of how Bob Dylan "hit the creative wall" in 1965 and retreated to isolation before producing some of his most brilliant work is antithetical to his account of how Pixar Studios uses collaboration and criticism to support the creative process that has driven so many of the most heralded animated classics of the last 30 years. Yet, Lehrer makes it work. He neither prescribes nor lectures, allowing that both isolation and collaboration have value in the creative process and must be examined in the context of the task.

See original here:
"Imagine" examines the anatomy of brilliance

BOX SCORE

SAN FRANCISCO How difficult, how elusive, how magically fated is a perfect game?

Consider this: Matt Cain struck out 14 batters on an unforgettable Wednesday night in China Basin. It matched Sandy Koufaxs iconic performance in 1965 as the most strikeouts in a perfect game in history.

And yet Cain needed so much support, so many breaks, so much luck -- and maybe even some angels breath.

Here is how it happened, inning by inning:

First inning: 11 pitches. Cain likes to establish his fastball early and it was clear he had plenty of late movement and cut -- and pinpoint control -- as he threw four of them to strike out Jordan Schafer. He went fastball-curve-fastball to strike out Jose Altuve. Jed Lowrie hit a foul pop.

Second inning: 12 pitches. Before it became edge-of-the-seat stuff., Cain faced his first three-ball count of the evening. Brett Wallace, a player in the Moneyball mold, fouled off a 3-1 fastball. Cain hadnt thrown either of his first two changeups in the strike zone, but Buster Posey called for one. Wallace swung through it.

Third inning: 17 pitches. Cain began to find a groove with his changeup and slider. Chris Snyder and pitcher J.A. Happ took called third strikes on fastballs that snapped back across the zone. Umpire Ted Barrett was giving him the black, as pitchers call it. Cain had gone through the lineup once. Even at this early juncture, he could sense he had it within himself to no-hit the Astros.

Fourth inning: 22 pitches Schafer worked Cain for a 10-pitch at-bat that included five two-strike fouls -- including one that came within a millimeter, as first baseman Brandon Belt saw it, of being a double down the line. Replays were inconclusive; Belt said it definitely hit in front of the bag and was hooking sharply. Umpire Mike Muchlinski called it foul and Cain, now operating with a four-run lead after two-run homers by Melky Cabrera and Belt, stayed aggressive. He only threw one ball among the 10 pitches to Schafer, who finally swung through a fastball. Little Altuve, all 5-foot-5 of him, didnt get any breaks on the zone. Barrett rang him up on a third strike above the letters.

Fifth inning: 14 pitches Two more strikeouts. One ball in play, to second baseman Ryan Theriot. Moving along

Go here to read the rest:
Anatomy of Cain's perfect game

Dane, 39, and Gayheart, 40, say Billie is finally warming up to little Georgina.

"Billie is being a great big sister now," Gayheart gushed to us at the Chrysalis Butterfly Ball in L.A.

"We've had a couple rough patches but she really adores her," she said. "She's really sweet. It's like her live baby doll."

That means Billie is getting more hands-on with mom and dad's baby duty.

"She helps change her diaper and give her food and put her bib on," Gayheart said, adding, "but sometimes she regresses and wants the pacifier for herself."

Meanwhile, Dane dished his thoughts about Grey's Anatomy's shocking season eight finale in which costar Chyler Leigh was surprisingly killed off.

"I wasn't [shocked] because I knew that Chyler wanted to spend some more time with her family," Dane said. "It's a tough schedule to keep up and she's been working on the show for five seasons. So I wasn't shocked. A little surprised but not shocked. We're going to miss her."

See more here:
Grey's Anatomy Star Eric Dane and Rebecca Gayheart Talk Kids—and the Show's Finale Surprise

It probably is assumed by most people that Melinda Elkins Dawsons story had a definitive end.

In June of 1998, Dawsons mother, Judith Johnson of Barberton, was raped and murdered. A

6-year-old niece also was attacked and raped. Dawsons then-husband, Clarence Elkins, was charged with the crimes, based on the childs account to police.

After Clarence Elkins went to prison, Dawson took it upon herself to prove his innocence, an effort that took seven years.

Clarence Elkins eventually was able to surreptitiously acquire DNA evidence via a cigarette butt from Earl G. Mann, Johnsons former neighbor, who also happened to be imprisoned with Elkins. It matched DNA found at the crime scene. Mann eventually pleaded guilty.

After Elkins was exonerated and released from prison in 2006, he reached a $1.075 million settlement with the state. In 2010, the Elkins family settled a $5.25 million federal lawsuit against the Barberton Police Department. A suit against the Summit County Prosecutors Office was dismissed.

Dawsons life story recently was optioned by movie producer/screenwriter David Massar, who said a script is in development. Massar said he would like to shoot parts of the film in Barberton, Akron and the Magnolia area. The Elkinses were living outside of Magnolia in Carroll County when Clarence Elkins was arrested. The couple divorced in 2007.

TAX FIGHT

But these days, Dawson is fighting a different battle, this one with the Internal Revenue Service, which has informed her that she owes taxes on her share of the compensation money received from the federal suit.

We should not have to fight for something that was rightfully awarded to my sons, myself, and Clarence, she said. There needs to be an amendment to the federal tax law that will cover this subject, not only for my family but for the countless other families that will face this issue one day.

See more here:
Anatomy of an aftermath: Movie being planned about Melinda Elkins Dawson