Remembering Agathe Bennich

Agathe was my first figure drawing teacher at City College of San Francisco back in the late '90s. Through her, I discovered my love of working intuitively with gestural marks and exploring a variety of mediums. We worked mostly from Nicolades' "The Natural Way to Draw", a book she read from in class pretty often. I somehow took to her teaching methods right away in spite of her cryptic instructions like "draw the weight". There was a freedom in not knowing what I was doing and letting the drawings happen without a lot of labor and analysis. I can still feel her standing behind me, completely silent until she moved on to the next student. Apparently, I "got it" well enough for her to let me work with minimal instruction. She let me know that she saw me becoming a painter, and that I should go to SFAI, but accepted that I was an illustrator at heart.

I took my first oil painting with her during my last semester at CCSF. This was when Agathe encouraged me to "spread my wings a bit" and go out of state to study at RISD. I remember her as a tall, strong woman with long gray hair and a strong presence in the classroom. She was warm, patient, had a great sense of humor and had deep wisdom that filled the room whenever she spoke.


When I returned to City College of San Francisco to teach in the fall of 2007, I often asked about Agathe who must have retired before then. Today, I learned that she had passed away over a year ago and that there had been a memorial exhibition in Marin, not far from Dominican University where I also currently teach a digital drawing and painting class. My experiences as a student continue to inform my art and what I value as a teacher, and it's fair to say that those many hours with Agathe working with tempera, charcoal, conte, graphite, stick and ink, left me with a fearlessness and a curiosity that makes the digital tools an endless font of discovery.

Above is my one and only framed charcoal drawing from Agathe's class hanging on the wall of my room. It was a two session pose with Jenny, a Guild model whom I still draw at sessions in Albany and Berkeley.

http://neibert.com/portfolio/agathe-bennich-memorial-exhibition-college-of-marin-fine-arts-gallery-kentfield/

Jaegers!

Well before the film's release, I was trying to figure out whether or not I like the designs of the "Jaegers" featured in Guillermo del Toro's giant robot/kaiju slugfest, Pacific Rim. My first impression was that they appeared clunky and a bit awkward. Maybe I was missing the sleek, organic silhouettes of the Evas (Neon Genesis Evangeleon), or deep negative spaces and bloated proportions of a Megadeus (Big O). Closer inspection of he recently released of teaser "blueprints" of the Jaegers convinced me that a lot of love went into the designs, and that a vein of practicality and functionality seems to drive the details.

Take, for example, the enclosed joints of the Cherno Alpha, and how tightly the details were integrated into the overall design, especially the torso. Its monolithic upper body and hammer-like crown gives it a solid appearance, made it at least appear to be capable of withstanding a heavy blow from an opponent without losing its head.

Similarly, Gypsy Danger's short neck, long legs and high, broad-shouldered torso gave it the look of a spry running back. The exposed hip joints also suggest that this is a robot with a considerable amount of agility, which comes with sacrificing a bit of armor here and there.

Coyote Danger, the Jaeger from Japan, ironically has many of the design elements from my favorite mecha designs. It's lanky, narrow waist and almost insect-like frame looked a bit fragile. Its relatively small head and the lack of an immediately discernible face added a bit of mystery to the design while retaining just enough humanity for us to know it's a hero and a defender. Coyote Danger was probably the most understated of the Jaeger designs, being comprised of simple shapes that balance perfectly over its rail-thin legs. It stood with the unwavering pride and courage of a man without fear.

Pacific Rim turned out to be a huge disappointment. I fell for the pre-release hype that sold it as an "homage" to the Japanese giant robot and kaiju genres. It was more of a big-budget cartoon dumbed-down for general audiences. Great CG effects, but I was expecting a lot more story and soul.