…making contact with paper

When I originally started SJSU, I was declared in Graphic Design.  My first semester in the major I decided to take an Industrial Design class as one of my electives.  I was pretty excited to get into the class, since we would be learning how to “sketch like the star wars artists!”  Dave Fleming was the professor for the class, and I heard murmurs from other students that we were really fortunate to have him!  Each day, Prof. Fleming would bring in new and exciting materials to learn to sketch with.  We would gather around his desk, every other class session, to watch him sketch.  I tried to take as many notes as I could, but it was not only hard to keep up, but many times I would just watch in awe. (read more below)

Right from the beginning we were tossed into the pool, expected to know how to swim.  Our perspective training was basically a one week recap, from there, we went full bore into all sorts of materials, lighting, shadowing, coloring, textures, etc.   We got lots of encouragement and inspiration from Prof Fleming, and he always had lots of saying to carry us through the semester.  It was tough to keep up, but once the class was over, I was really thankful for what Prof Fleming taught the class.  On the last day of class Prof Fleming came up to me to give me my grade and he said…”you know, I would really think about changing over from Graphic Design to Industrial Design…you have the eye for it”…from that point forward my life was changed forever.  Thanks Professor Fleming for all the encouragement, education and inspiration!  Check out his old school work below… and his most current paintings here.. http://www2.cruzio.com/~fleming/