As you can probably tell, I haven’t exactly been productive. It’s been less than two weeks since the move and I am still settling in.
My studio (I really, really like being able to say that! ) isn’t completely set up yet. But I am making progress. The walls in the room desperately needed to be painted. Previously, they were half dark green and half cream with a ridiculously ornate wallpaper border separating the two. If you know me, you know that ridiculously ornate isn’t exactly my thing.
Last Saturday, I spent the day painting both the studio and W’s office. And Sunday, I polyurethaned my spanky new drawing desk and moved it up to the studio. Now, its just sitting in a bit of disarray because I haven’t put anything away yet. This is my goal for this afternoon and tonight. I need to get all my gear put away and maybe unpack a toy or two. Once I am settled, the more apt to do some actually art work I will be.
Title: Adventures with Markers Size: 11 x 14″ Medium: Prismacolor Markers on Aquabee Manga Artist Paper (110 lb.) Time: 2.5 hours Status: Just playin’
Look, a real update. Though, the scan is really awful. I can never get my real work to be represented accurately with this damn scanner. [fist shake] But I digress.
I decided to play around with my Prismas last night. I haven’t really worked with them yet and I’m really a marker newbie, so I wanted to play. And I figured what was a better image than one I have been working on forever.
Lately, I have been playing around with markers (Shan, this is a HINT! ) and I am thoroughly enjoying them. Its a new medium for me. Though in a lot of ways, it feels very much like working with watercolour. Both in the permanency and the reverse way of laying colours down. Coming from my acrylic background, I am used to adding dark and then going light. With markers (and watercolour), its completely the other way around. So I need to rewire my brain. I am also trying to cultivate some patience.
Stop laughing.
I’ve been using some very basic markers - Faber-Castell Pitt Pens. They are decent markers (especially for working in my sketchbook), but I was looking at upgrading to a bigger, badder set - at least for finished work. I’ll probably continue to use my Fabers for sketching (though, I need to invest in a couple more colours methinks). They really are preferred for sketchbook work.
Anyway, with my notion of upgrading, I was weighing my options. Copics are way out of my league - both financially and well, I am just not at that level yet, so I can’t see spending the cash if I am unsure of myself. But apparently, the internets tells me that Prismacolor markers are a great alternative. They are cheaper than Copics, are relatively good at blending (and keeping it streak-free) and apparently are used by many in the illustration field.
Ok, my father doesn’t actually read my blog. In fact, he pretty much only uses the internets for eBay- he’s a philatelist. But the dude is turning freaking 70 today, so I couldn’t not post a birthday greeting.
70. Its crazy, man. Now, I’m not entirely sure he’s happy about that situation. But I think it’s rad. I mean, he’s just one step closer to being able to be a crotchety old man! I mean, I can not wait until I am old enough to be a crazy, blue-haired old lady. It’s gonna be awesome.
On the art front, I’ve been working. Just can’t post anything (silly Xmas presents). Its been an interesting process though. I’ve made sketches, then scanned them into my laptop, then resized them, then used tracing/carbon paper and ink. So its a considerably different process than I normally use. But it has been completely rewarding. Today, I’m adding watercolour pencil to the mix. It’s been really fun and entertaining. I can’t wait to post the results!
Though, I suppose I could post the lame clipart/icon things I drew for a dude I work with. They are very boring. And I’m not entirely sure he is even going to like them, but I do not care. I am so over doing pro-bono art work for people who are just using my abilities because they know I have them. Ugh. I think I might have a new rule.
But on a positive note, we are moving some boxes this weekend!!! Woop. I can’t wait. I am so sick of looking at freaking boxes.
Ok, the title is a huge misnomer. I have WIPs, I just can’t post ‘em here because they are Xmas presents and I know for a fact that their recipients read this damn blog.
But, man. I wish I could post them here. I am having a hoot. Yes, I said hoot. Its a pretty awesome little series of projects that make me giggle every time I work on them. I don’t even care if my friends and/or family like the end results because I am just having such a great time working on them.
And I think I know the reason. They are kinda outside my normal milieux, so I’m not putting the same kinda pressure on myself as I normally would with a portrait. I mean, yeah, I wouldn’t be me if there was NO stress - there is stress - but its such a different kinda stress that its almost refreshing.
On a completely different note, I love when someone gets wind of the fact that you are an artist, they automatically assume that they can try to use your talents for their benefit and then pimp your talents to co-workers. In this case, I have a co-worker that asked me to design some logos for a project he is working on. At the time, I agreed because I was still a newbie trying to “prove herself”. Now he is ratting me out to all my co-workers.
If I have one more person as me to “draw a little sketch” of something, I might rage and stick a pencil in their aorta.
I haven’t been doing any work. With the pending move at the end of the month, my focus has been purely on that. So much. I could blather on and on about it, but really, its not very interesting and gets my stress hackles up and no one needs that. But, while frustrating from a creative point of view, it needs to be done and taking a break from drawing isn’t going to kill me. Plus, once we move, I’ll be able to start working in a brand new studio with my brand new drafting table!! Very exciting. My new drafting table is a thing of BEAUTY. So there should be a nice jolt of inspiration and productive.
Now, that said, I do have some ideas for a couple of upcoming projects. I’m still playing a little bit. Sadly, however, they are probably Xmas present type deals for people who read here, so I’m not sure if I’ll be able to post a lot of the progress. But I’ll try and post what I can.
And I know, after last Xmas, I swore off doing artwork for Xmas presents. And I’m not really. No one is getting a portrait or a painting or anything else that would take exceedingly long amounts of work and time. I want a stress-free (or relatively stress-free) Xmas. Nope, the projects I’ll have on the go are easier, less time consuming ones. In fact, they are potentially pretty fun so I’m looking forward to it. And happily, I think I can probably get a bunch done before Xmas without feeling stupid amounts of stress.
At any rate, I’m not sure how much I’ll be posting here in the next month. But rest assured, I should be back in fine form once November rolls around.
PS I’ve posted a new poll on the right sidebar! Over there ———–>
I’m pretty stoked that your Mom gave birth to you 32 years ago. Yay L! She rocks. But you are pretty awesome too, I guess. I hope you have a super awesome day, but I wouldn’t hold out for that plasma tee-vee.
Title: El Piece of Crappo Size: 11 x 14″ Medium: Graphite on Bristol Vellum Time: Who cares? Status: Fucked
Believe it or not, it looks better this way.
The drawing was pissing me off. The drawing was making me unhappy. I loathed to even pick up a pencil to work on it. I cringed every single time. I hate working that way. I don’t like being done in by a drawing over and over. It sucks and I hate it.
Some folks won’t understand why I destroyed the drawing. But look at it this way..As the creator of that particular universe, it was completely within my rights to destroy the universe. So I did.
And ya know, it felt freaking awesome.
I’m gonna paste it into my sketchbook.
Liberation takes many forms, my friends. Many.
photos: This is what liberation looks like, folks.
I bought a new toy on Friday. One of these little suckers. I know, why get an electric eraser? Does this make me a lazy ass? Well, no. Not entirely. The purpose of the eraser is for highlighting purposes mainly. You know, for hair, eyes, etc, etc. I haven’t really used it yet. Soon hopefully.
I didn’t get a chance to do any work this weekend. I am trying to g et a jump on cleaning the apartment before we move. I know, we aren’t moving until October 31st, but I don’t wanna leave all the hardcore stuff - washing walls, washing windows, washing cupboards - until the last minute when I should be worrying about other shit.
If you are interested in my move ramblings, there is more after the jump.
The Artist’s Magazine is holding an online all-media competition. I’m actually considering throwing a few pieces into the fray. Crazy, right? It’s bizarre that I am even entertaining the idea. Right now, I’m considering throwing in the pieces from the show. Maybe something new if I get anything new - not that current bastard of a drawing either (I don’t wanna talk about it) - done soon.
Now while I seriously doubt I will win anything (I’ve seen the results of some of their competitions in the past - the work is amazing), the deadline is November 3rd.
Title: Untitled Size: 11 x 14″ Medium: Graphite on Bristol Vellum Time: 9.5 Hours Status: WIP
This piece is taking a long time. Longer than normal. I think I can attribute much of that to a general malaise I have been experiencing as of late. I think I am kinda blue. There’s no real reason for it - aside from regular really-real world stresses and bullshit. Just a small bout of depression, I guess.
The unfortunately side effect is that I don’t feel inclined to draw. It takes a lot to get the pencils out. And I don’t accomplish very much once I do. So my work is suffering because of it. Grr.
Hopefully I can shimmy out of this funk soon because its really starting to piss me off. Frustration is worse than depression sometimes. Especially for a control freak like yours truly.
photos: Updates photos of a drawing that really isn\'t updated.. yeesh.
I’ve uploaded some photos from the reception on Tuesday. You can find some of them in the sidebar or you can visit my flickr set by clicking here.
Oh, and W got his Streetfighter Tribute book yesterday. Oh, my. The artwork is stunning and I’m not even the biggest SF fan, like at all. But there was many pieces by artists whom I stalk on the internets. So that was awesome.
Last night was the artist reception for the show. It was pretty good. Different from last year. Different vibe. I didn’t invite a shitload of people and really, aside from W and myself, only one person I invited showed up (thanks, T!). But I wasn’t disappointed by that. I mean, if you’ve seen one of my drawings, you’ve pretty much seen them all.
And as T tells me, the nature of my invite email made it seem like the same pieces - the portraits of my grandparents - from last year were in the show this year - which is why R opted not to attend. Oops. I just meant it was the same type of show. Not that the same pieces were in it. My bad. Heh.
Still, it was a pretty positive experience. My drawings were well received - both by my peers and otherwise. In fact, I had a complete stranger come up to me and tell me that my work was “beautiful and stunning” and she would “love to have a drawing like that in her home.” As an artist, you can’t get much higher praise than that.
The highlight of the evening was seeing a couple of my instructors. They seldom show up for such things, but this year they were invited to include self-portraits - probably as a means of getting them to attend. Two of ‘em showed up for a few minutes - likely just prior to classes they were teaching that evening. It was swell to see Steven. Though, I didn’t actually speak to him, just snarled at him jokingly as I passed him. Ivy was also there, but I didn’t get a chance to talk to her before she flitted away. She always flits. I must remember to email her. By the way, her self-portrait(s) were beautiful!
This year, it seemed like the work was a lot higher quality. Not to say the work last year was awful or anything. But it felt very much like a student show. This year? Not so much. That was awesome.
I took some photos. Hopefully, I can post them soon.
Title: Untitled Size: 11 x 14″ Medium: Graphite on Bristol Vellum Time: 5.5 Hours Status: WIP
Wow, it feels like forever since I posted anything of substance. But truth be told, I have been utterly lame with the drawing the last couple of days. Utterly lame.
Regardless, I have an actual update! I reworked a lot of the initial line drawing. I re-drew pretty much everything except her (artist’s) right eye. Though, I suspect you probably can’t tell. I’m much, much happier with the drawing. Her eyes seem to be doing what I want them to, so this pleases me. Though, the photos above are a lot darker than the original.
Tonight’s the artist reception for the show (Hm, the Continuing Ed website seems to be broken) I am currently in. Meh. I wish I could be excited about it. In fact, I kinda forgot all about it until last night. Then I found myself kind of annoyed. I just have a lot of shit going on and no time (or no energy) to do any of it. I think I would much rather be at home tonight getting crap done around the apartment that needs to get done before our pending move*. I have lists, deadlines and everything! Though, these lists and deadlines seem to imply that I am doing something other than playing Everquest or watching the 11 hours of Heroes Season 2 straight.
Ahem.
But I know that once I am there, I will probably enjoy myself. My friends whose house we will likely be renting are coming out, so it will be awesome to see them.
Plus, art is swell.
*Yes, I know we are moving in October. But shit needs to get done now because sister is not waiting for the last week of October to pack 10 years worth of crap.
photos: Just some updates photos for your viewing pleasure.
Title: Untitled Size: 11 x 14″ Medium: Graphite on Bristol Vellum Time: 3.5 Hours Status: WIP
It was a long weekend. And I only picked up a pencil on Tuesday at lunch. So very lazy. Still, it was nice to take a couple days off. Even if I spent most of those days playing Everquest.
What? I’m a nerd. This is what we do.
Anyway, I started on her eyes last night. So far, so good. They are still in the very preliminary stages, but I am pleased with the progress. Though, I have to admit this eyeliner stuff is kinda messing with me. I mean, I love eyeliner as much as the next girl but to draw it kinda goes against a lot of what I was taught.
I was always taught that people do not consist of solid lines, so don’t draw solid lines. So to deliberately outline something on a person’s face feels a bit unnatural for me. I mean, its cool though and not difficult from a technical sense by any stretch of the imagination. It just feels… weird. I’m sure I’ll get over it a lot quicker than I probably should.
In other news, the show started yesterday. But apparently they cut the hours that the gallery will be open in half. It won’t be open in the mornings - just afternoons and evenings if there is a performance going on. If I was a really-real artist who shows in really-real galleries, I would probably be super annoyed by that. But its a student show so the standards are a bit different, I would imagine.
TMNK is a fabulous graffiti-folk artist based outta New York. I’ve been following his blog for almost a year now and he is probably one of the most wonderful human beings on the planet. He’s just so amazingly beautiful. Read his blog once and you’ll see what I mean. I’ve always told myself that if/when I finally make it to New York, I am totally going to Soho to stalk him.
And his art? Fucking awesome. I’ve always had an affinity for graffiti art. I always photograph it when I can. It’s probably because it’s a type of art that I will never, ever be able to do. It’s wonderful to be in a place where I can just appreciate it as an audience member. And holy crap, when it’s done right, it’s done amazingly well.
TMNK is one of those who does it amazingly well, my friends.
Anyway, I know I have talked a bunch of shit about money and art. But, he’s going through a bit of a rough time right now (though, you wouldn’t know it if you read some of his blog entries - such a positive person - again, he’s beautiful, ‘memba?) So I am willing to be called a hypocrite, if you head over to eBay and place some bids on some of his work. And not just because he’s going through a rough time, but because the work is rad and TMNK adds goodness to our world.
He’s just released a new series. And here’s a snippet that I swiped from his site:
“Street Artist TMNK™ has begun to release a new series of original paintings/drawings he’s calling “Tiny Pieces of My Soul.” These paintings are smaller than his normal works (4″×6″) and are meant to be a more intimate sharing of the artists feeling and emotions. These works are very personal, and offer an introspective look into the artists own personal struggles, challenges and triumphs. While many of these works will be on paper, some will be on found objects, and other discarded materials.
“I plan to leave tiny pieces of my soul scattered on the streets of New York, and throughout the world.””
Title: Untitled Size: 11 x 14″ Medium: Graphite on Bristol Vellum Time: 1.5 Hours Status: WIP
Here we go again. This is (hopefully) the first in a series of portraits I’m planning on doing (insert much knocking on wood here). I won’t bore you with the details of the series - mainly because I don’t want to jinx myself. I’d like to have a few portraits under my belt before I actually call it a series. Especially given my bouts of extreme flightiness. Heh.
But so far, so good. I think for a preliminary sketch, her proportions look pretty good. The eye shape is going to use a lot of work, but I think once I start laying down the shadows and skin texture, it’ll come.
As usual, I’m using a reference image for this one - borrowed from morgueFile.com. I’ll post a link to the image once I am finished the drawing.
And ya know, I think I have decided that next year, I’m going to try and take my own reference photos, instead of relying on other folks. It’s time. I need to start being more proactive with that kinda stuff. Plus, we’ll be in a bigger place so there will be more room for this kinda thing. But this also means that I should really start working with that online class and start figuring out where I can find models because I have no doubt that my friends and family would get sick of my model requests.
First of all, let me say this, if you are an artist and you need reference images, run - do not walk - your butt over to morgueFile.com. They have amazing royalty-free images that artists (or anyone really) can use without cost and, in most cases, without credit. Though, let’s face it, it would be kind of tactless to not provide credit. I’m all over giving credit for anything I use.
The photos are even available for commercial pursuits.
I posted a question on their forum (again, a fantastic resource!) regarding their terms and conditions and whether or not I could utilize photos in their archive for my portrait work (I really need to find some models, dudes). I found some really fantastic photos that I’d like to draw for a new portrait series I have been kicking around*.
Anyway, after mentioning in my post that I’d like to learn a bit more about photography so I can take my own reference images, one of the members pointed me in the direction of this online class. Dudes, this is completely perfect for me! It’s very basic and looks completely manageable from a time perspective. I could do it at my own pace - probably (if I do it right) squeezing in each lesson once a week.
I am particularly interested in the two studio lighting lessons. I really kinda love the DIY nature of it. Sister, loves a good DIY!
I guess the actual class is long since over, but many people still post their assignments for discussion in the forums. I think it would be kinda awesome. And not to mention helpful. Especially since I have been incredibly lame with my photographic pursuits as of late. Though, my lameness is kinda awesome because it just means that I have been drawing more, so I won’t complain too much. Still, I am consistently bemoaning my lack o’ mad skillz, so maybe this little bitty course can help with that.
It can’t hurt right?
Oh, I should have a really-real update tonight. I just started a new piece - I took a couple days off after finishing my previous piece. Hopefully, the first in the aforementioned portrait series.
*The steampunk thing and the circus freak thing have been put on hold indefinitely. See? I am fucking flighty! And no, I do not want to talk about it. Blah.
Title: Joker Size: 11 x 14″ Medium: Graphite on Bristol Vellum Time: 47 Hours Status: Complete
Done, done, done! I am done! Woo. I am pleased. I think he turned out really well. I accomplished pretty much everything I set out to accomplish with this piece. My wee little homage to Heath’s absolute brilliance.
Are there parts that I would change? Probably. But I really am pleased with it.
I think it will look even better once it’s matted and in a frame. :) And I really need to get it professionally scanned. Yeesh, I need to get all my work professionally scanned, really. These photos and scans of my stuff really don’t do them much justice. At all. It would be great to have a nice, perfect scan done of everything, ya know? Even just for record or archival purposes.
Still, I am tempted to open this photo up in Photoshop and play around with some coloured bits. Hee. It might be fun.
) isn’t completely set up yet. But I am making progress. The walls in the room desperately needed to be painted. Previously, they were half dark green and half cream with a ridiculously ornate wallpaper border separating the two. If you know me, you know that ridiculously ornate isn’t exactly my thing.
) and I am thoroughly enjoying them. Its a new medium for me. Though in a lot of ways, it feels very much like working with watercolour. Both in the permanency and the reverse way of laying colours down. Coming from my acrylic background, I am used to adding dark and then going light. With markers (and watercolour), its completely the other way around. So I need to rewire my brain. I am also trying to cultivate some patience.
I’m much, much happier with the drawing. Her eyes seem to be doing what I want them to, so this pleases me. Though, the photos above are a lot darker than the original.
