I did it!

Or, to be more correct, I am doing it! I am painting on the commission that I thought was dead. I'm so happy, It's turning out well.

I feel so much better that I'm actually painting. And that I haven't forgotten everything!! I'll definitely put up the image once I am done with it. I do not know how much longer it will take. I have the roses and vase to do, and I have to finish up the person in the chair. And the chair itself. But most everything has paint on it. The right value, the right place, everything is right. I just have to make it looked finished, since my style is a bit more about cloisonnism than the people probably want. It was more about photo realism when I first started this thing.

I hope they are pleased with it. In any event, they will probably just be pleased to have it back. :)

Merry Christmas!

Yes, it's that time of year again, where presents are opened, families try not to kill each other, and we try and keep some magic in the holiday. Merry Christmas everyone!

I stumbled upon some Christmas stories at this site: http://www.morriganezine.com

I think we should all sit down with a little Straight No Chaser and enjoy the holidays that way. Definitely worth a little holiday time!

It's also a good time to gift your online followers by linking to their (very awesome) blogs and sites and such! And here they are in really no particular order besides the order I found them in my inbox :D Monica Crowe's inspirational blog, Vicki Holdwick's (complete with nerd score!), And Yamada Shota, all the way from Tokyo!

So what am I going to do now on this most wonderful of holidays? I'm going to wonder where everyone went, get in bed, finish one chapter of the book I'm writing, and go to sleep. I have work tomorrow!

And just so you know:

Nano Novel, Going back to school, and Painting

I actually started editing on my novel. I did not think I would, because I was getting a little tired of the whole writing thing, but it went so well that I'm stoked. I plan on spending every lunch working on what I've done, bit by bit. And saving up enough money for a small little notebook computer that will fit in my work locker and be little more than a jump drive I can type on :P. That way I won't have to write and then type. Cuz that gets old, real fast. Probably why none of the articles I've written save two are on here. Yes, I know, I've actually written stuff that I've not posted. I suck.

I'm also excited because my mom said that she'd help me with getting another degree. I'm so happy! I mean, I love it that I have an art degree and everything, but I have always loved math and physics and I've been reading and learning all about theoretical physics for awhile and I'd love to go back and really learn it. Because I know nothing as far as the math and terminology goes. I get some of the ideas fairly well, but I sound like an idiot if I actually try and ask questions of people who actually know their crap. And I might turn my English minor into a major since I've gotten all of my GERs in everything else and I'd really like to break up the math thing. At least a little! Or I might go in for a history minor since I'm lacking a fair amount of that. At least when it is not tied to art history. Hehehe.

So... I'm hoping that Tech takes me back for a second degree and will actually do some paying themselves. Well, I can hope.

And I have this huge painting that I need to get done, but I have this huge block on it. So I said I wouldn't paint until I got it done. So of course I just haven't painted. I need someone to really kick me in the ass about this painting. I just... I just need for it to be done. Ugh. Why did I agree to do it? To do any painting?? :( I don't think I will ever take commissions again after this.

I think I'll stay up to paint, though the light sucks. I really don't care though. I've just got to paint. Get it done. I will post it when I'm through. It will be a day of celebration.

Beautiful Travel Weather

Well, I made it back from Houma, though I thought that would never happen. Time seems to crawl when you are working nights. At least it does for me. I am so glad the entire fiasco is over. It seems like all I did was sleep, eat, work, repeat. I did not even have time to write or draw or anything, which was depressing. All I will say about the trip and the people is that I could barely get a word out edgewise and what I did say was completely either ignored, taken incorrectly, or ridiculed. One person kept trying to tell me what was not being understood. Don't worry kid, I got it. I knew he was not getting it, and why. You didn't have to tell me. Several times. I'm not that bloody stupid. Tell that to the other guy who was not getting it! That would have made more bloody sense. 

I don't know why "I get what you are saying, and I understand completely, now please see what I am saying" means "I don't get what you are saying, please explain your point louder and walk off" and "Please butt in and tell me what I am saying and what he is saying to me because I do not get it."

I used to think I spoke clearly.

--

But traveling there and back was absolutely amazing. We left both times early morning, and we got to see the sun come up, and the way it look on winter farms and trees and fields was inspiring. On the way down I loved the greens, the blues, the browns, and the way the early morning sun was just bright orange yellow on everything, sometimes even almost red.

Everything in the distance tended toward blue, but there was so much warmth in the landscape as well.

And the clouds! Going down there were many, many small, puffy, flat clouds filling most of the sky. They were tiny around the horizon, growing the higher they got. The colors that were in them were amazing. They were so perfect, that I thought they were the perfect example of Glenn Kennedy clouds. My teacher used to paint clouds just like those in a lot of his works and I can't help but think of him when I see those clouds.

On the way back it had snowed. I know! Snow in Louisiana?! We were shocked too, but it had happened. I was also running on no sleep and I had not seen the sun in twelve days, so everything seemed alive! Color and light seemed to come from everywhere. Of course that could have been the inordinate amounts of caffeine, and the shock of seeing light.

The sun was bright, and there were no clouds. Smoke from refineries was just drifting along the horizon. We could usually see three or four perfectly formed smoke trails at a time. It was really quite odd looking to see this billowing of smoke, that would settle into these perfect paths across the landscape.

At first there was a lot of frost along the ground, that turned every thing in shadow bright, bright blue. And the water! Water was everywhere, and perfectly still and reflected everything. And it was both the bright blue of the sky, and anything reflected was reflected bright orange, red. I would have killed to have been able to stop and oil painted. Hell, I would have killed to have a camera.

And then the snow! Everywhere we saw had huge, huge piles of snow everywhere. Last time I saw this much snow was in 2004. And it was around 9 am in the morning. And there was still a ton! I was all excited. I played with some when everyone stopped for boudin.

And then I met the governor right when I got back. That was pretty cool. Got to shake hands, and I'm not sure what I said, as it was three o'clock in the afternoon and I was still running on no sleep. No matter how sleep deprived, I'll remember this day :D

Ah well, it is good to be back. I now know I can not work at Lowe's forever. I've got to find my place in the world. Now, where did I put my coffee?

Nanowrimo Winner...

...now what?

I have written a 50,000 word manuscript. That is all I can really call it, because while it does have pretty good characterization and plot, the most I can say about it is it might fall under the heading of magical realism. If I was a publisher, I would not touch it with a ten foot pole (bad november writing aside) because of just how out there it is.

I am not even sure if it is a kids novel or adult. There are some more adult themes, but I wonder if those are even nessessary. They are, kind of, for characterization purposes, and I really do not mention anything specifically. And I've been going back and reading books I read as a kid and I am just surprised how much made it into young adult and teen fiction. 

Not being sure what to do, I've gone through and organized the ideas that I just threw on the page. I have gotten to know my characters more and I am trying to understand exactly what is motivating them to do all the weird crap they do that makes perfect sense in the dream world.

Which is exactly where this came from. I had this dream, added one character (because even I would not read a book centered around one lone character for 3/4 of the time, at least without complaining) and pretty much did not deviate from the plot at all. Is it normal to dream like that? I feel I have an obligation to finish this whole thing now.

I guess I should just worry about finishing it (or really, anything) and then worrying about what to do with it. I might post excerpts I like. Or just the ones where my supporting character waxes poetic about art and how it works and just how much the author loves his word padding.

And of course I'm doing art with this thing, so those piece will go up when done. 

I shall be in Houma for about 12 days. Not that it really affects my posting schedule. I might actually post more :P

Bad Nanowrimoer!

I am such a bad nanowrimoer. 

I promised myself not only would I not read a book this month, I wouldn't even buy a book this month.  yeah...

So far I have bought ten books. And, I'm sorry to say that last night, I read one. Not one I bought, fortunately, but one my boyfriend got because of curiosity. And it was so bad he gave it to me to read. And, I have to admit, I was incredibly curious as to why I would be given a book to read if it was so terrible.

And Twilight is the most God awful thing I have ever read. I really liked it though. Not because it is good. But have you ever watched a terrible, terrible movie and loved it because it was just so bad you couldn't stop laughing or making fun of it? Yeah. That's what it was like for me to read it.

At least I only wasted one day reading it.

I just hope dazzling crooked sparkling smiles of stabbing teen angst don't infest my writing. Ugh.

Happy Nanowrimo!

I'm in the middle of writing a novel.

Not much time. But considering how slow the site is, I thought I'd come here and post a quick little blog post. 

Not much more to say. Job at Lowes is going well. :P More time for art!! And, well, right now more time for writing!

Celtic Fest

The Celtic Fest is today, and I'm hoping to go and hang out before I have to go to a Bridal Shower. I'm not one for such parties, but I am the best maid, so I'll be there. Even if I miss teh coolest fest of the year.

I'm hoping for art shows and lots of music. My friend and I made friends with an artist who travels with a lot of the musicians. It starts at ten, but I was at Enoch's until late and didn't get home until 2:30, so I'm not gonna get there until later.

This is the site, check it out!

Books

I haven't been drawing and painting much, I know, I'm terrible. 

I am switching jobs, because sometimes money just isn't everything. I'm not interested in medicine and working at a doctor's office is not fun for me. I haven't felt like doing any art. In fact, the only art I've done is getting a few more pages inked for bohemia academia. But I'm about to start working at Lowes, and I think it'll be better for me. I hope. 

Other than that I've been catalouging my books on library thing! Well, mine and my boyfriend's. I have about a thousand, and he's still getting a lot of his done. We have to do his by phone and it takes forever. Right now we are at 1,572 books and I'm still slowly adding. Library thing is sooo addicting!  I love it! I even started a goodreads account so I can add books that I want. Just 144 today. All those I need to complete children's book collections. And Gaiman. 

And I'm realizing that spending one hundred dollars a week on books isn't exactly healthy. Especially if one wants to eat. But if it wasn't that it'd be art supplies, and I've already got a ton of those. Now to use them ^_^.

I'm getting excited about nanowrimo, though, so I'm not sure what I'll be doing as far as art goes. I've never actually finished nanowrimo, and I'd love to get a novel written. I have an idea, and I think it'll work! I hope I'll be able to paint some as well. But for november, this might sorta morph into a writers blog. Maybe. Hopefully not, but hey, it's all art. 

Sketchbook

Faux Fauve

Crap watercolors and crap colored pencils

Yes, I decided to use some art supplies my boyfriend had lying around (ooh, you know they're bad now!) to doodle while we went to go get coffee. So here is another image of my boyfriend on the computer done with a (modified) fauve palette. I didn't have yellow ochre (obviously) and there was nothing remotely resembling alizarin crimson. But it was a fun little study, and I kind of liked it.

Justin is pretty good about staying still while doing video games. Heh. Roseart pencils are ok, as long as you're not expecting great results. I haven't worked like this in awhile though, so this was fun. I mean getting all nitpicky with my drawings. I should do it more. I think it turns out saleable if I do it with real art supplies. I mean, not that my goal is to do sellable art. I just want my art to sell. *thinks* I hope that makes sense. :P

Sketchbook

Doodles

Where I Am

These are fun. I like going somewhere and whipping out a pen and having at the area. Most of the time I'll do the watercolor at the same time, but sometimes I'll go back and add some more. Or just a bit if I don't get any down first. I think a bit of color helps. Don't have any of those though. These three were colored on site.

People and Shoes

Pen and watercolor

Yes, I love doodling people and shoes. Chances are, if I pull out my sketchbook, I'll either doodle people, or my feet. Or other people's feet, but that gets a bit weird. No one is posing, it's a lot like my sketches of children from camp post. These are done Uber fast, and messily, but I think I get the gesture. (I had some gesture drawings in the book as well, but they are pretty boring to look at, I might get a hundred of them and post them in one giant image, but later) I start always by short gesture drawings and then kinda easing into these. 

Studies!

Pen, watercolor

And then I have my little ideas, not done from life (Sooo easy to tell that) but I have an idea and I want to get it down. I have a fair few of these, they rarely turn out good, but these were ok (or maybe it's that I just like the idea!) and so... POST!

Randomness:

Oh, and yes, I'm still doing Bohemia Academia, but I've only got inked images, and I wanted to wait until I paint them, but I'm more interested in the drawing... And so I just don't post anything. Bleh. And I don't post on here, and for that I am a bad artist. Er... blogger. I'm a bad artist for a whole other reason ^_^. 

My job is ok. I'm a receptionist. Only thing I can say about it is, "I have money, I guess" but I'm not sure it's a good trade off. (Don't listen to me kids, grow up, get a job, make your parents proud... *sigh*) And my job ruined my sleep schedule. I can't sleep past nine on the weekends. The only reason I slept until 11 today was I took a pain pill last night for my back and... ugh... I hate, hate, HATE medication. It did loosen up my back, but then I felt completely ill the entire night. I feel better now though. 

I'll be having an art day soon, so I'll have more finished work to post and all. And I might get a friday off, and I'll write up about the faux fauve like I promised, or black line painting, or the onion palette, or blocking in with burnt sienna instead of black, or my ideas about multi demensional universes. Or... something. Or more art! I dunno. 

MIA?

Nah, just working and psudo breaking my foot. XD Still hurts though.

Adjusting to a new sleep schedule is hard, but I'm doing art work again, so I'll start posting again really soon. I'm itching to do a whole new blog style. It really needs an upgrade!

Page 1

Page 1
Brush and Ink
6.5 x 9

I've had this idea for a story without words for awhile, and I finally, in one of my books I made, sketched it out. I then chose 52 images and for a year (one a week) I will post this on my site, bohemiaacademia. I think it will be good practice, and fun. I hope to still be doing other painting and work as well.

I'm having art day on Tuesdays with one of my good friends from school, and I'm looking forward to that!

And I'm going to a job interview tomorrow. I hope it doesn't cut back on my work. Or my art. Or anything else. I have way too many projects.

Sketch - Shoes

Shoes
Pen and watercolor

And when you get sick of landscapes, the shoes that take you over them. Well, not really. These are slip ons I've had for years :D. Um... 10 years, about? Around that long. That yellow is the stuffing showing through, just to give you an idea.

Sketch - Landscape Studies

Arkansas Landscapes
Pen and Watercolor

I love doing sketches when I go on vacation. They turned out ok. It was raining the entire time, so no bright colors. But I love the colors I get.

How to: Bookbinding

I've finished another how to on bookbinding here.

It's really more of a walkthrough of how I put it together with just the materials I had. I'm about to go on vacation, and I'm packing my watercolors and inks! I can't wait to see what I can get.

I should really get back to oil painting. But I'm just not feeling it right now.

Painting a Day - 30

Justin
9.5 x 8.5
Watercolor on Cardstock

Yeah, I'm house sitting, and I haven't felt like pulling out the oils. And I'm on another computer without photoshop, so keep in mind, the colors in this are NOTHING like the colors in the actual work. The piece looks completely washed out. :( Oh well, I'll fix it later. And put up the other random pieces I'm doing.

And did I mention I hate large dogs? Ok, so I don't really hate them, but I am definitely not a dog person, so house sitting with a dog is kinda... blegh. And I don't sleep well in new places, and my foot hurts. And I sound like I'm complaining. I'm just tired. I'm actually really liking it here! Lot's of time to work on writing, reading and small art pieces like this one. Yay!

I'd paint the dog if he wasn't so... dog like. Yeah. Right now he's eating a squeaky toy. Except it doesn't squeak any more. Because he's mostly eaten it. That can't be good. Oh well. I might doodle him later. When I'm not mad at him for chewing on my foot. My very hurt foot. Oh well, now he has a very hurt head. :P Not my fault I spazzed in pain. He now knows the foot is off limits. And that it tastes like Cayenne Pepper.

Painting a Day - 29

Colored Cards
8" x 8"
Oil on Masonite

This one was fun, I was playing with a lot of bright colors. I like the red, yellow, blue scheme in the blocks of color, but adding that fun green with all the neat reflections. The square format is still giving me fits. At first I had the green pepper completely centered and then I took a page from Degas' The Absinthe Drinker.

I missed yesterday, I know, I'm sorry. My boyfriend and I are working on making my site a lot better, and getting everything looking nice. It's taking a lot of time.

I thought I'd do another, but I'm about out of sun, and I only work with natural light. I might be able to catch up tomorrow.

Ja!

Painting a Day - 28

Honey and Flowers
8"x 8"
Oil on Masonite


I'm working with a lot of new things here. Square compotitions, more paint colors, and masonite. I mean, I've done and used all that before, but I've been doing the 5x7 format with the zorn palette on card so long it's good to step out of that box. This is with Cad red light, Cad yellow light, yellow ochre, white, indigo and terra vert.

I started out really tight, but I just do not like how tight looks. I love paint, I like to see it and all the colors. If I see green, I paint green. A bit of red in that green? That's in there as well. I like to keep my colors fairly high key, but still look more subdued from a distance. Of course I like for it to look fairly tight from a distance, but to really give the veiwer something to chew on as the get closer. I guess I kind of work like Kulike. His money he paints is amazing. I'm sorry I don't have a link to it.

I've been on a mini kick, haven't I? A mini thing of honey, a mini picture... heck, even the scissors are kinda mini. Fun! I might try oversized next. Or not. Whatever happens to catch my eye! This I was kind of playing with the idea of the cut flowers, and the scissors which does the cutting, and then the honey as something that comes from flowers. But not flowers that have been cut. So it's kind of a play on beauty and use! I thought it was fun...

Ja!

Painting a Day - 27

Long Handle
5"x7"
Oil on Shellacked Card
Buy this piece!

I'm getting back into the swing of things.

This was so much fun, even though I worked on it almost five times as long as I usually do. So much was going on in this painting... And can you believe it, the tomatoes were the hardest part. (I thought it was funny, they're cherry tomatoes, you see, and they are joined together like cherries!) My favorite part to do was that fun little tea towel thing. So cute too! Ok, the handle was pretty tough to. then I realized it was the mouth that was throwing me off, but I got it! At least, it looks like the set up. So we're good.

I feel so much better after doing a painting. I couldn't do one yesterday, I tried, and the day before that, I tried! And when I say I tried, it doesn't mean I went to my studio and looked at it and did nothing, I mean, paint was flying! Today it was flying and actually pulled together.

Ok, for the palette. I decided I wanted color, man. Cadmium Yellow Light, Indigo, Cadmium Red Light, Terra Vert, Black and White. I think there might be a touch of alizarin in the tomatoes. (Did I mention the paint was flying?!) Color is everywhere in this piece! Of course, it’s done from life and natural light. I think I love this piece. <3

Ja!

Craft: Paperback Bookbinding

Paperback Book
Cardstock, Recycled Paper, and Printer Paper

I found this fun site which shows you how to make paperback books. Now, I've already tried my hand at making hardbound books with some good results, but I wanted paperback! So I found this site which has photo tutorials, a discussion on glue types, and video! Plus things you can make to make the process even easier. And it not that hard to start with!

If I wanted to I could even hardbind this book! I love books.

Can't wait until I actually make one with words or images in them. Especially my own! Right now these go in my purse and give me something awesome to write on when I'm out and about. It looks awesome and doesn't cost a fortune. <3

Also, in other blog news, I'm going to move all the craft posts to a craft blog and use this one for painting fun-ness and linking to ebay. So don't be surprised when everything tagged "crafts" ups and runs.

Ja!

Craft: Dorodango

I'll upload a picture after we get the stupid things dry.

*edit*PICTURE!

What are dorodango, you ask? Shiny mud balls! Apparently young children in Japan really like forming these balls of mud, and sites explaining how to make them are popping up all over the interwebs (with the same set of instructions, heh).

Over coffee one morning three days ago my mom complained about being bored, and of course I suggested we try our hand at sculpting mud. She said I was being ridiculous and flat out refused. Three hours later we were covered in mud and, despite written instructions and video, had no idea what we were doing. Three days later we kinda figure it out and get one done, and start and almost finish another. Woo! They don't shine, but, whoa! They're like rocks or something. It's so cool!

And despite beautiful pictures and the fact that preschoolers like doing this, we just aren't getting it down! We want shine!! I guess I would settle for a smooth "capsule" of unbroken dirt, but that's another story. So, no painting. After three days of this, I'm muddy and tired. I might write about another palette. I've been thinking about the faux fauve palette, and after dealing in mud, I need the color!

Ja!

Painting a Day - 26

Odd Sizes
5 x 7
Acrylic on Shellaced Mattboard


I'm a bit out of practice and I still don't know why I'm using acrylic either. I think I'll start using oil again. I thought I was doing something different and getting all into different mediums, but it's just not doing anything for me. Bleh. feel so much more... plastic... than oil. (yes, yes, I know!)

Oh well... oil definitely tomorrow. Or maybe not. I don't think I should let paint get the better of me ^_^

I'm just used to my nice, subtle color, and then I get bright red! bright yellow! bright blue!! For someone using the zorn palette so much, it's a bit of a change as well.

OMG! Those little pool balls are so cute. I've got a whole set. I've also got some new large ones, and some old large ones that I want to play with. I mean paint. Some are shiny, some are very dull. I'm sure everyone thinks I'm nuts now. Oh well! Something is so pleasing about a tiny pool ball and a shot glass. I think I'm just going to do some paintings of just that. I didn't really need to paint the tomato, avacado or onion, really. But I'm glad. It's kinda a study in contrasting colors and value. High keyed yellow and a nice red purple, and that nice orangy red and the dark green. and I like the kinda cream towel with the light blue/purple hazy background. Color theory FTW, yo.

Ja!

How To: Woodburned Kenshin Bracelet

Wood
Pyrography
Watercolor
Metalic Paint

I just love crafts. So, I joined a site: cut out + keep and have uploaded pictures of my projects, including a how to of this project.

Kenshin woodburning! Gold Paint! Water Color! Woo!

I know. Anime. Kenshin. Crafts. Maybe an MFA will beat it out of me. I should do that soon.

:3

Next article: Faux Fauve Palette! Next How to: I'll illustrate the The Giacometti Article because it's a little bit (ok, very) hard to understand if you've not seen it done.
Ja!

Article: Giacometti Drawing Technique

Alberto Giacometti.

One of my transplant professors once remarked that he thought that the art department should build an alter to Giacometti for us to bow down to every morning. I guess he had a point, as every teacher who had been there taught the Giacometti method (Usually just referred to as Giacometti) as if it were some form of scripture. My favorite teacher, at the beginning of every semester, would hand out the Giacometti Waiver to all of his students which suggested if they didn't use the method it was their own decision and if their artwork didn't turn out as planned, well, too bad. It was a technique that undoubtedly worked, but was such a pain in the butt to learn.

Albert Giacometti seemed to me an odd choice. The method didn't typically render anything remotely in his style (from what I could see) and I really had no idea what he had to do with the whole thing. The story I heard (but could never really verify) stated he was hit by a taxi and became obsessed with where things appeared in space. The searching lines so obvious in his work are the only things that connect the man and the method. At least for me. If you can clear this up, please leave a comment.

I'm moving on to the technique.

When an artist looks it does not matter what is being looked at. A still life, a landscape, a person, anything, the object doesn't matter. The only thing that matters for a perfect rendering is where everything is. As my teacher puts it, "The most important thing in drawing is the most important thing in real estate: Location, Location, Location!" A shape isn't important. Do not try to reproduce a shape, but the location of the shape. Do not ask "What shape is that?" but ask "Where?" Where exactly it seems to fade, or become darker, or something else entirely? This may seem overwhelming at first, where exactly do we start on a blank sheet of paper? How do we measure?

The Grid

The grid is not a new concept for artists. Durer has an infamous set up that comes readily to mind. I am sure everyone finds the concept familiar: Evenly spaced vertical and horizontal lines are placed on the drawing and painting surface, scaled down and put on the image that is being reproduced, and the relationship between the objects and the lines is dutifully reproduced in a scantron like way. Yay.

What is wrong with this? A few things come to mind. The first problem is without a complicated 3D grid set up in front of a model, you are stuck reproducing flat, already drawn images, or photographs. Which I think is pretty good for practice, but doesn't work so well if you want to draw from life, do plein air landscapes, or work from a master copy you cannot grid off (without getting kicked out of the museums at any rate).

It is also arbitrary. We can choose one inch grids, two inch, five centimeters, whatever, and the only thing that really matters is the proportion of the two grids. There is no real relation between the grid and the objects being created. The grid certainly makes the process easier, and it does have its place in learning, but it's good to know the limitations of tools.

And with this type of grid, an artist will more than likely put down a contour line and rarely move it. The searching lines that put an object in space are lost.

The Giacometti Grid

The defining characteristic of the Giacometti grid is that the vertical and horizontal lines used are a response to the objects themselves. The lines are not some arbitrary tool, but an integral part of the drawing process that allows the artist to really engage in a conversation with what is seen.

A lot of artists, while drawing, will use a vertical line to see where a shoulder lines up with the foot of a figure, or how high an apple is compared to the honey jar in a still life. It's a pretty common practice to use a plumb line (or a paintbrush as one). And the Giacometti grid is no different, except in application. In a pure Giacometti drawing, no diagonals or contour lines are expressed. Just the searching, vertical and horizontal lines of relationships between points.

Giacometti Figures in a Room
18 x 24
Graphite on Newsprint

This is one of my first (fairly) good Giacometti drawings I did almost four years ago. I was still relying too much on contour, but I am getting the searching line down.

Their are two ways to use this method, the first you can decide to do a gesture to get things in kind of the right position, and then begin moving things to the exact location. For that image I did not start with a quick gesture (do not read as outline, I'll do another article on gesture drawing soon).

Let's say we are drawing a still life with bottles and apples.

To start, you pick a place to put a vertical line, such as the edge of a bottle, or the center, and make sure you lightly add this line all the way from the top to the bottom of the paper, not just where you think the object should begin and end. If you want to, mark the points where you think this will be the case. Then move on to another vertical, where the space between the two lines will be the space between two objects. The key to this step is working very lightly. These lines are not etched in stone and will have to be moved.

I usually do a few vertical, and move on to horizontal lines, eye level or the horizon is a good horizontal to start with. Then I work with the heights of the objects, and seeing where those grid lines intersect with the other objects.

After that work back and forth. The relationship between all the lines is what is important, so measure distances, and see exactly where all the lines cross, meet. Do not feel you have to stay with a line, if a line you've already done seems to be in the wrong place. Remember, place is the most important! Just make a darker, more correct line. Through the course of the drawing, you'll get darker and darker, and everything should be more and more correct.

Proportions are easy to measure, and if you get something wrong, you don't have to erase, just a new line, a new point, and on to correct everything else.

I like to keep little notes, small dots that suggest the nature of what they represent. A dark smudge for a shadow, longer dot for a line, small bent line for a corner. These are not outlines, but small notes that are easy to move around. That way we are not married to our outlines. Because there are none!

While the obvious drawback is this technique in its pure form will not result in a finished piece, using this form for practice will help anyone see location so they can become a better draftsman. The other drawback is that this technique is hard to learn. I have seen some of the best artists just reduced to tears while learning this. (And blind contour drawing as well, but more people seem familiar with this.) But it is invaluable if you ever do learn this. Everyone can use it in the composition stages of their work, and everyone who learns and masters this technique is always a better artist than when they started.

Tune is next time when I explain this with how to pictures.
I've just been informed artists are visual learners and I'm an anomaly. Fun.

Ja!

BookBinding

Front of the book!Inside of the book!
Back of the book.

Yes, I know, I forgot the spine. And it's a real shame because it's this AWESOME orange stripe. <3

I found my card reader under the seat of my car under more fabric than I should have. At least I think that now after digging under all of that to get to the stupid thing. I can't even remember why it was in my car to begin with.

Well, on to the instructions. After I get better at this I promise to put up a tutorial. (Though if you do a search either in google or stumbleupon there are a ton of good sites!) I got the basic idea for this on one of those.

Ok, so paper. Basic computer paper for this thing. I'm used to Rives BFK (if you can spare 5.00 a sheet it's my favorite!) and so this paper seemed a bit flimsy. Worked out all right. I didn't trim the edges because I wanted the 'handmade' look, but it's just not the same without the deckling. So, I cut the paper in half short ways, then folded four long sheets together paper, and stitched those together. I didn't have any mull or anything, so basic tulle and some random strips of fabric I had sufficed. For the boards, I used acid free matboard that I have in large quantities. Basic Elmers glue, basic fabric, and tada! Book!

I don't use a book press, cuz I don't have one. In school I used this giant (And HEAVY!) piece of metal. This time I just used spring clips around the whole thing. Works quite well. And I used pieces from a metal clothes hanger to make the spine of the book have that nice curve.

If I was to do it differently?

Uh... more glue. Lots more glue. And different paper. Blegh. If I hadn't had the paper already cut and pretty much put together (Summer project for kids not finished) I wouldn't have begun to use it.

I figure this counts as two painting a day projects. I know, excuses aren't becoming. XP

Until I finish my next projects (painting, writing, quilting and pyrography!)
Ja!

Painting a Day - 24 & 25

Apple
Acrylic on Card
5 x 7 (ish)

So I haven't done this in awhile and it shows. I didn't really want to gesso my cards, so I worked with acrylic, but I should have just gone ahead and worked in oil. The texture on that one piece of matboard is... gonna take a bit to get used to, but I can see it working.

I did two to try and get back into painting. My first one (Surprisingly) looks good. My second one, not so much.

Well, here's to getting better!

Ja

Website!

I am so excited! My studio space is very close to being done though I wish I would have had before and after pictures, I can't believe I almost got it done in a week. One more day will have it.

And I got to see Katy! I drove down to see her, and got to spend fun time with my sleep deprived friend (Poor Katy) and then I drove to Florida that night (Poor Me). So... I'm in Florida! I mostly came down because I want to paint. So... I haven't. But I will. I brought EVERYTHING. Traveling studio!

Of course that means I haven't written a Giacometti article. But... in my defense, I did do something really awesome. WEBSITE! I now have a website! Ok. So it isn't the most awesome thing, but I think it is, so there. Hehehe. I have two. The only one with anything on it is www.violinagin.com though the much cooler name is www.bohemiaacademia.com , how awesome is that? And I now know what I'm going to do with it, but it's secret.

Anyway, internet is expensive so I'll respond to all emails and comments when I get back home. Right now just let me say, "Thank you!!" It means so much to me!

Ja!

Painting a Day Will be Back!

Hey Everyone!

After a hiatus where I had a show, graduated, worked and started moving crap out of the upstairs bedroom so I can have a northlit studio, I've decided to start doing daily paintings. I should start not this week but next, giving me time to finish up the cleaning of the room and hopefully get a lot of junk ebayed or garage sold.

My show went well, I graduated manga cum laude (stupid job), and I'm really excited about having a studio space where I can actually get crap done! Yay!

In other news, I'm putting my library up on Librarything and it's going well. I've got about 300 books just tonight and I've got too many left to go, and not one of Justin's books! Right now the site is down or I'd post a link directly to my library, or put a link on my blog. I mean, I've put every book (not just art books) that I own, so a lot of crap might come up too.

Also! A lot of people are coming here with the search word "Giacometti" Awesomely, this is the subject of the next artcle I'm writing. Yay. All about what my teachers call the Giacometti method, though I'm not sure what it really has to do with him since it doesn't really look like how he worked. Anyway, I'll explain it better in the article, look for it in about two weeks!

Show!

Well, my first show is going to be at the Community Trust Bank's Community Room in Ruston. May 10th and 11th. The Opening will be on the 10th at 7pm. (Let's hope).

Yes, let's hope. I would kinda like to graduate. ^_^

Justin and a Rant

Justin
Pen
1.5x3


Justin
Pen, Pencil, Colored Pencil on textured paper
5x7

So... I doodle Justin a lot. At least when I'm with him. Um. I can't find the other picture I did, watercolor wise. I've had these for awhile and decided to upload them. I've been working so much I haven't had a chance to do anything. So...

Done in a couple of minutes, obviously. Sorry I haven't had much time for anything else. I've had a really, really bad couple of weeks. Like, 4 weeks. Working at Hobby Lobby makes me realize I hate people.

To all shoppers at Hobby Lobby: Do not act like tards if there are 7 people in line at the frame counter and only one framer. Do not take out your frustrations on the framer. We hate it JUST as much as YOU. In fact, probably more. We didn't make the schedule and if we had it wouldn't be that terrible. Do not ask if there are more people working. If there were, they'd already be out there helping. Do not sigh, tap your foot, mutter angrily under your breath... It won't make me or any other framer go any faster. In fact, it might make the other people go slower. It doesn't phase me in the least. Do not threaten to go to Michaels. I don't give a shit where you shop and if you'd like to go there, just GO. Damn. Do not say "I'm just here for a pickup." because chances are if it's that busy we haven't had a chance to frame jack. We work on frames the day they are due, which is why they are due after five. If the jackasses in management only scheduled one person for the day, guess what hasn't been worked on... that's right! Your frame!

It's not my fault. Do you see the 7 people? Do you see the lines? When do you think I'd have the time to be back there putting your picture together?

I'm sorry. I really am.

If you had a problem (and we do such a bulk of frames that it's almost impossible to not make some mistakes) don't come to the frame counter, yell loudly, make snotty comments to the other customers and then yell at the manager before saying "I'm going to Michaels." No one really knows what the problem is/was. No one can help you. And I really hope you feel better because nothing has been changed, and no one really cares. Next time ask to talk to a manager. Or call corp. Duh.

Drawing a Day - The Creamery

Creamery Scenes
Pen and Ink on Paper
Squareish (9ish by 9ish)

Since I work at Hobby Lobby and the Creamery is right next door, I eat there a lot. And while I'm waiting, I draw. So I've got these (and some others) done up. Most of these are done in less than 20 mins, but they can take a bit longer, or I might redo one...

I'd draw with my feet more, but it's kinda hard when sitting down. So some things are at weird tangents. I like these, but they are so... sketchy. And I don't spend much time on them, and so location is off.

But I think I'm getting better, and this practice every day is making me happy!

:D

Ja.