A Separate Piece Art

Craft - Spinning

2012-02-02T02:16:00.001-06:00

Look at what I got! Batting for spinning yarn, and I'm very excited about this. My friend Rachel told me about a spin along she was doing and suggested I join up to, and I'm glad I did!

Basically, you don't know the batting you'll be getting, but you pick a card and you get batting dyed based on the card. I picked the card "la chalupa" for the yellow greens, blues, and oranges in the card, but the batting seemed more based on what was actually in the canoe. Doesn't matter, what I got was completely awesome.

What I can't show is the sari silk that just sparkles in this batt. Oh, it's just beautiful! I'm almost afraid to touch it, so it's a good thing I have batts to practice spinning on before I start working on this one.

I also still have about six paintings due tomorrow so I'm not starting till that is done! Might do it while the give away is going on.

Painting - Beach

2012-02-01T16:44:00.000-06:00

Here is the finished painting from yesterday! I've got several more to do tonight, but I'm running a bit behind. It might be tomorrow before I can get them uploaded.

Also, I've received some good feedback on facebook for a giveaway, so it looks like it will be taking place either Monday or Tuesday. Hope to see you here!

Painting - Beach - WIP

2012-01-31T16:57:00.001-06:00

Kids on the Beach
Oil on Mat Board
9x12"
WIP

Well, I'm working on this painting and getting a lot done today. The sun started to go down so I took a photograph of the painting in natural light before I had to turn on some lamps that would turn all my photographs yellow.

I'm liking how this one is coming out, though I normally am not enamored with the work I do twice. I do think this one is turning out better than the original. Though I probably shouldn't say that so I don't jinx myself!

I'll post a finished photo of this one.

Analytics - Just an Observation

2012-01-31T02:33:00.000-06:00

I was wondering how people found my blog and I started looking up my stats on google analytics. Apparently I should have thought harder about my blog name. So far my favorite search term has been: "A separate piece essay question answers"

Bad students! Bad! Read the book! It won't kill you, I promise. Ok, fine. At least learn "piece" and "peace" are different.

Ah, sorry about that. I know now that I post this I will get a ton more hits from these key words. I was thinking I should post links to information about the book, you know, to help everyone out. But I'm a bit lazy for that.

In other news, I believe my cousin has traced our family all the way back to Henry Fowler, King of Germany. I find this news pretty cool. I don't know how she did it, because I'm about ready to pull my hair out trying to trace my family tree up from the other side of the family. I apparently don't have a knack for following trails, or Scottish records are hard to find on this site. My cousin was able to stay in America (or the colonies) until the 1600s. And let's not get me started on the Native American side of my family. I'm never going to be able to trace anything back!

Well, it's late, and I have paintings due tomorrow. Laters!

Painting - Give Away, coming up!

2012-01-30T21:39:00.000-06:00

Selection of three portraits
Oil on mat board or carbon pencil sketch
4x5 4x6 5x7

A while ago I ran a small give away on my personal facebook page and I had such a fun time doing it that I decided I was going to do it on my blog. I haven't decided exactly how it's going to run, but I just wanted to let everyone know that it will be happening soon, hopefully next week once I finish with all these commissions I have due on the second!

I will most likely be giving away one 8x10 painted portrait of one person of your choice. Or even a still life or landscape if you prefer. I thought I would put this out there and see who would be interested! There would be multiple chances to enter, whether by commenting, following the blog, sharing on facebook, tweeting, following me on twitter, or liking my art page on facebook. For those already following me on twitter or facebook, I wouldn't allow that to work against you! So you can go ahead and start following :D

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Violinagin/183856751658650
https://twitter.com/#!/Violinagin

I'll be using rafflecopter so it will be all fair as well, and there will be tons of ways to enter. Mostly involving spreading the word!

Article - Business Plan Q1

2012-01-30T16:23:00.001-06:00

TARDIS
Cookie Jar
Think Geek

No, I don't know why there is a photograph of a TARDIS cookie jar on this blog post. I think it's mostly because I wrote my business plan for the quarter on the first piece of paper I had handy: one with a TARDIS print out on it. I think it inspired me. How could it not? All I know is that I was watching Doctor Who and thinking about New Years resolutions, which I haven't made in some time because I never follow through, or it's something I should be doing anyway and I'm trying from last year to get better at something. So while doing a painting I was curious as to how much I was actually making, and how much I should make, and where I should focus my time. It suddenly hit me that I should write up a business plan and follow it to see if I could get more control over my art business. Seemed better than a resolution because it was more active, but it was still in the spirit of the New Year promises we all intend to keep. It just seemed like something I could actually keep, and find useful.

So here is going to be my blog post on writing a business plan. Or, more correctly, how I wrote out my business plan and how I'm using it. I hope the way I view things will help you. I know I can't do anything exactly like business majors do it as I don't know how business majors do it. Maybe I'll go back for a degree in business and do it correctly next time. But for now, here is my process.

Step One: Gather Materials

Since most of my sales are online, this was fairly easy. I just pulled up the sites with my sales and other information. You also need your marketing money and supply money and how much you spend on everything in your life. Having them in one place makes all the rest of the steps easier, but I pretty much just looked everything up while I was working on the plan.

Step Two: List Where You Sell and Your Sales

Across the top of my paper, I wrote out every place I sell work. Under that, I wrote out my sales numbers so far, and broke it down to how much I made the last month. I was also kind of anal and wrote out exactly how much growth or loss I was experiencing through the months since I had started selling on those sites.

Step Three: List Your Current Marketing Strategies for Each Venue

Here is where I put where I was marketing each of my sites, and where I was getting the most traffic. If I wasn't doing any marketing, I put that, but for the most part I at least tweet or put on facebook so I could put that if nothing else. A lot of people do ads, so this is where you'd put your ads and how much you are paying, and see exactly how much traffic and sales you are getting from those marketing strategies. For me, this is a very simple part of my page, but for someone who does a lot of marketing, this could be a whole section of a business plan.

Step Four: I figured out how much I want to be making at each venue by the end of April

This was pretty easy. I looked at my sales and looked at how much money I wanted to be bringing in at the end of April. Just a simple number. Some gigs I wanted to expand, some I wanted to remain at the current level.

Step Five: I looked at what I wanted to sell to make that money

I have several gigs that are very inexpensive, and popular, but require more work from me. I have several that are more expensive and I prefer to make money off them. I know which are more popular and I have to balance getting money to live on time, and getting good money for my work. This is where I see where I want to focus my marketing and my time.

Step Six: Reorganize Business

I have to fix where everything links to, whether I'm charging the right amount of money to get the funds I need and make sure I'm not doing too much work for too little payoff. This part is a bit intuitive for me, though I am using my info from the plan to organize things as well.

Step Seven: Work out Marketing

Decide where you want to put your money. Social media works great and is fairly inexpensive most of the time. Plus, there are ads you can do and ways to promote your craft and art. I am going to be hosting a give away to get more traffic for my social sites, which I hope goes well. It will be closer to the end of the quarter, so watch out for this!

Step Eight: Allow for Unexpected Events

Figuring out what works and what doesn't is sometimes a crap shoot, and sometimes it blows up in your face. Just this month I didn't put any effort in promoting one of my gigs, yet it some how ended up being promoted directly from the site. This plus the marketing I was putting in at another site practically doubled my orders everywhere. This would be good were I just into this for the money. Unfortunately this ate up /all/ of my time (Notice the lack of blog posts?) and I was worried about getting everything done on time. Plus these were for projects that don't net me a lot of money. I had to reorganize my business plan to reflect this, and see how I needed to restructure my time to focus more energy on more lucrative parts of my business.

And... that's it!

So far, anyway. I am doing my best and seeing how this business plan thing is working. I am taking things I read on google and in books, and figuring out exactly what works for me. If I have any insights, of course I'll post them here! And if you have any business advice, let's here it! :)

Painting - Airstream

2012-01-29T17:45:00.001-06:00

Airstream - Copy of Photo
Oil on Mat Board
4x5"

First off, I loved this photo the moment I got it. An airstream on a bike? Awesome! It's a promotional photograph of a French Bicyclist, showing the feasibility of such a contraption. Braking might be a problem, but I know we have mechanical braking systems now that would work wonders and I would love to have one of these things!

And, I have to say that I love how this painting turned out. I've been getting a lot of photos people want me to do of black and white or monochromatic subjects. This one happens to be a black and white photo, and instead of doing a plain grey theme, I decided to play with warm and cools. I love playing with subtle shifts of temperature and I think these turn out well for me. Especially if I remember about values. Sometimes I forget, it happens.

I turned to my favorite, the Zorn Palette. Unfortunately I was out of Ivory black, ended up with the fairly neutral lamp black, and needed to cheat a bit with a bit of sap green and cerulean. But I did keep it fairly neutral. I didn't use any in the sky, but close to the horizon and in some of the underbrush.

I think I fell in love with this painting and it broke my heart to have to send it on its way. But I am glad it's going to be loved :)

I've got nine paintings due soon, so expect those before everything else. Oh my gosh I have a lot to do! I want to work from life more, but I've been doing so much work from people's photographs. I feel it's great to be painting daily, but I need to paint from life.

How do you balance your own work and your work for other people that actually pays the bills?

Painting - Couple

2012-01-28T23:20:00.000-06:00

Couple

Oil on Mat Board

4x5"

A new painting. Getting them done!

Color Pencils

2012-01-27T13:31:00.001-06:00

For someone like me who is married to the Zorn Palette and the color sets they give you at restaurants, this is almost paralyzing!

And this is just one side of the case! Couldn't find my colored pencils I used in college, so it's time I broke down and used my giant color pencil collection. My artist side squeals with delight. My OCD side whimpers a bit. Look at the ORDER. And I'm about to destroy it. Awesome.

Three bucks says I use three colors or something ridiculous.

Or I might swing the other way and use ALL the colors!

2012-01-26T18:36:00.001-06:00

How fun is this?

Painting - Portrait

2012-01-26T17:24:00.001-06:00

Portrait
5 x 7
Oil on mat board

I was hoping to be done with all my commissions tonight. So of course I get a terrible headache! Oh well, it happens. I'm going to be finishing off a nice drawing that's already a bit late and hope I can get two paintings done tomorrow before they become late. Or maybe my headache will get better and I'll finish the paintings tonight! Woo!

Then, I'm going to sit down and write up a blog post about my business plan, and see how it's going! I believe I will be on track for this quarter. Did I mention I have an awesome deal on custom carbon sketches on Etsy going on? Link to the right. $25 for a single person portrait, 8.5x11 (letter sized, A4 for my lovely international buyers!)

And on fiverr I've got a special on 5x7 paintings like this one here. I'm not going to keep it up long!

And I've got to run finish the drawing. Just saw how lonely the last couple of months looked on my blog. Poor thing!

Painting - Cat

2012-01-21T19:18:00.000-06:00

Cat

Oil on Mat board

4x5"

I've been doing a ton of small commissions. It has been taking up all of my time, but I've been getting some nice work out of it. Not a lot of blog time though.

I've also came up with a business plan. This year I wasn't feeling the whole resolution thing. For the last couple of years I haven't really been making any resolutions, but I felt for some reason I should do something this year. So instead of making a resolution, I sat down and worked out a business plan for the first quarter of the year. This really helped me focus my ideas, though I've had to be really flexible.

For one of my venues I was hoping to make about a hundred dollars a month Not a lot from there, but a fair amount of fairly easy money. Unfortunately, I had a problem, and when I went to talk to customer support for the site, they realized they loved my art and started promoting it on their home page. I've made 200 dollars in one week. I don't mind the money, but doing this work has cut into my other work I was hoping to do on other sites.

Like blogging. I was hoping to do a lot more work blogging. And updating my facebook page, which I haven't done since I started it. And uploading more work to Etsy. I've got the work, just haven't had time to describe it and post it online. But lucky me I've been rotated off the front page and after the 27th I should be home free!

Until then I'll be posting mostly drawings and paintings I've done. Still.

Watercolor: Doctor Who

2012-01-14T20:14:00.001-06:00

Jaya "WhoDat" Sharma as Amy Pond
Watercolor on Bristol
9x12 paper

So I have a friend who is really into Doctor Who, just like me! So when she posted on my facebook page as an answer to my request for five people to make stuff for, I decided to do this for her. I have had fun doing this thing.

Considering her reaction, I think she liked it! We even facetimed her sister and got her reaction too, which was incredibly fun.

I worked really hard getting the face to look exactly like her, but it was worth it as it does look like her now. Unfortunately I didn't take a good photo of it (I was too excited to give it to her) so I've got these two, one from the night I finished and one from Jaya's facebook page. It looks better in person I think.

Any fellow whovians out there like the drawing? The idea? Matt Smith? <3

Drawing: Hunter and Hunted

2011-12-24T19:23:00.001-06:00

Here is something I did for a Christmas present. I've been very busy, but I have a lot of stuff I'm going to upload and blog about!

Drawing 3

2011-12-13T17:11:00.001-06:00

Another small drawing, incomplete though!

Painting : Mini Chocolate Portrait

2011-12-13T16:22:00.000-06:00

I've been at home without Internet and it's hard for me to type up these posts on my phone. So I haven't been doing that.

Obviously.

But I just got this cute little painting done and I want to share, since I've been doing mostly commissions.

It's going to be a bit longer before I'm connected again and will be able to use a keyboard for this.

Anyone know of a keyboard I can attach to my iPhone?

Drawing 2

2011-12-04T19:15:00.001-06:00

Another drawing.

Painting: Experiment - Acrylic as Watercolors

2011-12-02T14:55:00.001-06:00

I don't know about you but when I have a pile of cheap materials my first thought is, "Yay! Experiment time!" I feel much better using five dollar paint than 30 dollar a tube paint.

Do I get the same results with cheap paint as good paint? Good grief, no! But can see how a technique I am not used to will work out without worrying that messing up will break the bank!

I was working with layering acrylics as if they were watercolors when I did this piece. And parts of it I just love, but I'm not upset that the whole piece didn't turn out. In fact, I'm psyched to try again using the faux fauve technique of layering colors!

All without worrying about paint that's 12 dollars a tube!

Drawing

2011-11-30T20:34:00.001-06:00

This is a new drawing!

Artist: Peter Jones

2011-11-18T12:46:00.001-06:00

I remember a long while ago someone commented on my blog and asked for more information about my teacher, Peter Jones. I remember there not being a strong web presence at the time, and I managed to find a handful of examples of his work. Just the other day I was on facebook and I found a link to an interview he had done for the NCLAC.

http://nclac.wordpress.com/tag/peter-jones/

It can be found at this link, and it is also transcribed if you scroll down beyond the audio player.

I can't say enough about him and everything he taught me. It is because of Peter Jones and Glenn Kennedy that I am an artist right now. They taught me pretty much everything about color theory and drawing and painting from life. Before, I was nothing but a scanner and printer. I mean, I could take a photo and reproduce it okay, but I was never an artist. They taught me it was okay to be an artist and to be intelligent, because they are!

When Glenn Kennedy died, I don't think I could have made it through those last years of school without Peter Jones. Peter was patient, kind and understanding throughout everything. He continued to teach me art and seeing, and he supported me in everything I did. He is still teaching me!

One day I want to be able to write everything down I can about my teacher and make it sound good. Right now I feel like I'm saying too much and not enough at the same time. I wanted to link to the interview and post about how blogs might take awhile as I have several Christmas commissions due, but I can't post about my teacher without saying something about his absolute awesomeness. But what I write comes out like I'm over stating, not giving enough examples, and not saying everything I actually feel (All in all, bad writing!). So until I can say everything I want to say in a good blog post: THANK YOU PROFESSOR PETER JONES!

Grandmothers..

2011-11-17T09:09:00.000-06:00

... I'm sitting here in McDonald's doodling this on the back of my receipt when I hear, "she might be in a higher part of heaven!" "yeah, with all those Muslims." "No! She wouldn't be there. She'd be with all the Hispanics!"

....

Honestly, I have no words.

Someone should read some more Flannery O'Connor. It's a whole table full of Mrs. Turpins!

Process: Watercolor WIP - 5

2011-11-17T09:05:00.001-06:00

As you can see the hands and girl's face are done, and I think this will be where I leave this painting for now. I've got to do more of these, however, because it's such a different way of creating art than I'm used to. I haven't done work like this since high school. Though I like to think I've gotten a slight bit better when I compare this to work of that period.

Right now I'm stuck in McDonalds since way too early for me. I am just waiting for the places I need to go to open, but I might do this again. I don't know how many people are aware of this, but older people go to McDonald's in the morning to complain about society and how much better they are than the "younger generation" because (from what I can tell) they didn't have processed food (while they're eating hot apple pies) and because they grew up on a farm.

And Urban legends aren't spread through email. They're spread by a large number of grandmothers in Micky Dee's.

I've never been so entertained. This must be why people go to Branson.

Process: Watercolor WIP-4

2011-11-15T14:14:00.000-06:00

Here is the next in my watercolor experiment. I was worried about getting his hair dark enough but I think it turned out ok. I am not sure if you can see it, but I used the modulation of warm (the dark brown) and cool (ultramarine blue) to give more structure to his hair without messing with the values too much. I think it worked out. For the skin I used burnt sienna, yellow ochre, alizarin crimson, and my blues and browns. I did the dark shadow areas first and the. Washed with a lighter value. Then I added and blended mid tones and added his chin beard stubble color.

After this mess dried, I used a really thin brush to get the thin, tiny details. His eye, lips, nose, fingers and ears.

I also reshaped his nose and made it a tiny bit smaller around the eye. It was a slight bit too big.

(I can't believe I screwed up my drawing! Of all the things I was worried about... Just goes to show I should think about what I'm doing and not try to jump ahead!)

Process: Watercolor WIP-3

2011-11-15T11:51:00.001-06:00

And here I did the orange dappatha and the brown hair. And a you can see I went back over the yellow to make it a bit more bright and saturated. I'm thinking it might look a bit over worked.

However, I do think the contrast between the blue and the orange is working well, so I do use more orange in the yellow shadows to play that up.

In the end this definitely turns out to be a blue and orange painting. But that's good. Contrast seems to be a major theme here.

And randomly, if you happen to see an ad on my page (to the right) about a free watercolor book, you should click and get it. I got the book (without clicking on my ads! I know that's against the rules!!) it was actually quite helpful and had some nice images and techniques and ways of thinking about painting.
I haven't seen it in a few weeks, but to tell you the truth ads just sort of fade into the background for me now. But I did find that one helpful and I just thought I'd let everyone know! (plus I get a few pennies out of it!)

Process: Watercolor WIP-2

2011-11-14T18:19:00.000-06:00

After finishing up the blue I start on the yellow shirt. My actual kameeze is actually more green than yellow, but in the photograph I'm working on it came out very yellow with orange and green accents. So that's what I tried to do. I got this much done and thought it turned out ok. Then I decided the color wasn't intense enough as I was adding the orange scarf.

I then proceeded to mess up the shirt.

I might still be able to fix it, but I put the painting up for a bit to give myself some distance. I'll post the next pictures soon!

Process: Watercolor WIP

2011-11-14T13:16:00.001-06:00

This is the start of a watercolor piece I have been working on and that I just finished. I'll be uploading the other pictures as soon as possible.

As you can see I use the Windsor Newton Cottman colors that you can buy in a travel case. I love it, but last time I bought it, the price was only $17. I went to price another set and the price was at $30. (oh my god!) Luckily the palettes were $.99 each. Though I think they used to be three for a dollar.

I like the larger set of colors because I get a warm and cool tone of red, yellow, green and blue. I get alizarin crimson and cad red light, and I get orange and a purple as well. I get three yellows: ocher, cad light, and lemon yellow. For greens I get sap green and viridian, and for blue I get ultramarine and cerulean. I also get two browns and a white. I do wish there was a black, it's a great color to mix in other colors if you don't over do it. It's actually a nice color despite its bad reputation in painting.

As you can see I started with a nice piece of watercolor paper and sketched lightly with a pencil. I like using a 4H Kimberly brand, but unfortunately I just had a Bic HB mechanical pencil.

I chose this design because I have two photographs, and I needed to combine them. Always a fun challenge there.

And I started with the blue Kameeze. I used both blues and used a bit of cad red and burnt sienna to tone down the blue where I needed to do that. In the shadow I mixed an almost black with ultramarine and the raw umber I have. I also broke up the color using a bit of purple and alizarin crimson. It's kind of hard to see in this photo, but I'll post a detail of the finished piece and you can see a lot more color detail. Plus I changed it a bit later.

Next up! Yellow kameeze and orange scarf. (and how I messed that up!)

Artist: Jessie Tucker

2011-11-13T22:01:00.001-06:00

One of my best friends is an amazing artist. She paints and creates and conceptualizes and sings.

http://m.youtube.com/#/watch?desktop_uri=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.youtube.com%2Fwatch%3Fv%3Dj_ryBvRMvac%26feature%3Dshare&feature=share&v=j_ryBvRMvac&gl=US

This is a link to her newest song that she has just uploaded. She's got a nice, jazzy low and clear voice. She does her own writing. The only thing missing is the band.

If you happen to be in a band that's in need of a singer, I'd give her a shot. And I'd give her a listen even if you aren't in a band. Leave her a comment too! Let her know you're listening.

Clothes: Shalwar Kameeze

2011-11-13T15:14:00.001-06:00

I just had to post this picture of my new shalwar kameeze that Ahmed brought me from Pakistan when he went to his brother's wedding. I just love it! I plan on wearing it for a Christmas party since it's bright red and pretty.

Last year I wore a red one that Varsha had given me.

I have a watercolor I'm working on where I'm painting a blue kameeze and a pretty yellow kameeze with an orange dappatha. And there are people I'm going to paint in those kameezes!

I haven't done watercolor since highschool. So, I just did a ton of reading of all the watercolor books I own and I've been trying to make it work. I'll show my work in progress later tonight. I might just have to give up and do it in oils, but I love how watercolors look!

Painting: Abstract Acrylic

2011-11-13T14:31:00.001-06:00

This is a detail of the large two foot by four foot painting I did for Varsha. I only had one night to do it, so Varsha chose a fun yet easy abstract piece to do. We had some modeling paste to give it a quick texture and then I painted the black, then the bright warm red, then used the cool red to blend them. For the grey areas I used silver with the white and black to give it a bit more sparkle. I'm not sure about the silver, it may have added a bit of sparkle but I'm not sure if it added enough. May have to add more.

If you look in the computer monitor, you can see the piece we were copying. For my own art I prefer not to do that, but we only had five hours and I decided if Varsha liked it, I wasn't really making money off of it. Just a piece for personal use.

I might try my own abstract work soon!

Painting: Calla Lilies

2011-11-12T22:44:00.000-06:00

This last week I've been in Austin, TX visiting my friend Varsha. I haven't been near where I can do a lot, being without a computer, but I did a few paintings. I'm also going to restart my fiverr gigs, so watch for that soon!

While I was there I helped design and decorate her apartment. I took photos of each room. After that I did sketches which I will post later, just giving us ideas. Then we went to Ikea and a couple of other places. And then after we built the couch I did art work for the walls!

I did two pieces, both in acrylic. The calla lilies were done on nice watercolor paper, and the large abstract painting I did on a two foot by four foot canvas. I framed the lilies, but I don't have a photo of that.

I will be uploading the photos I have of myself working on the other painting as well. And the sketches and if Varsha says it's ok, photos of how her rooms turned out.

Fiverr: Poás Volcano

2011-11-02T02:10:00.000-05:00

I'm definitely going to have to take a picture of this on in natural light. I really like how it turned out. Lots of yellow and gray and it's pretty abstract, but it has form. And I like this place. I would really like to visit the Poás Volcano. Looks beautiful around there. This would be another place I'd like to paint from life.

Tomorrow I'm going on a plane to Austin and this will be my first plane trip by myself. I'm nervous, but I think it will be a good dry run for going on other flights to other places. Like maybe to a foreign country. At least I will know some things to expect.

And I have exciting news!! This summer I am heading over to my first real honest to God foreign country. Yay! I'm really excited because I get to go to Italy! I've never been on a really big trip before. I've never been out of the country and I just got my passport. I am a bit nervous about it being Italy though. My cousin thinks I'm nuts because I have almost no qualms about going to Pakistan. She's probably right. That could also be because I'm much more comfortable with Urdu. And right now I'm having problems remembering any vocabulary in Italian because I keep trying to speak in Spanish. But I will definitely get better. There are so many great artists to see in Italy! I have a feeling I'll start crying at some point during the trip. I'll be crying because I'll be completely moved by the art.

I've said I might lose my return ticket and find myself on a long hike painting beautiful landscapes. For awhile. Ah! Molto bello. Or bella? I don't know! My Italian is bad. I'll get better.

Where do you want to go? What language do you want to learn? Do you try to learn languages before you go on your trips? What exciting places have you been to?!

Craft: Hat

2011-10-28T15:34:00.001-05:00

I love the way this fabric is knitting up! It's got a gorgeous red that's muted by creams and blue and green splashes. And gold! I love the thin slivers of gold.

This is going to be a beanie hat without ears. I'm hoping it fits because I just sort of guessed at the size. But it's going to be ribbed so it will be fairly stretchy!

I'm starting to think making a swatch might be useful.

Maybe :)

Fiverr: Beach

2011-10-26T17:51:00.000-05:00

I need a better photograph of this. Made it look better and the dog is chasing some birds. But this is the one I have. Beaches are cool. I wish I could do one from life. I'd add some sand to the paint. Probably by dropping it, but I'd be in good company: http://www.nationalgallery.org.uk/paintings/claude-oscar-monet-the-beach-at-trouville

Craft: Hat!

2011-10-26T16:46:00.001-05:00

Look! I have ears now! Bigger ones.

And I feel this craft is complete. My cousin has just told me she doesn't want to be seen with me in public.
But I think the hat is adorable and I at least didn't add the tassels to the ends. Though I am thinking about using the pink fabric that came with it to make the insides of the ears pink so it really looks like cat ears!

For my next hat? Beanie! Though I am in love with the ears, I am not sure if any of the people I will be gifting these to will like them as much as me.

I think mom and Jaya are gonna be the only ones I could make them for who would appreciate the loveliness that is this specific hat!

It was really simple. Cast on 68 stitches (I did 74) on 16" sized 10 round needles. Then I did K2P2 for about 7 or so rounds. Then I did K1P1 until the fabric was 7.5 inches long. Then I bound it off, and sewed it together at the top.

So simple!

Artist: Alexa Meade

2011-10-25T16:25:00.002-05:00

I have to say I found this artist and I just love it! Instead of tricking the eye with paint to make a subject look real, she uses paint to make photographs look like paintings!

Anyway her site can probably explain better than I can.

Makes me want to invest in some body paint and do something fun down in New Orleans!

:)

Craft: New Hat

2011-10-25T02:12:00.001-05:00

Well, I will have a hat tomorrow if all goes well. Right now I just have fabric yarn and new knitting needles. I'm hoping everything fits once I get done too because I have a "children's pattern" oddly enough.

Ok. It's not odd at all! I have very out there taste.

But tomorrow I hope to have myself an adult sized hat in a children's style. The package says "five hour craft" and I spent two of them getting the fabric strips tied together and rolled into a ball, so in three hours I better have a wearable hat!

We'll see... Won't we?

Fiverr: Weirdness

2011-10-24T18:20:00.002-05:00

Medical Corset
4x5"
Oil on Matboard
Get Your Own Tiny Painting! October Special

I wasn't sure how this one was going to turn out, but I actually really like it! It's sketchy and weird and definitely in my weird style. I wasn't sure how it was going to turn out, but I think it ended up pretty okay. Weird, but I like weird. Especially so near Halloween!

And I finished a commission and that made me really happy! But I can't put the drawings up because of artist/model confidentiality and some stuff. But they turned out pretty neat, if I do say so myself. If you want a drawing done, just send me a message, leave a comment, drop by my Etsy store and see what I have ready. I'll have more up as soon as possible, but if you need something specific don't hesitate to ask!

I also received my knitting needles today, so I'm going to do my best to knit myself a hat out of fabric. I don't know what I'm doing, so if it comes out looking like a hat, I'll be thrilled. If it turns out not looking like a hat, I'll still be thrilled if it will fit on my head. I've also made some new beads, I'll have to wait till tomorrow to get some good photographs of them with my good camera, but after I do that I'm putting them on Etsy. Along with some other drawings and paintings I have!

And I'm still working on my website. I had something that looked pretty neat, but my computer was not plugged in and then it just decided to quit and I lost everything. Not fun. I feel like just paying someone to do it, but I can't really justify the price when I'm perfectly capable of doing it myself. I'll give myself one more try.

Anyway, I have a lot of work to do! Let me know what you are all up to!

Fiverr: Artichoke

2011-10-20T13:00:00.000-05:00

Artichoke
4x5"
Oil Painting on Mat Board

I was really excited about how this one came out. I'd never painted and artichoke before and I wasn't sure how it was going to come out. So I just followed my process and it started coming together.

I do have a slight confession. I try to only give myself 15-30 minutes on these paintings. Sometimes it takes me more time, sometimes less when I'm at the top of my game. So far less hasn't happened a lot.

I also sat down and worked on a website last night. An actual site, not just a blog or a page of some old art, but something I can use! I started coding it myself, then I realized I needed to actually have my artwork organized and ready to plug in. So that's what I did last night! I have organized art files! And the very beginning of a site! whoop!

Do you make your own sites? Pay someone? Use free templates? Just have a blog? How do you use your site?

Fiverr: Bride and Groom

2011-10-19T00:50:00.001-05:00

Bad photos, I know, but it's been raining all day and I can't get non blurry photos in this light! They were a fun couple to work on. I really liked their photos too.

I've started a couple of drawing commissions as well, and I think that'll help with my painting too. I can't show photos, but just know I am working hard and getting paid for it!

:) That thrills me to no end!

If you want to buy some of my work I've got several paintings still up on Etsy. That includes a five dollar painting deal for the month of October.

Randomness

2011-10-18T02:07:00.001-05:00

While walking to the post office I came across these tea cups. They were just sitting there on the sidewalk just like this. I didn't move them or touch them, just whipped out my phone and captured the rather strange scene.

It's been in my head for awhile now, trying to figure out how they got there. What their owners had been doing. Where they went....

There's a story here I can just sense it!

Fiverr: Baby

2011-10-18T02:04:00.001-05:00

I thought the expression on this baby photo was just too adorable. Slightly annoyed and slightly amused! I hope she likes her painting!

Fiverr: Doggy

2011-10-18T02:02:00.000-05:00

Dogs are pretty fun to paint I think. I wonder when I'm going to get a cat?!

I've been super busy, but that just means I'll have a fair amount of posts coming up!

Free Tickets to Japan?!

2011-10-11T15:04:00.000-05:00

I am still very interested in going to Japan, despite not being picked for the JET program. Oh well, their loss. I would have still gone to Japan even with the earthquakes and the tsunamis and the radiation had I been picked and it would have been great getting to teach and help out.

Though it would have been nice to get paid to do that, I suppose the next best thing would be free tickets.

The catch is I'd have to blog about it.

So really, what catch? I plan on sketching and painting and photographing and just experiencing all the beautiful things there! Of course I'd be learning more Japanese as well.

I suppose that means I have a better chance with more blog followers, a more active blog, more comments. I'd better start working on it!

I can't wait until there is more information. Do you hope to go? Do you want to go? Afraid to go? Is there another place you wish would do this? Let me know!

Artumn Madness: Autumn!

2011-10-10T12:49:00.001-05:00

I've been away this weekend, with a fairly unstable Internet connection and no phone signal at all. Yay!

And I did a lot of painting. Yay!

And all the paintings came out badly. Boo!

Which is why I'm updating with photos. I did plein air painting and I guess I was completely out of practice because they turned out fairly badly as finished work. But as color studies and sketches they're pretty good. So I'm going to work on a finished pieced based on what I have done this weekend!

Yay!

Artumn Madness: Arkansas

2011-10-08T16:50:00.000-05:00

The leaves have started to change in some areas and even though you don't see bright reds and oranges everywhere yet I've noticed the greens aren't the vibrant young greens we get during spring, and have even started turning from the full green of summer.

I'm up here in Arkansas painting great views like this badly for awhile. I'm much too out of practice in plein air painting and right now I am trying to get better. I've been doing so well I must be having an off day. Plus I've been used to tiny still life work for so long my brain is having a time adjusting. But I am painting. Even if I don't want to show my work! Just a quick photo.

How soon do you first notice the shift to autumn? What do you notice first? Do you have a very pronounced autumn where you live?

Fiverr: Sunflowers

2011-10-07T21:56:00.000-05:00

Process: Step by Step

2011-10-05T22:31:00.001-05:00

(Edited, because I should apparently not type when I have a raging headache!)

After my friend asked me about my painting process when it comes to drawing from life, I thought it would be best if I show as much of the process as I could. I do try and show myself painting on video fairly often, but a lot of times I'm painting at night and it's a pain to get my camera set up so it can see anything I am doing. I decided that step by step pictures would be a bit more helpful.

Also, most of my process is fairly left brained. I follow a formula for a good chunk of my set up. But there comes a point of complete right brained-ness where a "how to" or a "step by step" doesn't really work. That's why there is such a jump in the last couple of pictures. But I will do my best to explain my thought process and choices.

Step One: Choose a Subject

This is fairly simple. I raid the kitchen fruit bowl and my stash of handmade pottery a lot of times. Some people ~~trick~~ ask friends to pose for them. Other people beg their dog or pet of choice to stay still. Others pay people to sit still for long hours. Clothing optional. And some people go outside and sit. That last one has a fairly different starting point for me. But I'll talk about plein air painting later. Right now, we're just drawing with people or objects in front of us.

If you can use north light, which is a wonderful cool, diffused, stable, natural light, then YAY! I'd use that. But if I'm painting at night I find it much easier to just turn on a light and have it illuminating my fruit. During the day I use north light though. I'll write a post about why that's the painter's light of choice soon.

So after you have your fruit arranged and the lights on, what's next?

Step 2: Place the large shape on a toned ground

This is the large shape of your objects. There are several ways to do this, depending on what you are drawing. You can see that here, I just put down the large shape all the fruit kind of made. Because I'm working small, I like doing it this way.

If I were working larger, I would first give myself a margin all the way around the painting. Then I would put down a gesture, before putting down this large shape. I wouldn't have the gesture forming the outside contours of the objects, but focus more on their center placement. More like a constellation than anything.

And the toned ground. Normally I tone with raw sienna, but right now I've been using a lot of shellacked illustration and mat board. The shellac I use is amber colored, and the mat board I use is all sorts of colors. This gives me a fairly wide range from a nice pale amber to /really, really, really/ almost black dark. This was amber on top of a dark orange, so it's darker than even I'm used to. But it was next in the pile.

After this comes

Step 3: Psudo Giacometti and Contour

As you can see I'm obviously not drawing with vertical and horizontal lines as I would were I doing the Giacometti Technique in its purest form. You can however, see where I was using it to figure out where to place the bottoms of the aanar and the top of the lemon. It's very useful that way. I should also probably mention at this point that the photograph I took of the fruit was done fairly low to the table. I was sitting up a good one or two feet above that, hence you can see the top of the aanar in the painting. Remember, I'm painting this from life, and not from any photograph.

Always be exact in your drawing. If you make a mistake, don't be afraid to correct it! There are several times I redrew parts of the fruit. If you pay attention during this step, the following steps will definitely be easier, but you should always be looking and asking, "Is this right?" and then LOOKING for the answer. Painting is like taking an open book test. The answers are always right in front of you!

Then we come to,

Step 4: Valueshapes

Here is where I start to place dark values down. Most of the time I use burnt sienna for my first shadows, but because the board I used was incredibly darker than I'm used to, I used burnt umber as well.

Here I'm drawing the shapes of the shadows, trying to make sure my line drawings are right. I'm also picking out the dark areas, and asking myself, what is darker? Squinting helps a lot here. It filters out color and hue and leaves you with swatches of dark. I then paint those shapes. I use the unpainted canvas as my lights until

Step 5: Add some lights

For awhile now I've been painting fruit just sitting on a simple white table. So right about now I fill that in so I have paint around all my objects to paint into, and pull to into their form when I need to redraw some things. You can see I've kind of worked it into the lemon here.

Step 6: Relative Color

This is the first step that I'll add color. I won't be really picky about the color, as long as the value is correct. I'll try to use warmer variations of the color in the light, and cooler in the shadows. Here you can see I used cad red light for the side of the aanar in the light, and alizarin crimson for the cool side. The side of the lemon in the light gets cad yellow light, while its shadowy area is more of a raw umber with cool yellow, or green. I think I also warmed that shadow a bit with burnt sienna in some areas too. Because my light is so warm my shadows will be cooler, with cool north light the opposite would be true. But I still like to really warm up my darks.

Anyway, after that, I do

Step 7: Right Brained Magic Time

The next thing I do is pretty much playing with color and value. "Is this the right value? If I squint does it look right? Is the color intense enough? if it's intense enough, is it the right value? Did I mess up that shape??"

As you can see I've only really started on the left aanar. I'm trying to build up values, and add more paint to the lights here. And that's pretty much what I did with the other fruit. Add more paint to the lights. I'm afraid I didn't take a picture before I added the highlights...

Finally at the very end:

Step 8: The darkest darks, The lightest lights

Here is where I add the final things: The darkest bits of the painting and the high lights. I really think the highlights make or break a painting. You can get away with a lot with a lot of paint and some well placed highlights!

And then after that... well, I usually wait until the next morning to get a good photograph of it in natural light. And fix anything that's still bugging me the next day. I always need that extra time to really go back and look with fresh eyes.

I can already see the shape of that lemon and that right aanar can use more of that light pink color, though it is darker than the other one. I'll see if there is something I can do to it.

Tomorrow!

I hope my little step by step process helps, at least for the beginning stages. I know I didn't talk about color mixing or details or anything important! But I hope this allows you to tackle some blank canvas of your own!

Museums: I suppose I've been doing it wrong then!

2011-10-05T17:25:00.000-05:00

I suppose if looking at the art in museums gets security all over you, I should be doing this:

http://journal.neilgaiman.com/2011/10/warning-not-safe-for-work-unless-you.html

In case you're wondering about it being safe for work or not, there is one picture of his wife naked from the back, fairly small, all the way down at the bottom of the blog post.

I've been using museums incorrectly my whole life!

(This blog post is meant for humor. And because I like Neil Gaiman.)

Fiverr: Doggy

2011-10-04T10:59:00.001-05:00

Quick painting and post! I'll explain my absence soon. Pretty much just busy, tired, and painting!

I've been doing a lot for Artumn Madness!!! Any one else joining me for October?

Artumn Madness: Day 6

2011-09-28T14:34:00.001-05:00

I've been painting a lot of these because they are tasty and I love them. I need to buy more. I need to practice more too.

I have a painting of a dog I did for a fiverr gig I'll post later today. I will stop the gigs for my autumn painting time, so if you want one you better order before tomorrow, when I'll suspend my painting gig. I'll still be doing drawings, however.

I've also got to figure out how to update my ticker on my phone. It still says I've only done a little over 100 sq inches! That's so not true :)

Is anyone going to join me for Artumn Madness in October? It's only a little over 3.5 sheets of letter sized (A4) paper a day for a month! Not too difficult!

Artumn Madness: Inspiration of the Day 01

2011-09-27T14:52:00.000-05:00

So, I was asked the question, "If I do this, how will I get enough ideas to draw every day?"

This was a good question because it made me think outside of my head for a bit. For me, ideas just pour in. I look at stuff from the past, I doodle, I keep a camera with me at all times, I keep a sketch book, etc.

Ideas beget ideas.

But how to start when one is not used to coming up with ideas?

I have decided to share some of my set ups with everyone. Ideally, you would want to set up this in your own studio or work space and draw or paint from life. But I know this isn't always possible. You are welcome to paint directly from my photos on these posts. They aren't the best photos, being done with an iPhone, but they are there just to get so ideas flowing. Here is an anaar.

Simple, but the reds are difficult to get just right.

And here is one that's a bit more dynamic:

Yeah... I've been painting veggies and fruit. But thy are so fun! And I always start to think about what else I can do with them. Onions can be peeled and have gorgeous skin when light shines through it. And Pomegranate seeds are like little jewels! There are just a ton of ways these things can be painted! I could spend the entirety of autumn on just fruit!

But...I also have some handmade pottery I've been wanting to use in a painting. And the trees are starting to turn. And cotton is almost ready to be picked. It is the season of mist and mellow fruitfulness.

Inspired? Have something you can't wait to draw or paint? Something or someone you secretly want to paint? Let us know (what you can!) :)

Artumn Madness: Days Three, Four and Five

2011-09-27T14:35:00.000-05:00

Isn't this time of year great? It's been absolutely busy. And I've been doing my best to not only paint, but get ready for October (where I will kick off Artumn Madness, October Edition) and help some of my friends with drawing.

I've done a few paintings, and I should update my count. I'm now at 101.325 sq inches. But I should be able to add at least 100 or so more today once I get done with my two commissions and a few other smaller paintings. I've gotten into more of a painting groove. Now if I could just produce good paintings (notice the lack of a photo of what I've done on this post!)

One of my friends asked me a question last night: "How do you start when you draw from life."

I thought this was an excellent question and I set out trying to explain the start. I realized while I could do it in words, it would probably be easier for everyone involved if I do a demonstration. So I'm planning to do that, it'll just take me a bit to get the photos done right and the post formatted. Especially with all the paintings I'm trying to do. But I'll be doing several beginners posts because I think it's important to have a starting point. There are a ton of "how to start painting and drawing" posts, but I do think I have something different to bring to the table. A different way of looking at it. So either sometime tomorrow or the next day I'll be posting that, and I hope it helps!

Artumn Madness: Day Two

2011-09-24T18:33:00.000-05:00

Thin Pepper and Lemon
Still Life
4x5

Well, I thought I would show off the best piece I've done that counts towards Artumn Madness. I had a day of volunteering so I haven't done much, I'm afraid. They put me on trash duty for most of the morning, and then I ended up doing face painting for about an hour. I don't think I'll count that towards my 30,000 sq inch goal, but it is tempting. It was painting. Kids are kinda cute.

I have painted some after that, and I'm about to paint more. I have a little set up for still life and everything. I'm going to do two commissions first, before I start on the still life. I have peppers and lemons and all sorts of fun things to paint! Aanar even! Tomorrow I'll have to shellac more boards before I'm able to really start painting. I think I'll shellac as many as can fit on my work area outside, and then go inside to paint for an hour or so, then harvest those, shellac another set, then paint for an hour...

I've really got to get started! At least now I'm back on a normal sleeping schedule so I can get up at a time that isn't noon or later. That was getting old fast. I like being able to paint with natural light, and I was missing morning light sleeping so late! I mean, I get natural light all day, but half of the day was lost... lost...

When do you like to paint? Morning? Night? Do you prefer natural light? North light only? Sky light? Light box? Let me know about your set up! Link to pictures for bonus points!

Artumn Madness: Day One

2011-09-23T22:06:00.001-05:00

Well, it is September 23 and I have gotten off to a...

... ok, so I haven't really started. I hope to have 40 square inches done by the end of the day. I think that's fairly miserable. 40/10000 I am rocking it.

I would stay up late to get more done, but I have to be up to volunteer tomorrow. All day. depending on when I finish I may do another painting, but I can't stay up past midnight to get a lot done. I might try at least one more larger work.

I was always slow starting out during NaNoWriMo too. One year I didn't start until 6 days in, but I did get it done. I always work better on a deadline. But I do tend to skirt them.

How do you deal with deadlines? Do you start strong? Finish strong? Keep an even head? Let me know!

Artumn Madness: The Rules

2011-09-20T15:27:00.006-05:00

Well, my cousin told me it might be helpful if I outlined a few rules in the event that someone would like to paint with me on this venture. I said okay. And then I had to figure out exactly what the rules were going to be. It's easy for me, I have a lot of stuff and I want to paint. I'm going to PAINT ALL THE THINGS!

So here are the rules:

1. 10,000 square inches. You have one month. Do something with them. If you want to do the whole "Artumn" with me, (September 23-December 21) it's 30,000 square inches.

2. Yeah, that's it.

And here are the questions I am anticipating:

Q: Does it have to be one large 100in x 100in work?

A: No, you could do 10,000 square inch drawing or paintings if you wanted. Or you can do a 16x20 painting a day (plus some extra on special days) or you can find a giant 100x100 canvas and go to town. Whatever would make you feel more accomplished, or would fit into your goals.

Q: Does it have to be painting? Oil only? What's the "correct way"

A: There really is no correct way. It's whatever you would be happiest with. Do you want to get better at pencil? Pen and ink? Watercolor? Decoupage? Paper cut outs? Pyrography? Fabric arts? Acrylic? Oil? It's up to you!

Q: I don't really have a lot of money....

A: Eh, neither do I. I am an artist. But, seriously, you don't have to go out and buy the best canvas, the best paint, or the best brushes and paper and tools. This is about getting better, not making a bunch of (Or one big) masterpiece. This is about working! I once saw a lady take a roll of brown paper towels from storage and use that to draw on. Tons and tons of drawings with that and an ink pen. You can get a ream of paper for about 8 dollars at Staples. I went to Hobby Lobby and asked for all off the mat scraps (Smaller than 5x7) they just throw away and they'd keep them in a box and I'd buy a whole bunch of them for a couple of dollars. Now I'm shellacking them and using them! See how creative you can be! Isn't that what artists are known for? I know I went to a place where we had a bonfire and I ended up with a ton of charcoal that worked brilliantly. A roll of butcher paper from Lowe's doesn't cost that much. And just ask around. Who knows what your family and friends will have in a corner that they'd love to get rid of!

Q: I've started this work and I want to use it. Do my preliminary sketches count? What about...?

A: If you want to use it, use it. If you would feel good about yourself after counting that, then I will feel good about you too. This is about getting better. And if you cut corners, you don't really hurt anyone but yourself. But if you worked hard on whatever it is, count it! But they have to be done within either autumn, or the month you've chosen to work in. That's it.

Q: How do I keep up with how much I've done?

A: I don't really have anything set up where people can keep up with their square inch count. I've started a twitter account @artumnmadness and I will be starting a facebook group that people can join. As for now, you can tweet @artumnmadness or comment on my blog here. Or you can post to your own blog and facebook page. Just try and link back here so other people can join! You can either measure it out perfectly or estimate if you are using less than regular pieces.

Q: Where did you get 10,000 square inches?

A: I looked up the size ofA Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte. I figured that would be an accomplishment in a month. It was 9000 something square inches. I rounded to 10,000.

Q: What do I win?

A: A real sense of accomplishment? Maybe a certificate you can print and hang on your wall....

Q: Why in the world would I want to do this?

A: You should look inside yourself and see if you have what it takes.... Ok, I'm being slightly facetious. The reasons for doing this are as varied as the reasons people sign up for NaNoWriMo. People always say "I want to do art" or "I want to write a novel" and it's always going to be "someday." Some people like a challenge. Some want to use up a large amount of art supplies that they're too afraid to start to work on.

For me, I don't really have such a noble cause. I am always timid when starting something else. I work best within rules and deadlines because when I add limitations I always come up with more creative solutions. When I have a deadline I work harder and do more. I loved NaNoWriMo, and I wanted something for art that didn't involve comic strips or create one perfect painting daily. And also I have a lot of art supplies...

So I made up my own rules and deadlines.

Do you want to join me? It could be fun! I'm looking forward to starting in 3 days time. I will be welcoming people who want to do a month of art in October, and once again in November as well, so don't feel too rushed. Just comment, follow me on twitter, and let me know what you think!

Fiverr: Dream House in Autumn

2011-09-19T23:39:00.003-05:00

This is a cute painting I did, I kinda like it, though I did have to fight with it a lot.

Artumn Madness: The Idea

2011-09-18T00:44:00.004-05:00

Autumn starts this year on September 23. I've always loved this time of year. I just want to go and create and put things in order, enjoys the colors and the scents. Large bouquets of sharpened pencils and school supplies! I love it!

So what's that box of... Stuff?

That is a small part of my collection of mat board scraps. Yes. Small part. I have two other bags and another large box. so... What am I going to be doing with it?

I love writing for NaNoWriMo in November: the madness, the work, the finished piece! I wanted to do something like that with painting. So I did daily painting, but I never got that feeling of madness. I felt pressured to make perfect pieces daily, but even that ran counter to NaNo and the "it doesn't matter if it sucks just WRITE" argument.

And if you write and paint a lot of absolute crap and drivel, you are bound to accidentally come up with something good as long as you're trying! There was once a pottery class where the teacher divided everyone into two groups. The first group only had to turn in one pot, but it had to be perfect to get a passing grade. The second group would be graded on quantity instead of quality. They had an ungodly quota to meet. So where did the best pots come from? The group more focused on quantity, hands down. The other group got bogged down in theories and beauty and didn't create as much. It's all about the work!

Then I got an idea. Something I could do. I was going to use all of my pieces of mat board for painting. All of them. At first I thought I would do it in October which would be a very, very scary thing to do. Luckily while trying to come up with names Assad came up with Artumn and I found out that fall starts September 23 and ends December 21. Much more doable than thirty days, especially with the amount of board I have!

So that's my challenge. An ungodly number of small paintings are to be done by December 21st. I am not going to be focused on quality. I'm not going to try to be bad, but I won't have that pressure of one perfect daily painting.

I will have the freedom to just paint!

Bookbinding: Books 1, 2, 3 & 4

2011-09-16T13:39:00.000-05:00

Well, I finally got all four of these mostly done. Well, as much as I'm going to do. I have to redo a signature in the star one, the pages of the dark black one have to be trimmed down, and the other two have small problems that I'm never going to fix because they're my books and a little bit of weirdness doesn't bother me, even though it would have brought my grade down in my bookbinding class I took.

I really dislike how stressed I was during that class. I love books and I love making them, but I think I would have done a better job on these if I didn't have, "so what if this would have been marked wonky! I can do anything!" in my head like a mad woman. But now that I let that go through my system, I feel much better about bookbinding in general. Less likely to freak out.

Ok, it's me, I always freak out. But usually I'm not freaking out to please someone else, but me. I haven't done that in awhile. Art school did make me a lot more chill about mistakes. No. It had nothing to do with drugs. Ever. (seriously! I'm much to high on life to ever want to get into an 'altered state') But one thing art classes did teach me was that if I can paint something good once, I can do it again. It's better to wipe out something beautiful in the wrong place and put it where it needs to go than trying to paint around it!

Bookbinding class taught me to freak out again because I had no time to do assignments and make them as perfect as I wanted and yes, it would really mess up my grade. Not a good feeling to cultivate.

No! Don't take me the wrong way!

I'm not saying we shouldn't strive for getting it perfect, we should! I'm just saying this feeling of absolute panic and failure was a bad way to go about it. It didn't make the people who weren't going to try anyway get any better and it made people who were actually trying to learn and do beautiful books miserable and not want to do it.

If we were going to make "perfect books" right out of the gate, why bother joining the class?

In my painting classes my teacher could make someone with an admittedly bad painting (someone who was trying, but just couldn't get it right, not someone who didn't try) feel better at the end of a critique, have confidence that they could be better, and feel like trying again. The grade didn't matter but he was making people try harder!

I wish I would have been able to get that from bookbinding class... I'm working on it though!

Bookbinding: Book 1 & 2

2011-09-15T14:56:00.001-05:00

I finished the red one last night and I just love it. Right now I'm sewing book three and hope to be done in an hour or so, but I'm getting a pretty rotten blister and it's making me go so slow! Book four won't take much time because it's only six signatures.

After that I've got another article I'm working on about why north lit studios are awesome and why kayak compasses confuse me. And I have done another article on the faux fauve palette, but I'm missing works that illustrate my point so I have to work on those. And I have a commission.

Whew!

Bookbinding: Books 2 & 3

2011-09-13T18:48:00.001-05:00

Ok, so they aren't finished yet, but I love the papers I used for these! The book cloth looking stuff is not actually book cloth and both it and the paper are shiny! See the sparkly stars? And I love the dots on the red paper. I plan to buy more red paper if I run out of paper.

I'm glad I'm doing these because I'm remembering a bunch from class I had forgotten and learning some new stuff. When I actually make books that need to not be wonky I will be able to create them!

Museums: Not for artists any more

2011-09-13T16:03:00.000-05:00

I have been to museums a grand total of three times in my life. Well, let me qualify that. I've been to museums that showed more than modern or contemporary art, and focused in on art of the past three times in my life. The first time I went I was a senior in high school and I went to the Art Institute of Chicago. The second time I had just finished my art degree, I was in my first year of physics classes and I once again went to the Art Institute of Chicago. The third time happened just the other day, during the first year of my art career, at the Brooks Museum of Art in Memphis.

The first time I was just about to graduate high school and I had taken a few art classes. As many as they'd let me take. Suffice it to say I was not very knowledgeable about the process of painting or drawing but I could get a likeness and given enough time I could make a pretty decent painting, mostly by trial and error. This was my most pleasant trip to a museum. Let me qualify again: this was the one trip I didn't almost get thrown out of a museum. I did lose my group and end up staying there for over six hours, but I see this as a huge plus! We did the tour, they asked questions, I answered as we dissected the meaning of some more modern pieces. And then they let us go. Oh, My, God! Of course the first thing we did is get let out right next to the impressionists and post impressionists. It was the first time I had ever seen a piece of art I had liked from a text book in person. A little dancer done in chalk by Degas. It was so small, so intimate, I could see the way the chalk lay on top of the paper. I started bawling right then, just standing in front of art for the first time in my life. The next was a painting of Renoir, something I had done a master copy of from a book. I started crying again. When asked what was wrong, all I could say was, "Look at it! Just, look at it!" And finally I pulled myself together and went to just look at art for the next six hours, sans any more complete emotional break downs.

And then I returned home, got an art degree, and came back once again. Totally different experience. I know I was looking forward to seeing one painting I had loved as a senior. Now I can't even remember the name or the title, or anything about it, really. I looked at it, and was so confused. Had I really liked this before? Where were the colors I remembered? It was drawn well, but where was the part of it that moved me? It was just so flat and dead from what I remembered before. I shrugged and started walking around to view the art. This is where the problems started. I noticed most people progressing in a fairly linear fashion through the rooms, standing in front of some pieces, skipping others, but still, in a pretty orderly fashion. I, however, well.... Out of the corner of my eye I'd see a piece that would draw me in, I'd stare from across the room, the walk in, get as close as I could and try to figure out how it was painted. Then I'd back up, usually into someone, and then go forward to study it again, and then I would see another painting, and I'd practically have to run to it. I'd go from one room to another and back, without any sort of plan other than "Oh my god, I can't believe I'll get to see it in person!" once a piece caught my attention. Once a crowed had gathered around a fairly large work, and right beside it was a small self-portrait by Chardin. Immediately the portrait drew me in, almost made me cry again, seeing the color and the brushstrokes. I am pretty sure I began talking to myself about how much more amazing it was in person and just gushing over it. Honestly, from reproductions I had not cared much for it, but seriously, in person? Amazing! And then I noticed the crowed around the large painting, some staring curiously at my reaction, and I looked at the other work politely, shrugged a bit, and then noticed another portrait two rooms away and I was gone. At this point I had been asked to slow down numerous times, and one friend I was with had gotten in trouble for using a cell phone in a special exhibit, so at this point she wasn't with me. And then there were the Caravaggio's.

This is where I almost get thrown out. Apparently getting really close to see how someone paints something in a special exhibit is just as bad as using a cell phone. I am having a rapturous experience, and under normal circumstances I'm usually focused intently on one thing, at this point I'm pretty sure I've blocked everything else out. Someone's talking to me and I just start babbling all I know about Caravaggio, which at the time was a God awful amount to know because I had done several papers on him and it was all fresh in my mind, plus I was babbling about /how/ he was painting. And it turns out I'm gushing about the paintings to a security guard who just wants me to step back while I'm gesturing wildly trying to make him understand exactly how the light is layered and "oh my god, look at the glazing!"

Yeah. I think he was happy when I moved to another painting to compare. (It took me awhile to realize it was a security guard).

The same thing pretty much happened in the room with all the Corot's as well. And the Van Gogh's.And let's just say I'm pretty sure all the security guards at this point are well aware that I'm probably slightly insane and they should watch me. Because they do. And they ask me to step back a lot. Which usually just started me talking about how they painted something I was looking at and did nothing for my moving away from the paintings. I was so focused on the art they might have asked me to leave and I might have answered, "Just let me see how he mixed this color" or "do you see how he worked into this glaze" instead of leaving. I was so focused on art everything else was autopilot.

I think they were all happy when I moved on to the gift shop.

And then there was the Brooks Museum. My cousin and her husband and I went the other day. Yeah. First off, bad floor plan. The first thing I notice is a painting of a lobster that I really want to see. So I go see it. Unfortunately I step through some columns that I didn't even notice. Unfortunately this makes a security guard mad. And of course I'm just like, "Really? The space is so huge..." I mean, seriously, a five hundred pound person can fit through so easily, how was I supposed to know I shouldn't walk that way? There was no sign... But whatever. Their bad museum design, not mine, though I was kinda wary about where I could go after that. How was I supposed to know what was right?

And then came the part where we were almost thrown out. I do not have to have people around me to talk about art. So when I have captives with me, aka my cousin and her husband, I can talk a lot. And I gesture a lot, and I point out things a lot. So a security guard comes up to us and says something about it looks like we're touching the art on camera. I turn to face her and give a kind of dismissive smile and say, "Well, we aren't touching the art, thank you though" And then turn around to completely ignore her, even though she follows us throughout the whole exhibit.

I guess it wouldn't have been so bad there except with the way the lights were set up I couldn't be comfortable looking at details from one to two feet away. The light glared so I had to get right up on it to see what I was interested in: how the paint was applied on the canvas.

I suppose once I get used to going to museums like a civilized person I'll get better at this. But really! I got there not to look at art, you can do that online or from any art book, but to study and learn how it was done from the great masters themselves! Good artists not only do a magic trick in front of you, but literally show you how it's done. It's like they are painting right in front of you if you know how to look, and to me that's better than chocolate.

When a writer reads like a writer, they aren't reading a book like most people. They certainly can read a book like most people, but to read like a writer you read in an entirely different way, asking why a writer is saying something, using a certain figure of speech, and writing in a certain idiom. For a carpenter to look at a chair like a carpenter, he's looking at it, taking it apart in his mind, putting it together, wondering about the function of different pieces. That doesn't mean he can't sit in it. As an artist, I can look at art and just see it for the image it is. But I also can look at each brushstroke, each glazed color, see the materials, see how colors stack together, wonder at the use of value and elements of art and composition. And the best way to do that is look at the actual work, because you can't get that in a reproduction, no matter how high definition the camera goes, no matter the light used to photograph it. It's certainly good to look at art no matter how you can. But it's best in person.

As long as you don't get thrown out of the museum.

Bookbinding: Book 1

2011-09-09T00:29:00.001-05:00

My first four books will be pretty much the same. I decided to bind my books using the Coptic stitch. I have four books for learning Urdu that I had forever in ebook format. Then I took a bookbinding course and decided I would find a program that would take a PDF and separate it into sections for bookbinding. I'll find the URL for that very handy little program tomorrow. So after that and the printing fiasco I ended up with forty or so signatures that needed to be sewn into books.

Yeah.

So now I'm actually getting to put them together. When I first started I wanted them all hard bound, but then I realized how hard that would be and how I was going to use them. I needed Coptic stitch so that they would stay flat, so I could study from them.

This was the first one. The cover really doesn't have anything to do with Urdu: An Essential Grammar, but I have a rule that I have to use up my art supplies I have for these projects I've started without buying more. That's also why half of the thread is pink and the other half is green.

I love it! Even if it would have gotten me a wonky stamp.

I'm doing these four first to get back in the swing of things, but after that I have enough supplies for several books I'm going to make, just to put in my etsy shop. I have gorgeous paper, an excellent book cloth and the paper for the inside will be up-cycled and top notch.

Bookbinding

2011-09-08T22:23:00.001-05:00

Before I started doing art full time I started projects that I just didn't have the energy to finish after nine hours at work in 100+ temps and an hour and a half driving to and from work without air conditioning. It doesn't do a lot for creativity.

So now that I am painting and drawing full time I decided to finish projects I have hanging.

The first one is bookbinding. I have four books that only need to be sewn together. I was going to bind them hard back but, I decided it would be better for me to do them Coptic stitched.

The first one I ran out of pink cord and had to finish with green. It looks odd. But I made a rule that I'm not going to buy anything else until I finish my projects. And that book is for me! It is useful, not pretty.

After bookbinding I'm going to do my sewing projects. I need a rug in my studio and I want a few more longer shirts, or kameeze. I also want to do a quilt and just use up the large amount of fabrics I have still in my car.

Oh, I still have to sell my car...

Fiverr: Niagara Falls at Night

2011-09-08T02:05:00.001-05:00

One thing I love about these little commissions is that I would never really choose to paint any of this on my own really... These keep me from getting into a rut. I'm always trying something new.

Fiverr: Rooster

2011-09-06T21:30:00.001-05:00

Roosters are kinda cute and scary.

Sketches: Along the Road

2011-09-06T17:06:00.001-05:00

Back before I started getting car sick every time I even looked at a vehicle, I used to sketch the side of the road. Repetitive patterns and color, I loved it! Unfortunately I can no longer do this and must content myself with trying not to be sick by looking far off in the distance.

Loved finding this old thing in my sketch book though!

Fiverr: Teapot

2011-09-06T11:02:00.000-05:00

Just something I painted over the weekend, after the tropical storm and before I got sick. I'll have another soon before too long, I'll be ok too.

This thing I really like the colors I got in it. And though I think you can tell what I did from memory and what I did from photo, I think it holds together. I'll probably revisit this as a still life again!

CommissionII: His Close Up

2011-09-03T21:38:00.001-05:00

I put off his head till last because I just knew I wasn't going to make him look normal. Lucky for me I was wrong and besides his hair taking forever and a day his face came together really well. And I am lying about the hair. It really wasn't that hard, I just kept working from dark shadow to light, from warm shadow to cool highlights. I was really surprised how it turned out.

And really, I can't talk much about his face because it feels like I put some darks, filled up to highlight and played with a bit of cool and warm tones, but everything ended up in the right place and that included his eyes.

I love when things are in the right place and I surprise myself. Though it almost feels like I'm cheating because I haven't worked hard and where'd the paint go?

Anyway, I was thrilled! It's like I'm getting better at painting. More practice! Here I come!

CommissionII: Her Close Up

2011-09-03T20:54:00.001-05:00

I suppose I should just put all the finished images and what nots in one post, but all of the images are in my phone and I can only post one image at a time. It doesn't bother me too much, but for something like this it does sort of bother me. If it wasn't such a hassle to email my photos to myself and download them and make sure they look right I'd go ahead and do that. But I'm traveling and my computer is tucked away. I'll see what I can do.

The actual photograph I was working with was completely washed out. Full frontal lights, and forty some odd years of fading. There wasn't a whole lot to go on feature wise and a lot of this, frankly, I made up.

I added some color to the shadow so it wasn't a dark gray, I made sure there was some semblance of a mid tone, and I made sure people could distinguish between the lightest and the highlights. No washing out. Much. I'll post a picture of the photo later so you can see exactly what I was looking at. Believe me: I fixed problems. Her hair really was /that/ large. It had a lot less red in it. Truthfully it had a lot less color in it from fading, and I did my best to make it look better. It's not her, it's just what so many years do to not light fast inks!

Two more posts on this commission and tomorrow I start something completely different! Three new small commissions, will have two done tomorrow, maybe three if I get the information I need, and one larger pencil work I hope, but that'll keep me busy for a week or two!

Passport! The World is Mine!

2011-09-02T23:15:00.001-05:00

Oh, yes! I'm uber excited! Holla!

CommissionII: Finally Finished!

2011-09-02T22:22:00.000-05:00

Well, I say finally mostly because I used that phrase on commission the first and thought it would be a good tag line. All in all it wasn't that painful a painting for me. I took my time, didn't get over whelmed, and I think it turned out well. It's certainly not going to go down in history as one of my mature pieces or anything, but considering how I had been apart from painting I did well. Painting is a cruel mistress to those who spurn her.

I'm afraid this photo doesn't really do it justice and I plan to try to get a better photo of it tomorrow. Can't promise anything, but I do have details of the faces in the painting.

Mostly I'm used to using way more paint. This was very bare bones for me. You can see the under coat of raw sienna! This kind of bugs me even though it looks good. It looks good in the photo and it looks good in real life. I just wish I can convince part of me that it is good. The main reason I used so little paint was I got the effect I needed without adding more. The second reason is this painting is huge and I am not getting a ton of money for it and I can't afford to cover the painting with any more paint. Had it turned out bad I would have uses as much painting as needed to fix it. I was just lucky. Or skilled. Not talented.

CommissionII: Just the guy left

2011-09-02T10:51:00.001-05:00

Only pausing from painting to take a quick shot this morning. I'll take another as soon as I finish. Trying to get done today!

CommissionII: Getting Close

2011-08-31T21:26:00.001-05:00

I'll type something tomorrow. I'm almost certain I'm getting a migraine.

Fiverr: Civil War Man

2011-08-31T21:16:00.001-05:00

This one was a bit difficult for me. I had two photographs, one of a teenager in civilian clothes and one of the same as an adult, but in a war time uniform. I took the older man and put him in civilian clothes.

And gave the image color.

I think it turned out all right. I think it looks like him. And it's a pretty good painting.

Food: Home Made Chicken Noodle

2011-08-30T22:46:00.000-05:00

I know, I know, two food posts in a row! But I promise tomorrow I will have two art posts at least and a language post.

This I'm just happy it turned out all right. I thought I might have messed up, but I kept cooking and things turned out pretty much ok. I know I'm not the best chef in the world, but I like cooking with good ingredients and not out of a box.

I know I could cook fresher food, get the meat straight from a butcher or find fruit and veggies at a farmers market, and I do sometimes. But it's much easier and closer to go to the store and not hike across town or hitch a ride from my roomie people.

I suppose I'll have to get over my fear of city driving.

Nah, I'll just keep painting.

Oh, finished a painting tonight that has been giving me fits! But I'll post it tomorrow, along with explanation!

Food: Chicken Machani

2011-08-30T01:53:00.000-05:00

For some reason, I'm really creative when it comes to cooking. With painting and drawing I have a real process I follow. With cooking. Well. I usually start with an idea and it runs away screaming by the time I break out a pan.

For this endeavor I actually had an idea and a recipe. Chicken Machni is an Indian or Pakistani dish that I have had a couple of times and I have quite enjoyed. Though of course a few of the times I had Indian or Pakistani friends telling me "that's not how it really is..."

So I really have no clue how chicken machani is really supposed to taste! I have had, however, some excellent food made by Sufian-Bahi's wife who is one of the best cooks I know, so I know how good Indian food is supposed to taste. She even taught me how to make daal ka paratha which is my absolute favorite! Unfortunately I never learned how to make other foods from her, which is one of my major regrets!

So I hatched a plan to make some tasty chicken and gravy dish "like I had at Sufian-Bahi's house" knowing full well I had no idea how to do it. I surfed online looking for a recipe that called for things I had in stock (as I'm on a budget!) and mentally went through all the things I knew about food.

Cooking was kind of fun. I spent most of the time reading the ingredients and instructions and looking at what I had infront of me, making many, many decisions on the fly. "I dont need a whole box of butter! Good lord! I need more cilantro! I'm out of milk.... Ooh! Powdered milk, and it's organic: score! I don't really have gravy yet, thank you, cousin, for the cornstarch to thicken it up."

And on and on. Finally at the end of it I had something that wasn't too hot and spicy so my cousin could eat it, but something I found uber flavorful. And it certainly wasn't chicken machani, but it really tasted like Indian chicken I have had before. I was going to make alo paratha with it, but I was just tired by the end of it and broke out the insta-rice.

Maybe next time I will have all fresh ingredients too. I like cooking well on a budget.

Sketches: Memphis Park

2011-08-29T17:33:00.000-05:00

So it's been awhile since I have gone anywhere and sat down and actually drawn from life. So when my cousins' decided that we were going on picnic my first thought was. "It's way too early." But I drug myself out of bed and into the pre-noon sun and fixed us up a tasty picnic of lunch meat and cheese and hand made rolls and salad and melon and we set off toward the park.

I had no idea what to expect. In Ruston parks are trees and a lake and maybe there will be some people there. When we got to the Memphis park there were golfers and a museum and what looked like a bunch of people out for a carnival. The number of people steadily grew. There was one group practicing drums in what looked to be a giant jam session. The beats colored everything, giving the day a nice boho feel. Some people with hoola hoops and some with these strange sticks or balls and fabric practicing to the beat of them. I'm pretty sure I smelled evidence that a lot of people were high. Along the way there were people dressed up in period clothing having sword fighting lessons and gathered around. There was a team of people playing ultimate frisbee. And there were a ton of people walking their dogs and letting their dogs swim in the lake that had a very large sign: "No dogs allowed off leash or in lake" I am paraphrasing, but the idea was the same.

So I ended up drawing the people drumming, and I started drawing the trees and the lake, but I got distracted. (You can't really see a lake!) I think it will be fun to go there again. and paint some different people. I hope more sword fighters come again, because I didn't paint them. Honestly I couldn't, I kept cringing when the shorter guy wouldn't center himself and man up and block. And the other fighter was just moving his arms without any other body movement to help. As a sword fighter this disturbed me greatly and kept me from concentrating enough to paint them. I will try to be more artist than sword fighter next time though! I can't wait to see who else will show up, and what I will have a chance to sketch and draw!

Website!

2011-08-28T22:40:00.000-05:00

Website!

No, not one for me. I've still got a lot to do, photographing and photoshopping my work. But that will happen one day :)

No, no, my cousin has started her own blog talking about her new house and all of the projects she is doing. It's an older 1938 house and there are tons of things that need to be done, and have been done! So she's writing about her home improvement projects. She and her husband are definitely do it yourself people!

http://improvingourhome.blogspot.com/

And her husband started a blog as well. I am sure everyone wants to know how to get their own indentured servant to take care of cooking and cleaning, especially in a house like my cousins' with all of these large projects that are happening with both of them having jobs. Having an indentured servant is a great investment. He'll go through where to find one, how to pick one out, and how to ~~trick them into~~ offer them work. It's a blog that I read and laugh out loud! The humor is not for anyone, but I just love it. And it's a blog about me! (Sorta)

http://ourindenturedservant.blogspot.com/

Fiverr: Roxy

2011-08-28T11:33:00.000-05:00

Roxy
Oil on Mat Board
4x6"

I thought this one was really cute. Looks just like my Jack did, except Jacks ears were always really pointed. I thought this one wouldn't turn out really well, but in the end I think it did. Especially the eyes. I had fits with those eyes...

Process: Gessoing Mat Boards

2011-08-26T20:48:00.001-05:00

One way I like to save money is by practicing on pieces of mat or illustration or some other thin board. For larger work I use brown paper which is fun to work on, making the oil work more like pastel than paint; but for smaller pieces (less than 5x7 inches) I like something a little more stiff that is not going to roll up. Paper can be taped down to masonite and you don't have to prime it.

I guess technically you won't have to prime a piece of mat board or the like, but I prefer to prime it. An easy way to prime the board is hit it with a coat of shellac. Amber shellac can be found at Lowe's and last time I bought it, a quart cost $15.00, and lasts for just about ever. It gives the board a nice, smooth, glossy surface. It takes oil fairly well, though it will wipe completely off the surface so it's not good for rub ins, just thick wet into wet painting.

For something with more tooth, gesso works well. I always use three coats. The first one as smooth and as covering as possible. The second I make thicker so you can see the brushstrokes, all moving in one direction. The next coat, after that one has dried completely I do with thick lines going perpendicular to the first set. This gives the board a nice, woven texture, almost like a piece of canvas.

Anyway you choose to do it, it helps if the pieces are acid free. They'll actually keep then. You can use cardboard for the substrate if you wish, but your painting will not last because of the acid in the cardboard.

Anyway, it'll be good for practice if you don't want to spend a lot of money on canvas! I managed to get a ton of mat board for free, and have had it for years now! And had I not left my shellac open accidentally and ruined it I would have still been using that can.

Sketch

2011-08-26T13:23:00.001-05:00

Even if you know exactly how a painting is going to turn out because of the photo you're given, it's a good idea to sketch it out anyway!

I learned something about the neck of this dog, and I know to watch for it now when I'm painting. Plus I made some short hand notes about value!

Drawing: Mughees

2011-08-25T14:26:00.000-05:00

Mughees
5x7"
Wolff's Carbon Pencil aur Chalk

So I finished this pretty quickly this morning. It's been awhile since I've done a quick sketch like this. I like the toned paper and black and white.

I can see it's not drawn particularly well. Made him less thin than he really is.

I've got to practice by doing this again. Maybe just fix his cheek. Has to be more angled. Blah! Painting time now though.

CommissionII: I Keep Forgetting Photos!

2011-08-24T12:09:00.001-05:00

Here is a picture of what I did yesterday. I'll probably post what I do today, tomorrow :P

CommissionII: On Air

2011-08-24T00:17:00.000-05:00

Well, I managed to paint on my commission, live, in front of... six people. Two of those being my cousin and myself. I think that's a pretty good number, considering I might have tweeted about it. Maybe.

I also received an HD webcam today! I wasn't able to use it for the show, but I'm hoping if I stay up late enough tonight, I can get my computer to recognize it. Or do what I normally do in this situation. Yell for help really loudly and hope someone here, or maybe on google, can help me. If I can't do it tomorrow after sleep and Neill is unable to fix it, I will blame my computer and save up money to buy a new one.

I still have my commission that I worked on for awhile yesterday. Would have worked on it more had I been able to sleep last night and have woken up at a decent hour. Ok, ten isn't bad. But I need a running start! I need to get up! After everyone else, of course, but I'm weird like that. I'm feeling sleepy right now, and it's midnight, so hopefully I'll go straight to sleep and wake up at 830 or 9. That way I can get in a full days worth of painting, and not a half day. I've almost finished his jacket, got a lot of paint down on hers but had to stop because it was running and bit and instead of adding more of my paint, I just decided to let it dry and work on her face. And his face. I'll be glad when I get done with their clothes and background and then put the paint where it matters! I'm so oldschool, not treating all parts of the canvas equally!

And I've got another project I was thinking about doing but never really got together. Until now! I have all the stuff I need for it, and after I paint long and hard tomorrow I'll be starting more book binding! I have a couple of post bound books I want to make, and so I bought the book board I would need and some new paper. And I got all the stuff I needed to hand make me some paper! I was inspired by my brother who made some really awesome paper and that seemed like something I would want to do. And it was cheaper than buying the paper I wanted. So instead of five dollars a sheet I spent exactly 20 dollars and I can make all the paper I want. For all eternity and long as Melissa and Neill still have paper they need to shred. And I've got paper I need to shred, come to that!

I also have one more commission that I might be able to start soon. I probably mentioned it. I don't want to say much more about it other than that I will probably have one. I just have to get a dreaded price list together and be as detailed as possible. I'm sure everyone hates doing that. When I figure out how I am going to do it, I'll post about it. I'm sure everyone needs help with that! Especially me and it will help to be able to look back on how I did it when I have to do it again!

Sleep time. Definitely sleep time. I've done all the computer work I can! I need to be fresh for art.

Bookbinding: Post Binding

2011-08-22T18:46:00.001-05:00

Of all the books I bound during my bookbinding class, the post bound one turned out to be my favorite. It was also the easiest to make! Seriously.

Basically I took long rectangular paper and made it all pretty and straight, then made the cover with four pieces of book board, some bookcloth, and some cute pieces of paper. Then drill pressed the sucker and added the posts to hold it all together. Easy! This one even had a flap that made it a tiny bit harder, but still, one more piece of bookboard, a longer piece of bookcloth, and some magnets isn't rocket science!

I'm going to try and make another like this soon, but using nicer paper. And making it thicker will be fun too! I was thinking cold pressed watercolor paper, or some paper I make! It will be a fun project any way I do it!

Vacation photos and Prismacolor Pencil Tips!

2011-08-22T15:47:00.001-05:00

I was meaning to post some photos from vacation but I never ended up doing it. Since I'm lying here sick in bed, I thought that this would be a great way to pass the time! Not just from vacation though, but other art related things!

This butterfly photo is one of my favorites! One of my first colored pencil works with prismacolor pencils was done of this species of butterfly.

One thing I learned from that project while watching everyone do theirs: do not burnish with white or those awful blender pencils! It ends up looking chalky, or thin. To get rich layers of color, well, layer rich colors!

Saw too many people put down thick color right off. Not a good idea because you will have to put down thicker color to blend. Put down many layers of thin color and you can add dozens of colors to the space giving a luminous, thick, sexy quality to the drawing. Ok, sensuous was the word I was going for, but good drawing and good use of color is sexy!

And white. White isn't a nonentity. If you add it in top of a layer of good color to "blend" it, all you will have succeeded in doing is putting it behind milky glass. Not good. I've found taking colors and just layering them may take longer, but the difference between using white or a blender to blend and layering pigment is the difference between looking through a bathroom shower door and looking at Chartres cathedral windows!

I might do more tips on colored pencil soon. Just so I can stop going into art stores and hearing "I'd buy those colors but they're so expensive it's not worth it!"

... Um. Yeah. I wan to teach people how to really work with prismacolors! And to find the right type of pencil that works with their style!

I like using different brands of colored pencils, but I can't use them in the same ways! I have to adjust my decisions based on what the pencil can do! Asking a pencil from Freds to do the same thing as a prismacolor will just frustrate you and annoy the hell out of the pencil!

Fiverr: One is for sorrow...

2011-08-21T19:47:00.004-05:00

One for sorrow, two for mirth,
Three for a wedding, four for a birth,
Five for silver, six for gold,
Seven for a secret not to be told.
Eight for heaven, nine for hell,
And ten for the devil's own sel'

Trying for a stormy crow image on a church. The photographs of these small things are not turning out really well no matter when I take them. I think it turned out pretty okay, when it's not getting photographed. The photographs never have the colors I put into these things! It's starting to get on my nerves!

Maybe I should take out my camera and stop using my iPhone! Just used the colors on my pallet for my large commission. Hope to be done with that soon too. Still no painting on the webcam! I'm sorry. I'll do that soon for y'all!

I had a good day today. I wish I had more light so I can go out and paint! I'll just have to go out early tomorrow!

The Live Show

2011-08-21T13:23:00.000-05:00

So I haven't been able to do it live yet. I don't look very fresh after only three hours of sleep and yelling at dogs makes me kinda hoarse. That's kinda funny. Also my sense of humor dies a bit. Anyway, here will be the show! Yay!

Free desktop streaming application by Ustream

CommissionII: The Video

2011-08-20T02:35:00.002-05:00

~~Sorry I don't have a photograph of what I've done today. It got really dark really fast, and anything I photograph now will look incredibly yellow~~. The moment that light bulb goes out I'm putting in some natural light bulbs. I hope I don't find one that's too blue. I might review some bulbs soon. I'll post a photograph here tomorrow in any event.

But what I managed to set up is video! So I can hook up my computer and have myself painting online for everyone to see my process. I figure it will at least be fun. I remember I did it several years ago and I enjoyed it. And now I have a better space for painting, if I can make enough room for my web camera holder, or the third easel. I'll see how it looks when it's light out. The camera is pretty blurry so if I make money I might go for another camera too!

The only real problem I have is my computer does not like sound at all. It won't play any sound, and it won't record any sound. It has been doing this for awhile, and I will miss being able to answer questions and explain what I am doing while I paint. I remember doing that the first time I painted online and it made me feel less awkward, like I was an actual teacher, and not some random artist in front of a webcam.

The link to my art show profile is HERE. It's a little bit dull and drab, but I'll take time to fix it up if I actually keep doing this. I might decide I look to awful or paint too badly to continue. It seems like it will be fun though. I can dress up or something. And wear a smock. Isn't that a fun word? Smock. Smock smock smock smock smock! What's wrong with me?! It's late and I don't want to have another zombie dream. We'll go with that. Anyway, I plan on painting sometime after lunch because that's when the light is the best for video. And I'll probably be awake. So hop on in and see if I'll be broadcasting :) Don't laugh if I look funny either. You'd look funny too if you hadn't been sleeping well.

In other news, I may have another art commission soon. That would be good, because I need one after I get finished with this one. So far I haven't had to market a lot or sit down to really overhaul my online presence. I plan on doing that if the commissions stop coming in! I hope they don't.

So to talk about the actual painting!

I didn't get finished with her clothing, and I messed up the sleeve of his jacket so I am having to wait until it dries again. I guess I could wipe it off but it seems easier to just move on because it really needs some paint in that area anyway, even if the drawing is kind of off.

I'm using an unusual amount of color for this thing. I've got a list longer than just about any painting I've ever done. And it looks like I have been using less! I always find that is the case. If I limit myself I squeeze every last drop of color out of just a few tubes. If I don't put on limits I get lazy and let the colors come straight out of the tube without any thought. It's cheaper this way because I don't use my good colors a lot of time, and I use less of what I use because I do a lot less mixing.

I would feel embarrassed listing out all of my colors. But I suppose I will.

Permalba
Yellow Ocher
Naples Yellow
Cad Yellow Lt
Windsor Lemon Yellow
Dark Sienna
Burnt Sienna
Raw Umber
Burnt Umber
Lamp Black
Payne's Grey
Davey's Grey
Alizarin Crimson
Cad Red Lt
Sap Green

What I find funny is I have not opened a tube of actual blue this entire painting and it seems like my painting is swimming in it. The closest thing I have are those grey colors. And one of them look more green when you add white! I always get them confused so I'll have to look and see exactly which one does what.

I feel like I'm being a bit lazy with this painting, not using only the colors I can mix to get the colors I need. I guess I was so worried about not adding enough colors to drag the photograph out of the seventies that I kind of went overboard and just starting adding colors. The good thing is it seems to be working. It's not as seventies looking. Well, to me at least.

Wow. I've written so much ~~and there is not even a photograph. I'll definitely fix that tomorrow!~~

CommissionII: Actually Painting

2011-08-18T23:44:00.000-05:00

I'm finally at a point on this piece where it feels like I am actually painting, and not just putting paint on canvas. I'm actually working wet into wet and looking and really drawing. Right now I see a couple of huge mistakes, his shoulder comes out too much for one, which makes his head look incredibly small, and there are size problems with the side of his face. And just his face! I spent all night fighting with that smirk, and making it look balanced and friendly and not wonky and evil. And I technically wasn't even painting so chances are I'll lose that detail when I put some real paint on the face and will have to fight for it all over again!

No one better paint like me. Do as I say, not as I do!

I'm going to end up getting the jacket done tomorrow and start on hers. Maybe finish that as well if I get up early. I haven't been sleeping well and then once I get to sleep after tossing and turning I get up late, but only get 4-5 hours of sleep. Ugh. And plus I haven't been able to get this to work right and I've been hiding from this behind other work. But now the kitchen is done and all my stuff is moved in, so I really don't have anything to keep me away from it!

I'm just worried about it. Hope to have it done soon, Im normally much more confident! I don't know what's wrong with me!

Language: Urdu

2011-08-17T20:31:00.001-05:00

I'm getting back into language learning now that I have a lot more time on my hands. For awhile I just listened to my two Urdu songs and my one chapter of Harry Potter my yaarchan recorded for me!

I broke out my book of Urdu yaarchan's ami bought for me and a few of my Urdu books. I also got my password for livemocha and signed on to finish one of my assignments!

I have a lot more Japanese books on my computer but all of my actual books are at my house. But I want to learn Urdu first! I have a lot of great friends to help me, and friends are always greater than books!

(I know, considering my love of books! Blasphemy!)

Food: Squash and Mint Orzo

2011-08-17T14:31:00.001-05:00

Food
Squash and Mint Orzo

Being a cook is actually kind of fun. Right now you could almost call it my job, but instead of money it goes toward rent. I keep the food budget within a certain amount, the amount I save goes toward my rent. And when I'm not cooking I'm painting or blogging.

I think it's a brilliant set up for artists. Especially since I get a painting room in the mix. And a bunch of time to work.

Fiverr: Yarn and Knitting Needles

2011-08-17T13:46:00.002-05:00

Knitting Needles, Yarn Ball, Skein
Oil on Mat Board
4x5"

This is my first fiverr commission in awhile. I've done a bit of spinning and and weaving and I was actually kind of excited to get this commission. I've never painted any of my fiber arts creations, but I'll try to paint some of my creations from life soon. I've got some roving that I want to spin into yarn, and I want to paint it after I get done. Not the yarn, but a picture of the yarn!

I should really start sleeping. Insomnia sucks.

Process

2011-08-16T16:21:00.000-05:00

When I first get a commission of any type I always sketch my ideas in my sketch book, even if I'm having to work directly from a photograph.

Helps me see value and design!

Fiverr

2011-08-16T14:57:00.000-05:00

Okay! Awhile ago I was using fiverr to sell small 4x5" paintings of mine at an incredibly cheap price (five dollah!) and quit when I didn't have time to do a lot of paintings. But now that I have moved and I don't have a job at Lowe's I now have plenty of time to work on these little paintings.

I don't get a lot of money off of them, but I really like working on them. They are small, I don't have to set up a painting as most people know exactly what they want, and I get money for practice that I would do for free. And you do not have to pay a lot of money to get a small painting of mine!

That being said I don't work on canvas or canvas board, only mat board, I don't use my very expensive paint, though I still use light fast paint, and I make sure it ships without being damaged. I show people what they are getting before it ships and will try and fix any problems, though so far no one has had any!

I sort of lost my login information for my other account, so I just made a new one here: http://fiverr.com/users/cloud8point9/gigs/create-a-four-by-five-inch-original-oil-painting-on-mat-board

If you are interested in past gigs I have done, I have tagged them all with the "fiverr" tag on my blog, here. If you have any questions about what I will do, just comment, or send me a convo over fiverr. You can also have me not post your painting on my blog.

Well, I'm going to get back to painting :)

CommissionII: Covering the Lines

2011-08-16T14:29:00.002-05:00

So I fixed the drawing but it left a ton of marks on the background. So I'm trying to cover up those marks with lots of opaque colors like white. And his jacket ended up blue... What was I thinking? I guess more about value and the seventies instead of what I am doing.
Oh well, once it dries that won't be hard to fix at all, now that I'm aware of it. The fun part is I don't even have a blue in my palette! It's coming from the grey I decided on, and the warm orange background.
Color theory ftw!

CommissionII: uh...

2011-08-14T18:40:00.000-05:00

I haven't done much... Will post more when I'm not carsick...

CommissionII: The Background

2011-08-12T09:34:00.001-05:00

Normally I don't work on one area like this, but I thought I'd add the back to give me something to work with, plus I find it quick and easy. I was going for quick! This is how I started yesterday, and I've done quite a bit more since then, but I have to get a picture of it.

Also, it's a bit too blue on my phone. There are a ton more colors in the actual background.

No vermillion yet. I'm saving that!

New Art Store

2011-08-10T22:57:00.001-05:00

~~New blog post to follow shortly!~~

One thing I was worried about when moving was finding out how I was going to get all of my art supplies without having a car to drive to an art supply store. I agonized over bus routes and wondered if I could borrow my cousin's car and then I wondered if I would be able to drive in city traffic. (I have a slight problem with left turns without a signal and there seems to be a fair few here. Not knowing where these are would cause me a lot of stress.) I know that this doesn't bother some people, but coming from a place where a traffic jam is a three car pile up behind a tractor, well, I know it will take some getting used to if I do start driving.

So, my cousin, while driving a couple of days ago, pointed out this building with "Discount Art Supplies" over the door. In an offhand way, she mentioned: "This is the art store you'd be able to walk to. I don't know if it's any good..." and I immediately perked up. Any place I could walk to, even though it looked like we were starting to get into the rough side of town, would be preferable to some place I'd have to drive to.

So today was the first day we actually walked there. I'm lucky she came with me because I would have been so lost. Plus I would have freaked out over the amount of traffic at the end and walked straight back. I don't do well with crowds, obviously!

But the store was great! It was a tiny store but just about everything in it was for the serious artist. No cheap winton paint here! Before I left I took all my cash out of my wallet so I wouldn't go crazy in the store, no matter what was there. Unfortunately I still had my debit card... this is not good when I find my first tube of vermillion that's not attached to the word "hue"... As a lover of the Zorn Palette, not having a tube of vermillion and never even having used it has always seemed like a sin to me. Ordering it would have been an option but the price has always made me shy away. I knew however whenever I saw it in person I'd probably end up and buy it. And that is exactly what happened (see picture above!)

The good news about my splurge is that I now love this shop since I A.) finally own a tube of vermillion, B.) Received a free small tube of ultramarine blue, and C.) got two free samples of paper! Woo! New art store FTW! *Does the happy art store dance* They are also selling a press, something that I will be saving up for if at all possible! And kilns! And beautiful paper! And, my favorite: bookbinding supplies! As soon as I am done with my commission I will be doing so much book binding it will be unreal! Painting and books! I am so happy :)

Also I plan to do some work with vermillion and actually see how it works. I have been wondering which color it's closest to (I'm told cad red light, but I'll actually get to see first hand!) and how it works mixed with different paint and... well, as soon as I get my commission done I will do a ton of work with my beloved Zorn Palette. <3 yay.

So, if you're in Memphis there is a great art supply store. I just wish I could remember the names of the streets. I think one is Highland and the other is Summer. Or Southern. Or...

You know, I should really learn to pay attention! I'll have to get there by myself next time!

Moved, finally!

2011-08-10T00:27:00.002-05:00

Well, I am now currently in Memphis Tennessee and this is going to be my new painting room. Tons of natural light from the south, but in a fairly shady yard so all the light is diffused. I hope this works. We'll see how it turns out once I start painting from life out there. It was actually quite terrible at first but Melissa and I got it cleaned up and it smells and feels great. I can even walk out there barefoot. I'm still working on the kitchen. Melissa has forbidden me saying much about that. So I won't... Much.

I have everything moved except for a few things that didn't fit in my tiny little Honda, like my wood easel. I'm using my tiny portable one which is nice, but a little shaky when I'm working so large. I'm hoping painting goes ok tomorrow. I'm trying to finish my painting in the next two days (probably not going to happen) so I can paint what I want to in Eureka Springs (I will probably be painting this commission up there as well.)

I also haven't blogged because my computer is stubbornly refusing to connect to the internet. Right now I am on my phone, so if things are a bit off, I am sorry. I also don't type well on it, and I've already caught several mistakes, whether from auto correct or not I am unsure, but it's still getting under my skin. Hopefully my computer will stop being homesick and let me connect so I can type a decent blog post!

As far as the painting goes I have found several things wrong that I need to address, which I would have caught doing the Giacometti method. I'm working completely on the drawing tomorrow! I need to redeem myself.