Drawing

This is a new drawing!

Artist: Peter Jones

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!

Artist: Jessie Tucker

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

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

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

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

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?!