Painting - Cutie on Tea Towel

Had some paint that hasn't dried on my pallet and instead of scraping it off, I did this small painting. Had to be kind of creative with my color choices because I didn't have all the colors I was used to. Anyway, it's a tiny cutie on a tea towel and the painting is like 4x5 or 3x4, I will find out when I get back home. Plus, I'll send out the newsletter <3

All the Children of the World

Hmm. I was guilted into doing a large mural for a church nursery and the theme decided on was "All the Children of the World".

So now I'm doing a ton of research on cultural or tradition clothing for 43 different countries.

Then I have to decide on clothes and children to paint. And then I have to arrange and paint everything to look nice on a 20+foot long wall.

The hardest part of this so far has been the research. I can't stay on one thing, I get so distracted by the history and the fabrication and the meaning and how everything is decorated and where each symbol comes from and then how the clothing has evolved and...

... I am such a nerd and it's making this near impossible.

Art Studio Clean Out

Oh my God, I knew I had a lot of work, but honestly! I think it's multiplying. And I don't remember making so much crap. Okay, I lie. I remember making it. I just didn't remember how much of it was crap. I hope that means I'm getting tons better.

A lot of it is getting chunked, but some of it I'll post. And some of it I'll chunk or repaint after I post. I just have way too much... junk.

And look:  Landscapes

Painting - Dried Pomegranate

Pomegranate
Oil on Mat Board
7.25" x 5.625"

Started this one last night, but it was looking bad so I didn't finish. This isn't actually the "done" one, but I ran out of light to take a good picture. (It's pretty cloudy and late here) Tomorrow I will have a good photo as well.

I've started to put all my paintings up here: https://www.wepay.com/stores/portraits-and-pieces

Been trying to get out of working with PayPal. I've been having problems. Anyway, I think I'm going to write tonight. I've got painting going, and piano practice, and other things, but I've put off writing and other work. I'm going to do that now! Woot.

Painting - Blue Jar

Blue Jar
Smallish
Oil on Mat Board

Just decided to do some painting and I had this little jar around and so I painted it. Also, I painted an artichoke. And a Styrofoam head. And a dried pomegranate. This is the only one that turned out semi decent. Yay. Anyway, plan to do more paintings. I finished up a ton of book binding too.

I'm going to be putting some of these on my website to sell. Soon I suppose. If you want first dibbs, just comment or send me a message.

Laters!

Sketch - River

River
Sketches
Pencil and Paper

I am going to be doing a painting of River and his mom Jessie, and here is a sketch of some practice River expressions. Omg, adorable *hugs*

Not the best drawings I've ever done, but they are drawings. Can't wait to start the painting.

Painting - Sari Lady

Lady in Sari
Giant
Acrylic on Paper

Okay, so it's really not giant, but it's much bigger than I'm used to working. Around 22 x 28, though I haven't actually measured it. I did it with left over walmart craft paint and some paper I had left over from some other craft project.

I've been suffering from insomnia pretty bad, and I've been doing this when my mind can't take any more coding. Apparently it can't take any more photographs either, but, eh, I'll work on that tomorrow! No matter how I hold my iPhone or prop my picture up, her head looks darker. Bah. Even a bit of creative post production didn't help it, not that I was trying that hard.

I keep looking at this going, "I wish I had a real model... " Photographs don't usually work for me, and that's all I had. Of course, even if I did have a model I don't have a sari for them to model. Although I do have a ton of fabric. I'm sure I could have rigged something up.

Anyway, I am pretty proud of the fact that I did a larger painting, even as just a reaction to not sleeping. When I'm done with my project, I'm going to do more I think!

Watercolor - Lara

Lara has to be one of my favorite models. She has excellent features, a great look, and she naturally stays still.

I did this watercolor from a sketch in my book. It doesn't really look like Laray, but I think the painting turned out as a good painting sketch. Might do something similar next, because I like this style. Sorry for the bad photos. I've been out of town and it's all iPhone, when I have anything!

Sketchbook - Italian Sketch

This is a sketch in my sketchbook from Italy. I sat on the beach and painted the hills and houses, and I turned around and painted the mountains on the other side of me. I wish I could remember where we were, but we went everywhere and I pretty much just could not keep up.

Anyway, I'm doing a lot of coding for a project, so I won't have a ton of new paintings, but I'll try to post some things. Probably sketches from my Italy trip, or small things I'm doing around here.

Sketch - iHop Sam

Sam at iHop
iHop menu size
iHop menu and iHop crayons

I had mentioned this in my "What I Do at Restaurants" post a couple of posts ago and I happened to have this on my iPhone. It's such a bad photo, and the drawing is off, but it's what I get for working from life using very hyper people as models. I miss Lara as a model, as she was so still, and had such great features!

This I did with the pen I always have with me on the back of the ihop menu. The color is from their crayons. You can do a lot of neat stuff with the crayons you get at restaurants. I use them whenever possible.

I keep reading, "If I only had good pens/inks/markers/crayons/colored pencils/computer software..." and I just have to say, if you can't do it with bad materials, good materials aren't going to magically make you better. They will make things easier, but not better! Having better materials wouldn't have made my drawings any better.

Painting - Poppies

Poppies
ACEO
Acrylic

I've been going through my phone and the photos that are on it and I have been doing paintings from my photos. Here are some poppies from when I worked at Lowes. Unfortunately, these were planted in our garden and they did not survive. I am not a horticultural expert at all.

Don't have much to say about this one I'm afraid. Just more painting practice.

Master Copy - Paint Chart

Here is what I meant by a paint chart in my last post. I recognized quite early that my normal methods and knowledge when it comes to color theory were quite useless when faced with these less than ideal paints. This is why you should always use the best paint you can buy whenever possible. Because good paint will actually work.

As you can see, these paints had a hard time greying down, and mixing doesn't always produce what you would expect. Doing a classical painting was a challenge. I had done some landscapes that turned out better, but I sold those before I could get a good photo.

Anyway, I'm off to paint more!

Master Copy

Here is a new painting I did using some cheap paint from walmart and some ACEO sized Bristol paper. It's really difficult to use bad paint because it doesn't mix as paint is supposed to. I did a large grid of paint combinations and used that to see how the paint would mix and that's how I worked everything out. Working this way does make me a bit more sensitive to color because I can't put my brain on automatic. I have to think about everything I'm mixing and how it will all work out.

Also, I like the challenge of using paint most people associate with terrible craft projects to create something nice. Plus, it's what I had left over from a project and I really didn't want to break out the oils for a bit of practice.

Mastercopy - WIP

So, what do I do with left over two dollar wal-mart paint in little tubs? That's right! Master copy time! This little thing is done after a miniature my friend has. It's not done, but I thought I'd post what I had.

I'm sorry I didn't post a picture of a blue dog copy I had done for my friend's second cousin who was visiting from jerusalem. I'll have to ask her to send a picture. That was the reason I had bought the cheap paint to begin with! Even though the cheap paint comes in horrible garish colors, you can if you are sensitive, get something really nice. Though truth be told I am not sensitive, I did a huge chart of the colors and how they mixed together. They do not act like normal paint at all!!

New Dress

I've always wanted to do a large knitting project, and so I decided a long time ago that I was going to knit this dress. So I had been trying for awhile, and I actually had to frog it twice. But after coming back from Italy I knew I had to finish. So I locked myself in my room and now this sucker is done! It's a cotton acrylic blend yarn and I put it in the washer and drier now in the hopes it will get a bit smaller. As you can see, it's a bit large for me. And that's after I changed up some of the measurements!

Hopefully it'll come out looking great and I can get back to painting! And cross this off my bucket list :)

Sketch: What I do in Restaurants

Lara Sketch

Paper Place Mat

Pen, Chalk, Watercolor

So, in Italy there were several places I ate at that had paper place mats. I always have a pen with me and I never can resist a chance to draw. I also had chalk and watercolor for this one. You can tell because of all the wrinkles.

At one restaurant, a waiter actually gave me a pile of place mats when we left! Best gift evar. He didn't speak English at all, and he gave the paper to Sachel at first, so we were a bit confused. But we got Christian to translate and it turns out he was giving 'em to me. I am deciding how I want to use them! I am seriously considering binding them into a sketchbook, but I'm unsure how I want to do it. I love the long format for drawing, but it would fold into a perfect sketchbook size. I'll look for inspiration, and if y'all have any ideas, hit me up in the comments!

I always leave my art at the restaurants. I have no idea why. You should see what I've left in ihop! I hope my drawings don't get thrown away, but you never know what will happen when you leave art out there. I'll actually start posting art I've done on place mats more often. They're becoming more elaborate... Actually, I'm curious. Does anyone out there have a piece of my art? I think that would be a cool way to meet people. Kind of a "message in a bottle" serendipity.

Anyways.

This is a sketch of Lara. She's my favorite model evar. Yes.

Guess where I've been!

If you guessed "Italy!" then you'd be right! Omg. I'm at the DFW airport right now waiting for a flight and I've been up since 4:00am. It's 12:56am (where I left) and after these last 10 days and being up almost 21 hours now, I am /tired/...

This probably doesn't make sense. I'm babbling. More art soon:D

An Artist Statement

Though artists are visual creatures, they still have to deal with words and people. I keep hearing how art should speak for itself, as though that is some sort of justification to get out of writing anything about art. Unfortunately it has been my experience that art very rarely speaks for itself. I see it move people beyond words, but for people to talk about art and to fully understand, there usually has to be an exchange of words.

Pick any well known piece of art, and there will be a lot written on it. The writers of this information will pull from what the artist says about the work, usually from letters or journals. These artists have made a statement about their work, and that statement can influence how we study and perceive the work today. Some art does not have a statement by the artist associated with it. When people write about these pieces, the writers can come up with different meanings, based on their knowledge and their own experiences. For example, the Titian painting I've posted here has many interpretations associated with it.

Writing about your art can help people understand the meaning, or the reasoning behind certain choices you make as the artist. Not many people will study art in such depth as to notice a connection between your theme and your medium. Or the imagery you've chosen and the colors. An artist statement can help an artist understand your art and your choices. I find if people understand the art they look at, they have the ability to enjoy it more.

Even with the invention of tumblr or pinterest and other image based sites, the web is mostly searched through text. For your art to get found in the sea of google images, you have to make it searchable using words and descriptions. Even if you don't care how people read into your art, an artist statement will help with getting people to your art. Every artist wants more eyes on their work. And they should be the correct eyes, and writing a good artist statement should help with that.

These are my arguments for having a good artist statement!

So how do you get an artist statement?

The first way is to write it yourself. This is the cheapest, and if you don't like writing, most frustrating way to go about this. But, the good news is, you are in complete control. This can be good and bad. Good in you can get exactly where you want to go, and bad in  that you could crash horribly in a ditch and never know it. Sorry for the extended metaphor there. If you knew that was a metaphor before I said it, and you can spell "metaphor" without looking, and you know that quotation marks should never be used for emphasis, you can go write your artist statement now. You'll do fine. As long as you remember it is "a lot" and that you probably shouldn't use it anyway, and you definitely shouldn't write a lot. Three to four paragraphs max.

But let's say you are uncomfortable writing. Especially about your baby. Another way is to beg one of your English grad friends from college or an artist friend who has writing ability to help. This is good because if they see your desperation and pouting lips, you can probably get a pretty good discount. They'll probably be grumpy because some evil professor is making them read A Feast of Snakes and all they really want to do with the book is bury it. Or someone is trying to get writing from them. Try and get a person that is aware of your art. Or someone you can make aware of your art. The trick usually isn't the writing. It's trying to get someone who actually understands a bit about what you're doing and why and how this fits into art history. Remember that they are like you! Don't you hate it when someone asks for free art? Try and barter if you don't have money! If they like your art enough to trade for their art (yes, writing is an art form!) then they should write something good about it.

Or if you really hate writing and all things English and you go out of your way to avoid literary nerdy types, you might want to or have to hire someone. Unfortunately this is a pretty specialized market. You not only have to hire a writer, but a writer who understands art. Just like with bullying a friend to do it, you have to bully the right friend, and here you have to hire the right writer. When someone googles, "Artist Statement Writer" they get a ton of sites and links to places that will help you with your artist statement by offering tips and ideas and even some how to cookie cutter scripts. All fine and dandy for people we left up there who wanted to write there own. Not so good for those of us down here. Finding a writer to write artist's statements is a little difficult to google.

So I went and I found Rachelle Nones. She's a writer with a background in art who writes artist statements. Yes! I have done the work of finding you a writer who knows art and writes artist's statements. Aren't I awesome? Her initial consultation is free, and you get a free e-book just for talking with her. You should go check her out, check out what she offers artists, and leave her some feedback. She doesn't just write. She offers consultations, editing, and even coaching. This is really awesome stuff for artists who need help with this whole writing thing! I think when I google Artist Statement Writer her site should come up first, which is why I'm going to link her site to that phrase!

Do you want an artist statement? Do you have a statement? Did you write it yourself? Did you get help from friends? Did you hire someone? Who did you hire and how did it go? Link to your artist statement and story in the comments!

I wrote my own, and I've got it on my website!

Painting - Star Lady 2

Star Lady 2
Oil on Canvas


So... I redid this one. I think I like this new one better. I've decided it's really hard to do figures and portraits so small. Even though I've been practicing (a lot) I don't know if I'm actually getting any better. I think I should start painting larger. This is either 5x7 or 4x6 (forgot to measure and now it's in the other room. I'm being lazy right now) and I'm missing working with feet, rather than inches. Although, there is something nice about saying "60 inch high canvas"

Also, I am super stoked about the Italy trip I am about to go on. Stoked and nervous and excited and worried and really happy and... I'm really just a big ball of emotion right now. Trying to get enough money to extend my trip and take a side vacation to CERN <3 The physicist in me would completely nerd out on that. And all I'm lacking is about $600.

Anyone need a painting quick? :D

Painting - Star Lady

Star Lady
Oil on Canvas
5x7

Hey there, long time no blog. Must admit I've not been super busy. Just trying to do a difficult commission, get ready for Italy, work on this commission, get over a terrible cold, and get another computer that will connect to the internet. Honestly, I haven't even been doing cool drawings in drawsome. Just regular stick figures!

So far, the computer has been the big deal. Sickness I can handle, but I didn't want to head on back up to Memphis while sick since my cousin is expecting her little bundle of joy. However, my computer not connecting here, and deciding not to charge (I blame bouncing dogs pulling the cord out over and over. I'm so not a dog person) has caused my ability to upload images to just... diminish.

I've painted a bit, though for the most part I've been busy trying to do commissions that are difficult. this one wasn't that bad. There were a few places I had problems and had to restart, but it could have been worse.

The other portrait... wow. I can't even begin to list the problems I am having with it. It's always tough to work from a photo when you like working from life. It's worse when you've got about four bad photos and you kinda have to make something up! And it's for family. And they have their ideas. And you were supposed to have met the person and know what they looked like... when you were ten.

I have a feeling this painting is going to take a lot longer. Oh yes. I won't say the project is beyond my power, but my frustration is making it difficult.