Photos of the week

Photography class is going great; I’m learning more and more every day. I’ll be honest, I was really intimidated at first. There’s so many different things that can affect the way your photos turn out, starting with your initial camera settings, how you develop your film, how you deal with it on the enlarger, and ulimately how you process the prints. It’s a lot to take in, but it’s getting better by the week. Having a patient and talented instructor helps, and so do youtube videos! Starting in the fall, all the colleges in my area are changing their photo curriculum to exclude darkroom photography from the intro class, but if you find yourself taking a darkroom course, and you need some extra refreshing, these videos from Alex Czisny saved my sanity.

Here are a few more prints I made this week… they weren’t as much about content as much as they were about becoming accustomed to a manual 35mm.

Photography!

What you are looking at is my first products of real-deal, 35 mm film photography developing and darkroom printing. It’s pretty surreal to me; I never thought I’d actually make my own prints.

I still have some contrast tweaking to do with these, in addition to getting the dust off the negative from the first print if any of you professionals noticed that. ;) It’s been a challenging few weeks so far, but I’m enjoying it. I’ll keep you updated!

I’m here!

I know, I know, it’s been weeks. Ever since classes ended, I’ve been taking some time to catch up a lot of the stuff that got neglected during the semester. On Tuesday, I’m going to start a photography class and I’m excited to learn about the world of 35mm SLR; a big change from my usual digital dependency. Of course I’ll keep you updated on my work and progress in the class, so stay tuned. Other future goals I have for myself would include a cake decorating class (I’ve always wanted to learn more), to work on some of my own personal art, and to keep the posts coming.

That’s pretty much it for now, just wanted to touch base! Before I leave, I wanted to show you my completed Metamorphosis series as a whole that I finally got the motivation to pin up and photograph. I’ll put the individuals photos up in my portfolio link. Enjoy! Talk to you soon. xo

And another semester closes…

Chocolate Tromp L'oeil (in progress :) 11x17 oil on panel

Yes, those are my reference chocolates to the far right. Yes, I’ve eaten plenty of them :)  This was definitely my favorite project from painting this semester.

Final self-portrait, 22x30, conte on paper

^ Love :) my favorite out of all the compositional figure drawings I’ve done.

Metamorphosis series (3 large above) - separate Order and Chaos piece below. I was applying for something @ school, so I just snapped a quick pic of the display. Charcoal on paper

I’m winding down from a hectic few previous weeks of finals. It was actually the first Cinco where I wasn’t bogged down by finals, and did I go out for a margarita? No. …How lame. ;)

Thanks to anyone who’s been following my blog since I started it at the beginning of the semester. It’s been quite a journey so far, whether it was improving my talent (drawing) or learning a new skill (painting) but it’s definitely been enjoyable for me. I’ll do my best to keep you updated during this smoldering Phoenix summer. Enjoy the rest of your week!

Drawing update

26x40, charcoal on paper

This is the second installment of my butterfly series that I finished a few nights ago. I like it, but I’m not sure about it. I think I was trying too hard to make it go with the first one in terms of the mark making. I’m afraid I might have over worked it. I also have it hung up in my studio, so I think I’m looking at it too much to where it’s almost annoying me. I don’t know, I’m going to show it to my instructor tomorrow.

With that on hold, I’ve been working on my 3rd installment.

26x40, charcoal on paper

This time I decided to transition into something different, but still related to my subject. I’m liking it so far, it’s nice working with something a little more 3-D instead of the almost 2-D structure of a butterfly. I still have a lot of work to do with this one, but I’m liking where it’s going so far. :)

Finally, last night I established my life drawing self-portrait a little better. I figured out what composition and pose I’d go with & did the initial planning on paper (right side).

It’s more of a challenge than I thought it would be, drawing my entire body. I think it’s partly because I don’t have an easel in my studio… well, I’m looking forward to seeing where it goes.

That’s all for now :) thanks for stopping by & have a great week.

Trompe L’oeil and beyond

As the semester wraps up in the next few weeks, I’ll be a pretty busy bee – or at least I ought to be. I have plenty of projects & assignments in mind that are going to be due so I’m going to do my best to keep my game up! In Drawing IV, we’ve been working further on our series drawings (remember the butterfly from a few posts ago?)  I’ve been working on 2 larger drawings to accompany it, in addition to 2 smaller, 8×10 images to complete the series. I’ll try to get some of those images up for you as I can, but you can expect to see the full series a few weeks into May. :)

In life drawing, I’m currently working on my self portrait for the final project. Wait… did I just say “life drawing” and “self portrait” in the same sentence? Haha, I was a little worried when I first heard the assignment, but no, I don’t have to draw myself in the nude. I just have to include myself in a composition with 2 other life drawing models, whether it’s my full figure or just my face. I’ve already started working on it & I’m looking forward to seeing the final product. You’ll see!

Lastly, I’ve started my final project in painting – the Trompe L’oeil (French for Trick of the Eye) . A Trompe L’oeil is basically a very realistic painting that can pass off as the real thing. With that said, it’s ideal to paint the subject on the same size canvas as it would be in real life. Some examples…

Escaping Criticism - Pere Borrell del Caso (1835-1910)

The artist essentially painted a painting – including the frame as an added effect. The figure is painted so realistically, it looks as if it’s actually emerging from the painting as his hands and foot cross over the faux frame.

Cornelis Gijbrechts c. 17th century 101.9 x 83.4 cm

A painter’s imitation of a bulletin board

Example of a faux window. Source: turtlecreations.com

There are so many great examples… do a search sometime and check them out. When it came to my own idea, I knew I wanted to do something fun and maybe treat-like. So… this is what came to mind:

Yep, I’m doing a box of truffles for my Trompe L’oeil. Do I think I’m crazy for choosing it? Yep. Is it going to take forever? Yep. Do I regret it? No. I’m enjoying it so far. I went all out and bought a few small boxes for reference, & my professor’s giving me a hard time everytime he smells them. “You need to finish this painting so you can eat them already!” He probably wants in on it too, but I don’t blame him. It’s soo hard not to eat my reference!

For my painting, I went with an 11×14 Ampersand Gessobord with a 2 inch deep cradle to give it a box illusion. I taped off a small border that I plan on painting gold later. I gave it a black acrylic underpainting using Liquitex Soft Body to sustain the smooth surface of the board to make it easier for fine detail. Then using a white Prisma colored pencil, I marked the layout I wanted of the different shapes and textures of the truffles. As you can see, I’ve started with the wrappers first – the hardest, tedious part. I can’t wait until I’m done with those so I can get onto the fun part of the assorted chocolate. I’m really excited about this piece. I’ll keep you updated.

Have a great week. xo

Amy Sol

Hello. :) I know I might have mentioned Amy Sol on here a few times, but I thought I would give you a little more of an in-depth review on why she’s one of my favorite artists.

What initially attracted me about Amy Sol’s work was the whimsical, almost idealistic feel of it. At first glance, her work almost looks digital. Years of developing her own technique, style and color palette have given Amy Sol to ability to create beautifully rendered acrylic paintings (partially the reason she chooses acrylic.) What also attracted me to her work was the subject matter. As an artist, two of my favorite subject matters have also been the female form and animals. Both the figures and animals in her work are created so beautifully, and the sense of reluctance in the female figures leaves the piece open for interpretation for viewers.

Here’s an interesting video of Amy Sol talking about her work and creative process:

The Apple and the String, Amy Sol

Kokiri Carousel, Amy Sol

Well, just wanted to share that with you. These are just a few of her older pieces, I encourage you to check out some of her newer work on her website. Hoping to give you an update on what crazy stuff I’ve been working on soon. Have a great week. :) xo