January show!

Well, I am now home for the holidays (yay for time off!). This is just a small update to let you guys know that during the month of January, three of my paintings will be on display at 688 Sutter st in downtown San Francisco. :) I invite everyone to attend the reception from 6pm to 9pm on January 4th also, it should be very cool, and there will be lots of great artwork to look at!

Sketchbook stuff

Just some junk from my sketchbook this week. I used to draw a lot of women from Hair magazines and such, and I suddenly got into the mood to doodle some more. :)

Photos!

Yeah, I know it's not as good as a painting update, or even a sketch update, but these are my photos from my Photography class. I'm actually turning them in this Monday as my portfolio. Overall, I really like them, and I'm happy that I now know how to use my camera. :) portfolio_img1.JPG portfolio_img2.JPG portfolio_img3.JPG portfolio_img4.JPG portfolio_img5.JPG

Blog color?

So I posted a request on wetcanvas.com for a critique on my blog, and the overwhelming consensus was that the grey background was too dreary (hmm.. might have to remodle the rest of the site also). I could change the background back to its original white color, but I really want something more unique. If anyone has any suggestions or thoughts, that would be awesome. Otherwise, I'll probably start dabbling with the color this weekend, or shortly after finals.

Don't lick your brushes!

Someone e-mailed me this article the other day, and I thought I would share it: http://www.trueart.info/art_hardware.htm I especially liked the point concerning cadmium colors. The use of hues instead of genuine cadmium colors, for instance, might make an artist seem less than professional.. despite the fact that hues are much less toxic. Actually, the article causes me to think about a few things, really. For the most part, I think a lot of artists have a vague notion (at least) that their mediums are hazardous. But I've never really investigated anything more than the basics (turps are bad, cads are bad, don't lick your brushes.. etc). If I did, would I change my habits? What if my work didn't look as good, or what if I was told that I was being unprofessional by not using toxic products? Hmm.. So, to all the artists out there.. what do you think? Are you health conscious? Would you suddenly change your ways?

Sketchbook junk

Just a couple of sketches this week.. no journal paintings. Currently, I'm hard at work on two different series, so I'm trying to focus on finishing those (though it will be a while before they are finished). I'm very excited about both of them! Hopefully, at the end of the semester (or maybe when I return from Christmas break), I should have enough images in at least one of my new series to show you guys what I've been up to. So stay tuned! :)

Journal painting..

This week I had a surprising amount of spare time, so I used it to goof off and recollect. :) I actually feel like I'm ready to start painting and sketching again. So here's a study I did tonight of my one, and only, emergency purse (I'm typically a backpack person). The thing I like most about acrylics.. is that I can invent all kinds of trippy colors and I don't have to worry much about the painting becoming mud. I can just play with it until something starts to look "right". :)

My 41st blog entry..

Sorry I haven't updated the blog with anything new the past couple of weeks.. I'm still busy writing essays. UGH, I hate it. I'll post a couple of them for you guys at the end of this semester though. The one I wrote last week is actually an article on holding an open studio, and it might be of some interest. I'm also going back to doing more of my own work, so I haven't been doing quite as many studies lately. I want to push myself to think outside the box of "set up still life and paint it" as well.. or at least look for more off-beat compositions. Anywho, this week's update is just a sketch from my sketchbook I did while I was gallery sitting for Artspan. It's composed from three different things, so yeah, my leg right under my arm isn't supposed to make any sense. :P

Pretty photo

Sooo.. last weekend was my last weekend volunteering for Artspan, and to fill in the empty slot in my schedule this weekend, I volunteered for the Academy's faculty auction. :P It's amazing how competitive some people got when bidding. It was a nice party though, lots of great artwork, saw a lot of school friends (though I couldn't really chit-chat because I was working); wish I had taken some photos. But speaking of photos, tonight I went out with a friend to take photos in the park. Here's a little something from the shoot. :)

Happy Halloween!

I love Halloween. Actually, I think it's probably my favorite holiday.. just because I get to eat a lot of chocolate and wear funny hats. :D Besides treating myself to some chocolates (as if I don't consume enough on a daily basis already..), I treated myself to some painting also. :) Here's my latest journal entry!

Journal painting..

Ugh, midterms. I'm starting to work more on my portfolio again also, so I'm not doing as much of this stuff. I'm ready to go back to my own work, I think. I've missed it. But, as soon as midterms are over, I'll start doing more journal stuff again. Just being able to play like this is good therapy for me.

Site update, Subscription, and Saatchi.

I finally updated the gallery with two new pieces, and I have also updated the Links page. Go check 'em out. :) A subscription feed has been added to this blog too, so if you have been keeping up with me and want to know when I blog, scroll down and subscribe! After that, they will confirm your subscription in an e-mail, so if you don't get it, check in Junk. Finally, I have signed up for the Your Gallery at Saatchi Gallery on-line. My Saatchi Gallery So here's the link. :) I'll put up more images there soon.

Sketches

Well, I was going to post up a painting from my journal along with this, but the photo just had way too much noise in it. :P Soo.. here's a few sketches I did over in Union Square the other day. I like birds. They're fun. :)

Weekly journal entry

Maybe I'll make this a weekly, or bi-weekly thing.. but here's another entry from my journal. Sorry about the crappy photo quality. I'm a bit in a rush today. :)

Artspan Private Preview Gala

Just returned home from Artspan's premiere event. It was so much fun. This year I am a volunteer, so I got to run around and talk to other artists. :D Here's some snapshots I took tonight with the little camera! Here's a shot of the gallery. They had a great set up with a caterer cooking on the spot, fondue, live auctions and music, and tons of goodies. The chef! Strawberries and fondue! Yummy! So, if you happen to live in the Bay Area, Artspan is a non-profit organization that holds a big open studios event every October, during all four weekends. It's just beginning! I highly recommend checking out some of the artists, and the open studios are on a somewhat personal basis, so you can feel free to ask the artists questions, or even make a purchase. And there's always free food! ;)

Journal entries

I thought you guys might like some paintings or something instead of just photos all the time. :) This semester I've been spending some time painting from life, and journaling my progress. With all of the hectic mess going on this month, it's probably the most relaxing thing I could possibly do. :P Here's a couple of entries from last week, done in acrylic, in one of my sketchbooks.

Yay, pepsi

So my liberal arts classes have been sucking up my time. :P Haven't found much time to play with my camera or even paint. I'm actually going to start prioritizing myself and decide what deserves the most attention and what deserves the least. That way, if I can't do everything, the most important things have been finished and I feel more accomplished than swamped. And right now, one of the top priorities is learning to use my camera. I like playing with depth of field. :)

Photo!

The first assignment from Basic Digital Photography. Self portrait. Pretty simple assignment. :) I'm spending a lot of time just getting used to the new camera, and going through the manual. I'm learning a good bit so far, but the class is sooo.. crash-course that if I didn't do the extra work on my own I would easily get lost.

Camera!

Albert wanted me to post a photo of the camera (I was trying to be discreet, but oh well), so here ya go!

Kewl! New camera!

Yay! Albert bought me a new camera for our 3rd anniversary! :D So I've been mucking with the b&w settings.. I'm actually taking a photography class this semester too, so I'll eventually learn how to use it much better. For now though, I'm just doing dumb things to play around with it some more. :)