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. :)

Version 2.0 of the previous image

Yeeaahh.. soo.. the more I looked at the sketch from yesterday the more I wanted it to be cleaner. So I had to redo it. Here's the cleaner version. Now I have to decide if I want to make it into a print, or what else.. it feels like it needs some more substance..

Yay, some stuff..

I'm actually going to photograph some pieces this weekend (I hope!) so there will be a real update with a couple of new pieces coming up shortly. For now though, here's a little sumi piece I did this afternoon.

A Debate from the Sept. Issue of "The Artists Magazine"

In the Sept issue of "The Artist's Magazine" there's a letter from the editor (as well as some from readers) concerning the nude figure in art. Apparently, in the June issue (which I somehow missed), artist Bob Palevitz wrote to the magazine stating that his gallery happily sells his still life paintings, but is reluctant to show his paintings of nude figures. The article then launched into a question about whether nude figures is considered pornography in our modern age. In the "Letters from Readers" you can glean a little more about the debate. One subscriber writes that a female artist friend, who also shows paintings of nudes, has a huge difficulty selling her work. Other letters (one from a grade school teacher) comment that some parents become outraged if, when going to an art museum, their children are "exposed" to classical paintings depicting the nude figure. Another comment makes the broad statement that most nudes seem to be painted by male artists (she specifically referenced a work by David Leffel in her letter). Anyway, reading the full article really irritated me. If you actually get a chance to read the letters, one says it's terribly ironic when movie stars are paid more than teachers, and I believe the same mis-placed priorities are applied here as well. People don't protest about photos of naked GAP models on public billboards, but they have a problem with a classical painting of a nude figure. Ignorance indeed. I especially think it's silly to accuse men of being the only ones to paint nude figures. Mainly because I paint them as well, and I enjoy it. Imagine that. :P

The finish.. based on the last piece.

So, this is pretty much the piece that evolved from the preliminary drawing. It's nice enough, and it looks like how I planned it, but I don't know if I'm entirely happy. I'd say it's a means to an end, and not the end.. so it'll probably just inspire another piece, and another, until I finally stumble onto something good. But this was part of my final for the semester.

Preliminary, as a finished piece

Sometimes, when you're developing an idea, you unfortunately fall in love with the rough draft. It happened to me when I was developing the design for this piece. This isn't meant to be the final draft, but I fell for it, so I had to finish it before I could move on, mentally, to a better idea. The hands are my favorite part. :)